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| Philippaerts and Cairoli grace French podium | | |  | Yamaha filled two places on the podium in front of 38,000 spectators at a vibrant Ernee circuit for the Grand Prix of France. The eighth stop of fifteen on the FIM MX1-GP World Championship calendar. Reigning champion David Philippaerts picked up his fourth rostrum, and third appearance in succession, with the runner-up spot on the YZ450FM while Yamaha Red Bull De Carli's Tony Cairoli was third for his fifth trophy of the campaign.
The Ernee course had last seen Grand Prix action in 2006 when Stefan Everts rounded off an incredible career and tally of records and achievements with victory on the steep French slopes. The course had benefitted from attempts to make the dirt softer but the quantity of stones and the loose top soil meant that it was slippery and forced riders to take risks in the pursuit of difficult overtaking chances.
The opening sprint of 35 minutes and 2 laps took place under a shower in what was a case of 'four seasons in one day' as rain, sunshine, a thunder storm and even hail appeared throughout the afternoon. The rainfall caused the first moto to be the wettest and muddiest for the MX1-GP riders since the opening round at Faenza, Italy. |
| Philippaerts, winner of his first GP of the season last week at Mallory Park, held off Clement Desalle for 2nd place in Moto1. He then recovered from a crash and another slip in a busy Moto2 (that was the most entertaining race of the day) to plot his way through the field to secure 4th.
Cairoli had an average start and could not rise higher than 7th in the processional fare that was Moto1. He was more proactive in Moto2 after surviving a tangle with Josh Coppins and team-mate Tanel Leok and his speed around the rougher bumps lifted him to 2nd place by the end of the distance. |
|  | Estonian Leok had a better Grand Prix than in Britain last week and was 4th overall. The Italian Champion defied two crashes in Moto1 to score 8th and then chased Cairoli to 3rd spot later in the afternoon. Leok passed Josh Coppins to move into the top three (the first time since round four in Valkenswaard). The New Zealander managed 6th in the final classification, giving Yamaha four riders high up the leader-board, despite more fitness problems. After taking 6th in the first race he spent a sizeable part of Moto2 clinging onto a rostrum slot with 3rd but was powerless to resist the assaults of Cairoli, Philippaerts and Leok in the throes of the meeting.
Yamaha representatives have been present on the podium at all eight rounds so far. With the injury and absence of Jonathan Barragan the world championship standings are beginning to narrow in its focus as to who will claim the '09 MX1-GP title. Cairoli leads by 30 points over Philippaerts in second; in total all four Yamaha riders fill the top seven positions with Coppins in fourth and Leok seventh. Thanks to YZ technology Yamaha also enjoy a 44 point lead in the manufacturer's standings.
Now into the second half of the campaign the teams face a three week journey across northern Europe in two weeks time. Round nine will occur at Talkessel in Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany before travelling to Latvia and Sweden.
David Philippaerts, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 2nd:
"I am happy with today because I had two crashes in the first moto but had some good lines and made a decent race to save a podium position. We had two different races. In the first the line wasn't very big and in the second there was more choice but it was rougher and more difficult. Max was very fast today but I want to push to be faster than him; for the last two GPs it has been us two at the front. We still have a lot of races to go in this championship and riders like Josh and Desalle will play a part yet. It was nice to race here in France with all the fans packed in the amphitheatre, when you jump past them you can see many faces." |
|  | Tony Cairoli, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 3rd:
"I did not train this week and had some pain in my back after Mallory. I was quite scared last week that I had done some damage and was relieved when nothing showed up in the examination. I was looking forward to this GP even though I wasn't feeling 100%. It was a shame about the rain in the first moto because passing other riders was actually pretty dangerous and I needed to learn a bit more about riding an MX1 bike in these conditions; it was only Faenza at the start of the year when we raced in something similar. My confidence with the bike is good but I still need to get experience in weather like this."
Tanel Leok, Yamaha Red Bull De Carli, 4th:
"That was a bit better. The first race was difficult because it was muddy and slippery; I crashed twice. Coppins went down in front of me but because I could not see that well I hit him then Tony struck me and a few of us were having problems there! My goggles misted up after that and it was tricky to focus, but I did not want to throw them away. I was feeling good but was making mistakes and after another crash I chucked the goggles. The second race was good but did not start well because I touched Pichon on the start straight and lost a lot of ground. I attacked the first lap and passed a lot of guys, and I was happy with that because it is part of my riding that I have been working on. It was hard to overtake Josh for a while there but at the end I could push harder."
Josh Coppins, Yamaha Monster Energy MX Team, 6th:
"I got tired and didn't have any power at the end; there was nothing left in the tank. I still have the same problem as the last few GPs and I am not sure why because my strength is normally my strong point. So I am struggling a little bit at the moment and need to get it fixed." |
| Crowd: 38,000
Weather: Changeable | | | 2009 GP of France 07/06/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Maximilian Nagl | KTM | GER | 41'20.506 | | 2 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 0'16.244 | | 3 | Ken De Dycker | Suzuki | BEL | 0'47.406 | | 4 | Clement Desalle | Honda | BEL | 0'58.202 | | 5 | Mickael Pichon | Honda | FRA | 1'05.130 | | 6 | Joshua Coppins | Yamaha | NZL | 1'08.726 | | 7 | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 1'29.764 | | 8 | Tanel Leok | Yamaha | EST | 1'50.119 | | 9 | Aigar Leok | TM | EST | 2'12.353 | | 10 | Tom Church | CCM | GBR | -1Laps | | 11 | Manuel Priem | Aprilia | BEL | -1Laps | | 12 | David Vuillemin | Kawasaki | FRA | -1Laps | | 13 | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | -1Laps | | 14 | Julien Bill | Aprilia | CHE | -1Laps | | 15 | Gregory Aranda | Kawasaki | FRA | -1Laps | | 17 | Rob van Vijfeijken | Yamaha | NED | -1Laps |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time | | 1 | Maximilian Nagl | KTM | GER | 41'08.999 | | 2 | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 0'12.302 | | 3 | Tanel Leok | Yamaha | EST | 0'15.882 | | 4 | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 0'19.173 | | 5 | Billy MacKenzie | Honda | GBR | 0'22.343 | | 6 | Clement Desalle | Honda | BEL | 0'24.320 | | 7 | Joshua Coppins | Yamaha | NZL | 0'32.330 | | 8 | Aigar Leok | TM | EST | 1'12.048 | | 9 | Mickael Pichon | Honda | FRA | 1'18.576 | | 10 | Jason Dougan | CCM | GBR | 1'21.536 | | 11 | Manuel Priem | Aprilia | BEL | 1'24.926 | | 12 | Julien Bill | Aprilia | CHE | 1'32.363 | | 13 | Tom Church | CCM | GBR | 1'35.771 | | 14 | David Vuillemin | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'52.964 | | 15 | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | 2'03.032 | | 19 | Carlos Campano | Yamaha | ESP | -1Laps | | 20 | Rob van Vijfeijken | Yamaha | NED | -1Laps |
| Rider Standings | 07/06/2009 | | Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points | | 1. | Antonio Cairoli | Yamaha | ITA | 291 | | 2. | David Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 261 | | 3. | Maximilian Nagl | KTM | GER | 248 | | 4. | Joshua Coppins | Yamaha | NZL | 238 | | 5. | Clement Desalle | Honda | BEL | 237 | | 6. | Ken De Dycker | Suzuki | BEL | 228 | | 7. | Tanel Leok | Yamaha | EST | 223 | | 8. | Jonathan Barragan | KTM | ESP | 215 | | 9. | Gareth Swanepoel | Kawasaki | RSA | 120 | | 10. | Aigar Leok | TM | EST | 118 | | 11. | David Vuillemin | Kawasaki | FRA | 117 | | 12. | Billy MacKenzie | Honda | GBR | 103 | | 13. | Steve Ramon | Suzuki | BEL | 100 | | 14. | Kevin Strijbos | Honda | BEL | 82 | | 15. | Gregory Aranda | Kawasaki | FRA | 80 | | 24. | Carlos Campano | Yamaha | ESP | 36 | | 29. | Rob van Vijfeijken | Yamaha | NED | 18 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 07/06/2009 | | Pos. | Manufacturer | Points | | 1. | Yamaha | 352 | | 2. | KTM | 308 | | 3. | Honda | 272 | | 4. | Suzuki | 243 | | 5. | Kawasaki | 155 | | 6. | TM | 118 | | 7. | Aprilia | 98 | | 8. | CCM | 66 |
| Larrieu in fantastic debut podium in France | | |  | The eighth round of fifteen in the MX2-GP World Championship saw Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci Motocross team's Loic Larrieu surprisingly take the first podium result of his career with third position at the Grand Prix of France at a windy, busy and loud Ernee circuit. 38,000 spectators crowded the steep hillside and braved some chilly winds and frequent showers to witness the latest action fare in this competitive series.
