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Podium for Searle |
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02.09.2007 |
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Podium for Searle; second overall in MX 2
Championships |
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Talented British teenager tackled the
unfamiliar sandy course in Lierop, Netherlands
to come home third in the season's final Grand
Prix to finish second overall in the 2007 MX2
World Championship. |
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The performance of the teenager lifted the spirits of
the KTM Red Bull Racing Team and rounded off the MX2
season satisfactorily. Although unaccustomed to riding
on sand, Searle took the holeshot in the first race but
was unable to sustain his rhythm and finished fourth. He
was up with the top three for most of the second race
but lost time in a light crash and was eventually
seventh across the line. His combined score was still
enough for him to take another podium at the close of
the season.
Tommy said he planned to train hard on sand in
preparation for next season because he wanted to be
consistently good on all surfaces. Certainly an emerging
talent in the 2007 season, he should be able to
challenge the dominance of the top MX2 riders in the
coming season, according to team boss Stefan Everts.
"Tommy has matured this season. He won a Grand Prix and
that was good for his confidence. Next year we expect
him to be able to challenge (Antonio) Cairoli and to win
a lot more GPs."
The 18-year old was left to carry the flag for the
Austrian manufacturer after teammate Tyla Rattray had to
forego the final races f the season in lieu of
reconstructive knee surgery. Tyla is well on the road to
recovery and will return to be a major player for the
KTM Red Bull Racing Team in the quest for the MX2 title
next season. Despite missing the final four GPs, the
South African rider still accrued enough points to
finish fourth overall for 2007. Between them, Rattray
and Searle stood on the podium 26 times in the season, a
result that was also praised by KTM Offroad Director Pit
Beirer.
"Today is the end of a new era for the team and we have
created a very solid basis to go on to bigger success in
2008. Having such an experienced person like Stefan
Everts in charge of the team was very special. He was
highly professional and a very good leader," Beirer
said. "The success we have enjoyed is the result of the
consolidated work of the entire team and I want to thank
them for that."
Results
1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, Yamaha
2. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Kawasaki
3. Tommy Searle, Britain, KTM
4. Rui Goncalves, Portugal, KTM
5. Nicolas Aubin, France, Yamaha
2008 Season's Standings
1. Antonio Cairoli, Italy, Yamaha, 660 points
2. Tommy Searle, Britain, KTM, 510
3. Christophe Pourcel, France, 436
4. Tyla Rattray, South Africa, KTM, 371
5. Gareth Swanepoel, South Africa, Kawasaki, 364
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Tommy Searle end season in style |
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Searle, a high flyer in the 2007 season
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Plans to challenge top riders, starts her for
Tommy Searle |
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02.09.2007 |
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Philippaerts and Barragan go out on a low
note at MX1 season's close |
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The MX World Championships season drew to a
close on Sunday at the traditional sandy track
of Lierop in the Netherlands with both KTM Red
Bull MX1 riders being absent from the podium
after coming unstuck on the track. |
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For Spain's Jonathan Barragan and Italian David
Philippaerts it was a disappointing end to the season
where together they had added another 13 podiums to the
team's tally of successes. Philippaerts, after a crash,
only managed to finish eighth in the first heat and then
failed to get away well in the second. Another crash in
the first lap of race two forced his retirement with a
twisted knee, thus ending his 2007. Adding just 13
points on Sunday to his championship title, David
rounded off the season with 419 championship points in
sixth place on the standings table.
Barragan was also unlucky on the final day of racing. He
was not well following a crash in training on Saturday
and withdrew from Sunday's first race to check in at the
medical facility. He was taken to hospital for x-rays
and diagnosed with a strong concussion. He now returns
home to Madrid where he will have another medical
checkup and a scan on Monday.
KTM's factory rider Max Nagl of Germany made a return to
racing in Lierop and finished a creditable ninth overall
on Sunday. Nagl has missed the last seven GPs because of
a shoulder injury but is expected to play a dominant
role in the team's MX1 success in the 2008 season.
"We had hoped to fight for top three places in both MX1
and MX2 this season," said KTM's Offroad Director Pit
Beirer. "But we have had some bad luck in recent weeks."
Beirer also praised the efforts of the MX2 duo Tommy
Searle and Tyla Rattray for their second and fourth
places in their season's standings and said overall the
two teams, now under the guidance of Stefan Everts, had
created a solid basis for success in 2008.
