David Philippaerts shone again in the FIM Motocross World Championships with his second victory inside a week on the 250 SX-F, this time in front of 39,000 fans at the Matterley Basin circuit for the British Grand Prix.
The brand new venue was hard, sun-baked and dusty as blue skies bore down on the track located on England’s south coast. The layout was suitably impressive within the bowl-setting as rolling countryside providing a scenic backdrop but the long drags and wide banked curves meant a course that was hard on the throttle and little else.
Philippaerts passed Nicolas Aubin (again impressive on his KTM France machine) within the first stages of the opening moto and then pulled away from Billy Mackenzie and Christophe Pourcel for his third race win in a row. He was leading again in the second outing but pressure from World Champion Antonio Cairoli proved too much and he had to relinquish first spot. His 1-2 results were still sufficient for the overall win and a neat compliment to his Italian success last Sunday. His recent good form means that he has risen to third and is only fourteen points from second.
Tyla Rattray aggravated his sore ankle with a spill in practice on Saturday and needed a series of injections to gingerly get through both motos with a total of ten points and 17th place overall. The South African has slipped to fifth in the Championship and is sixty points away from leader Christophe Pourcel. Marc De Reuver had a weekend to forget with a crash during qualification on Saturday, then a DNF due to a bike problem and finally only being able to finish 17th. The Dutchman could not find his speed on the Matterley terrain and was a frustrated rider over both days.
Carl Nunn did not benefit from decent starts and was also at odds with the track. The British Champion enjoyed good support from the large crowd but could only capture ninth overall.
In MX1 Jonathan Barragan scored 8th, with 12th and 6th positions. The Spaniard collided with another rider and fell on the first lap of the opening moto but recovered to his original position before the accident. He looked more composed in the second race and now holds a 31 point gap over seventh place in the World Championship standings.
The World Championship now only has seven races left to run as the contest enters its second phase. Round nine will take place in two weeks time at the Uddevalla circuit for the Grand Prix of Sweden.
David Philippaerts:
“It’s a very good race for me because the track was difficult and very fast. In the first race I was trying as hard as I could to pass Aubin and once I got through I could start to make my own pace. It was a pretty simple race. In the second heat I was again trying to find that pace but after the first twenty minutes I found it difficult and Cairoli was quicker. The bike and the team are both perfect now. My training is going better and my confidence is growing. The Championship is looking up and I am happy with the whole situation.