Larrieu, in his first world championship campaign, benefitted from two good starts to capture 4th and 5th positions and become the first rookie in 2009 to scale the podium. An all-French top three drove the home crowd wild and Larrieu was at the centre of the celebrations. The teenager gave the YZ250FM its first trophy since Nico Aubin collected the first silverware for the Italian team at the GP of Benelux last month.
Aubin, who entered the meeting with a sore shoulder as a consequence of his fall in the second moto last week at the British GP, was slightly disappointed to finish with 9th overall. The Frenchman did not collect the best of positions out of the gate and the first moto in particular was tricky, being run in a heavy shower that created very muddy conditions and a single racing line. He was 9th and 8th for his ranking. |
|  | Three places in front of Aubin was Davide Guarneri with 6th overall. The Italian had his worst race finish of the season in Moto1 with 14th after a bad start and needing to pit for more goggles. A better getaway in Moto2 saw the consistent championship runner a safe 3rd in another race that did not see much action in the way of overtaking.
Guarneri is still 3rd in the standings and 29 points from Marvin Musquin at the peak of the table. Aubin is 7th and Larrieu has moved up to 11th. Italian Champion Manuel Monni is 8th and collected a decent second moto finish of 6th at Ernee.
Round nine will take place at the fast and natural layout of Talkessel, Teutschenthal for the Grand Prix of Germany in two weeks time where Utag Yamaha.com Zach Osborne, winner of the Turkish round hopes to be circulating with his YZ250FM once more.
Loic Larrieu, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 3rd:
"This is a great result for me and an important point in my season. The starts were really important for me today and I think the second moto was tougher than the first one. I learned a valuable lesson today and that is how important it is to start with the leaders in order to find a good rhythm quickly. I could make some good laps and felt a bit tired because of the conditions but otherwise it was a memorable day. To do this in front of my home crowd is fantastic and a podium is a surprise for me; certainly at this round!"
Davide Guarneri, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 6th:
"The first moto was difficult because it started to rain heavily just before. I made a bad start and tried to pass some riders but had to take off the goggles and then stopped in the pits for more. I came back to twelfth but slipped off again two laps from the end. The track was really strange; only one line and away from that it was almost impossible to pass. I went to the outside of the gate and got a much better start in the second moto. I was third and felt a bit stiff on the first three laps but could then push to catch Roczen. I made three mistakes that almost caused me to crash and chose to finish the moto in the top three and not take more risks."
