Italian defending motocross world champion Antonio Cairoli dominated both heats in the Belgian GP at Lommel at the weekend, scoring his fifth overall victory of the season and stretching his MX1 championship lead to 79 points over Belgium’s Clement Desalle (Suzuki).

New Zealand’s Josh Coppins finished ninth and eighth in his two MX1 outings, good enough to rank ninth overall for the day.

It was a good day at the office for the Kiwi hero whose campaign has been confounded by numerous mechanical glitches this season.

However, despite the solid point-scoring effort, the factory Aprilia rider remains outside the top 10 championship standings. Coppins moved up one position, from 14th to 13th in the championship standings, with just four rounds remaining.

Meanwhile, in the MX2 class it was German teenager Ken Roczen (Suzuki) (pictured above) who dominated at Lommel, taking his first GP win of the season.

Germany’s Max Nagl (KTM) struggled a little bit on the Belgian track but he succeeded in being on the second step of the podium after his third and second placings on Sunday. Third best was Desalle, who finished third and fourth in the heats.

Roczen did not win both heats but his first and second places made him win his first GP of the season. Second of the MX2 class was race two winner Jeffrey Herlings and third was current championship leader Marvin Musquin.

In the veterans’ championship, Belgian Pascal Bal won his home round in Lommel and his victory has left the FIM Veterans World Cup to be decided on the last round in Lierop. Second was red plate holder Mats Nilsson and third was Erwin Hendrickx.

MX1 CLASS

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1’s Cairoli was back at the top of the podium and proved that Lommel is like his second home GP – as mentioned in the back of his racing pants through the patch “I also live in Lommel”.

The Italian dominated both heats from beginning to end choosing the best lines of a track which is known as one the roughest of the championship. Cairoli has now increased the advantage in the championship with second classified Desalle being now 79 points behind the leader.

The second step of the podium was for his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX1 team-mate Nagl who recovered his confidence after a long time absence from the podium due to his collarbone injury from the French GP. The German took both holeshots of the weekend’s races and, although he managed to follow Cairoli’s lines and kept himself steady at the top, he admitted that he was riding on the edge.

For Desalle, it was not the weekend he had expected, as he wanted to show his Belgian fans why he is second in the standings of the Championship. Once again the Belgian starred in a tight battle with Italy’s David Philippaerts both in heat one and two, with Desalle passing the Italian in both occasions to finish third and fourth.

Yamaha’s Philippaerts could not keep the rhythm of his rivals and after starting third in both heats he could only finish fourth and fifth. However, he could have had the possibility of being on the podium if he had not crashed during the second race, but he had to settle down for a fourth position overall.

Fifth classified was LS Motors Honda’s Tanel Leok who missed the podium due to his numerous mistakes in race one, where he could only be 13. During the second moto he moved up from ninth to second showing everybody his speed and potential on the sand.

Belgian Ken De Dycker was just sixth overall in his home GP, where last year succeeded in winning the race, and his compatriot Steve Ramon finished eighth in a race where he experienced many ups and downs. Ramon was fighting for the top three in both races but Lommel’s ruts made him crash twice, losing all his chances for being on his home GP podium.

Rui Gonçalves had to work really hard to finish seventh. The Portuguese rider did not have really good starts but recovered in both heats to take sixth and seventh.

Evgeny Bobryshev was not lucky in Belgium at the weekend and finished 11th overall. The Russian was involved in a tumble in the start of the first race but pushed really hard to reach the tenth position. However, he made a mistake and dropped back to an eventual 12th. On the second moto he did not have a good start either and could only finish ninth.

Japanese rider Yu Hirata finished 31st but he is looking forward to being back next weekend on the Bonver Grand Prix of the Czech Republic in Loket.

Kawasaki Racing was unlucky this weekend not having Xavier Boog racing after he injured his left leg injury during Saturday’s qualifying race, Sebastien Pourcel could finish neither of the heats and Johnathon Barragan was 14th on his first race after his long absence.

