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r-----------------. ~ MOTOCROSS ~. . . " . . . " , . - - . , . . - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - , "i: RMWORLDCHAMPIONS IP ' H 250ccMX SER IES Round 14: Kamionka Motocross Track ~ -- - By Geoff Meyer 54 GDYNIA, POLAND, AUG. 30 IIIII!-~ h ere are but two riders who matter in the fight for the 250cc World Championship - Stefan Everts and Sebastien Tortelli - and they continued their ep ic title battle as th e series made its stop at the sandy Kam ionka MX track in Poland. This tim e it was Everts who was in control, a s the Belgian Honda rider leaped off the gate in the first mo to and ran away with the win, while Tor telli got off to a slow start and was unable to reel in the speedy Everts . In the second moto, it looked like Everts was off for a ride in the park once again, but a combination of slow lapped rid ers and on e very fast Frenchman saw Tortelli reel in the Belgian and challenge for the lead . Unfortunately, a crash took Tortelli out of con- tention for the lead - though he was able to remount without losing second place. As a result, Tortelli fin is hed secon d overall to Everts' first overall, and lost 14 points to him in the process. With two rounds remaining, Everts leads with 497 points to To rtelli's 483, and German Pit Beirer - third overall after 4-3 moto scores - is a distant third with 342 points. Overnight rain on the sandy Gd ynia track left conditions good for Su nday's races , a nd no one w a s happi er th a n Everts. . , "I have been here five times, and I think this is the best the track has been," Everts said . "For me, this is very goo d ." TorteIli wasn 't quite as plea sed with th e prevailing condition s bu t se eme d prepared to deal with them and do w ha t wa s nece ssary to keep his title hopes alive. "It's mudd y and slip pery, and th e rocks are a problem, bu t we all will race on the same track, and I d on't have any fear of this place, " Tortelli said. Tallon Vohland' s se n time n ts w ere similar to Tortelli's, but he was a littl e - more critical. "I don' t really like it," Vohland said . "If you get a poor start, then those big rocks are going to cause problems. I'm su re all the riders feel the sam e:' Vohland's concerns about the track were compounded by po tentially dangerous mechanical troubles. "The thro ttle is sticking and I hope we have it fixed ," Vohland said. "The y have some nice, big downhill jumps here - I don't want to crash on one of those." As the rid ers entered their start position s, Everts and TorteIli (as has been the case all year lon g) sat side by side, Everts again loo king coo l, and TorteIli . -- Sebastien Tortelll (4) and Stefan Everts (1) continued the ir title battle In Poland. making his usual goggle adjustments. A sign of what was to come was evident as the gate dropped and Everts immediately rode his ma chine into the path of Tortelli, blocking the Kawasaki-mounted Frenchman and taking second place into turn on e behind Finland's Miska Aaltonen on his KTM. Aaltonen would prove to be a stubborn leader but Everts was not about to p lay around and he took the lead with a move most wouldn't try . "I had to be aggressive," Everts said . "I wanted the lead and I really drove into him." Surpringly, Aaltonen wa sn't angered . by Evert s and his aggress ive , full- contact pass.