De Dycker, Rattray and Searle solid at day one
Finally the action started yesterday on the Eurocircuit at Valkenswaard, the host of the first Motocross GP of the 2008 campaign. It was a first rainy day, with showers from the mid morning until the beginning of the afternoon, leaving the sandy track quite wet. Ken de Dycker took the pole as he did last year in much drier conditions, while team mates Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle won the MX2 qualifying heats.
 Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki) / Photy by: Suzuki Racing MX1
Teka Suzuki WMX1’s Ken de Dycker took pole again at Valkenswaard, the venue where he clinched his maiden pole last year. Ken finished with a 434 thousandths of a second advantage over second fastest Marc de Reuver of Honda Martin, now being supplied with factory Honda machinery as the CAS Team. Home rider De Reuver enjoyed pole until the final minutes of the session when De Dycker put in the fastest lap. David Philippaerts, at his debut with the factory Yamaha Monster Motocross team, brought home a solid third place which will be useful for tomorrow’s race. The Italian Motocross GP winner will line up next to Billy Mackenzie of CAS Honda, while defending Champion Steve Ramon of Teka Suzuki WMX1 ended the day with the fifth fastest time. Yamaha Monster Motocross’ Joshua Coppins, riding after the recent foot injury, ended a positive eighth behind Kawasaki Racing’s Manuel Priem and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Max Nagl.
UTAG-Yamaha.com’s Kenneth Gundersen injured his left knee during practice and did not take part in the qualifying session.
MX1 - Time Practice Classification:- de Dycker, Ken (BEL, Suzuki), 2:06.121
- de Reuver, Marc (NED, Honda), 2:06.555
- Philippaerts, David (ITA, Yamaha), 2:06.727
- Mackenzie, Billy (GBR, Honda), 2:06.981
- Ramon, Steve (BEL, Suzuki), 2:07.827
- Priem, Manuel (BEL, Kawasaki), 2:08.561
- Nagl, Maximilian (GER, KTM), 2:08.696
- Coppins, Joshua (NZL, Yamaha), 2:09.272
- Strijbos, Kevin (BEL, Kawasaki), 2:09.578
- Barragan, Jonathan (ESP, KTM), 2:09.581
- Desalle, Clement (BEL, Suzuki), 2:09.950
- van Daele, Marvin (BEL, Suzuki), 2:10.157
- Pourcel, Sebastien (FRA, Kawasaki), 2:10.304
- Nemeth, Kornel (HUN, KTM), 2:10.513
- Leok, Aigar (EST, Yamaha), 2:11.056
- Bill, Julien (SUI, Honda), 2:11.057
- Schiffer, Marcus (GER, KTM), 2:11.107
- Leok, Tanel (EST, Kawasaki), 2:11.114
- Brown, Mike (USA, Honda), 2:11.838
- Renet, Pierre A. (FRA, Suzuki), 2:12.798
- Pyrhonen, Antti (FIN, Suzuki), 2:12.953
- Verhoeven, Bas (NED, Kawasaki), 2:13.101
- Salvini, Alex (ITA, Yamaha), 2:13.277
- Anderson, Bradley (GBR, Suzuki), 2:13.533
- Leonce, Loic (FRA, Yamaha), 2:13.558
- Church, Tom (GBR, Kawasaki), 2:14.038
- Freibergs, Lauris (LAT, Yamaha), 2:14.707
- Chiodi, Alessio (ITA, TM), 2:14.823
- Columb, Scott (NZL, Suzuki), 2:14.970
- Saris, William (NED, Yamaha), 2:15.192
MX2
The MX2 class saw incredibly solid performances by the Red Bull KTM Factory riders Tyla Rattray, winner of heat one, and Tommy Searle, who took the second heat. Defending MX2 Champion Tony Cairoli of Yamaha Red Bull De Carli and sand master Erik Eggens of Beursfoon Suzuki both finished runner up’s.
MX2 Qualifying Race 1
The opening moto saw the escape of Italian Cairoli but the two time MX2 World Champ made a mistake and let an hungry Rattray by. Once the South African sand specialist got the lead, he just rode his factory KTM straight to victory, leaving Cairoli no change to close the gap. The two found a solid rival in the likes of Nicolas Aubin, who kept their pace for a while until he decided to settle for a safe third. Jeremy Van Horebeek and Steven Frossard fought for the fourth place with The Jerre eventually securing the position ahead of the Frenchman. Also Gautier Paulin, at his first full season in the series, made it to qualify for tomorrow’s race by ending twelfth.
MX2 - Qualifying Race 1 Classification:- Rattray, Tyla (RSA, KTM)
- Cairoli, Antonio (ITA, Yamaha)
- Aubin, Nicolas (FRA, Yamaha)
- van Horebeek, Jeremy (BEL, KTM)
- Frossard, Steven (FRA, Kawasaki)
- van de Ven, Rinus (NED, KTM)
- Boog, Xavier (FRA, Suzuki)
- Kras, Mike (NED, Suzuki)
- Norlen, Marcus (SWE, Suzuki)
- Monni, Manuel (ITA, Yamaha)
- Pellegrini, Angelo (ITA, KTM)
- Paulin, Gautier (FRA, Kawasaki)
MX2 Qualifying Race 2
The second moto saw Searle and Krestinov battle it out from turn one, with the Brit taking the lead and trying to open up a gap from the end of the opening lap. Searle secured the lead and left the rest of the field battling it out for the runner up spot. After the crash involving Krestinov and Simpson, Eggens moved past the duo to arrive second at the chequered flag. Simpson picked the bike up and rode it to an eventual third while Goncalves finished fourth after having ended the first lap in eighth place. Krestinov rounded off the top five.
MX2 - Qualifying Race 2 Classification:- Searle, Tommy (GBR, KTM)
- Eggens, Erik (NED, Suzuki)
- Simpson, Shaun (GBR, KTM)
- Goncalves, Rui (POR, KTM)
- Krestinov, Gert (EST, KTM)
- Boissiere, Anthony (FRA, KTM)
- Guarneri, Davide (ITA, Yamaha)
- Terreblanche, Shannon (RSA, Suzuki)
- Sword, Stephen (GBR, Kawasaki)
- Tarroux, Jeremy (FRA, KTM)
- van Vijfeijken, Rob (NED, Yamaha)
- Nunn, Carl (GBR, Suzuki)
MX2 - Last Chance Qualifying Practice Classification:- Leuret, Pascal (FRA, Suzuki), 2:11.452
- Musquin, Marvin (FRA, Honda), 2:13.513
- Bobryshev, Evgeniy (RUS, Yamaha), 2:14.000
- Seistola, Matti (FIN, Honda), 2:14.488
- Rodrigues, Joaquim (POR, KTM), 2:14.501
- Avis, Wyatt (RSA, Honda), 2:14.717
Source: Press release Youthstream
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