Cairoli takes German GP win

The Sicilian rode to 2nd and 1st positions with the YZ450F for his third win of a debut MX1 season and also captured his seventh moto triumph from a total of eighteen so far. KTM's Max Nagl was second with Belgian Ken de Dyker third. In the MX2 class 15 year old German Ken Roczen becoming the youngest GP winner ever at his home event. The fast and bumpy Talkessel course was crowded by more than 35,000 spectators, no doubt pleased to learn that the circuit has signed an agreement to host the German round of the series for the next six years as well as the 2013 Motocross of Nations. Cloudy and rainy conditions in the morning gave way to clearer skies and sunshine in the afternoon. Cairoli expertly took his third pole position of the season by overtaking Nagl on the last lap of Saturday's heat race. It was also the fifth time from nine occasions that a Yamaha has entered the start gate first for Sunday's motos. The 23 year old produced a similar performance in the first moto to close a six second gap to the German and almost snatch chequered flag; eventually missing out by just half a second. In the next outing Cairoli was fierce from the line and took control of the race in the formative stages, leading to the finish. Germany saw the fourth MX1 triumph of his career in just ten appearances. "It hard to pass on this track and I waited too long behind Josh at the start of the first moto," Cairoli said. "Only on the last lap could I catch Max and there was not enough time to set him up to overtake properly. When I was second in the next moto I looked for two laps for the right line to pass and then rode my race. I could hear the crowd and it was pretty good for me because I could not see the pit-board so I was listening to them to know if Max was coming close! We are now in the second half of the championship and I am having fun again. I made some more points today." Nagl continued his tradition of lightning starts, shooting out of the gate in both motos to take the coveted holeshot and in both races and fought a tough battle for the lead with the championship leader Cairoli. "Today I went out and I really wanted to win the first moto, especially as Toni (Cairoli) had beaten me in the final lap of the qualifying," Nagl said. "But winning that race cost me a lot of energy and I was a bit tired in the second race. Today I managed to reach my goal of being on the podium in my home GP and I picked up some good championship points. Now I am only four points behind David Philippaerts in second place. Today was great for me to have so much support from the crowd. They were amazing and it is very important when you are racing your home GP to get that support," Nagl added. Max dedicated his result to team trainer Hugo America because he has helped the team a lot and because it is was his birthday. Ken De Dycker scored third position overall. The Teka Suzuki World MX1 rider, who turned 25 years of age yesterday, took his RM-Z450 to seventh and second position in the two motos for his fourth trophy of the season and his first since round five at the GP of Portugal. "I am really happy to be back on the podium," De Dycker said. "The first moto was disappointing as I didn't have a good start and couldn't pass anybody. The lens came out of my goggles and it was really hard from the first moments. The second moto went really well and with the good start things were much easier. The track was rough today and it was better for me. Physically I am feeling OK. We changed the sprocket after the first moto and that made quite a difference because the power was almost too strong in the first. I gave myself a bit of a kick in the ass after the first moto and I wanted that good start. Once I was in the top three I got relaxed and into a rhythm and could push harder." David Philippaerts finished fourth with Josh Coppins still in the mix with fifth overall. "It was a difficult day, a difficult weekend in fact," Philippaerts lamented. "We could not get the bike set-up just as I wanted it and that meant a fight out there. We tried a few different changes but without much luck. My starts weren't good but I could still pass many riders and to take fourth overall was good for me. The track was fast and bumpy and that made it quite dangerous; it was easy to crash." Coppins on the other hand was happy to be making headway against his injuries that have hindered the Kiwi's form. "I'm pumped. That's the first time in a while I could do two strong motos," Coppins said. "Both of my starts were good and the only thing that I'm a little disappointed about was a bit of a lack of speed in the opening stages. Overall, though this was much better. The result of the second moto wasn't as good as the first but the riding was encouraging; I was more like my old self." At 15 years and 53 days of age Ken Roczen became the youngest GP winner ever in front of his home crowd in the MX2 Class. The Teka Suzuki Europe World rider had an incredible day at only his fifth GP appearance which happened at his home venue Teutschenthal. The second youngest rider winning a GP is Dutch Dave Strijbos (16 years and 172 days) followed by Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli (16 years and 345 days). Roczen took two second places in the moto‰Ûªs, losing the victory from Steven Frossard in heat one and battling it out with Championship leader Marvin Musquin in moto two. Eventually Roczen settled for another second in the final moto to take the overall. CLS‰Ûª Frossard was second overall taking another podium after his maiden one from last year. In heat one Frossard won after French countryman Musquin handed him the race lead when he crashed. Though a difficult second moto left the Frenchman disappointed as he slipped twice and recovered to an eventual fifth. KTM mounted Musquin was third in the GP which he left again with the red plate. Securing the victory in the final moto, Musquin could keep up his podium row taking the third consecutive rostrum finish. Runner up in the Championship Paulin put in two strong heats to finish fourth overall, as he won a three way battle for third in heat two involving also Schiffer and Goncalves. The latter and Guarneri completed the top six. The Italian and the Portuguese remained third and fourth in the Championship respectively with just 10 points in between them as Frossard closed in but remained in fifth. "I don't know what to say; this is amazing for me," Roczen beamed after his win. "After my first two GPs I saw that the podium was possible. I always do my best and I hoped for a podium here, with a bit of luck, but didn't expect the win. Musquin was going fast but I thought I could pass him. Towards the end I knew that second place would give the overall so I rode safe. All the attention has come quickly and it isn't always easy to give people what they want but I try to do what I can!" Round ten of 15 will take the FIM Motocross World Championship to Kegums, Latvia, on the June 28 weekend together with round four of the FIM Veterans‰Ûª World Cup where Belgian Peter Iven is leading. Main Photo: MX2 winner Ken Roczen MX1 Highlights:


MX2 Highlights:


RESULTS:

MX1 Overall top ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 47 points
2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 45
3. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 36
4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 36
; 5. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 36
6. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 31
7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 29
8. Mickael Pichon (FRA, Honda), 25
9. Aigar Leok (EST, TM), 21
10. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), 20

MX1 Championship top ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 338 points
2. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 297
3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 293
4. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), 274
5. Clement Desalle (BEL, Honda), 268
6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), 264
7. Tanel Leok (EST, Yamaha), 252
8. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), 215
9. Aigar Leok (EST, TM), 139
10. David Vuillemin (FRA, Kawasaki), 137

MX2 Overall top ten:
1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 44 points
2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 41
3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 40
4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 36
5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 32
6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 29
7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 26
8. Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM), 24
9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 20
10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 19

MX2 Championship top ten:
1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 324 points
2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 286
3. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), 264
4. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 254
5. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 246
6. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), 197
7. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), 187
8. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 164
9. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), 153
10. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), 147