Sebastien Pourcel looks forward to second Grand Prix win
The opening day of the FIM Motocross Grand Prix of Czech Republic got underway today, under mixed weather conditions.
 Mixed weather conditions in Loket / Photo by: Jens Pohl The Loketske Serpentiny became really well prepared after the showers in the afternoon, when Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha) and Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM) won their qualifying heats. On the other hand, the MX1 qualifying session was dry, and was topped by Frenchman Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki). MX1
Back from his maiden GP win at Faenza, GPKR’s Sebastien Pourcel had a great start to the weekend by clocking his second season pole. With ten minutes to go, the Frenchman snatched the provisional pole from KTM Red Bull’s Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), who eventually dropped down to fifth, whereas his team mate David Philippaerts (ITA, KTM) is still suffering with a right shoulder injury, and finished nineteenth. Tanel Leok (EST, Kawasaki) of Kawasaki Racing Europe missed the pole by almost half a second, whereas Kevin Strijbos (BEL, Suzuki) of Suzuki ended third fastest on the track where his clinched his and the RMZ 450’s maiden GP win.
 Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki) / Photo by: Jens Pohl Swedish GP winner Ken De Dycker (BEL, Honda) of CAS Honda clocked a convincing fourth fastest laptime, as his team mate Mike Brown (USA, Honda) was eleventh. Series leader Josh Coppins (NZL, Yamaha) was sixth fastest ahead of runner up Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki). Italian Alex Salvini (ITA, Yamaha)) eventually dropped down to tenth, after he had stormed up to fourth at half session distance.
Qualifying Class MX1:- Pourcel, Sebastien (FRA, Kawasaki) 1:47.166
- Leok, Tanel (EST, Kawasaki) 1:47.645
- Strijbos, Kevin (BEL, Suzuki) 1:47.747
- de Dycker, Ken (BEL, Honda) 1:47.780
- Barragan, Jonathan (ESP, KTM) 1:48.063
- Coppins, Joshua (NZL, Yamaha) 1:48.432
- Ramon, Steve (BEL, Suzuki) 1:48.469
- Renet, Pierre A. (FRA, Honda) 1:48.531
- Mackenzie, Billy (GBR, Kawasaki) 1:48.559
- Salvini, Alex (ITA, Yamaha) 1:48.576
- Brown, Mike (USA, Honda) 1:48.870
- Desalle, Clement (BEL, Suzuki) 1:49.032
- van Daele, Marvin (BEL, Honda) 1:49.198
- Crockard, Gordon (IRL, Honda) 1:49.202
- Priem, Manuel (BEL, TM) 1:49.365
- de Reuver, Marc (NED, Yamaha) 1:49.380
- Noble, James (GBR, Honda) 1:49.495
- Bill, Julien (SUI, Honda) 1:49.534
- Philippaerts, David (ITA, KTM) 1:49.720
- Leok, Aigar (EST, Yamaha) 1:49.884
- Chiodi, Alessio (ITA, Aprilia) 1:50.024
- Michek, Martin (CZE, Honda) 1:50.049
- Leonce, Loic (FRA, Yamaha) 1:50.210
- Coulon, Cyrille (FRA, Honda) 1:50.360
- Nemeth, Kornel (HUN, Suzuki) 1:50.374
- Kadlecek, Michal (CZE, Honda) 1:50.442
- Melotte, Cedric (BEL, Aprilia) 1:50.540
- Verhoeven, Bas (NED, Honda) 1:50.585
- Theybers, Danny (BEL, Suzuki) 1:50.588
- Moze, Jaka (SLO, Suzuki) 1:50.821
- Kovalainen, Marko (FIN, Honda) 1:51.277
- Jensen, Kasper (DEN, Yamaha) 1:51.423
MX2
Yamaha De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha) rode to victory in the first qualifying heat even with an injured left index; the Italian pulled away with the lead as AXO KTM Silver Action’s Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM) did in the second qualifying heat. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM) of KTM Red Bull finished second behind Cairoli, as Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha) rode to a solid second place in heat two.
