Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

F IM World Championship MX S eries Round 7 : C ircu it of Uddevalla S TO RY AND P HOTO S BY G EO FF MEYER UDDEVAUA, SWEDEN, JULY 1 our. tim e World Motocross Champion Stefan E verts , r iding his Ri n a l d i Yamaha YZ 4 26F ma ch ine, rolled on t o yet another win in this year's World 500cc Motocross Cha mpion sh ip. On a t rac k that wa s su p po sed to bett er suit defending World 500 c c Motocross Champi o n Joe l Sm ets, Everts was still too good to be bea ten . However, Smets came cl o se to passing Everts fo r the lea d near the m idwa y po int . only to crash whi le try ing to charge under hi s fell ow Be l gian . Sm et s finally fini shed in second p lac e, some seven seconds beh ind Evert s. T h ird place in the 500cc GP went to Marnicq Berv oets . For Everts, th is might h ave been his most important win of his season . "This is a track which should have been perfect for Joel," Everts said . "I would not hav e been surpri sed if he had won here . When he tried to pa ss me and fell, I kn ew it was my moment - he was not going to get up from being so far behin d and pass me agai n." For Smets , anot he r opportunity w as lost, t he KTM fact or y rider has now cr ashed in the openi ng round in Spain , round three in Austra lia , ro und four in Gen k , Belgium , rou n d six in Sp a , B elg ium , an d no w in ro un d seven. For the defending champion , risk is wha t it's all about. T he only two roun d s Sm et s has not c ra shed has be en ro u nd t wo in Holl an d and round five in Germ any , on tho se two occ asio ns he has won th e GP. "I would rather crash th an no t try ," Smets said. " I think I got too confident, I caught Stefan and wanted to p ass him too qu ick. It was a stup id m istake . Once I g o t up, [Peter] Johansso n was onto me and I nearly cr ashed aga in ." In the 250cc cla ss, it was Ireland's Go rdon Crockard who , onc e again, p roved he is o n e o f th e qu i c k est m otocross ri de rs in the wo rld after scoring a stu nn ing f1a g -to-f1ag victory in th e 250c c cl ass . Cro c k ard , who has been k nown fo r being a sla ck er in qua lification, was fou rt h qu ickest on Satu rd ay , then wi th a good starting position, the CAS Honda rider bo lted out of the start ga te and never looked back , winning j ust over a second ov er a late -charging Mickael Pichon , while A u str a l ian won de r Ch a a Reed clai me d third p lace. Crockard was elated wi th his result. " I d eci d ed t o stop sitting around on the Saturday co m pl ai n ing an d got a F 26 JULY 11 , 2001 • c ue I ... good start spot ," Croc kard sa id. "I know Mickael is a long way ahead in the points race. [but] I'm no t g iv ing up. While it's po ssible to win races I'll go out an d t ry an d do it. We have finally started our domestic season in En g land [aft er th e Ma d Cow infec ti ons] an d that' s made th e difference, plus I had fun out there ." Norway's K enneth Gunders en produ ced th e ride of his li fe t o win the 125cc race, and in doing so, becam e the first N orw egi an to wi n a World Motocross Grand Prix . Second place was Be lg ian Steve Ram on and third pla ce was Er ik Eggens . J am ie Dobb , the series leader , fail ed t o race on Sun da y after cras hing with fello w n e vv s KTM rider Erik Eggens in his qualifl cation race, bre aking his shoulder. "It looks li k e I will mi ss this race and the French GP in two w eeks ," Dob b said. " I have a big lead in the cham pionsh ip and would have liked to have been raci ng t od ay for su re. Still , I can co m e ba ck and, even if Er ik [Eggens] won both GPs, my lea d woul d still be oka y . It's up to m e to be strong wh en I get back , and I am confi d ent I will be." 125cc Dutch ri de r Ma rk De Reu ve r shot to the front of the 12 5cc moto, yet by the second c o rn er, Gund er sen was alread y through fo r the lead . Egg en s Stefan Everts recorded his f ourth win of the season, once again topping defending 500cc champ Joel Smets In Sweden. held third p lace wi th Ales sand ro Be l om et ti in fo u rth an d Br ian Jor gensen in fifth pl ace . Wit h a cle ar track , Gu nd ersen began to b rea k fro m th e lea d pa ck , w h ile l a t e- sta r ti n g S teve Ramon m ov e d in t o seco n d pla ce aft er De Reuver ma de a sm all mistake. " I w as fee ling oka y ," D e Reu v er said, " then in the whoops sec ti on , I got a little out of shape an d Ramon pa ssed me. Soon after, Eggens j ust r ode pa st, he was clearly to o fast."

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