Event Coverage

The typical question in Gaildorf: Mickael Pichon or Stefan Everts?



GP 14 took place in Gaildorf/ Germany. Before the event starts most of the MX fans were sure that both titles in MX1 and MX2 were assigned probably this weekend. Townley and Everts have both a huge point leadership. So read on and check out what has happened in Gaildorf last weekend.


The track was a bit modified this year e.g. with big double jumps etc.

First of all some facts about the qualification races on Saturday. The highlights were the two qualification heats in MX2 class. In heat one Boissiere took the holeshot but lost the leadership already after a few corners because of a small mistake. So the spectators saw a pack of KTM riders in front. De Reuver, Rattray and Townley showed a really good and exciting racing performance with multiple changes in the ranking.


Ben Townley showed a good performance in the qualification heat.

Only Kawasaki's Sebastien Pourcel (FRA) was able to close the gap between him and the three KTM riders. In the end Townley finished ahed of two-stroke riders Rattray, Pourcel, De Reuver and the enjoyable young German talent Maxi Nagl, a further two-sroke rider. He showed some good speed and made the German fans hopeful for the upcoming races on Sunday. Mentionable was that Cairoli, winner of a previous GP race in Loket a few weeks ago, had big trouble to get qualified directly with 11th place, only twelve riders did it.


The German Maxi Nagl finished with a good 5th place in his qualifier.

The second qualification race was an easy swag for winner Mickael Maschio and Chicco Chiodi in 2nd. They battled few laps and when Maschio passed Chicco the measures were cleared. This race was clouded by a horrible crash of Kawasakis factory rider Stephen Sword. Sword, aspirant for 2nd place in the world championship, knocked down hard when he separates from his bike during a big step down jump. Fortunately he didn’t pick up bad injuries but the weekend was over. The second German rider Marcus Schiffer was sadly not able to qualify but let us hope for the future.


Are these guys field workers or MX2 GP stars?

In MX1 “Rocket” Pichon took another pole position inf ront of Everts and Coppins. Germans Josef Dobes did a great job and a 9th place was the result. Dugmore in 16th, Andy Boller in 25th as well as reserve rider Dennis Schröter were the other riders which represented Germany. Unfortunately local hero Marco Dorsch, also known as the “Joker” was not on the gate this weekend.


Second corner after the MX2 start in heat one | Leader Antonio Cairoli

The conditions on Sunday have changed completely. On Saturday it was hard and dusty and on Sunday it was wet but with a lot of grip. The first MX2 race began with a not surprising leader. Antonio ”Boom Boom” Cairoli took another holeshot and lead the pack trough the first lap. About a long distance Cairoli and Maschio battled for the lead until Cairoli makes a mistake and dropped back to 5th place. The podium of race one was rounded by two Italian riders. The Symphatic rider Chicco Chiodi and Federici finished 2nd and 3rd. KTM’s De Reuver was in a safe 4th position until two laps to go but then had a disappointing DNF because of technical problems. So the young french rider Sebastien Pourcel earned 4th place after passing Cairoli. A strong performance showed the German Kosak KTM Team with Swanepoel in 8th followed by Aigar Leok and Max Nagl in 11th. Especially Nagl made a brilliant race. Coming from the absolutely last place after the first corners Nagl passed one by one riders. When the chequered flag goes down he earned 10 points.


Federici and Pourcel fighting for the 3rd position.

But what about the world championship decision? World championship leader Ben Townley went down after a few hundred meters while fighting for a good basic situation in the pack. It need a lot of time until Townley was able to ride again. He did the same lap times as the leaders but he left the track after about 13 laps without any hope to get some points. His biggest rival Tyla Rattray couldn’t take much profit from this incidents. After a race without attracting attention he finished 7th. So Townley didn’t lose many points in the championship table.


Chicco Chiodi | first heat 2nd and DNF in the second heat.

Race two was difficult for the riders because a few minutes before the start it began to rain. It was a dramatical begin for Chiodi. On the sight seeing lap his Yamaha stops with technical problems so he couldn’t start. Very disappointing after a 2nd place in race one. Under slippery conditions it was De Reuver who could make an impressive ride. After some laps he had made a gap to the pack about ten seconds and everything looks like a victory for him. But there was a high motivated Townley. After a couple of laps he passed some riders and went into 2nd position. Lap to Lap he reduce the gap to De Reuver and took the leader under pressure. In fact, Townley passed De Reuver six laps before the chequered flag went down and took the win.


Maschio confirmed his constance and finished 1st/5th, 1st overall

2nd place for De Reuver an 3rd for Pourcel, again a very strong race from him. Cairoli, Federici, Maschio and Bartolini have battled for 4th position almost the whole race and finished in this sequence. Rattray has no chance in race two and finished in 13th after a small crash. Victory overall goes to Maschio infront of Pourcel and Federici. Max Nagl earned further points for a clean 15th place. About many laps he followed his teammate Aigar Leok and lay on 12th position. But in the last laps he lost three places and was transferred to 15th place. But with all the pressure and expectance and a balanced pack of very good riders it’s a really good result for Nagl.


Winner ceremony MX2 class | Pourcel (2), Maschio (1), Federici (3)


The MX1 class was business as usual, that means Everts and Pichon regulate among each other who take grand prix glories with New Zealands Josh Coppins behind them. But let us start with the beginning of heat one. Pichon lead after the start followed by Everts, Meo, Mackenzie and Coppins. Pichon controlled the race but a small mistake and Everts took the lead with a gap about 6 to 8 seconds for the rest of the race. Coppins passed Mackenzie and Meo back to back and finished in 3rd. Really nice to see was that two-stroke riders fight back against the thumper. Meo on his two-stroke factory Kawasaki in 4th and Dobes on his two-stroke Kurz Suzuki in 7th showed the enthusiastic crowd what is possible on such bikes.


A. Meo was the best 2 stroke rider in the MX1 class.

Collin Dugmore had a great start and rode in top ten regions with rising tendences but was sadly stopped by technical problems on his Sarholz Honda. Andy Boller crashed in the first corner with Seguy, Hucklebridge and Burnham so heat one was over early for the German rider. Reserve Rider Schröter finished 20th and gets his first point for the championship.


Andy Boller sadly had bad luck | Joes Dobes was in a good shape.

Mentionable was a big crash from Steve Ramon in the first lap. It was the same jump on which Sword crashed on Saturday. But luckily Ramon was able to ride on. Race two was converse to the first. This time Pichon dominates Everts and Coppins clearly. Fourth place went to Seguy in front of Ramon and surprisingly Mackenzie, too. Dobes finished again in top ten with a strong 8th place directly behind Suzuki factory rider Strijbos. Meo lay on promising 6th position and repeat his performance from heat one but has a technical DNF in lap ten. Dugmore had also a good start in race two but crashed during lap one and dropped back to last place. His hunt for points end in disappointing 18th position in front of his Sarholz teammate Andy Boller. Andy rode well and showed the fans good race action. He fought with names like Crockard, Atsuta and Dini. Overall went to Pichon in front of Everts, (both 1-2 results) and Coppins. So both titles will be assigned probably in Round 15 in Ireland.


Winner ceremony MX1 class | Everts (2), Pichon (1), Coppins (3)