In a mixed bag of results in the MX1 and MX2 classifications, respectively, Sebatsien Pourcel and Antonio Cairoli won the Grand Prix of Portugal on Sunday, April 27, 2008 on the indigenous red dirt of The Crossódromo Internacional Do Casarão in Agueda, Portugal. In the MX1 class, the French rider Pourcel used 2-1 moto scores to secure the overall victory over David Philippaerts’ 1-2 finishes, Pourcel’s second moto win serving as the tie-breaker. Having experienced abysmal results in the first two Grands Prix of the 2008 World Championship Series, Pourcel’s victory puts him back on good footing and moves him up to eighth in the MX1 standings. With his excellent runner-up finish in Portugal, Yamaha Monster’s Philippaerts now takes command of the MX1 World Championship, followed by Yamaha Monster teammate Josh Coppins who continues to fight bravely, broken toes and all, riding to third overall in Portugal, and in dong so, now sits third behind leader Philippaerts and second place man Steve Ramon in the battle for the world title.

“It’s been a tough start to the season and I don’t have the speed at the moment,” said Coppins with mixed emotions after the GP. “All I have is consistency and I need to patient which is very hard at this time as I want to win. I’m doing the best I can and I’m sure that the next race will be much better.”

In the MX2 division, De Carli Red Bull Yamaha rider Antonio Cairoli trounced the field with a commanding double moto sweep over Tyla Rattray and Tommy Searle (both of whom scored 42 points on Sunday). The Italian’s untouchable outing moved him to the forefront in the highly competitive MX2 World Championship fray as he now holds 126 points to Red Bull KTM Tyla Rattray’s 121 points and teammate Tommy Searle’s 102 points.