Unlike yesterday where the weather was wet and rainy at the World Motocross Grand Prix of Northern Ireland and the track was left nearly too muddy to ride, today’s Moneyglass Demesne track was nearly perfect, making for some excellent racing in both classes.

            Perhaps the biggest news of the day, though, was the fact that Team Yamaha Di Carli’s Antonio Cairoli clinched the MX2 World Motocross Championship after running away with the first moto. In the second, he had to work for the win, but in the end, a 1-1 score gave him the overall win.

            In the MX1 class, Team Suzuki WMX GP’s Kevin Strijbos took the overall win after a consistent finish in the first moto and a win in the second. As for his teammate, and biggest threat to the championship since Team Yamaha’s Josh Coppins was out, Steve Ramon, he had to work his way up in both motos, but still salvaged a fifth overall finish.

MX1 CLASS:

            The beginning of the first moto was all about American rider Team CAS Honda’s Mike Brown, as he took the holeshot ahead of the rest of the field. Before the first lap was over, however, Brown had dropped back to seventh after apparently having some sort of problem in the back section of the track. The lead then went to Team Suzuki WMX GP’s Kevin Strijbos with Brown’s teammate, and fastest qualifier, Ken De Dycker close behind. Just before the beginning of the second lap, De Dycker moved into the first, and from there, opened up a gap between himself and Strijbos. As the race wore on, Strijbos caught up to De Dycker and moved into the lead again at the halfway point. It was short-lived, though, and De Dycker retook the front position after only three laps. After that, the top two remained a few seconds apart in that order until the end. Behind them, Team KTM Red Bull Racing’s Davide Philippaerts held down the third position, but with only a few laps remaining, his teammate Johnathan Barragan passed him to complete the podium.

            As for Strijbos’ teammate and championship hopeful Steve Ramon, he suffered from a poor start that found him in 27^th position after the first lap. By then end, though, Ramon climbed all the way up to eighth to salvage valuable championship points. If Ramon wins with current points leader Team Yamaha’s Josh Coppins out, he could take over the lead before Coppins returns at the next race.

            The start of the second moto went to Team GPKR Kawasaki’s Sebastien Pourcel, followed by KTM Red Bull Racing’s Davide Philippaerts, Team Suzuki WMX GP’s Kevin Strijbos, and CAS Honda’s Mike Brown. On the third lap, though, Pourcel high-sided and handed the lead over to Strijbos while Brown moved into second. Pourcel remounted in fourth but quickly passed Philippaerts for third when he appeared to have some type of brief bike problem. As the laps continued, Strijbos began to lengthen his lead while Pourcel began to catch up to Brown in second. Then on lap 11, Brown dropped out of the race, allowing Pourcel to move into second and Philippaerts into third. From there, not much changed in the running order. When the checkered flag flew, Strijbos took the win followed by Pourcel and Philippaerts. In the overall, Strijbos took the win, Pourcel second, and Philippaerts third.

RESULTS:

MOTO ONE:

1. Ken De Dycker (Hon)
2. Kevin Strijbos (Suz)
3. Johnathan Barragan (KTM)
4. David Philipaerts (KTM)
5. Sebastien Pourcel (Kaw)
6. Julien Bill (Hon)
7. Billy Makenzie (Kaw)
8. Steve Ramon (Suz)
9. Mike Brown (Hon)
10. Kornel Nemeth (Suz)
11. Peirre A. Renet (Hon)
12. Marc De Reuver (Yam)
13. Clement Desalle (Suz)
14. Ero Remes (Hon)
15. Marvin Van Daele (Hon)
16. Alex Salvini (Yam)
17. Cyrille Coulon (Hon)
18. Bradley Anderson (Yam)
19. K. Gundersen (Yam)
20. Aigar Leok (Yam)

MOTO TWO:

1. Kevin Strijbos (Suz)
2. Sebastien Pourcel (Kaw)
3. David Philippaerts (KTM)
4. Steve Ramon (Suz)
5. Billy Makenzie (Kaw)
6. Julien Bill (Hon)
7. Marvin Van Daele (Hon)
8. Pierre A. Renet (Hon)
9. Kornel Nemeth (Suz)
10. Clement Desalla (Suz)
11. James Noble (Hon)
12. Ken De Dycker (Hon)
13. Alex Salvini (Yam)
14. Aigar Leok (Yam)
15. Danny Theybers (Suz)
16. Bas Verhoevan (Hon)
17. Alessio Chiodi (APR)
18. Bradley Anderson (Yam)
19. Eero Remes (Hon)
20. Mark Jones (Kaw)

