Prumm leads weekend for Yamaha

From Yamaha Racing

Double FIM Women's World Cup Motocross winner Katherine Prumm took her new YZ250F to first position in the opening round of the Australian Women's championship at Tivioli in Brisbane and the 19-year-old's success was just one of several eye-catching results for the "Blue Army" last weekend as Antonio Cairoli earned his MX1 spurs in Italy and Kenneth Gundersen enjoyed a maiden MX1 bow for his new team in Great Britain.

Prumm comfortably owned the first Australian national on the hard and difficult circuit near the east coast. On her Subway YZ250F Prumm holeshotted and won both motos for an encouraging start to her career as a Yamaha rider.

"It was a great weekend of racing," she said. "I was really happy with how the bike was handling and got to grips with the surface a lot better as the day progressed. It wasn't one of my favourite tracks and I was glad to get through the day safely. It is always good to learn something new on a tricky surface like that."

The second round of three takes place at Newry in Victoria on May 25.

Yamaha Red Bull De Carli rider and current MX2 GP World Champion, Antonio Cairoli dominated both MX1 motos on his YZ450F at a damp Ponte a Egola for the third round of the Italian Championship last weekend.

The Sicilian claimed his first chequered flags in the national series -- his maiden MX1 campaign -- and now leads the competition. Cairoli mounted the podium ahead of MX1 GP rider Marc de Reuver after blitzing both motos from start to finish.

"After Castiglione Del Lago we went to Belgium to train on the sand. We were working a lot, and my physical condition has improved; I am getting more confidence when I ride the 450," he said. "I like this track and I marked the best time yesterday in practice. In the first moto I did not have any problems and won by a big advantage. In the first few turns I pushed hard to break away. The second race was special because there was a lot of mud and the track was difficult; to do exactly the same was good for my head."

Yamaha Motocross Team's David Philippaerts raced the previous week in the UK and spent days testing in Belgium, electing to miss the trip to Ponte a Egola.

Caroli heads the championship by four points from Alex Salvini with Philippaerts now 30 behind in third.

The MX2 class saw Ricci Racing and 3C Racing's Davide Guarneri and Manuel Monni climb the rostrum on their YZ250Fs. Monni now has a three-point lead over his fellow Italian in the championship while teenage De Carli pilot Alessandro Lupino lies third after finishes of sixth and ninth at Ponte a Egola.

In northern Europe the British Championship got underway at the venue of the 2008 Motocross of Nations, Donington Park, and Kenneth Gundersen made his MX1 debut for the UTag.com Yamaha squad. The Norwegian took a decent second place overall with race results of second and third in the two motos.