Last time out at Uddevalla in Sweden, MX1 championship leader Josh Coppins failed to finish on the podium for the first time this season, but the hard working Kiwi wants to be back to business in Faenza, which is only two hours away from Team Yamaha's Motocross base at Langhirano.
David Philippaerts of KTM
Red Bull is one of four riders to have beaten Coppins to victory - in Teutschenthal - but the Italian MX1 debutant also came close to victory in his first home round at Mantova, where he unfortunately tangled with other riders in both heats.
Faenza will be Philippaerts’ chance of revenge, but the MX1 collective has now found a new threat in the imposing shape of Ken de Dycker.
CAS Honda's Belgian raced a fantastic Swedish Grand Prix, to conquer both his maiden heat win and maiden grand prix victory. de Dycker now seems to have finally found the consistency needed to top the podium regularly and should be a serious contender from now on.
Suzuki’s Steve Ramon is currently sitting in the runner-up position, just in front of Philippaerts, but the former 125cc world champion has not won an MX1 Grand Prix yet. Ramon made up ground on Coppins in Sweden, but he is still 89 points away from the lead.
KTM Red Bull’s Jonathan Barragan is returning to form after an early season shoulder injury; following a storming Bulgarian Grand Prix - with one heat win and a podium - the Spaniard was expected to do better than seventh in Uddevalla, but will have the chance to make up for that disappointment this weekend.
Kevin Strijbos of Suzuki will reach Faenza in better shape than in Sweden; the 2006 runner up to Stefan Everts has been suffering a lot with a knee injury, sitting out of the Bulgarian round after he underwent surgery.
On the other hand, Tanel Leok of Kawasaki Racing Europe is on a season high, having raced to two solid motos in Sweden to finish on the overall podium for the second time this season.
