Cyclenews on practice:
MATTERLEY BASIN, ENGLAND, SEPT 23: Team USA sat in relatively good position after the free practice rounds held this morning in preparation for the Fox Motocross of Nations to be held tomorrow at Matterley Basin, near Winchester, England.
In the very muddy opening session, which was for the MX1 class, James Stewart (right) overcame a thrown chain on the second lap of the session to roar back with the fastest time, topping fellow Kawasaki rider Sebastien Pourcel of France by nearly a second. Third-fastest in the division was Tanel Leok of Estonia (Kaw), with 10-time World Champion Stefan Everts bringing his Yamaha around with the fourth-fastest time.
In the MX2 class, which saw a much dryer track, 2005 MX2 Champion Antonio Cairoli set the fastest practice time, followed by newly-crowned MX2 Champ Christophe Pourcel of France, Norway’s Kenneth Gundersen, and Team USA’s Ryan Villopotto.
In the MX3 division, it was Belgian Steve Ramon on the factory Suzuki who posted the fastest lap of the day, with Carl Nunn of Great Britain right behind. Ricky Carmichael’s replacement, Ivan Tedesco, was sixth-fastest in the session.
At least in practice, the French team looked like strong challengers for the title with the Pourcel brothers each turning the second-fastest times in their respective classes, while Belgium cannot be ruled out after the strong showing of Ramon, Everts and Strijbos.
MX1 Qualifyer
TFS reports:
Everts and Stewart raced pretty close from the first lap of their heat race Saturday afternoon. Stewart pulled out and led every lap. Looked pretty smooth and easy.
RC and Ivan watched from the fence at the finish line. Pretty cool.
Seb Pourcel passed Everts early on but Everts passed him back and Pourcel faded to 8th.
MX1 Saturday:
1) Stewart (best lap, 2.3 seconds faster than Everts)
2) Everts (BEL)
3) Mackenzie (GBR)
4) Coppins (NZL)
5) Leok (EST)
6) Nagl (GER)
7) Philippaerts (ITA)
8) Seb Pourcel (FRA)
9) Barragan (SPA)
10) De Reuver (NED)
#1 & #2 finsihed 36.8 seconds ahead of #3 :yikes:
MATTERLEY BASIN, ENGLAND, SEPT 23: Team USA sat in relatively good position after the free practice rounds held this morning in preparation for the Fox Motocross of Nations to be held tomorrow at Matterley Basin, near Winchester, England.
In the very muddy opening session, which was for the MX1 class, James Stewart (right) overcame a thrown chain on the second lap of the session to roar back with the fastest time, topping fellow Kawasaki rider Sebastien Pourcel of France by nearly a second. Third-fastest in the division was Tanel Leok of Estonia (Kaw), with 10-time World Champion Stefan Everts bringing his Yamaha around with the fourth-fastest time.
In the MX2 class, which saw a much dryer track, 2005 MX2 Champion Antonio Cairoli set the fastest practice time, followed by newly-crowned MX2 Champ Christophe Pourcel of France, Norway’s Kenneth Gundersen, and Team USA’s Ryan Villopotto.
In the MX3 division, it was Belgian Steve Ramon on the factory Suzuki who posted the fastest lap of the day, with Carl Nunn of Great Britain right behind. Ricky Carmichael’s replacement, Ivan Tedesco, was sixth-fastest in the session.
At least in practice, the French team looked like strong challengers for the title with the Pourcel brothers each turning the second-fastest times in their respective classes, while Belgium cannot be ruled out after the strong showing of Ramon, Everts and Strijbos.
MX1 Qualifyer
TFS reports:
Everts and Stewart raced pretty close from the first lap of their heat race Saturday afternoon. Stewart pulled out and led every lap. Looked pretty smooth and easy.
RC and Ivan watched from the fence at the finish line. Pretty cool.
Seb Pourcel passed Everts early on but Everts passed him back and Pourcel faded to 8th.
MX1 Saturday:
1) Stewart (best lap, 2.3 seconds faster than Everts)
2) Everts (BEL)
3) Mackenzie (GBR)
4) Coppins (NZL)
5) Leok (EST)
6) Nagl (GER)
7) Philippaerts (ITA)
8) Seb Pourcel (FRA)
9) Barragan (SPA)
10) De Reuver (NED)
#1 & #2 finsihed 36.8 seconds ahead of #3 :yikes: