Hawkstone Park – International Moto-X – Sunday
2nd March 2008
De Reuver and Rattray win at 10th Hawkstone Park
International
Dry and bright weather provided the perfect backdrop to the
10th Hawkstone Park International Motocross meeting, which
was headed by Dutch rider Marc De Reuver – Martin Honda
in the Open class and by Tyla Rattray – Red Bull KTM
of South Africa in the MX2 category. Several thousand action
hungry race fans were treated to some of the best racing seen
on this famous circuit in more recent times, with track conditions
being ideal for the star studded field to display their talents.
Apart from race wins by Shaun Simpson – KTM and pre
event favourite Tommy Searle – Red Bull KTM, plus two
consistent outings by Stephen Sword – Molson Kawasaki,
all in the MX2 division, the day belonged to the foreign riders
who dominated the overall places in both classes. In fact
Sword was the only home rider to feature in the top five positions
at the end of the day, with the ex British champion finishing
as runner up in the overall MX2 results.
 Reigning
MX1 British champion Billy MacKenzie, making his debut on
the Monster CAS Honda, started the day strongly by qualifying
in second spot behind eventual winner De Reuver. The young
Scots’ speed was also evident in the early part of the
first MX1 moto, with Mackenzie holding the lead until lap
nine before crashing out of the race totally. Ironically it
was Ken De Dycker – Suzuki, who Billy replaced at CAS,
who benefitted from this mistake to take the race win ahead
of his team mate 2007 MX1 champion Steve Ramon. De Reuver,
Josh Coppins and David Philippaerts both – Rinaldi Yamaha
completed the top five on this ocassion.
It was a similar story for the ill fated Billy in the second
MX1 encounter, but this time a slip on the final lap pushed
him down to fourth, after having led the race from start to
finish. De Reuver was on hand to collect the victory at the
expense of MacKenzie to add to his third place in the first
race of the day, which was enough to give the Dutch rider
the overall win. Coppins and Ramon both passed Mackenzie before
he could recover, leaving Philippaerts to pick up fifth spot
this time out.
Shaun Simpson was by far the fastest MX2 rider on track for
the first half of the meeting, with him posting the quickest
time in qualifying before taking a start to flag win in the
opening moto. Simpson begun the second race in similar form
but crashed whilst leading on lap six, which dropped him down
to outside the top thirty before a spirit fight back brought
him back to twenty second spot come the finish.
Searle made up for some of his early disappointment by winning
the Grand Finale, which included the top twenty riders from
both classes on the day, to bring a close on another piece
of Hawkstone Park history. With this in mind, Salop Motor
club would like to say a massive ‘Thank You’,
to everyone who helped to make it all happen once again, and
who are too numerous to list on this page.
Results:
Moto One MX1: 1. Ken de Dycker 2. Steve Ramon 3. Marc de
Reuver 4. Josh Coppins 5. David Philipaerts
Moto Two MX1: 1. Marc de Reuver 2. Josh Coppins 3. Steve Ramon
4. Billy MacKenzie 5. David Philipaerts
MX1 Overall: 1. Marc de Reuver 55 2. Steve Ramon 52 3. Josh
Coppins 50 4. Ken de Dycker 49 5. David Philipaerts 42
Moto One MX2: 1. Shaun Simpson 2. Erik Eggens 3. Stephen
Sword 4. Jeremy van Horebeek 5. Tyla Rattray
Moto Two MX2: 1. Tyla Rattray 2. Tommy Searle 3. Stephen Sword
4. Erik Eggens 5. Joel Roelants
MX2 Overall: 1.Tyla Rattray 51 2. Stephen Sword 50 3. Erik
Eggens 50 4. Jeremy van Horebeek 42 5. Joel Roelants 34
MX1 / MX2 Grand Final: 1.Tommy Searle 2.Steve Ramon 3.David
Philipaerts 4.Billy MacKenzie 5.Shaun Simpson
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