Weekend Ketchup - What went down in Spain
April 21, 2008
It's been a long time since a Grand Prix motocross event was cancelled due to the weather - well it happened this weekend in Bellpuig in Spain. Conditions were appalling so how did the teams cope?
MX2 Grand Prix of Spain a battle with mud and conditions
Red Bull KTM factory rider Tyla Rattray saved his day with a win in the first moto at Bellpuig Spain on Sunday to hold onto the red number plate as the championship leader on a day where the weather was the overall winner.
Racing on the Saturday was fine - Image by Ray Archer
Rain fell continually from 3:00 a.m. on Sunday morning and the track was badly cut up to the extent that Rattray described it as more of a battle than a race. With the track still acceptable in the first race, Tyla won the holeshot and stayed out in front to finish with more than a minute lead over second place Antonio Cairoli the current title holder. By the second moto the track was badly cut up with most riders, including Rattray getting stuck in the ruts and the mud. KTM team boss Stefan Everts also said conditions, especially in the second race were unacceptable. "Tyla won the first heat with a big lead and he was in a good position in the second race but then he got stuck in the mud," he said. Tyla finished fifth in to final GP classification adding 29 points to his championship tally.
Searle no fan of wet conditions
Tommy Searle is no fan of the wet conditions. He did manage to take the holeshot in the second race but then had a crash and had to go into the pit lane to change goggles and gloves. "Saturday was ok but Sunday was difficult," he said. I just tried to finish the race and to pick up some points. It was no great race today but it's a long championship."
Goncalves saves day with fourth place in race two
Rui Goncalves, the third Red bull KTM rider was also without luck on a day where few riders escaped incidents. "The race was a mess," he said. "The first heat was quite good in the beginning but then I got stuck in a rut and stalled the bike. I didn't have a very good start in the second race but I just wanted to survive and manage to finish. My fourth place in race two saved my day.
Rui rides before his home crowd in Portugal in the next GP next weekend and all three Red Bull KTM riders plan to now go to straight to Portugal and get some practice for the event.
Nagl survives mud and rough conditions in Bellpuig MX1 GP
Max Nagl of the Red Bull KTM MX1 factory team tackled mud, ruts and pouring rain at the Grand Prix in Spain to salvage two championship points on a day where the conditions were so bad the second race was scrapped.
"Today was not really rideable," the German rider said. Max, who was up with the front runners in Saturday's time practice on the hard packed and still dry Spanish circuit was in the top three at the start of the first race. Then he got into a tangle with David Philippaerts in the first corner and was not able to make up the gap. Like most of the riders he had difficulty with the bad ruts on the track and lost more time going back to pit lane to change goggles and gloves.
Terrible conditions
"The conditions were terrible for everyone," said KTM team boss Stefan Everts. Max lost time in the crash on the first corner. He struggled from then on and he lost some more time because he had to change his goggles. If the conditions had been better he could have been in the top five."
TEKA SUZUKI ONE-TWO IN WORLD MX1
The Team Teka Suzuki WMX1 win-streak continues in the 2008 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship with reigning World Champion Steve Ramon taking overall victory in deep, difficult and some might say dangerous conditions at Bellpuig in Spain on his factory RM-Z450 while Ken De Dycker finished third to stay on top of the series standings.
With Team Teka Suzuki WMX1's owner Sylvain Geboers claiming the conditions were the worst he's ever seen at a motocross race, getting a good start was vital and Ramon delivered the goods by getting out of the gate and around turn one in third position in the opening - and as it turned out, only - moto.
After making easy work of Marc De Reuver, Ramon stalked early leader Jonathan Barragan for the first three laps before passing the Spanish star and then pulling away to a seemingly easy victory in the difficult conditions.
"I had a good start in third place and moved past De Reuver in the second turn and then took things easy," said Ramon. "I was running second when Barragan made a mistake in front of me and I took the lead. It was really difficult to ride the track and you had to concentrate hard because there were some really deep bumps and ruts, which you couldn't see because of the deep water.
"My riding was good and the bike was good and I won the moto which was good also of course. With the organisers cancelling the second moto it means I have won the overall, which is the first MX1 Grand Prix I have ever won and also the first GP win I have had in a very long time. I am really happy."
While Ramon did things the easy way, De Dycker had to battle hard through the pack after crashing a couple of times on the opening lap. Using plenty of brute strength and aggression, he soon worked his way up to third behind his team-mate Ramon and David Philippaerts who finished second.
"There was one heat only today and I managed to get third after two crashes in the first lap," he claimed. "It was very difficult and on every lap, on every obstacle, you had to concentrate hard because the track was always changing and the mud and water was hiding the bumps and ruts.
"I'm still leading the championship by seven points which I am very happy about. I've never led the series before and to be leading for two rounds in a row is really good for me." The second of the day's MX1 motos was cancelled after riders' meeting minutes before the race was due to begin meaning the overall result stood after just one race. The rider's collectively decided the conditions were way too dangerous to race on as an abundance of standing water and mud made it almost impossible to predict what lay beneath the sloppy surface of the Bellpuig circuit.
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