Christophe Pourcel claimed his first overall MX1 victory of the season at Fermo in Italy last weekend ahead of home favourite Antonio Cairoli and Clement Desalle to move up to third in the championship standings.
Moto 1
It was Kawasaki riders that dominated the opening heat as Pourcel and Gautier Paulin went wheel to wheel for much of its duration. And after a ding-dong battle throughout, both entered the final lap still in contention for victory.
Pourcel’s chances appeared to be over when the Frenchman stalled and gifted his fellow countryman the advantage. Having quickly restarted the bike however he was in prime position to pounce when Paulin made a costly error almost in sight of the chequered flag.
Cairoli meanwhile ended up 10 seconds adrift of the pair in third with Desalle, Xavier Boog and Evgeny Bobryshev completing the top six.
Moto 2
Having seen their hero struggle in the opening moto, the Italian fans finally had something to cheer about in the second heat when Cairoli’s pace proved too much for his rivals.
Having grabbed the holeshot, there was no stopping the reigning world champion who sailed serenely to a nine second victory over Pourcel, whose second place was nevertheless enough to secure him overall victory for the event.
Paulin’s solid weekend continued with third in moto two to hand the Frenchman the final step on the overall podium and maintain the pressure on Cairoli at the top of the standings.
A stirring fightback from the tail of the field following an early fall wasn’t enough to secure Paulin the overall podium his weekend’s pace deserved. In the end a sixth place finish in heat two was enough to give him fourth ahead of Ken de Dyker, who added a fourth to his earlier seventh position, and Bobryshev (6th and 5th). Kevin Strijbos, David Philippaerts, Boog and Tanel Leok completed the overall top ten.
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MX1 Race 1 top ten:
1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 40:45.152; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:00.807; 3. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), +0:10.841; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:45.920; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:46.277; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:49.834; 7. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:57.051; 8. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:59.812; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:04.282; 10. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +1:07.930;
MX1 Race 2 top ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 39:48.505; ; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:09.147; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:15.265; 4. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:20.222; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:31.310; 6. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:42.169; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), +0:54.334; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), +1:02.716; 9. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +1:05.010; 10. Dean Ferris (AUS, Kawasaki), +1:06.052;
MX1 Overall top ten:
1. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 47 points; 2. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 45 p.; 3. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 38 p.; 4. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 37 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 32 p.; 6. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 31 p.; 7. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 25 p.; 8. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 25 p.; 9. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 23 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 20 p.;
MX1 Championship top ten:
1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, KTM), 133 points; 2. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), 116 p.; 3. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 106 p.; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), 105 p.; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), 95 p.; 6. Kevin Strijbos (BEL, KTM), 76 p.; 7. Xavier Boog (FRA, Kawasaki), 72 p.; 8. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), 69 p.; 9. David Philippaerts (ITA, Yamaha), 69 p.; 10. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), 62 p.;
Tom Hornsby
International
