Day one got underway at the Alkmaar Raceway in Nelspruit, the host of the eagerly awaited Leatt Brace Grand Prix of South Africa.

Defending MX1 Champion Steve Ramon stormed to pole in the MX1 class, leading KTM fellow riders Max Nagl and Jonathan Barragan. In the MX2 class Tommy Searle and Antonio Cairoli took the qualifying heats while home rider and series leader Tyla Rattray took a hard fought second in heat one after a crash.

Teka Suzuki WMX1’ Steve Ramon took his second consecutive pole after the latest one from Uddevalla, where he was actually the quickest for the first time in 2008. The Belgian is ready to battle it out tomorrow and hopes to close the 12 point gap from series leader David Philippaerts.

The Yamaha Monster Motocross rider was ninth quickest today while former KTM Factory’s team mate Max Nagl took a solid second after topping the time sheets throughout the qualifying.

After winning the Swedish GP, AXO KTM Silver Action’s Jonathan Barragan took third in the qualifying practice with GPKR’s Sebastien Pourcel –the current leader of the Lovemytime standings with four poles- storming to fourth courtesy of a brilliant twelfth and final lap.

Ken de Dycker and Joshua Coppins rounded off the top six.

Top five: 1. Steve Ramon (BEL, Suzuki), 1:57.112; 2. Maximilian Nagl (GER, KTM), +0:00.236; 3. Jonathan Barragan (ESP, KTM), +0:00.836; 4. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.317; 5. Ken de Dycker (BEL, Suzuki), +0:01.448

The MX2 class will have poleman Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tommy Searle and Yamaha Red Bull De Carli’s Tony Cairoli start next to each other at the Leatt Brace Grand Prix of South Africa as they won the first and second qualifying heat respectively.

Both rode two strong heats, with the defending Champion eventually taking his eighth consecutive Lovemytime Award.

Tyla Rattray was a hard fought second in heat one after a crash while Steven Frossard was second in heat two. Stephen Sword came back to racing today after he injured his shoulder in France and took a stunning third in heat one, with Shaun Simpson completing the top three of heat two.

Searle took the lead early in heat one to keep it until the chequered flag. After the start Rattray was rounding off the top five; he worked his way up to third then he crashed to restart again from fifth. The determined South African brought the bike home in second after a final move on Sword, who had been runner up to Searle until lap eight. Yamaha team mates Nicolas Aubin and Davide Guarneri rounded off the top five.

Top five: 1. Tommy Searle (GBR, KTM), 25:56.454; ; 2. Tyla Rattray (RSA, KTM), +0:09.960; 3. Stephen Sword (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:15.969; 4. Nicolas Aubin (FRA, Yamaha), +0:21.363; 5. Davide Guarneri (ITA, Yamaha), +0:25.988

After he let early leader Frossard stay upfront for the first five laps, Cairoli took control of heat two at lap six and eventually won from the Frenchman. Simpson worked his way up inside the top five and climbed to a positive third from Musquin and Goncalves. Monni and Tarroux rounded off the top seven ahead of an unfit Leuret, who still suffers pain to his right shoulder and arm.

Top five: 1. Antonio Cairoli (ITA, Yamaha), 26:01.091; ; 2. Steven Frossard (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:05.780; 3. Shaun Simpson (GBR, KTM), +0:06.785; 4. Marvin Musquin (FRA, Honda), +0:08.285; 5. Rui Goncalves (POR, KTM), +0:30.902

Leatt Corporation and Dr. Chris Leatt, the inventor of the Leatt Brace, realized two special neck braces for reigning World Motocross Champions Steve Ramon and Antonio Cairoli. The braces featured the respective factory colours, with yellow for Ramon (Suzuki) and blue for Cairoli (Yamaha), and other distinctive logos which made the products unique and special.

Chris Leatt is an avid rider, as he rode both off road and Supersport bikes, but he is also a motorsports fan, as he attended a few events being involved in the medical coverage of the races. He invented the Leatt Brace after developing and studying the benefits and viability of a neck protection system for helmet clad sport and recreational users in an attempt to reduce devastating neck injuries.

The Leatt Brace is in the market since 18 months as Leatt Corporation is an active collaborator of Wings For Life, the Spinal Cord Research Foundation.

The race track Alkmaar Raceway is a new improved rebuild from a previous track, which was actually voted the top track in the Northern Regions in South Africa. The 1600 metre course features all sorts of jumps and racing situations on a rich red loamy soil. Alkmaar Raceway is built on 30 hectares of ground on the banks of the Crocodile River as the renewal work begun in November 2007. Track watering and ripping started last week to make the course look perfect for the weekend’s GP.

Nelspruit is 330 kilometres East of Johannesburg and it is located in the fertile valley of the Crocodile River; Nelspruit is the capital of the Mpumalanga province and it is extremely close to the worldwide famous Kruger Park, whose Southern access is only 60 kilometres away. The city is the trading centre for the surrounding fruit growing area of Mpumalanga, as the production includes citrus and tropical fruits.

Sunday July 20: African Invitational Race (AIR) Warm-up at 9:00 am; MX2 Warm-up at 9:30 am; MX1 Warm-up at 10:00 am; AIR Race 1 at 11:10 am; MX2 Grand Prix Race 1 at 12:10 am; MX1 Grand Prix Race 1 at 1:10 pm; AIR 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 13:00 CET

MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

VRT (Belgium): MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

GALAXIE SPORT (Czech Republic): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

ART (Pan Middle East): MX1 Race 2 at 16:00 CET

SPORT TV (Slovenia): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (PAN ASIA): MX1 Race 1 at 11:00 GMT

RED BULL TV (Austria): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

MEDIAZONE (Worldwide): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

TRANS 7 (Indonesia): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00; MX1 Race 1 at 13:00 and Race 2 at 16:00 CET

SPORT TV (Portugal): MX2 Race 1 at 12:00 and Race 2 at 15:00 CET

EUROSPORT 2 (Pan Europe): Sunday July 20; MX1 Race 2 at 21:00 CET

MOTORS TV (Pan Europe): Sunday July 20; MX2 Race 1 at 21:00 and Race 2 at 21:55 CET

SPORT ITALIA (Italy): Sunday July 20; MX1 Race 1 at 23:30. Monday July 21; MX1 Race 2 at 00:30 CET

EUROSPORT WORLD (Pan Asia): Sunday July 20; MX1 Race 2 at 21:00. Monday July 21; MX1 Race 2 at 10:00 and at 17:45; MX2 Class at 18:30 and at 00:00. Tuesday July 22; MX1 Race 2 at 03:45 and at 11:15 and at 21:45; MX2 Class at 04:30 and at 12:00 and at 22:30 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

SUPERSPORT (SOUTH AFRICA): Saturday July 19; MX1/MX2 Highlights at 17:25. Sunday July 20; MX1/MX2 Highlights at 17:00 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.

Youthstream is the company that manages the exclusive television, marketing and promotional world wide rights of the FIM Motocross World Championship, the FIM Motocross of Nations, the FIM SuperMoto World Championship, the FIM SuperMoto of Nations, the FIM Snowcross World Championship, the UEM Motocross European Championship and the UEM SuperMoto European Championship.

- Daniele RIZZI -