The Grand Prix of Great Britain proved to be a good one with great racing and a huge crowd. In MX1 it was Belgian Stefan Everts who dominated, and in MX2 it was Australian Andrew McFarlane who rode off to victory. McFarlane is now the first Australian to ever win four Grand Prix rounds, and also the first Australian to lead the World Motocross Championship.
Rinaldi Yamaha rider, Everts, rode like it was his home Grand Prix, and it might as well have been. Around a sandy rutted-out Matchams Park Circuit in the south of England, the Belgian legend went 1-1 for the overall, and he continued his amazing run towards World Motocross title number nine. With the victory and rather average results by his main rival Mickael Pichon (who went 13-8 results) the defending champion is now 40 points clear in the championship points table.
“I did good in the championship and had a lot of fun out there,” Everts said. “It was a tough circuit and you had to work hard, but it was really enjoyable, and I always enjoy riding in front of the British public.”
In front of 34,000 British spectators, Everts looked at home on the Matchams Circuit. Second place went to New Zealand’s Josh Coppins of the CAS Honda team; he finished with 4-2 results and went from fourth in the championship to third. Third overall was another rider from Down Under, Ben Townley. The factory KTM rider went 3-5.
In the MX2 class, it was Australian Andrew McFarlane who took the victory, and in doing so, also moved to the front of the MX2 series points. McFarlane is the first Australian rider to win four Grands Prix and lead a World Motocross Championship.
“It’s great to win and it was really hard work,” McFarlane said. “The circuit was tough, and I think the riders should be applauded for making it today. As you could see, many guys made mistakes, and that meant I was able to push ahead in the series points. I really want to thank the team and also my wife, we have all worked hard for this, and now I just look at one Grand Prix at a time and see what happens.”
Second in the MX2 class was KTM factory rider David Philippaerts with 3-3 results. Two weeks ago, Philippaerts was given the factory 250 SX-F of injured KTM rider Tyla Rattray and has shown a great improvement in his results since. Third place went to 16-year-old French rider Christophe Pourcel on the Freeman Kawasaki team. Pourcel picked up 10-2 results and looked brilliant in the second moto of the MX2 class, coming close to taking victory.
MX2 moto one: 1. Carl Nunn (KTM); 2. Andrew McFarlane (Yam); 3. David Philippaerts (KTM); 4. Alessio Chiodi (Yam); 5. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 6. Tom Church (Kaw); 7. Wyatt Avis (Hon); 8. Nicolas Aubin (Yam); 9. Mickael Maschio (Yam); 10. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 11. Matteo Bonini (Hon); 12. Matti Seistoli (Hon); 13. Rui Goncalves (Yam); 14. Jason Dougan (Suz); 15. Wayne Smith (Hon).
MX2 moto two: 1. Andrew McFarlane (Yam); 2. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 3. David Philippaerts (KTM); 4. Billy Mackenzie (Yam); 5. Patrick Caps (Hon); 6. Aigar Leok (KTM); 7. Rui Goncalves (Yam); 8. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 9. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 10. Erik Eggens (Hon); 11. Matti Seistoli (Hon); 12. Wyatt Avis (Hon); 13. Antonio Cairoli (Yam); 14. Carl Nunn (KTM); 15. Max Nagl (KTM).
MX2 O/A: 1. Andrew McFarlane (47pts); 2. David Philippaerts (40); 3. Christophe Pourcel (33); 4. Carl Nunn (32); 5. Stephen Sword (29); 6. Wyatt Avis (23); 7. Rui Goncalves (22); 8. Aigar Leok (19); 9. Matti Seistoli (19); 10. Billy Mackenzie (18); 11. Alessio Chiodi (18); 12. Patrick Caps (16); 13. Mickael Maschio (15); 14. Tom Church (15); 15. Erik Eggens (14).
MX2 World championship points: 1. Andrew McFarlane (232/3wins); 2. Antonio Cairoli (225/1); 3. Alessio Chiod (211/1); 4. Stephen Sword (219); 5. Cedric Melotte (185); 6. Billy Mackenzie (162/1); 7. David Philippaerts (135); 8. Mickael Maschio (134); 9. Rui Goncalves (130); 10. Patrick Caps (127); 11. Davide Guarneri (121); 12. Carl Nunn (117); 13. Christophe Pourcel (107); 14. Tom Church (91); 15. Tyla Rattray (90).
MX1 moto one: 1. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Steve Ramon (KTM); 3. Ben Townley (KTM); 4. Josh Coppins (Hon); 5. Ken De Dijcker (Hon); 6. Danny Theybers (Suz); 7. Joel Smets (Suz); 8. Antti Pyrhonen (TM); 9. Marvin Van Daele (Hon); 10. Paul Cooper (Hon); 11. Jonathan Barragon (KTM); 12. Javier Vico Garcia (Hon); 13. Mickael Pichon (Hon); 14. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 15. Mark Hucklebridge (Hon).
MX1 moto two: 1. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Josh Coppins (Hon); 3. Joel Smets (Suz); 4. Jonathan Barragan(KTM); 5. Ben Townley (KTM); 6. Marvin Van Daele (Hon); 7. Tanel Leok (Kaw); 8. Mickael Pichon (Hon); 9. Steve Ramon (KTM); 10. Danny Theybers (Suz); 11. Ken De Dijcker (Hon); 12. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 13. Yoshi Atsuta (Suz); 14. James Nobles (Hon); 15. Javier Vico Garcia (Hon).
MX1 O/A: 1. Stefan Everts (50); 2. Josh Coppins (40); 3. Ben Townley (36); 4. Joel Smets (34); 5. Steve Ramon (34); 6. Jonathan Barragan (28); 7. Marvin Van Daele (27); 8. Danny Theybers (26); 9. Ken De Dijcker (26); 10. Mickael Pichon (21); 11. Pascal Leuret (16); 12. Javier Vico Garcia (15); 13. Tanel Leok (14); 14. Yoshi Atsuta (13); 15. Antti Pyrhonen (13).
MX1 World championship points standings: 1. Stefan Everts (301/5wins); 2. Mickael Pichon (261/1); 3. Josh Coppins (243); 4. Joel Smets (238); 5. Ben Townley (204/1); 6. Steve Ramon (183); 7. James Noble (141); 8. Ken De Dijcker (138); 9. Brian Jorgensen (121); 10. Danny Theybers (113); 11. Marvin Van Daele (110); 12. Paul Cooper (109); 13. Tanel Leok (108); 14. Pascal Leuret (96); 15. Antti Pryhonen (96).
