Italian former MX1 world champion David Philippaerts won the weekend’s French motocross GP at St Jean D’Angely, the seventh round of 15 this season.

Kiwi Josh Coppins (factory Aprilia) finished 12th and 14th in his two MX1 outings and has now slipped from 11th to 13th in the championship standings.

On a wet and rutted circuit, Coppins had a reasonable start for moto one on Sunday, powering around lap one in 14th place. Settling in to a solid rhythm, Coppins was circulating well and picked off a few riders to get into 12th by the end of the race.

In the second moto, Coppins was fast out of the gate and headed through the first turn inside the top 10. Battling to find a good rhythm on the very rough and slippery circuit left the New Zealander fighting to hold onto every position, and ultimately the No.6 Aprilia jumped across the finish line in 14th position.

“It was a tough weekend for me but I have to say that I’m really happy with how the bike performed” explained Coppins.

“We got a good hole-shot in the qualifying race which shows that we have made good improvements and are now competitive at the start.  I feel I rode well in the first moto but could not put it together in the second.  I battled to find my speed and kept fighting the track over the moto and could not finish off how I wanted to.

“I’m happy with the improvements with the bike and the effort that the team is putting in, and hope that we can translate this all into a better result in Teutschenthal in two weeks’ time.”

Meanwhile, in a return to the venue where he took his maiden GP win, Philippaerts experienced a good weekend in France where he topped the MX1 podium from defending champion and series leader Tony Cairoli and a hard charging Belgian, Clement Desalle. French rider Marvin Musquin took a home victory in the MX2 class.

Belgium’s Joel Roelants and American Zach Osborne completed the MX2 podium as both soldiered on along the rough course, where rain had fallen overnight. Pole-winner Gautier Paulin ended eighth.

Belgian former world champion Steve Ramon and Frenchman Anthony Boissiere completed the top five in the MX1 class.

Jordi Tixier took victory in both motos as he topped his home podium in the EMX 125 class ahead of countryman Sulivan Jaulin and Pascal Rauchenecker.

Despite finishing a solid 12th in his qualifying race in his EMX125 debut, Kiwi Kayne Lamont (Suzuki) finished out of the points in both championship races.

MX1 CLASS

A hard-fought French Grand Prix marked Philippaerts’ comeback to the top of the podium where the Italian was missing since Mallory’s British GP in 2009. Yamaha Monster Energy Motocross’ Philippaerts battled it out with Desalle for an eventual third in moto one but stormed to the lead of heat two at mid race distance – again passing Desalle – and went on to take victory.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli made it to a close second overall as he ended with as many points as Philippaerts. The MX1 series leader won the opening moto after a battle with Ramon but struggled in heat two, where he lost time in a battle for third with home rider Boissiere. Once Cairoli settled in third place Desalle was too far to be caught.

Suzuki’s Desalle rounded off the podium to take also second in the Championship, in between Cairoli and Philippaerts –while the man who had been series runner-up, German Max Nagl, is now out with a broken left collarbone. Desalle was fourth in the opening heat after Philippaerts passed him but took a solid second in the final moto, where he also led for the first half.

Team-mate Ramon took fourth overall ahead of TM Racing Factory’s Boissiere, being the best home rider at this French GP. Boissiere was seventh in moto one but challenged Cairoli for third in the final moto, setting the crowd on fire when he moved past the Italian but eventually settling for fourth.

Guarneri took the holeshot in moto two and was sixth overall while Pourcel was 11th. Team-mate Xavier Boog instead was stopped by technical issues in moto one and ended a bitter 15th.

MX1 Race 1 top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:59.341; 2. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:02.549; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:06.551; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.685; 5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:53.066; 6. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:56.103; 7. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +1:08.514; 8. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:15.764; 9. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +1:25.207; 10. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:32.312.

MX1 Race 2 top 10: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 39:31.903;  2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:03.013; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:07.221; 4. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), +0:11.087; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:13.044; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +0:17.029; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:17.406; 8. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), +0:21.295; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:25.454; 10. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:58.601.

MX1 Overall top 10: 1. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 45 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 40 p.; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 5. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, TM), 32 p.; 6. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 29 p.; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 27 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 27 p.; 9. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), 23 p.; 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), 18 p.

MX1 Championship top 10: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 304 points; 2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 236 p.; 3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 229 p.; 4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 218 p.; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 211 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 201 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 181 p.; 8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 162 p.; 9. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 140 p.; 10. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 123 p.

MX2 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin took his fourth consecutive Grand Prix win and sixth in seven Grand Prix events as he went on to dominate his home round in St. Jean. The MX2 championship leader rode a perfect first moto, leading from lap one to the flag, then got rid of Shaun Simpson in the final moto to take another win. This is the second consecutive year that Musquin wins a home GP.

KTM’s Roelants took his second podium of the season courtesy of second overall. The hard charging Belgian recovered to fifth in the first moto but rode a strong second moto – despite a late crash – to take back third when Germany’s Ken Roczen crashed in front of him. Roczen, who had a difficult first heat, was making up for it in moto two as he recovered until third place but crashed again to drop down the field.

Yamaha UK’s Osborne took his second consecutive podium after his first one from last weekend in America. The USA racer was an eventual third in moto one after Dutchman Jeffery Herlings exploited his mistake at the last corner before the chequered flag and moved past. Moto two was all about recovering after an early crash, with Osborne ending ninth for third overall.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2 team-mates Simpson and Herlings rounded off the top five ahead of Arnaud Tonus and Dennis Verbruggen.

MX2 Race 1 top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 41:30.100; ; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:08.720; 3. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:09.484; 4. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:14.335; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:36.026; 6. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), +0:41.906; 7. Khounsith Vongsana (FRA, KTM), +0:54.909; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +0:56.484; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:33.645; 10. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, KTM), +1:41.634;

MX2 Race 2 top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 41:06.189; ; 2. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:02.416; 3. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:03.229; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:11.461; 5. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +0:32.782; 6. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, KTM), +0:40.222; 7. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:48.027; 8. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +0:52.270; 9. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:57.310; 10. Alessandro Lupino (ITA, Yamaha), +0:58.860;

MX2 Overall top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 36 p.; 3. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 31 p.; 5. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 31 p.; 6. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 29 p.; 7. Dennis Verbruggen (BEL, KTM), 26 p.; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Christophe Charlier (FRA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 10. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 25 p.;

MX2 Championship top 10: 1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 318 points; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 247 p.; 3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 230 p.; 4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 228 p.; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 201 p.; 6. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 195 p.; 7. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 183 p.; 8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 173 p.; 9. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 170 p.; 10. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), 143 p.

EMX 125

Courtesy of a strong French outing, Jordi Tixier could keep up his winning streak as the leader of the EMX 125 series has remained undefeated since he won the opening round of the series in Mantova.

Taking his sixth consecutive heat win in this third round of the series, Tixier topped his home podium from Sulivan Jaulin and Pascal Rauchenecker. Clermont and Lafont completed the top five. Rauchenecker remained second in the series ahead of Yohan Lafont, Jaulin and David Ciucci.

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com