Cairoli took his third chequered flag in succession when he emerged victorious from a frantic scrap in the final five minutes of the opening race that saw crashes for protagonists Steve Ramon and Marc de Reuver.

Positions changed seemingly with every corner as the clock ticked down on the moto. Cairoli's achievement was all the more remarkable for the fact that he had broken three spokes on his front wheel on the third lap.

Cairoli continues to control the world championship and now has an advantage of 15 points over Barragan.

"I was third in the first lap of the first moto and I tried to pass Steve Ramon but he almost crashed and stopped so I caught my front wheel with his footpeg. I could see the wheel was broken and I was pretty scared. I dropped back to 12th place because I wanted to see if I could keep on racing. I was not doing many jumps and nursing the bike but it was OK, and I increased the speed and pushed. I could pass Steve and then he had a big crash, and also Philippaerts.

Antonio Cairoli comments

"There have been a lot of things happening that I didn't expect this year in MX1. It was a surprise to win here but I am having a lot of fun on the bike and I want to keep it this way until the end of the championship. I was really happy to win that race. My second start was really bad and I had some contact with other guys in the first corner. I was riding well after that and passed a lot of people but I had some trouble overtaking Desalle for a few laps and that held me up. I wanted to reach Tanel but in the last minutes I was quite tired and just stayed steady to the flag."

Gautier Paulin increased his lead in the MX2 World Championship and will go to Portugal in two weeks time as undisputed front-runner of the MX2 series.

Valkenswaard, along with Lommel and Lierop, is one of the most testing Grand Prix of the season, as the sandy surfaces always bring some novelties to the results sheets. For riders not based in or from the region and therefore perhaps not so accustomed to racing on sandy tracks there is always a new and tough challenge, but for his fourth attempt on this kind of terrain Gautier Paulin confirmed that he is a strong contender for the ’09 title.

On Saturday Gautier was already the best Kawasaki representative, as he came back from fourteenth to sixth on his Bud Racing KXF250, Rounding the first corner of Moto one in the top ten, Gautier had a good rhythm and was holding third behind Simpson and Gonçalves when he landed on a soft section of sand and crashed in the fifth lap.

He just lost two places and was charging back on his rivals when he made a mistake before a jump; it was a high speed crash and his bike went into the fence, while the lucky Frenchman landed among the spectators!

When he quickly restarted in eighth spot Gautier had no more front number plate, no front brake and a bent handlebar but that was not enough to stop him from finishing seventh.

The track was more demanding for the second race but it was a better surface for the Frenchmen who all improved their results. Again in the top ten at the start Gautier promptly arrived to fourth and had no time to rest with several sand experts pushing right behind him.

Confirming his good physical condition he contained his rivals for more than thirty minutes, and scored fourth to grab fifth place in the GP, ahead of his main rival Marvin Musquin who conceded ten points to Gautier.

Gautier Paulin comments

"I think that I was pretty lucky today, as I had a very big crash during the first race! I had a fall earlier when I landed on a soft part of the track but I just lost five seconds and again found my rhythm behind Guarneri when I struggled with different ruts before a jump; the bike landed in the barriers and I broke the front brake, lost the front plate and damaged the throttle cable.

"The front wheel was damaged too, and I was glad to be able to take the seventh place. I didn’t want to give up as I’m leading the championship and want to keep the red plate; I know that each point will be important at the end of the season. The second race was quieter, I finished fourth and I’m happy of my results this weekend as it was only my fourth or fifth race on a sandy track."