MX1 Race 1 top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 41:00.981; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:12.951; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:24.246; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +0:34.721; 5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:41.527; 6. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:10.355; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +1:22.494; 8. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), +1:24.510; 9. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +1:25.710; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki), +1:39.053;

MX1 Race 2 top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:59.056; ; 2. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), +0:34.683; 3. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:40.531; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:54.689; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), +1:10.895; 6. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:15.116; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +1:18.419; 8. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), +1:27.807; 9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +1:30.103; 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), +1:32.359.

MX1 Overall top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 50 points; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 42 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 33 p.; 5. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 30 p.; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), 29 p.; 8. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 26 p.; 9. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Aprilia), 25 p.; 10. Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Honda), 24 p.

MX1 Championship top 10:

1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 484 points;

2. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 405;

3. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 364;

4. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), 348;

5. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 341;

6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Yamaha), 299;

7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 276;

8. Tanel Leok (EST, Honda), 249;

9. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 244;

10. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Honda), 213.

MX2 CLASS

Roczen succeeded in winning his first GP of the season and in showing his skills on the sand of Lommel.

He overtook five riders in the first race to take the lead and open a consistent gap from his pursuers. After the day’s first win, Roczen settled for second in the final heat.

The German rider could not hide his happiness after winning the GP as he has been very close to the victory many times but misfortune has always been his biggest rival. At the moment he is still second in the Championship but he is 78 points behind red plate holder Musquin and 23 points ahead of third classified Steven Frossard.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Herlings had a bittersweet ending with the second position obtained in one of his favourite sandy tracks. The Dutch rider led the first race for a couple of laps but a mistake in one of the deep ruts in the Lommel track made him lose the lead and he could only finish third.

However, the second race was dominated by the sand specialist, riding safely up to the chequered flag and being able to clinch the second step of the podium.

The rostrum was completed by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MX2’s Musquin who struggled more than what he expected, and despite his usual outstanding starts on his KTM machine, he could not keep the rhythm of the frontrunners. He is still on the top of the MX2 standings but he will have to focus on next weekend’s race in Loket, a track which has never brought him good results –a broken foot in 2008 and a technical problem in 2009- if he wants to reinforce his leadership.

KTM’s Joel Roelants finished fourth in his home Grand Prix with a fourth and fifth position in the races, which he got after two solid recoveries.

Yamaha’s Gautier Paulin completed the top five with a seventh and a fourth place and moved up two positions in the standings of the Championship. The French will now arrive eleventh at the next Grand Prix. Harri Kullas finished right behind Paulin and was tied in points with seventh placed Shaun Simpson.

Frossard finished eighth after winning his maiden GP in Sweden. The French rider knew that it would not be an easy weekend for him as he could not score any points in last year’s GP. On the other hand, his team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek finished ninth overall.

MX2 Race 1 top 10:

1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 40:03.130; 2. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:15.298; 3. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), +0:32.719; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:37.586; 5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:49.812; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +1:01.090; 7. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +1:16.896; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), +1:30.922; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:40.112; 10. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:54.227;

MX2 Race 2 top 10:

1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 41:49.178; ; 2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), +0:07.430; 3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), +0:17.879; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:28.301; 5. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), +0:37.546; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), +0:44.946; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +1:10.698; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +1:24.977; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), +1:37.362; 10. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +1:48.602;

MX2 Overall top 10:

1. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 47 points; 2. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 42 p.; 4. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 34 p.; 5. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Yamaha), 32 p.; 6. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 30 p.; 7. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 30 p.; 8. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 9. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 24 p.; 10. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 23 p.;

MX2 Championship top 10:

1. Marvin Musquin (FRA, KTM), 480 points;

2. Ken Roczen (GER, Suzuki), 402;

3. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), 379;

4. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 371;

5. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), 298;

6. Zach Osborne (USA, Yamaha), 290;

7. Joel Roelants (BEL, KTM), 274;

8. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, Kawasaki), 268;

9. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Suzuki), 266;

10. Harri Kullas (FIN, Yamaha), 233.

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com