The opening day of the Bulgarian Grand Prix got underway today under mixed weather conditions, with light rain falling some times throughout the day.
Sebastien Pourcel took a dominant pole position in the MX1 class with Antonio Cairoli and Tyla Rattray winning the qualifying motos on the Gorna Rositza course.
MX1
Once again the pole position went to GPKR’s Sebastien Pourcel, who collected his third consecutive Lovemytime Pole Position Award courtesy of a dominant performance. The Frenchman left second placed Max Nagl of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing behind by almost one second, showing a superb speed both in the single lap and in the endurance.
With Pourcel being all set on winning another Grand Prix after Portugal, AXO KTM Silver Action’s Jonathan Barragan was satisfied with a third fastest time and will try to repeat his last year’s moto win in Sevlievo. Teka Suzuki WMX1’s Steve Ramon took a last minute fourth as he improved his laptime at the very last try, while CAS Honda’s Billy Mackenzie rounded off the top five ahead of Yamaha Monster Motocross’ Joshua Coppins.
A superb Clement Desalle ended seventh fastest but the Suzuki Inotec Belgian saw the second spot in the time sheets for a part of the session. Current World Championship leader David Philippaerts was right behind Desalle as the Yamaha Monster Motocross rider struggled to find his own rhythm throughout this first day.
Top five: 1. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 1:46.767; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:00.845; 3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:01.092; 4. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.447; 5. Billy Mackenzie (GBR, Honda), +0:01.476
MX2
Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Antonio Cairoli and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tyla Rattray took today’s qualifying heats with two impressive but different performances. While Cairoli battled it tooth and nail with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tommy Searle, who eventually finished second, Rattray rode a solitary heat with Molson Kawasaki’s Stephen Sword cruising in second. 3C Racing’s Manuel Monni finished third in the first qualifying heat with Molson Kawasaki’s Gautier Paulin rounding off the top three in heat two. Davide Guarneri and Carl Nunn qualified through the last chance as the former crashed in his qualifying heat.
MX2 QUALIFYING RACE 1
The first qualifying heat was a dogfight in between Cairoli and Searle, with the British taking the lead in the opening lap and carrying on despite massive pressure from Cairoli. The latter tried his best to move past and even made an unusual mistake on a double jump section to perform a freestyle like superman trick.
The Sicilian eventually remained on his bike and restarted chasing Searle to make his move in the final stages. Once Cairoli got the lead he pulled away and left Searle behind in second. Monni took a solid third place ahead of Shaun Simpson and Anthony Boissiere rounding off the top five.
Top five: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 24:05.201; ; 2. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), +0:03.443; 3. Manuel Monni (ITA, Yamaha), +0:28.140; 4. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:30.912; 5. Anthony Boissiere (FRA, KTM), +0:36.861
MX2 QUALIFYING RACE 2
Rattray took a superb start and remained at the lead to win his fourth consecutive qualifying heat. Sword cruised in second place following Rattray in the opening laps to end an eventual second with team mate Paulin ending the top three. The latter was chasing Goncalves from fourth and exploited the Portuguese’s mistake at lap seven to move up one position. Goncalves ended fourth ahead of a surprising Xavier Boog. The Frenchman ended the top five right ahead of Aubin and Bonini, who was back to action this weekend for the first time in 2008. Guarneri crashed when he was riding inside the top ten and eventually retired.
Top five: 1. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), 24:11.588; ; 2. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:04.271; 3. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:19.507; 4. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:27.496; 5. Xavier Boog (FRA, Suzuki), +0:35.090
GORNA ROSITZA AND SEVLIEVO
The Gorna Rositza race track was built in 1959 and reconstructed in 2000; it is a top motocross facility, being a reason of pride in Bulgaria, which won the 2006 and 2007 Best Organizer Awards at Monte Carlo’s FIM Off Road Awards. The course has the shape of an amphitheatre, offering a spectacular view to the spectators attending the Grand Prix in crowds.
With a strong support from the political authorities, the Bulgarian Grand Prix is one of the most important worldwide events happening in the country. The hard pack ground of Sevlievo hosted a very dry race in 2007. Coppins and Cairoli survived the heat to win the MX1 and MX2 class respectively at the end of an eventful day, as everyone expected it to be a wet GP after the muddy 2007 edition.
This track is located only a few kilometers outside Sevlievo, with the town being situated in northern Bulgaria close to the geographical center of the country, 178 km from the country’s capital Sofia and 283 km away from sea resort Varna and the Black Sea. Sevlievo was funded at the end of the 10th century and has a history over ten centuries old, which is evident throughout the town in its buildings, churches and fortified walls. Nowadays the town has developed its industrial side and enjoys to be part of the European community as the whole country entered the EU on the 1st of January 2007.
THE EVENT’S SCHEDULE
Sunday May 11: Women’s World Championship Warm-up at 9:00 am; MX2 Warm-up at 9:30 am; MX1 Warm-up at 10:00 am; Women’s World Championship Race 1 at 11:10 am; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 at 12:10 am; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 at 1:10 pm; Women’s World Championship Race 2 at 2:10 pm; MX2 Grand Prix Race 2 at 3:03 pm; MX1 Grand Prix Race 2 at 4:03 pm (local time).
The Grand Prix will be broadcast live on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 CET
MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00 CET
SPORT ITALIA (Italy): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 CET
BNT (Bulgaria): MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET
GALAXIE SPORT (Czech Republic): MX2 Race 2 at 14:00 CET
ART (Pan Middle East): MX1 Race 2 at 15:00 CET
SPORT TV (Slovenia): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00 CET
EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): MX1 Race 1 at 10:00 GMT
MEDIAZONE (Worldwide): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00; MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET
TRANS 7 (Indonesia): MX2 Race 1 at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00; MX1 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET
The Grand Prix will be broadcast delayed on:
EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe) : Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 2 at 17:45; Monday May 12, MX2 class at 17:00 CET
SPORT ITALIA (Italy): Sunday May 11; MX2 Race 2 at 16:30, MX1 Race 1 and Race 2 N/A CET
BNT (Bulgaria): Sunday May 11; MX2 Race 1 (summary) at 16:00 and Race 2 (summary) at 16:10, Women World Championship Round 1 (summary) at 16:20 CET
VRT (Belgium): Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:15 CET
EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday May 11; MX1 Race 2 at 18:30; Monday May 12, MX2 class at 17:00 and at 21:00 GMT
AMERICA ONE SPORTS (USA): Second Tuesday after the GP; MX2 Race 2 at 21:00; MX1 Race 2 at 22:00 USA Eastern Time
GAORA (Japan): MX2 Race 1 and Race 2; MX1 Race 1 and Race 2; N/A CET
Information, photos and results are online at http://www.motocrossMX1.com, the official website of the FIM Motocross World Championships.
MediaZone Moto is the leading global online broadcaster of Motocross and SuperMoto events. Fans worldwide can watch the thrills from this and every race of the 2008 FIM Motocross & SuperMoto World Championships LIVE and On Demand exclusively at www.MediaZoneMoto.com.
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- Daniele RIZZI -
