The event took place on the sandy circuit in Desert Martin in Ireland in front of 13,000 spectators in spite of constant weather changes, from sun to torrential rain in a matter of minutes. Surprisingly the victory went to Joshua Coppins in MX1 and Tyla Rattray in MX2.
MX1
This GP featured not only rain and wind but a splendid duel between the 10 time world champion Stefan Everts and the New Zealander Joshua Coppins. The two riders set up a challenge for one another in both motos, and for the first time this season Everts did not win. The 29-year-old Jousha Coppins was in fact the winner as well as the rider who stopped Everts' streak of successes since the GP in Zolder on the 2nd of April
Team Honda/Cas rider, Coppins crossed the finishing line with 2-1 moto scores to best Everts for the overall win. Respect must be given to Joshua after not having participated to the first 7 GPs due to a bad shoulder injury. He has come back to racing and finishing on the podium and now showing that he's the only rider this season with the speed to beat Everts. He showed his determination when he set the best qualifying time on Saturday with a 1:53. Behind him were Steve Ramon, De Dycker and Everts.
The living legend, Stefan Everts, this time had to settle for a 1-2 and even though he scored the same points as Coppins, the victory goes to the rider who wins the last moto. Stefan this time found a true opponent in Coppins. They kept the pace of both motos very high while constantly duelling for the lead. A well earned third place finish went to the other Honda Cas rider, Ken De Dycker thanks to 3-4 moto scores; despite a fall in the first moto and charging from 16th to 3rd place. During the second moto, the 22year old Belgian settled for a 4th place, which was sufficient to take him onto the podium. This was his best performance so far this season. This result puts Ken back in the game for obtaining third place in the World Championship.
Now the only goal Stefan has left is to win his 100th GP. He's got two events left to achieve this goal.
MX1 MOTO 1
It was raining when the gate dropped for the first moto. A Suzuki piloted by Steve Ramon took the first turn, followed by Everts, Coppins, Kevin Strijbos and Gordon Crockard. A very determined Coppins had already overtaken both Everts and Ramon before the end of the first lap. De Dycker lost control of his front wheel and fell. Finding himself in 16th place but threw himself into a fast pace and began catching the riders in front of him. Everts, in the meantime, knew from experience that he couldn't let Coppins go, and attacked Ramon, passing him shortly. The two Belgians battled but finally it was the Yamaha/Rinaldi rider in second and ready to start hunting the leader Coppins.
Everts rode like only he can and was shortly right behind Coppins. But the true masterpiece was seen on the 5th lap when Everts, in an off-camber right hander, delayed braking while standing on the foot-pegs Everts style, and overtook Coppins for the lead.
In was a textbook maneuver. Coppins, not intimidated, put Everts under pressure and the two riders seemed to have the same speed. Coppins pushed hard but Everts crossed the finish line first.
MX1 MOTO2
Coppins' number 2 Honda was out front at the start of moto two. Close behind were Everts, Ramon, Jonathan Barragan and Kornel Nemeth. During the 8th lap, Everts, who had been following Coppins like a shadow, attacked and passed him. But the New Zealand rider wouldn't settle for second this time. In fact, during the 11th lap, he overtook the world champion's Yamaha and kept pushing to avoid Everts' attacks. Joshua was riding so fast he managed to lap his team mate De Dycker who was in 4th position!
Everts, who is very experienced, realized that to keep the pace or to attempt to overtake Coppins would create some danger. Even though his goal is to win 100 GPs, he wants to do it in one piece, and so he settled for second place.
The Spanish Barragan on his works KTM performed well. During the first moto he fell and damaged his clutch, but despite this he managed an 8th place. In the second moto he placed third ahead of De Dycker.
Steve Ramon had an awful day he would like to forget. He started off well in both motos but everything was in vain considering his many falls. His team mate Kevin Strijbos finished 4th and 5th respectively which pleased him as he still sits in second position in the championship standings.
Joshua Coppins:
"What an unbelievable weekend, with such a bad start to the season I had to set new goals and one of them was to win a GP before the end of the year and I achieved that today. I have to say a big thank you to my team, CAS Honda and all our sponsors especially my personal sponsors, Alpinestars, Airoh, Scott, United- Telecom, Onfire, Honda Park, and the rest of the guys that have supported me in getting back onto the top of the podium. After I passed Stefan in the second moto I started to pull a gap. First it was three seconds, then four, five and then nine-seconds. After nine seconds I knew there was no way he could come back so I just kept pushing and was so happy to win!"
Stefan Everts:
"It has been a tough race today. The track was hard. The first race was exciting and in the second Josh was so fast. At one point I could not stay with him anymore and physically I was finished. I think that we had the same speed but he was a bit stronger so I decided to go for a safe second towards the end. I am happy for Josh, he has been working hard for this. Of course I am a bit disappointed to lose but I still have two more chances to reach 100."
Ken De Dycker:
"In the first moto my front wheel slid away after the step-up. I came back to third, which was great, but it was not easy as my arms started to pump and I used a lot of energy. I did not have such a good start in the second moto and moved to third when Steve crashed. Stefan and Josh were gone so early; there was no chance of going with them. I did not have any more power towards the end of the race and I was making so many mistakes but I am so happy to be back on the podium."
