A Good Day for KTM at the Sunny GP of England - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

When the factory rigs arrived on the Isle of Wight, it seemed that the 15th round of the MX World Championship would be another mudder, as rain had damaged the paddock and the layout of the track, but fortunately, Saturday was fabulous and the sun dried the mud, leaving the track in perfect condition. The track of the Gore Basin on the Isle of Wight was considered by most of the riders to be the best track of the GP circuit. It offered some obstacles like whoops, tabletops and some different lines for more passing.MX1 CLASS

New Zealander Ben Townley with 3-1 results took the overall victory and showed that he's nearly back to his best. There was no challenge for the twenty-year-old as he cruised to victory and his fourth GP success of the season! Another factory KTM rider got on top of the podium; Belgian Steve Ramon won moto1 and finished fourth in moto2. Third overall with a 2-3 finish was Frenchman Mickael Pichon.The Championship leader Stefan Everst was fifth overall with a 5-5 finish. In moto1 the Belgian couldn't seem to find his rhythm with this particular track, and in moto2 a big mistake in the whoops cost him a podium position.MX1 Moto1 The holeshot went to the factory KTM of Steve Ramon followed by Joshua Coppins, Mickael Pichon, Jussi Vehvilainen, Brian Jorgensen, Stefan Everts and Ben Townley. Townley immediately sought to recover from his seventh place start, and engaged in a beautiful battle with Everts. But today, Townley was really unbridled and in only one lap, the kiwi picked off Everts, Jorgensen and Vehvilainen.Although he didn't like the track and had some technical problems (signalled in the pit after the first laps), Stefan Everts overtook his teammate Vehvilainen, moving the championship leader into fifth place. Joshua Coppins struggled in the first few laps after sucking dirt on his Honda/Cas, but the New Zealander held on and kept pushing until the problem cleared.In the ninth turn, Townley set his sights on country-mate Coppins and overtook the Honda rider in the next lap. Now charging, Townley began to reel in Pichon, who resisted his attack at every turn. The checkered flag decreed: Ramon, Pichon Townley, Coppins and Everts.MX1 Moto2In the second moto Jussi Vehvilainen got the holeshot, but Ben Townley made quick work of the Honda rider and moved into the lead. Behind them, a hard battle was created between: Ramon, Everts, Coppins and Pichon. In the whoops, Everts blundered; Coppins and Pichon immediately took advantage of his error and got around the eight-time World champion. Townley still held the lead, and began opening up a gap. He scrubbed and whipped his factory KTM over the obstacles, much to the delight of the English fans.Townley took the checkers, followed by an excellent finish by Coppins (he came back up from fifth to second), and third went to Pichon. Ramon and Everts rounded out the top five. Even after his "mishap" in the whoops, Everts decided that a fifth place useful enough to keep his points lead storng for his ninth World title.Ben Townley: "It has been a goal of mine recently to go after the last three GP victories and I have got one so there are two more to go. I am riding good at the moment and we have some good tracks to end the season; I can't wait. They did a good job with the track today considering that it was over-watered this morning. They got the diggers out and corrected the mistake so I want to congratulate them. I worked hard on my starts during the week but I guess I have to keep on working! I battled hard with Stefan in the first race, I caught Josh and it was pretty hectic racing out there. In the second moto I made a push for the lead on the first lap and was able to get my times down. Half way through I thought I had overdone it because I was making a few mistakes but I settled and finally took the victory so I am really happy,"Steve Ramon: "The last two GPs have been great for me. This weekend was very good and I felt confident after timed practice. I knew my speed was there and I could take a decent result. I had two excellent starts. In the first moto I took the holeshot and was riding well and had some good lines. I had some problems with and Pichon came close towards the end but it was a nice feeling to finally win a moto. The second race was more difficult. I got a good start again but had some arm-pump and was feeling a little bit tired. I am happy to get second today and I want to thank everybody at KTM."Mickael Pichon: "Today was good for me. In the first moto I hada good start and was able to stay in second even if I made a small crash near the end and Ben came close. I gave everything I had this afternoon and I am happy with this result. I said yesterday that I don't feel at my best at the moment because I have not been riding that much recently. I was surprised to be able to mix it up with the guys but it was such a nice track that I was having a lot of fun riding it. In the second moto Stefan made a big mistake four or five laps before the end and I took advantage. Josh was really fast and pushing very hard so he went by me but I got Steve at the end for third."Stefan Everts: "Today was not my best day. I had a real battle with the track. In the first moto I had trouble passing my teammate; after that I had a few good laps but finally took fifth. In the second moto I was third for a while but Coppins had started to push and I made a big mistake in the whoops and went off the track. From that moment I turned the throttle back and stayed in fifth. When Ramon was slowing down at the end I tried to catch him but it was too late."

