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Round 12 FIM World Motocross Championships
Namur, Belgium
Report & Photos:
J.P.Oconnell.
Round 12 and the MX championships moves on to the most famous of all its stops, Namur. The circuit is unique in that it's incorporated within a Citadelle, crosses tarmac roads, runs next to residential properties and is 2500 metres, making it the longest track on the tour. Add to that the huge elevation changes, that are taken care of by two near vertical drop offs and a huge climb just inside the ramparts, and you soon see what's so special about the place .Basically it's mx's version of the Isle of Man TT Races!!
The gate drops and they're
off
Saturday's qualifying was a dusty affair held in 90°f temperatures, which saw both Cairoli and Chris Pourcel winning their respective MX2 heat races, and Billy Mackenzie posting the fastest qualifying time in MX1. It also saw a certain Dave Thorpe take 2nd in the first Seniors race of the weekend.
First turn chaos - MX1 race 2
MX2 Race 1
Pourcel grabbed the holeshot but then went down in the first turn, with Cairoli and Davide Guarneri running into the back of him. This French and Italian pile up all worked in favour of Tommy Searle, who was first out of the Citadelle.
Goncalves briefly grabbed the lead on lap 2, but Tommy was soon back in front and stayed there till the flag. Meanwhile Pourcel climbed his way to 16th before throwing it all away with a nasty crash as he jumped back into the arena, which in turn handed 16th to Cairoli, who had come from dead last after spending nearly a minute untangling his bike from the netting after the 1st turn spill.
Billy Mac about to put a pass on Strijbos
1.Searle
2.Goncalves
3.Schiffer
4.Guarneri
5.Gundersen
Cairoli whip
MX2 Race2
This time out Toni Cairoli grabbed the holeshot and held the lead for the first few laps, before Pourcel reeled him in and put a pass on him to take the lead. Guarneri then surprised both by passing them and taking the lead, but couldn't hold on and was eventually passed by both the Frenchman and Italian.
Guaneri leads Pourcel and Cairoli
Unfortunately Tommy Searle had a shocker off the start, but dug deep and managed to get up to 10th by the end of the race, securing 2nd overall, only 2 points from the win.
1. Pourcel
2. Cairoli
3. Guarneri
4.Van Horebeek
5. Seistola
Overall Positions
1. Guarneri
2. Searle
3. Goncalves
4. Schiffer
5.Van Horebeek
MX1 Race 1
Early leader Mike Brown was soon passed by Seb Pourcel, who really put the hammer down and took off. Behind him Ken De Dyker also put on a charge, catching Pourcel and grabbing the lead. It wasn't long before Pourcel regained the top spot, with De Dyker dropping off. Billy Mackenzie came from 8th, passing Brown, Philippaerts, Leok, then chasing down and passing Suzuki team mates Ramon and Strijbos in the dying minutes, grabbing an excellent 3rd.
1. Pourcel
2. De Dyker
3. Mackenzie
4. Strijbos
5. Ramon
GPMX2 Qualifier
MX1 Race 2
Philippaerts grabbed the holeshot and never looked back, seemingly totally in tune with his KTM. Seb Pourcel wasn't so fortunate in this race, only managing to finish 6th, still enough to give him the overall by just one point. Strijbos crashed on the off camber turn as you exit the Citadelle, allowing Ramon to grab 4th in a reversal of their 1st race results. 2nd spot was taken by the hard charging Tanel Leok, with third going to Kawasaki rider Julien Bill.
1. Philippaerts
2. Leok
3. Bill
4. Ramon
5. Strijbos
Tommy Searle heads into the whoops
MX1 Overall Results
1. Pourcell
2. Philippaerts
3. Leok
4. De Dyker
5. Ramon
9. Mackenzie
16. Noble
21. Anderson
Seb Pourcell chases down Mike Brown MX1 race 1
All in all a superb weekends racing, topped off with Dave Thorpe taking the honours in the second Seniors race and getting the overall win.
If you've never been to Namur then try and do it, it really is something special!
Report & Photos: by J.P.
Oconnell
More of JP's excellent Namur photos can be viewed on his website HERE
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