Triple podium for Vismara Honda.

Cold weather at the third round of the Motocross World Championships in Germany could not dampen spirits after a great day for Team Vismara Honda, in which three of its riders climbed on to the podium.

In the 250cc class, Pit Beirer rocketed from the start, followed into the first turn by team-mate Josh Coppins, but the pair had to follow a tremendous battle for the lead between Jamie Dobb and Kenneth Gundersen, who sped away early on. A clash between Mickael Pichon and Fred Bolley saw the two Frenchmen go down at turn one, easing the pressure on the two Honda riders, who then capitalised when Dobb fell with victory in sight, handing the victory to Gundersen ahead of Coppins and Beirer, who swapped places mid-race.

"This result is the dividend of weeks of intense hard work put in by, not just myself, but the whole team from Maddii, Berni and my mechanic Santoni," the Kiwi said, "I have always been just outside of the podium, or my condition has held me back, but now I feel more certain than every that a race victory is just around the corner for me."

"This second podium is important for me, as it has been a very long time since I have taken to the podium at a German GP," Beirer added, "Everything went fine for me in the race, although I suffered with some 'arm pump', which prevented me from going all out in search of victory. We have the bike set up great, I grabbed the hole shot and have to thank Corrado Maddii for all his help and guidance with the bike. The championship is still wide open."

The competition in the 500cc class was again hard-fought, with Vismara's Andrea Bartolini making a great start to move into second position behind Stefan Everts. For three laps, the Italian tried for victory, but was denied yet again by Everts, and dropped to third place after a late challenge from Marnicq Bervoets.

"I have given it my all in Teutschenthal," he sighed, "Three times I caught Everts in the corners just after the work area - I tried hard to pass him but couldn't find a way through. The ground here is soft and very bumpy, and I always train on hard ground near my home in Italy. For this reason, I think that, at the next GPs in France and Italy, there is a real possibility for me to go for victory."

"It was a good job by the whole team today," concluded team boss Fabrizio Berni, "I can only give compliments to all three riders. They came through and produced the results, and they know what they have to do to get the results. The championship battle will be long and hard but it is open. Without any serious errors, I feel that we can put in a genuine challenge for the two major world championships."