David Philippaerts - Home grown

DP19 Racing Yamaha rider David Philippaerts has a lot of experience in the sport, winning the 2008 FIM Motocross World Championship for the Rinaldi Yamaha team and always competitive. The Italian veteran still enjoys racing, and his home GP last weekend went well despite some nerves and a busy weekend with sponsors and fans.

Q: David, how is the team going now after being around for 12 months?

Philippaerts: “The team is much better now than in 2014. Because it is the first race in Europe it is busy with fans and sponsors, and I am so happy with the team. We also have a European championship rider now, so we continue to build the team. We improve with the team all the time. I want the team to continue for many years. I also want to concentrate on being the rider instead of the manager, because we need to improve the results and last weekend was better than Argentina for sure.”

Q: How was your Saturday in Italy?

Philippaerts: “In the qualification race I started in 25^th and I finished 13^th which was good. I had some good lap times.”

Q: The circuit is a very difficult one for the riders, very slick and you need to concentrate all the time. How did you enjoy it?

Philippaerts: “The track is always difficult, it isn’t difficult for bumps but more for traction. Arco is always like that a typical Italian track. The ground is hard because it is really hard to get traction. This is motocross and we have to race in all conditions.”

Q: Sunday you showed some good speed in the second moto, but your first moto wasn’t as good. Can you explain that for me?

Philippaerts: “On the Sunday I felt good and had a great second moto. I didn’t understand why my lap-times were so bad at the beginning of the first race, so I decided to push harder in the start of the second race. I stayed in the top ten and passed Searle to reach eighth.”

Q: It was a big improvement on your GP here in 2014 wasn’t it?

Philippaerts: “I had a miserable GP here last year with three crashes. It is a special place: very hard. I can’t complain, one moto not so good but the other much better. I’m so happy with the bike because it was working so well. My team and my mechanics have done a great job and we have worked a lot in the last two weeks.”