Steve’s GP and Euro Adventure Crappy Photo Report

Check it yo.

This is last years champion, David Philippearts.He impressed me this weekend, hard charger and never gives up. Not the most stylish guy on the bike, but he gets it done. Insiders say that he’s real quiet and stays to himself, not too many guys know him well.

This guy rides like an American, it’s Belgium’s Clement Desalle. He’s coming to Washougal and is the surprise of the MX1 class this year. He rides for a small Honda team and has a bright future whereever he races.

Look, a CCM! It has a Yamaha motor and a KTM chassis. No link and the frame is aluminum. Seeing all these weird bikes and riders was the coolest part of my trip. The team manager for CCM is David Thorpe. I saw him walking around and was going to say hi but then thought he might think I’m from MXA and beat me down.

Marvin "The Martian" Musquin was probably the fastest guy in Germany but he couldn’t stay on the bike in the first moto. I was under the KTM tent talking to Stefan Everts and Marv was leaving and wanted a pep talk from 72 so I was out. There’s talk of Marvin being forced to go back to his old Honda team, it’s going to get sorted out by a judge.

The winner of the MX2 class, Ken Roczen was impressive. He probably would’ve went 2-1 if he was in a bit better shape but we’ll cut him some slack-he’s 15! Good for Germany to have a couple of strong riders.

This guy, Julien Bill, is a lot like Tim Ferry. He’s got the number rides an Aprillia and is not American. Other than that, it’s practically a match!

Antonio Cairoli surprised me in our interview where he basically said if he gets paid a crap-load, he’ll go to America and if not, he’ll stay in Europe and make a crap-load there. This is a stark contrast to seemingly everyone else wanting to come over to the land of over-sized Cokes and greasy food. AC222 was very impressive and very fit.

Josh Coppins coming in during practice to see where he’s at in the times. The practices are a lot more laid back then in America. On Sunday, the guys were just cruising around and didn’t seem to care where they were in the times, as the gate pick had already been decided.

DV12.com was happy to see us and we had the same feeling, Le Cobra is a good dude.

Here’s a shot of one end of the track, it went in and out of this valley and provided good viewing for the fans.

This fast Frenchman, Steven Frossard impressed me with his riding and he’s almost a bit big for the MX2 machine. Not sure what happened to him in the second moto but he was way back and had to fight to the front. He did take advantage of The Martians fall in moto one to take the win.

The third turn in the first MX1 moto. Max Nagl grabbed the start and Coppins and Cairoli gave chase. That number 8 is AC’s teammate, Tanel Leok who seemed to start up front and work back each moto.

Max Nagl is the man in Germany right now and he could’ve won the German GP with just a tad, and I mean a tad, more speed. AC222 spolied it for the German fans. In the second moto, he looked a little pooped.

Billy McKenzie had a bit of muffler trouble on Saturday. He’s now pulled out of the series with a bad thumb and has only been riding because his CAS Honda team needed a rider on the track.

I really don’t know who has the coolest bikes between Honda, Suzuki or Yamaha. The all black motif is cool as is the one piece carbon subframe/airbox. What else did you expect from an Italian team?

Here’s the Teka Suzuki and Red Bull hospitality suites overlooking the track. Good food in the Teka one for sure and there are pretty sweet to be inside and watch the races from. Rumor has it the American Suzuki team might find itself with a Teka sponsorship next year.

Rui Goncalves was not very good on this day. He went backwards in the first MX2 moto real bad and might’ve had bike problems except he did the same thing in the second moto. Wherever Rui was there were bikes right behind him trying to get around.

Here’s the TM. Gotta love Europe!

A lone Italian showing his support for his guys. GP fans are hard-core, no doubt about it.

See that black box on the back fender? That’s a GPS/Data Aquisition thing that some of the teams use over there. It’s totally illegal in America but probably provides the team some valuable info.

The factory Kawi’s look the most plain of the Japanese OEM’s. I’m sure there’s some super-trick stuff inside but from the outside, no too much coolness.

After Saturday’s qualifying race, Mickael Pichon was randomly selected for additional sound testing as he pulled off the track. The 94db limit is noticeably quieter over there.

Check out that airhorn. This guy was ready to blast it ALL DAY.

The smoothie machine in the Martin Honda pits was pretty
much the best thing about my entire trip to Europe.

This is out of our hotel room, I was thinking it was some ancient Roman structure but when I asked the front desk chick, she said it was from the ’40’s and was an old weapons making facility.

Upstairs in the pit lane. Each team is granted one of these little cubicles to see how the race is going. Pretty nice!

The Red Bull Gladiator got his wish, a German rider won and we
were spared from any goring. "Are you not entertained?"

Every spectator coming into the track got one of these cardboard Nagl heads complete with string to wrap around your head. Kind freaky if you ask me…

David Guarneri impressed me at last years MXDN and he was once again pretty
good in Germany. He is just a bit behind the fast guys but is a contender.

Coppini was pretty quick, man I wish he would’ve won on the day I was over there but it was not to be. He rides with alot of heart and never gives up, his fitness seemed to be really good compared to everyone else. I don’t think him and Philippaerts are exchanging any x-mas cards anytime soon.

Here’s some spectators walking into the track Sunday morning. I’ve never seen fans wear riding pants at a race before.

They had these portable peeing machines behind the gate for the guys. Alan
and Wobbles both were so nervous for the start that they had to go also.

Here’s pitlane overlooking the track. That’s the first turn and then it’s used again at the end of the lap.

This was in a gas station on the way back. It’s not your usual crappy-ass one found in America, this thing served up about eight different kinds of gourmet coffee. Very sweet indeed. The actual coffee still sucked bad but the machine was impressive.