Pichon and McFarlane Rule at the Grand Prix of Europe - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

In the MX1 class, Mickael Pichon of the Martin/Honda/Telefonica team won the fifth round of the FIM MX World Championships: the Grand Prix of Europe. The Frenchman dominated with 1-1 results. Mickael holeshot both Motos and lead from the first corner to the checkered flag. Good starts were the key to his success, in fact, the muddy track offered a single dry racing line and if a rider start badly, it was all but impossible to recover. Andrew McFarlane took the MX2 victory with a 1-3 on the day.MX1 Class:
With his results Mickael Pichon has proved the World Championship title is still up for grabs, making 18 points on his direct antagonist, Stefan Everts, in only one GP.Pichon:" I have been waiting for this victory. I trained really hard over the winter and, like all of us, I want to win the championship. The first few races weren't so good even if I was consistent. The starts were important and I got it right both times. This is the best I have felt since the beginning of the year. Everts closed some time on me in the second moto but I could cut through the backmarkers quickly and controlled the race."In second place was Team CAS/Honda rider Josh Coppins who finished the GP with consistent 4-4 results. He also had a good ride and provided one of the highlights of the race by battling with fellow countryman and good friend Ben Townley. Coppins was more pro-active in the second moto, and survived a brief skirmish with Joel Smets on the first lap to take his second fourth place of the day.An elated Josh Coppins said: "It's a good result, especially because it was a tough weekend. I didn't ride so well in the first moto but the second was much better. I was struggling on the turns in the first race and my mechanic suggested some changes which worked later on. I was watching the MX2 races and I saw some people passing on a certain line, I had been way too soft in the first race and needed to be more aggressive in the afternoon so I pushed on this line and came together with Joel Smets."It was not a good day for current championship leader Stefan Everts. In Moto1 he started poorly and crashed in the third corner. He took some time to re-start his factory Yamaha YZ450FM and started last: Stefan came back to eleventh but lost fifteen points to is rival for the title: Pichon. In the Moto2 the Rinaldi/Yamaha/L&M; rider then finished second, and for the first time this year he missing the final podium.An angry Everts said: "This is a disappointing day for me. In the first race I went down in the third corner and couldn't restart. I was going for a tear-off and the bike just slid out. I was so far behind everybody and the track was so tough for passing. I finally finished eleventh and that was the best I could do. In the second moto I made a good start from the gate but then I couldn't get the bike into gear and I blew my holeshot there. I was very aggressive on the first lap and tried to get past Pichon and we bumped. That was my mistake and my fault. I put the bike into neutral as a result of the collision and that cost me four places. I had a big points lead and while I was not expecting to make ground over Pichon at every GP I am angry that I lost so many in one go."

| | MX1 Moto1 1. M. Pichon 2. J. Smets 3. B. Townley 4. J. Coppins 5. J. Noble 6. B. Jorgensen 7. T. Leok 8. A. Meo 9. A. Pyrhonen 10. M. Van Daele MX1 Moto2 1. M. Pichon 2. S. Everts 3. S. Ramon 4. J. Coppins 5. T. Leok 6. K. De Dijcker 7. B. Jorgensen 8. J. Smets 9. J. Noble 10. J. Barragan Championship After Round 5 of 17 1. Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 204 2. Mickael Pichon Honda FRA 195 3. Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 167 4. Joel Smets Suzuki BEL 167 5. Ben Townley KTM NZL 148 6. Steve Ramon KTM BEL 120 7. Brian Jorgensen Yamaha DNK 104 8. James Noble Honda GBR 104 9. Ken De Dijcker Honda BEL 87 10. Paul Cooper Honda GBR 81

MX2 Class:
Memorable day for the Italian Ilario Ricci, the team boss of Ricci Racing, all three of their riders: McFarlane, Davide Guarnieri and Alessio Chiodi climbed on the podium. Andrew McFarlane put together 1-3 results for first overall, after Namur, this is his second win of the season and third of his career for the Australian rider.In Moto1 McFarlane holeshot followed by Antonio Cairoli and Cedric Melotte in a distant third. The order of the top three riders remained for the entire Moto.In Moto2 the Italian Davide Guarnieri, who was seventh in Moto1, holeshot followed by McFarlane and Alessio Chiodi. The three teammates engaged a great battle with Garnieri resisting the attack of McFarlane; Garnieri held on to take his first Moto win in the MX2 class. Antonio Cairoli crashed, finishing sixteenth. Melotte was confused by his pitboard and thought there was one lap less than there actually was and he dropped to twelfth.Scottish rider Stephen Sword crashed in both Motos and finished sixth and fifth, respectively.McFarlane:"I felt really strong in the first moto, but in the second moto it was difficult to pass. There was only one line and I had to take some risks trying to pass lappers. It is frustrating on tracks like this and Davide Guarnieri is not the easiest rider to pass! He was riding very smart. Chiodi was strong but I did not want to let him through because I wanted to gain as many points as possible in the Championship."Guarneri: "The track was really difficult today and when I got in the front for the second moto I didn't want to make any mistakes. My result is not such a surprise for me because I worked very hard in the winter. The four-stroke is great for my style. To win in this class is never easy because there are so many great riders, but I am always better when there is not so much mud!"

| | MX2 Moto1 1. A. McFarlane 2. A. Cairoli 3. C. Melotte 4. D. Philippaerts 5. A. Chiodi 6. S. Sword 7. D. Guarneri 8. T. Church 9. P. Caps 10. A. Boissiere MX2 Moto2 1. D. Guarneri 2. A. Chiodi 3. A. McFarlane 4. B. MacKenzie 5. S. Sword 6. D. Philippaerts 7. M. Maschio 8. A. Leok KTM 9. T. Church 10. M. Nagl Championship After Round 5 of 17 1. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 174 2. Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 173 3. Andrew McFarlane Yamaha AUS 155 4. Stephen Sword Kawasaki BGR 152 5. Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 143 6. Mickael Maschio Yamaha FRA 98 7. Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 97 8. Patrick Caps Honda BEL 90 9. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 90 10. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 87

The next round of the World Motocross Championship takes place in two weeks—May 29-30 in Sugo, Japan.