Nico Aubin, Yamaha Monster Energy Ricci MX Team, 9th:
"It was another difficult week. With some bad starts I could make 9th and 8th, and I don't really have that much to say. The speed was pretty good but the results not so much. My shoulder did not bother me too much; I just had to ride with some pain. There was only one good line for each corner so if you didn't get the holeshot it was very hard to win or make the podium." |
| Crowd: 38,000
Weather: Changeable | | | 2009 GP of France 07/06/2009 | |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Marvin Musquin | KTM | FRA | 41'36.339 |
| 2 | Anthony Boissière | KTM | FRA | 0'10.784 |
| 3 | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'28.291 |
| 4 | Loic Larrieu | Yamaha | FRA | 0'52.210 |
| 5 | Arnaud Tonus | KTM | CHE | 1'03.251 |
| 6 | Valentin Teillet | KTM | FRA | 1'11.337 |
| 7 | Loic Rombaut | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'18.584 |
| 8 | Gautier Paulin | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'20.398 |
| 9 | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 1'23.480 |
| 10 | Rui Goncalves | KTM | POR | 1'25.855 |
| 11 | Joel Roelants | KTM | BEL | 1'28.389 |
| 12 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Yamaha | RUS | 1'45.973 |
| 13 | Xavier Boog | Suzuki | FRA | 1'52.847 |
| 14 | Davide Guarneri | Yamaha | ITA | 2'18.686 |
| 15 | Ken Roczen | Suzuki | GER | -1Laps |
| 16 | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | -1Laps |
| 17 | Manuel Monni | Yamaha | ITA | -1Laps |
| 18 | Mel Pocock | Yamaha | GBR | -1Laps |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Total Time |
| 1 | Marvin Musquin | KTM | FRA | 40'24.450 |
| 2 | Ken Roczen | Suzuki | GER | 0'10.728 |
| 3 | Davide Guarneri | Yamaha | ITA | 0'20.134 |
| 4 | Gautier Paulin | Kawasaki | FRA | 0'26.428 |
| 5 | Loic Larrieu | Yamaha | FRA | 0'35.910 |
| 6 | Manuel Monni | Yamaha | ITA | 0'42.811 |
| 7 | Anthony Boissière | KTM | FRA | 0'45.057 |
| 8 | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 0'46.819 |
| 9 | Joel Roelants | KTM | BEL | 0'55.077 |
| 10 | Valentin Teillet | KTM | FRA | 1'16.745 |
| 11 | Jeremy Van Horebeek | KTM | BEL | 1'27.153 |
| 12 | Rui Goncalves | KTM | POR | 1'28.787 |
| 13 | Mel Pocock | Yamaha | GBR | 1'30.748 |
| 14 | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 1'32.821 |
| 15 | Evgeny Bobryshev | Yamaha | RUS | 1'42.805 |
| 20 | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | 1'51.269 |
| Rider Standings | 07/06/2009 |
| Pos. | Rider | Manu. | Nat. | Points |
| 1. | Marvin Musquin | KTM | FRA | 284 |
| 2. | Gautier Paulin | Kawasaki | FRA | 250 |
| 3. | Davide Guarneri | Yamaha | ITA | 235 |
| 4. | Rui Goncalves | KTM | POR | 222 |
| 5. | Steven Frossard | Kawasaki | FRA | 205 |
| 6. | Xavier Boog | Suzuki | FRA | 177 |
| 7. | Nicolas Aubin | Yamaha | FRA | 161 |
| 8. | Manuel Monni | Yamaha | ITA | 134 |
| 9. | Jeremy Van Horebeek | KTM | BEL | 128 |
| 10. | Ken Roczen | Suzuki | GER | 120 |
| 11. | Loic Larrieu | Yamaha | FRA | 115 |
| 12. | Arnaud Tonus | KTM | CHE | 108 |
| 13. | Joel Roelants | KTM | BEL | 103 |
| 14. | Anthony Boissière | KTM | FRA | 100 |
| 15. | Zach Osborne | Yamaha | USA | 100 |
| 21. | Evgeny Bobryshev | Yamaha | RUS | 57 |
| 22. | Alessandro Lupino | Yamaha | ITA | 56 |
| 28. | Cedric Soubeyras | Yamaha | FRA | 21 |
| 35. | Mel Pocock | Yamaha | GBR | 11 |
| 39. | Deny Philippaerts | Yamaha | ITA | 6 |
| Manufacturer Standings | 07/06/2009 |
| Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| 1. | KTM | 330 |
| 2. | Kawasaki | 302 |
| 3. | Yamaha | 281 |
| 4. | Suzuki | 226 |
| 5. | Honda | 210 |
| 6. | TM | 9 |
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