| | MX1 Moto1 1 S. Ramon 2 M. Pichon 3 B. Townley 4 J. Coppins 5 S. Everts 6 B. Jorgensen 7 T. Leok 8 J. Barragan MX1 Moto 2 1 B. Townley 2 J. Coppins 3 M. Pichon 4 S. Ramon 5 S. Everts 6 J. Barragan 7 M. Priem 8 J. Noble Championship After Round 15 of 17 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 621 2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 576 3 Ben Townley KTM NZL 505 4 Mickael Pichon Honda FRA 446 5 Steve Ramon KTM BEL 423 6 Joel Smets Suzuki BEL 385 7 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 296 8 Ken De Dijcker Honda BEL 274

MX2 CLASSThe factory KTM rider Tyla Rattray made an impressive comeback to World Championship after tearing ligaments in his knee in Namur GP (four months ago). With a 2-3 finish he brought home the MX2 victory of the GP. The young French rookie of the year Christophe Pourcel captured second place aboard his Kawasaki with a solid 7-2. Home rider Carl Nunn had 10-4 result, handing him third overall.MX2 Moto1Davide Guarnieri holeshot and took the early lead followed by Andrew McFarlane, Billy Mackenzie, Carl Nunn and Tyla Rattray.Championship leader Antonio Cairoli had a very uncharacteristic bad start, sending him off the line dead last! But the Yamaha rider began to push hard through the first turn, going from last to fourteenth place, but it didn't stop there. With a wild rhythm, Cairoli succeeded to overtake two to three riders each lap, until he found himself in third. Bad luck for the other title contender, Australian Andrew McFarlane; he was running third until mechanical problems caused the Yamaha rider to DNF.Rattray, while patiently waiting for his leg to recover, had ample time to study his fellow other riders. Now back in the game, he knew exactly how and when to overtake McFarlane and Guarnieri carrying him into second place. During the fifth lap Carl Nunn crashed and lost a few positions.It was a good performance for the young Italian Matteo Bonini, who scored his best-ever finish with fourth place. The victory went to the acclaimed local Yamaha/UK rider Billy Mackenzie.MX2 Moto2The Yamaha/De Carli rider Antonio Cairoli produced his customary holeshot and winning margin, but could only lead for two-thirds of the distance before his engine blew and forced him to DNF. The Italian's main title rival Andrew McFarlane, in fact also in this moto, DNF after his motor "died" too. The second moto proved too frustrating for the winner of the first moto, Billy Mackenzie. After two crashes, he arrived eighteenth.Factory KTM rider David Philippaerts and Christophe Pourcel, who was far behind at the start in the opening moto, battled for the heat win until the checkered flag. At race's end, the Italian, Philippaerts, defeated Pourcel by one second, but the French teenager got his third GP podium of the season alongside Rattray (winner) and Carl Nunn (third overall).Tyla Rattray: "I am really happy to return and win. I have been working so hard both on and off the bike recently and it feels great to come back like this; I think this win feels better than the double at Zolder! The track was awesome and I take my hat off to the organizers. In the second moto I had a little crash around the back because I started to feel a little tired. I knew I was in the position for the overall win so I settled for that and let Christophe and David get away from me. I want to go to Lierop and win two motos there now!"Christophe Pourcel: "I lost my start in the first moto, but I tried to get a good spot in the race anyway, and that worked out okay. I also had to ditch my goggles in the first moto. In the second moto Cairoli DNF and I was fighting for the win with Philippaerts, I am happy with this podium".Carl Nunn: "I had a really good day yesterday so I was confident, but I had a big crash this morning. I was in a little pain and it put a couple of doubts into my head. I had good first few laps in the first moto but then I crashed and didn't really regain my rhythm afterwards. I made it difficult for myself. In the second moto the track was better and I could feel my riding was stronger. The crowd were so loud it was unbelievable! As soon as I got my pit signal that I had to stay in front of Boissiere to take the podium they erupted even more!"

| | MX 2 Moto1 1 B. MacKenzie 2 T. Rattray 3 A. Cairoli 4 M. Bonini 5 D. Guarneri 6 M. Maschio 7 C. Pourcel 8 A. Boissiere MX 2 Moto2 1 D. Philippaerts 2 C. Pourcel 3 T. Rattray 4 C. Nunn 5 A. Boissiere 6 R. Goncalves 7 A. Chiodi 8 G. Swanepoel Championship After Round 15 of 17 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 522 2 Andrew McFarlane Yamaha AUS 482 3 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 453 4 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 414 5 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 352 6 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 333 7 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 318 8 Stephen Sword Kawasaki GBR 310