British Grand Prix
Antonio Cairoli regained the red plate after two textbook performances at the British Grand Prix. His second and first place finishes gave him the MX2 overall ahead of fellow title rivals Tyla Rattray and Britain’s own Tommy Searle. In the MX1 category, Spains Jonathon Barragan took the spoils ahead of Suzuki’s Ken De Dycker and Yamaha’s David Phillapearts, with Billy Mackenzie coming home in 6th place.
As the sixth round of the World MX Championship descended upon Mallory Park, British hopes were high in the MX2 class. Searle’s impressive start to the campaign made him one of the favourites to take the overall in front of his home crowd and add to his recent victory in Sevlievo. Scots Shaun Simpson and Steven Sword were also after podium finishes after impressive performances in Sevlievo and Mantova saw them round out the top 7 in the Championship standings.
The first MX2 race saw Rattray take the holeshot ahead of fellow KTM riders Simpson and Searle, with Cairoli close behind. Simpson and Searle exchanged places before Searle pulled away and focused on the leader Rattray. Not to be defeated easily, Cairoli closed in on the leaders, overtaking Simpson in the process. With ten minutes left Cairoli and Searle tangled over the finish line jump, forcing the Brit off the track and ultimately out of contention. Rattray was determined not give up the lead and held off the Italian to take the first race win ahead of Cairoli with Searle coming in third and Simpson finishing fourth.
The second race saw Cairoli lead from start to finish with Tommy Searle coming home in second with Frenchman Steven Frossard recording his best finish of the season in third place. Rattray finished fourth after a tangle on the first lap which saw him outside the top 20, with Sword rounding out the top 5.
In the MX1 category, Britain’s Billy Mackenzie was looking to record his first win of the season in front of the Mallory Park crowd.
Race one saw a tangle on the first lap involving Phillapearts, Marc De Rouver, Sebastian Pourcel and De Dycker, allowing Mackenzie to get through to second behind Barragan before crashing. Phiilapearts and De Dycker soon made their way through the pack as Ramon and Barragan battled for the lead. As Barragan fell, Ramon came under severe pressure from Phillapearts and De Dycker as the race became a three way battle. With two laps left, Phillapearts fell trying to take the lead, leaving the two Teka Suzuki’s to battle it out. A slight mistake from Ramon on the last lap gave De Dycker the opportunity to pass and take the win ahead of his team mate with Barragan recovering to finish third.
Race two saw De Rouver take the holeshot ahead of Barragan, Phillapearts and Mackenzie. A crash by De Rouver just before the half way point allowed Barragan to take the lead and hold onto the victory ahead of Pourcel, Phillapearts and Mackenzie. De Dycker once again tangled with riders on the first lap but could not repeat the heroics he conjured up in race one, coming home in sixth behind Tanel Leok.