MX1 MOTO 1
1, Stefan Everts
2, Joshua Coppins
3, Ken De Dycker
4, Kevin Strijbos
5, Gordon Crockard
6, Kornel Nemeth
7, Manuel Priem
8, Jonathan Barragan
MX1 MOTO 2
1, Joshua Coppins
2, Stefan Everts
3, Jonathan Barragan
4, Ken De Dycker
5, Kevin Strijbos
6, Manuel Priem
7, Kornel Nemeth
8, Tanel Leok
AFTER 13 of 15 ROUNDS
1, Stefan Everts, Yamaha, BEL, 639
2, Kevin Strijbos, Suzuki, BEL, 458
3, Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 418
4, Ken De Dycker, Honda, BEL, 409
5, Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 387
6, Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 306
7, Joshua Coppins, Honda, NZL, 249
8, Pascal Leuret, Honda, FRA, 242
MX2
Usually very spectacular and thrilling, the MX2 class has witnessed the surprisingly smashing double victory pulled off by the South African rider Tyla Rattray; surprising because the skilled factory KTM rider just returned from a bad injury to his shoulder caused when he fell during the AMA National MX in Millville. Tyla has always been a tough pilot, once again he's had the chance to demonstrate it.
The young French Cristophe Pourcel placed second overall thanks to 3-4 moto finishes, but it may have been his weakest performance since taking the red place of championship leader. But in spite of this he still managed to gain points to move him further towards winning the championship. Cristophe's secret is simple: don't make mistakes, always gain points, and avoid useless duels which could easily degenerate into a fall. We now are all well aware of his future and, in fact, he will be with Kawasaki for the next three years. He'll race the world championship GP in the MX2 class next year to then move on to the US into the Pro Circuit Kawasaki Team.
The title defender Antonio Cairoli has probably lost the opportunity to catch up to Pourcel in the series points with 2-7 moto scores. The Italian got second in the first moto to then get involved in a fall during moto two, breaking his pipe and causing his Yamaha/DeCarli to lose power. Now the gap between him and Pourcel is 28 points.
MX2 MOTO 1
At the start of the first moto, it was Tyla Rattray first to enter the first turn followed by Sebastien Pourcel (the older of the two Poucel brothers), Rui Goncalves , Antonio Cairoli and Christophe Pourcel. Right in the middle of the initial fuss, David Philippaerts braked suddenly and was hit from the behind by Marc De Reuver. These two, along with Tommy Searle and Jeremy Tarroux, all had to start their race from behind the leaders. At the front of the pack there was a constant swap for the lead between Rattray and S. Pourcel then finally the South African kept the lead. Cairoli and Goncalves also overtook the Frenchman S. Pourcel. The first moto ended with a Rattray in 1st position with a 15 seconds gap ahead of Cairoli, followed by C. Pourcel, Goncalves and S. Pourcel. A good recovery pulled off by David Philippaerts; the KTM pilot got up to the 7th place when he started 18th.
MX2 MOTO2
Antonio Cairoli started off very fast ahead of Rattray, C. Pourcel, S. Pourcel and De Reuver. The first lap was not complete when Rattray had overtaken Cairoli for the lead. A very fascinating duel between the two Pourcel brothers that was probably a little too much; in fact Sebastien with a sharp move to overtake his brother interfered with Cristophe's trajectory and they made contact that nearly made them both fall off their bikes. The one who fell was instead Cairoli who got stuck in the middle of a double jump that caused him to lose much time restarting his engine. He rejoined the race in 14th position. Marc De Reuver placed 2nd and David Philippaerts in 3rd making so that the podium was conquered only by KTM.
Tyla Rattray:
"In the first moto I got the holeshot which I was really happy about, Sebastien Pourcel passed me but after about a lap I got him back. I upped my pace and eventually made a gap. I had a pretty big crash at one stage and scared myself a bit. I had clipped a bank at the side of the track and had a real fright before that but then I drifted wide on a corner and went over the bars. Luckily the bike was still running and I could pick it up right away and get going and keep the lead. In the second moto I again got into the lead on the first lap and put my head down, I pushed hard to breakaway from Marc de Reuver in second. Overall it was a good day. I feel that I am back to 100% with my riding and my fitness. My ankle has been at its best since Italy and that was a factor in being able to win today."
Christophe Pourcel:
"My goal this weekend was to keep at least my advantage over Cairoli, and finally I scored more points than him so I'm happy. I didn't start so well in both heats, but I found good lines in the first laps. I didn't want to take any risks here, and that's the reason why I didn't win; the track had some nice jumps but it was too fast and dangerous, and I never gave 100%. In the first race I had some pain to my back, probably due to the fact that for the first time for a while you had to remain standing on the pegs. Then in the second race I was behind Cairoli and put some pressure on him, and he finally crashed in a corner before the technical section." Antonio Cairoli:
"I am not so happy because I wanted to take points away from Christophe Pourcel today. I made a stupid mistake and crashed in the second heat, losing a lot of time in picking up the bike and restarting. We had some suspension problems this weekend and we have to get it fixed for Lierop. I did not have a good feeling out there and had to use a lot of energy to push hard. In the first race I did my best and finished second but in the second I felt tired and it was harder."
MX2 MOTO1
1, Tyla Rattray
2, Antonio Cairoli
3, Christophe Pourcel
4, Rui Goncalves
5, Sbastien Pourcel
6, Kenneth Gundersen
7, David Philippaerts
8, Marc De Reuver
MX2 MOTO2
1, Tyla Rattray
2, Marc De Reuver
3, David Philippaerts
4, Christophe Pourcel
5, Sbastien Pourcel
6, Gareth Swanepoel
7, Antonio Cairoli
8, Rui Goncalves
AFTER 13 of 15 ROUNDS
1, Christophe Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 496
2, Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 468
3, David Philippaerts, KTM, ITA, 427
4, Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 402
5, Marc De Reuver, KTM, NED, 373
6, Carl Nunn, KTM, GBR, 315
7, Sbastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 291
8, Billy MacKenzie, Yamaha, GBR, 281
Marc de Reuver
Kevin Strijbos
Ken de Dycker
Antonio Cairoli
Stefan Everts