Tanel Leok
Fairyhouse Race Course hosted a Grand Prix of the Republic of Ireland today in front of 16000 spectators who enjoyed the sunny weather.Tanel Leok won his first ever MX1 GP over Ken de Dycker and Steve Ramon, who is still second in the Championship with a five point gap from leader David Philippaerts.In the MX2 class Tyla Rattray won over Tommy Searle and Steven Frossard as first heat winner Zach Osborne had mechanical problems in the final heat.MX1 Class
Kawasaki Racing's Tanel Leok finally celebrated his first GP victory by winning the final moto after taking the runner up spot in heat one. Teka Suzuki WMX1 team mates Ken de Dycker and Steve Ramon rounded off the podium ahead of fourth placed David Philippaerts of Yamaha Monster Motocross as they made some ground on the Championship leader. De Dycker won the opening moto and got onto the podium with third in the final heat where Ramon ended runner up.The latter took fifth in heat one as a late pass by Philippaerts saw him drop by one position. Leading some laps in both heats CAS Honda's Billy Mackenzie took fifth overall as Jonathan Barragan had a bad day and ended 10th - a first moto tangle hampered his overall result. Josh Coppins was also involved in that tangle and he eventually dnf'd in the final moto due to another crash.MX1 Moto 1
Philippaerts holeshotted the first corner but could not keep up with the pace of the front runners and dropped down to fifth. In the meantime Mackenzie took the lead but first De Dycker and then Leok moved past him, with the Estonian exploiting one mistake by Mackenzie. The latter took third thanks to a successful defence from a late charge of Philippaerts, who had moved past Ramon for fourth. Ramon ended fifth ahead of Pourcel. The latter was involved in a first corner tangle together with Barragan, Coppins and Aranda.MX1 Moto 2
Mackenzie led again in the opening laps but he made a mistake and dropped down by two places with Leok taking first and Philippaerts second. The Estonian rode his own race to take victory while Philippaerts was passed both by Ramon and De Dycker to end an eventual fourth ahead of Mackenzie. Pourcel brought the fuel injection bike home in ninth due to a first lap crash while Barragan ended 12th because of several crashes. The final moto was quite unfortunate for Coppins who sat out of the race due to a first lap tangle that damaged the front end of his machine.Tanel Leok:
"It feels great to have won the overall. I'm not sure how to put it into words - it's unbelievable. I actually didn't like the track that much, actually it was the wood that was sat on top of the track that I didn't like. At times it was really quite painful - it would get inside your clothing and chafe, itch and scratch. It was also annoying when you were behind someone - the sawdust just made it unpleasant.In the first race I was third then I dropped back a spot before moving back up to second. I caught De Dycker quite easily after that but it was hard to make a pass because when you were pushing hard it was easy to make mistakes - he made some and I'd catch him then I'd make some and he'd pull away. It was like there was one or two seconds gap all the time and I just couldn't get any closer. In the second moto I came out of turn one in second place then I made a mistake and Philippaerts passed me but I passed him right back. After that it was just Billy and I out front making quite a good pace until he made a mistake and crashed. After that I had a big enough lead just to control the gap between myself and Ramon. I was feeling quite nervous and I was trying not to make mistakes but I couldn't find a good rhythm - I was just taking it a little bit easy until I crossed the finish line."Ken De Dycker:
"The first race was good even though I didn't have such a good start, I found it easy to come through and when I was in the lead I found it easy to control the race from there. I was so relaxed and my lines were working well - it was a very enjoyable ride.I got a bad start in the second moto and I struggled early on because the lines were so different than in the first moto and I couldn't find a good pace so I started to get angry with myself. This cost me some energy I think and I was also making a lot of mistakes which cost me time. I was happy to finally finish third though and second overall on the day is good too."Steve Ramon:
"The start was not so good in the first race and I found it quite difficult to pass, I spent a long time sat behind Billy and it was tiring me out as I had to try different lines and to push hard to try and get past. I started to get a little bit of arm pump and Philippaerts was able to close in on me and eventually pass me and I wasn't happy with that but I knew that I had tried my hardest.Before the second race we changed some settings on the bike and put it back to how I usually have it and things were much better for me. The second moto start was good and my riding was also much better than in the first moto. I found some good lines out there and I could put pressure on Philippaerts - he used some different lines to try and hold me back but I was able to pass him quite easily. Straight away I pulled a little gap on him and that was good. In fact the whole second moto was good for me - okay Tanel was fast in that race but I beat David and the gap between myself and him is down to five points now. The last two GPs will be tough but I'll do the best I can to recapture my world title!"