OVERALL:

1. Kevin Strijbos (Suz)
2. Sebastien Pourcel (Kaw)
3. David Philippaerts (KTM)
4. Ken De Dycker (Hon)
5. Steve Ramon (Suz)
6. Billy Makenzie (Kaw)
7. Julien Bill (Hon)
8. Pierre Renet (Hon)
9. Kornel Nemeth (Suz)
10. Marvin Van Daele (Hon)

MX2 CLASS:

The start of the first moto of the day saw Team Ricci Racing Yamaha’s Nicholas Aubin take the holeshot. Behind him, though, were AXO KTM Silver Action’s Rui Goncalves and Yamaha De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli. It didn’t take long, however, for Cairoli to move up to the front of the pack and being to check out. In fact, by roughly the halfway point of the race, Cairoli had such a big lead he could have tipped over, picked his bike up, and restarted still in first. Meanwhile, behind Cairoli there was a battle for second and third, as KTM Red Bull Racing’s Tommy Searle began to make a charge up to the front after starting the first lap just outside the top-five. For a few laps, just past halfway through, Searle was happy riding behind Goncalves, however, he soon made his way around his fellow KTM rider, but by that time Cairoli was too far ahead to touch. As for the holeshot winner Aubin, he faded back to fifth behind Martin Honda rider Gautier Paulin.

            When the checkered flag finally flew, Cairoli crossed the line first followed by Searle, Goncalves, and Paulin respectively. For Cairoli, the win meant that he clinched his second World Championship title, and following the race, there was a little celebration in the winner’s circle.

            The holeshot of the second moto went to Team KTM Red Bull Racing’s Tommy Searle followed by another KTM rider AXO KTM Silver Action’s Rui Goncalves, then Molson Kawasaki’s Gareth Swanepoel, and Champ KTM’s Jeremy Van Horebeek. After only a few laps, though, Swanepoel dropped back, allowing Team KTM Scholz Racing’s Marcus Schiffer and Van Horebeek to slip ahead into third and fourth respectively. Behind them, Team Yamaha De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli was moving up fast and was into fifth by lap four. From there, it took Cairoli a little while to move up any higher, as he didn’t make it to second until there were only five laps remaining. This was where it got interesting.

            Down by over 10 seconds, Cairoli put on the ride of his life to catch Searle out front. Each lap he would inch away at the lead until with one lap remaining, they were only a few seconds apart. On the last lap, however, everything changed quickly when Searle made a mistake by going off the track, which allowed Cairoli to move into first. With that, the moto win and overall was Cairoli’s. Finishing second was Searle, third Goncalves, and fourth Schiffer.

RESULTS:

MOTO ONE:

1. Anotonio Cairoli (Yam)
2. Tommy Searle (KTM)
3. Rui Goncalves (KTM)
4. Guatier Paulin (Hon)
5. Nicolas Aubin (Yam)
6. Davide Guarneri (Yam)
7. Carl Nunn (Yam)
8. Marcus Schiffer (KTM)
9. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM)
10. Xavier Boog (Yam)
11. Manuel Monni (Yam)
12. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM)
13. Carlos Campano (Yam)
14. S. Terreblanche (Suz)
15. Matteo Bonini (Yam)
16. Aigars Bobkovs (KTM)
17. Jason Dougan (Suz)
18. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
19. Marcus Norlen (Suz)
20. Elliot Banks-Browne (Suz)

MOTO TWO:

1. Anotonio Cairoli (Yam)
2. Tommy Searle (KTM)
3. Rui Goncalves (KTM)
4. Marcus Schiffer (KTM)
5. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM)
6. Gareth Swanepole (Kaw)
7. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM)
8. Sean Hamblin (Suz)
9. Tom Church (Kaw)
10. Davide Guarneri (Yam)
11. Carlos Campano (Yam)
12. Manuel Monni (Yam)
13. Matteo Bonini (Yam)
14. Martin Barr (Yam)
15. Khounsith Vongsana (KTM)
16. Carl Nunn (Yam)
17. Marcus Norlen (Suz)
18. Aigars Bobkovs (KTM)
19. Matti Seistola (Hon)
20. Matiss Karro (Hon)

OVERALL:

1. Antonio Cairoli (Yam)
2. Tommy Searle (KTM)
3. Rui Goncalves (KTM)
4. Marcus Schiffer (KTM)
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek (KTM)
6. Davide Guarneri (Yam)
7. Jeremy Tarroux (KTM)
8. Manuel Monni (Yam)
9. Carl Nunn (Yam)
10. Carlos Campano (Yam)