Results
1. Kevin Strijbos, Belgium, Suzuki
2. Marc de Reuver, Netherlands, Yamaha
3. Steve Ramon, Belgium, Suzuki
4. Ken de Dyker, Belgium, Honda
5. Billy Mackenzie, Britain, Kawasaki
7. Max Nagl, Germany, KTM
14. David Philippaerts, Italy, KTM
31. Jonathan Barragan, Spain, KTM
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Philippaerts best efforts unrewarded at season'
close |
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Barragan's promising start foiled by concussion
from training crash |
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02.09.2007 |
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Salminen still in E1 championship lead after
Grand Prix of Slovakia |
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Juha Salminen, at home in Finland mending a
broken collarbone after an accident racing in
Britain may have missed this weekend's E1 Grand
Prix of Slovakia but at least he has the
satisfaction of knowing he still leads the
season's standings. |
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The absence of the season's overwhelmingly dominant E1
rider at least opened up the opportunity for other
competitors to enjoy the top spot on the podium. Apart
from the two races held this weekend in this Slovak ski
resort high in the Tatra Mountains, Salminen has won
every other race this season.
Salminen wants to be 100 percent fit for the final event
in France so he opted to miss this weekend's racing, an
event that KTM Enduro Factory Team boss Fabio Farioli
described as a very good race and good weather
conditions. "It was just the right balance of challenges
for the riders and what the organizers wanted to get out
of it," Farioli said. The 55 km trail was covered 3.5
times during the day and included woodland, grasslands
and attractive landscape.
Alessandro Belometti, the second KTM E1 factory rider,
struggled with consistency in Sunday's race and finished
fifth.
Salminen still tops the standings with 300 points from
his 12 race victories. He retains a 27-point edge on
second placed Simone Albergoni of Italy and there are
another 50 points up for grabs for the two races making
up the French Grand Prix to close the season. Belometti
remains in fifth place in the standings.
Results
1. Simone Albergoni, Italy, Yamaha
2. Marc Germain, France, Yamaha
3. Cristobal Guerrero, Spain, Yamaha
4. Maurizio Micheluz, Italy, Yamaha
5. Alessandro Belometti, Italy, KTM
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Juha Salminen, championship leader and winner of
12 E1 races |
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Belometti getting ready to start in Slovakia |
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02.09.2007 |
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Aro fourth in second E2 Grand Prix race in
Slovakia |
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KTM Enduro Factory Team E2 rider Samuli Aro
finished just off the podium on Sunday to be
fourth at the end of the day where riders
tackled the 55km trail of wooded mountain
landscape of this Slovak ski resort of
Krompachy. |
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Racing just south of the Polish border over attractive
landscape and watched by a large and enthusiastic crowd
of spectators, Aro who was third on Saturday, was
somewhat handicapped by a knee injury from the previous
day.
"For sure he was not at 100%," said team boss Fabio
Farioli. "Samuli twisted his knee in a crash on Saturday
and it gave him some problems today."
Teammate Fabien Planet managed to finish sixth despite
two small crashes. He was fifth on Saturday.
Aro's 38 championship points from the weekend are enough
to keep him in second place in the season's standings
behind leader Mika Ahola, while the French rider Planet
stays in fourth place. Ahola has a 35-point lead on Aro
but there is another 50 points to be won in the two
races making up the French Grand Prix so his hopes of
retaining the championship title remain alive.
Results
1. Jonny Aubert, France, Yamaha
2. Mika Ahola, Finland, Honda
3. Stefan Merriman, Aprilia, Australia
4. Samuli Aro, Finland, KTM
5. Fabrizio Dini, Italy, Yamaha
6. Fabien Planet, France, KTM
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Aro takes fourth place despite knee injury
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Planet sixth in Krompachy |
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02.09.2007 |
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Cervantes comes away King of Krompachy after
two successive E3 wins |
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Ivan Cervantes rode to a magnificent second
victory in two days at the Enduro 3 Grand Prix
of Slovakia to be the undisputed ruler of the
big bikes this weekend and to draw praise from
the boos of the KTM Enduro Factory Team, Fabio
Farioli. |
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"Ivan was the most outstanding rider today. He was
incredible. He was the best and fastest in all the
tests, and the fastest rider overall on the course,"
Farioli said. Cervantes total time for the tests in the
wooded landscape around this ski resort was an
impressive 1:37.75 ahead of the second placed Sebastien
Guillaume.
KTM teammate Marko Tarkkala came in third after a day
where he was not able to give 100% following a bump on
the head sustained during a crash in Saturday's race.
The event was held in Slovakia's High Tatra Mountains,
just a short distance from the southern Polish border.
Cervantes 50 championship points for his two victories
this weekend gives him a total of 330 for the season and
a 40-point advantage over Tarkkala in second place.
There are another 50 points up for grabs in the two
races of the Grand Prix of France, the final event of
the 2007 season.
Results
1. Ivan Cervantes, Spain, KTM
2. Sebastien Guillaume, France, Husqvarna
3. Marko Tarkkala, Finland, KTM
4. Alessandro Botturi, Italy, Honda
5. Bjorne Carlsson, Sweden, Husaberg
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Cervantes in top form in Slovakia |
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Tarkkala fourth on day 2, Slovakia |
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Cervantes fully concentrated and ready to
dominate Sunday's race |
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