Ken De Dycker
MX1 Moto 1
1. Ken De Dycker, Suzuki
2. Tanel Leok, Kawasaki
3. Billy MacKenzie, Honda
4. David Philippaerts, Yamaha
5. Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL
6. Sebastien Pourcel, Kawasaki
7. Maximilian Nagl, KTM
8. Manuel Priem, Kawasaki
9. Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL
10. Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESPMX1 Moto 2
1. Tanel Leok, Kawasaki
2. Steve Ramon, Suzuki
3. Ken De Dycker, Suzuki
4. David Philippaerts, Yamaha
5. Billy MacKenzie, Honda
6. Maximilian Nagl, KTM
7. Manuel Priem, Kawasaki
8. Clement Desalle, Suzuki
9. Sebastien Pourcel, Kawasaki
10. Julien Bill, HondaMX1 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT
1. David Philippaerts, Yamaha, ITA, 441
2. Steve Ramon, Suzuki, BEL, 436
3. Ken De Dycker, Suzuki, BEL, 414
4. Jonathan Barragan, KTM, ESP, 389
5. Joshua Coppins, Yamaha, NZL, 382
6. Sebastien Pourcel, Kawasaki, FRA, 371
7. Maximilian Nagl, KTM, GER, 356
8. Tanel Leok, Kawasaki, EST, 322
9. Billy MacKenzie, Honda, GBR, 293
10. Clement Desalle, Suzuki, BEL, 235MX2 Class
Tyla Rattray of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing took victory number three and his 11th podium of 2008. The Championship leader won the final heat but took second in heat one, when Utag-Yamaha.com's Zach Osborne won his first ever GP heat. Osborne broke the bike in heat two to finish eighth overall.Other Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Tommy Searle took second overall despite starting from 25th on the grid. CLS' Steven Frossard rounded off the podium with Nicolas Aubin of Ricci Racing Yamaha and Stephen Sword of Molson Kawasaki rounding off the top five. Anthony Boissiere took sixth ahead of Shaun Simpson.MX2 Moto 1
Osborne put in a fantastic performance by leading the whole moto despite Rattray following and putting pressure to the young American. The latter secured the second spot with Aubin taking third courtesy of a solid first heat. Searle stormed to fourth after a final move on Frossard who took fifth despite an early crash. Simpson finished sixth after he rode with the front runners in the early stages.MX2 Moto 2
Osborne got another a good start and battled it out with Simpson for the lead in the opening lap; the brave Scot, coming back after a shoulder operation following Loket, eventually dropped to 11th but Osborne did not have better fortunes. Rattray moved past him for first and the eventual win then Osborne broke the bike and dnf'd. Searle worked his way up to second ahead of Frossard and Sword. Boissiere rounded off the top five with Roelants sixth and Aubin seventh after a tough start.Tyla Rattray:
In the first race Zach Osborne went out very fast and he was tough to catch. I tried to put my head down and put in some good laps. I got close to him in the final stage but I just couldn't close the gap. I mean I went into Lommel and thought it was going to be a big win and the track bit me, so I don't want to think too much about Lierop. I will just take it race by race and see where I am in the championship at the end.Tommy Searle:
"I was right on the outside in the starting gates and that didn't make it very easy. It was also very dusty at the start and I had some vision problems. Even though I had a bad day on Saturday I made up my mind to go out hard in both heats and do my best".Zach Osborne:
"This was a big step for my career today and I am really pumped with the team and everything that has been going on here. Tyla is in 'championship mode' so I knew he would not take any big chances in the first race to try and pass me. I rode as hard as I could and it worked out for me. It was a shame about the second moto but it felt really good to win and join a small group of Americans to have done so."MX2 Moto 1
1. Zach Osborne, Yamaha
2. Tyla Rattray, KTM
3. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha
4. Tommy Searle, KTM
5. Steven Frossard, Kawasaki
6. Shaun Simpson, KTM
7. Anthony Boissiere, KTM
8. Stephen Sword, Kawasaki
9. Xavier Boog, Suzuki
10. Rui Goncalves, KTMMX1 Moto 2
1. Tyla Rattray, KTM
2. Tommy Searle, KTM
3. Steven Frossard, Kawasaki
4. Stephen Sword, Kawasaki
5. Anthony Boissiere, KTM
6. Joel Roelants, KTM
7. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha
8. Rui Goncalves, KTM
9. Xavier Boog, Suzuki
10. Manuel Monni, YamahaMX2 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT
1. Tyla Rattray, KTM, RSA, 546
2. Tommy Searle, KTM, GBR, 519
3. Antonio Cairoli, Yamaha, ITA, 357
4. Nicolas Aubin, Yamaha, FRA, 343
5. Shaun Simpson, KTM, GBR, 337
6. Rui Goncalves, KTM, POR, 327
7. Steven Frossard, Kawasaki, FRA, 284
8. Xavier Boog, Suzuki, FRA, 269
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek, KTM, BEL, 253
10. Manuel Monni, Yamaha, ITA, 245IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS
Philippaerts lost two points from Ramon as the duo is still first and second in the MX1 Championship with just five points dividing them. De Dycker and Barragan moved up to third and fourth respectively as Coppins dropped down to fifth. MX2 Championship leader Rattray increased his advantage over Searle by seven points. Aubin moved past Simpson to take fourth.