MX2 Qualifying Race 1
Tony Cairoli had once again a good start and pulled away with the lead in another race on his own; while Cairoli was cruising in first, Tyla Rattray had to move up from the bottom of the top five to a solid second place. The hard working South African was actually handed the position by Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), who crashed when he was second. A surprising Shannon Terreblanche (RSA, Suzuki) tried to chase Cairoli in the early stages, but dropped down to seventh and eventually crashed; he did not finish the moto, because his gearbox was damaged, but he was eighth fastest in the last chance qualifying practice. Guarneri brought the bike home in third place ahead of German Marcus Schiffer (GER, KTM) and Italian Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha); the latter was back to action after he injured at the Japanese Grand Prix. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki) was sixth, as Kawasaki fellow rider Marvin Musquin (FRA, Kawasaki) was tenth.
 Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha) / Photo by: Jens Pohl Qualifying Class MX2 1st Race:- Cairoli, Antonio (ITA, Yamaha)
- Rattray, Tyla (RSA, KTM)
- Guarneri, Davide (ITA, Yamaha)
- Schiffer, Marcus (GER, KTM)
- Monni, Manuel (ITA, Yamaha)
- Sword, Stephen (GBR, Kawasaki)
- Bonini, Matteo (ITA, Yamaha)
- Verbruggen, Dennis (BEL, Yamaha)
- Barr, Martin (GBR, Yamaha)
- Musquin, Marvin (FRA, Kawasaki)
- Nicholls, Jake (GBR, Suzuki)
- Bertuzzo, Pier Filippo (ITA, Honda)
MX2 Qualifying Race 2
After a stellar start, Rui Goncalves – who has been training with Stefan Everts in the last couple of weeks - clinched the lead and ran away from hungry Nicolas Aubin and Gautier Paulin (FRA, Honda). Aubin tried to close the gap from the Portuguese leader, but eventually settled down for a consistent second. On the other hand Paulin dropped down to sixth in a hard fought qualifying heat; the Frenchman was passed by both Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki) and Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), and finally surrendered also to Gareth Swanepoel (RSA, Kawasaki). The defending Champion and winner of the latest GP at Faenza recovered from eighth to third, but he was too late to catch Aubin and Goncalves. Tommy Searle settled down for fourth after he blocked Swanepoel’s attacks; the latter completed the top five. Matti Seistola (FIN, Honda) ended eleventh after he completely missed the start, being at the bottom of the group at the end of the opening lap.
 Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM) / Photo by: Jens Pohl After crashing out of their qualifying heats, Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki) – who is back to the GP scene after a wrist operation that he underwent after the GP at Teutschenthal - Pascal Leuret (FRA, Honda) and Kenneth Gundersen (NOR, Yamaha) qualified to the GP via the last chance.
Qualifying Class MX2 2nd Race:- Goncalves, Rui (POR, KTM)
- Aubin, Nicolas (FRA, Yamaha)
- Pourcel, Christophe (FRA, Kawasaki)
- Searle, Tommy (GBR, KTM)
- Swanepoel, Gareth (RSA, Kawasaki)
- Paulin, Gautier (FRA, Honda)
- Lombrici, Roberto (ITA, KTM)
- Tarroux, Jeremy (FRA, KTM)
- van Horebeek, Jeremy (BEL, KTM)
- Boissiere, Anthony (FRA, Kawasaki)
- Seistola, Matti (FIN, Honda)
- Boog, Xavier (FRA, Yamaha)
MX2 Last Chance Qualifying Practice:- Frossard, Steven (FRA, Kawasaki) 1:50.018
- Leuret, Pascal (FRA, Honda) 1:50.273
- Gundersen, Kenneth (NOR, Yamaha) 1:50.671
- Aranda, Gregory (FRA, Kawasaki) 1:50.767
- Remes, Eero (FIN, Honda) 1:50.921
- Dougan, Jason (GBR, Suzuki) 1:51.057
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