MXGP Festival already underway at Matterley Basin

The paddock of Matterley Basin is completely full, as all the FIM MX1 and MX2 riders arrived today in order to take part in the thirteenth Grand Prix of the FIM Motocross World Championship during the 18th and 19th August. The women opened the MXGP Festival this morning and they have already disputed the first race of the penultimate round of their series. Chiara Fontanesi won the heat with superb authority, while Livia Lancelot finished second and Natalie Kane obtained an eventual third place and prevented Fontanesi to be proclaimed the 2012 FIM WMX World Champion today. Fontanesi will have to wait until Saturday to take part in the second heat and try to win the Title; the Italian is leading now the Championship with 74 points advantage over Kane and there are only 75 points left to be disputed.

The Veteran riders also raced their first heat and Darryl King from New Zealand crossed the finish line first, just two seconds ahead of Spanish rider Xevi Colomer, and Mats Nilsson completed the top three.

In the Amateur class Gareth Padgett won the first heat, followed by Glen Fletcher and George Purchase. Tomorrow morning it will take place the second and final heat and it will be proclaimed the first Amateur Champion in Europe.

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MX1:  Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Antonio Cairoli will take part in the British Grand Prix after having obtained his 50th Grand Prix victory in Loket, Czech Republic. The Italian is thirty points ahead of Clement Desalle and he is determined to open a bit more the gap with the Belgian this weekend, as Cairoli really likes the British track of Matterley Basin.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle is second in the point standings and he is very positive towards the British Grand Prix. The Belgian rider could not take part in the 2011 edition because he was injured, but he has really good memories from 2006.

Third in the MX1 class is Christophe Pourcel, who is now 27 points behind Desalle. The CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider did an incredible performance last weekend at Matterley Basin, winning the first race and finishing third in the second one, which make him be on the second step of the podium. This weekend Pourcel will do his best to conquer the first step of the rostrum and claim his third overall victory of the season.

Gautier Paulin has missed the podium in the last few Grand Prix, but he is still fourth in the MX1 point standings. The Kawasaki Racing Team’s rider is feeling confident for this weekend, because he likes the British layout and a proof of that is the third overall position he obtained at Matterley Basin last year in the MX2 class.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Ken De Dicker keeps the fifth position of the MX1 championship, but he would like to move up at least one position by the end of the season. The Belgian rider struggled again with the starts during the Czech Grand Prix, but he is felling 100% again to try to be on the podium and close the 34 points gap he has with Paulin.

Shaun Simpson, who is tenth in the point standings of the MX1 Championship, will count with the full support of the British crowd present at the MXGP Festival, so he will give his best to finish among the top five this weekend.

Two other riders who will be fighting for the top five positions of the British Grand Prix are Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Gonçalves, who have obtained very solid results in the previous rounds of the championship.

2011 MX1 Podium
1. Antonio Cairoli
2. Christophe Pourcel
3. Steven Frossard
2011 MX1 POLEMAN: Christophe Pourcel

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MX2:  Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings proved two weeks ago in Loket, Czech Republic, that he is feeling ready to keep on being on the top podium even being still suffering the consequences of the car accident he suffered after the Russian Grand Prix. The Dutch rider managed to win the Czech Grand Prix and he is now determined to do the same this weekend at Matterley Basin, where last year he missed the podium for just two points.

The clear favourite among the crowd present at Matterley Basin will be Tommy Searle, who will be extra motivated to win both races in front of his home crowd. The Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider has been longing for this weekend since the very beginning of the season, so there is no doubt that Searle will give his best to claim the British Grand Prix.

Third in the MX2 point standings is Jeremy Van Horebeek, who is thirty-two points behind Searle. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider took part in the British Grand Prix last year, but he has was only able to race the second heat because he had too much pain on his shoulder. This weekend Van Horebeek will be fighting again for the podium finish and it is guaranteed that he will not leave things easy to his rivals.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Joel Roelants keeps the fourth position of the MX2 championship, but he will be fighting until the end of the season to try to win more races and close the gap with his compatriot Van Horebeek in the standings of the series. Roelants did not feel comfortable during the Czech Grand Prix two weeks ago, but he has had some time to rest and train, and he is now fully focus to be back on fighting for the top three positions of the MX2 class.

Home rider Jake Nicholls moved up to the fifth position of the FIM MX2 World Championship after being fourth overall in Loket. The Nestaan JM Racing KTM rider is also looking forward to the British Grand Prix, as he would love to obtain his maiden podium in front of this crowd this weekend.

Jordi Tixier dropped down to fourth after the Czech Grand Prix, as he could not take part in the second race in Loket due to a heavy crashed he suffered during the warm-up. The French rider is now fully fit again and he will do his best to finish among the top five MX2 riders and claim back the fifth position of the championship.

Zach Osborne will be racing his second home Grand Prix after having been third overall in Loket. The American rider has been working really hard to be fighting for the top three positions, and although he knows things will not be easy for him this weekend, Osborne will do his best to be on the rostrum again.

His teammate Arnaud Tonus will be back racing this weekend after having gone through a small operation on his arms and Michael Leib will be also joining Osborne and Tonus in the Monster Energy Yamaha squad.

Max Anstie, who is still seventh in the MX2 Championship, is also racing home this weekend, so he will be do his best to obtain his maiden podium of the season in front of his crowd.

2011 MX2 Podium
1. Ken Roczen
2. Tommy Searle
3. Gautier Paulin
2011 MX2 POLEMAN: Ken Roczen