Coppins Qualifies 10th at Faenza

The Grand Prix of Europe started today in Faenza and Sebastian Pourcel gave the big surprise to everybody by winning the qualifying race, while Jeffrey Herlings dominated the MX2 class. Mel Pocock could not win the first race of the EMX250 class, but he obtained enough points to be proclaimed the 2012 UEM EMX250 champion. In the EMX125 it was Italian Simone Furlotti who won the race and he will be fighting for the overall victory tomorrow.

MX1
CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Sebastien Pourcel took the holeshot of the qualifying race and he was able to keep the lead until the chequered flag with a superb rhythm. The French rider was very satisfied with his performance today and he actually admitted that he could not even remember the last time he had won a race.

His brother Christophe Pourcel did not have such a good start, but he did an incredible recovery moving up from tenth to second. In fact, it was actually in the very last lap that he overtook Shaun Simpson. The CP377 Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit rider feels much better from his shoulder injury, so he might be fighting for the victory tomorrow at the main races.

Monster Energy Yamaha’s Shaun Simpson did a consistent race in the second position. The British rider tried to overtake Pourcel for the lead, but in the end he preferred to ride safe in the second place. However, by the end of the heat, he was surprised by Christophe Pourcel who was coming really fast from behind and Simpson had to settle down with the third place.

Rockstar Energy Suzuki World’s Clement Desalle is still struggling with his hand injury, but today he did a solid race and at some point he was fighting for the third place with Evgeny Bobryshev. In the end, Desalle overtook the Russian, but Pourcel overtook them both, so the Belgian finished fourth.

Honda World Motocross’ Evgeny Bobryshev had a great start and he managed to ride third most of the race. The Russian tried to overtake Simpson at the beginning of the race, but the pressure from the riders coming from behind made Bobryshev lose some ground and finally he was overtaken by Pourcel and Desalle. The Honda rider crossed the finish line fifth.

Ken De Dycker started down in the ninth position, but this time the Belgian could only overtake a few riders and he crossed the finish line sixth. Rui Gonçalves started at the front, but he dropped down some positions and he ended seventh. Gautier Paulin was eighth and Tanel Leok and Josh Coppins completed the top ten.

Antonio Cairoli did not have a good start and he got stuck behind some riders in the second corner, so he had to push from the back of the pack. The Italian had recovered some positions when he crashed, so he was only able to finish fourteenth. Cairoli will give his best tomorrow in order to win the races, even Faenza not being one of his favourite tracks.

MX1 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Sebastien Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), 24:58.836; 2. Christophe Pourcel (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:01.798; 3. Shaun Simpson (GBR, Yamaha), +0:02.714; 4. Clement Desalle (BEL, Suzuki), +0:04.620; 5. Evgeny Bobryshev (RUS, Honda), +0:09.302; 6. Ken de Dycker (BEL, KTM), +0:18.932; 7. Rui Goncalves (POR, Honda), +0:19.903; 8. Gautier Paulin (FRA, Kawasaki), +0:21.334; 9. Tanel Leok (EST, Suzuki), +0:22.664; 10. Joshua Coppins (NZL, Yamaha), +0:23.790;

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MX2
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings managed to win the MX2 qualifying heat, but he admitted that it has been one of the toughest races of the season for him. The Dutch rider has been training on the sand for the last weeks, so it took him a while to get used to the hard pack of Faenza. In any case, Herlings is confident about tomorrow, as he managed to make a good start today and win the heat.

His teammate Jeremy Van Horebeek obtained the best lap time in the pre-qualifying race and he was feeling really confident for the race. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider could not take the holeshot and started fourth behind Herlings, Tixier and Osborne, but in the opening lap he was already second. Van Horebeek pushed really hard to overtake Herlings, but in the end he preferred to ride safe and keep some energies for tomorrow.

The third place was for Monster Energy Yamaha’s Zach Osborne, who rode a solid moto in the third place from beginning to end. Tomorrow the American feels ready to fight again for the podium, especially having such a good gate pick for tomorrow.

Team Floride Monster Energy Kawasaki Pro Circuit’s Tommy Searle did not have a good start today and he struggled a little bit to find his rhythm at the beginning. However, after some laps, the British started feeling better and he moved up several positions and he was really close to overtake Osborne in the last lap, but Searle was finally fourth.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jordi Tixier had a really good start today and he rode second during the first few corners. However, the French rider could not keep the rhythm and he quickly dropped down to fourth. By the middle of the race he was surprised by Searle and he could not keep him behind, so Tixier crossed the finish line fifth.

British rider Jake Nicholls rode consistently in the sixth place most of the race, while Alexander Tonkov ended seventh, ahead of Arnaud Tonus and Elliott Banks-Browne. Romain Febvre completed the top ten of the MX2 qualifying heat.

The unfortunate part of the race was for Dylan Ferrandis, who crashed having two laps to go and he has injured his left leg. The final diagnose will be revealed tomorrow morning.

MX2 Qualifying Race top ten: 1. Jeffrey Herlings (NED, KTM), 25:00.785; 2. Jeremy van Horebeek (BEL, KTM), +0:01.460; 3. Zachary Osborne (USA, Yamaha), +0:02.834; 4. Tommy Searle (GBR, Kawasaki), +0:03.637; 5. Jordi Tixier (FRA, KTM), +0:25.701; 6. Jake Nicholls (GBR, KTM), +0:31.191; 7. Alexander Tonkov (RUS, Honda), +0:32.903; 8. Arnaud Tonus (SUI, Yamaha), +0:36.669; 9. Elliott Banks-Browne (GBR, KTM), +0:37.883; 10. Romain Febvre (FRA, KTM), +0:39.823;