Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Cycle News 2003 07 23

Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles

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FIM World Championship Motocross Series Round 7: Uddevalla Circuit Stefan Everts earns GP wins 60 and 6. in Sweden STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF MEYER UDDEVALLA, SWEDEN, JULY 6 he Stefan Everts domination of the World Motocross Championship continued in Uddevalla, Sweden last weekend. Some 14 years after his first-ever Grand Prix victory, the sixtime World Motocross Champion took victories numbers 60 and 61 in the Swedish Grand Prix and did so in such an easy fashion that the Belgian is looking like a very good bet to break the 70-win mark by season's end and possibly pick up his seventh World Motocross Championship. Everts won both the MotocrossGP and 125cc Grands Prix in Sweden, leading home fierce rivals Joel Smets and Mickael Pichon in the MotocrossGP class and young guns Marc De Reuver and Steve Ramon in the 125cc class. For Everts it's all about having fun on the bike; the rest will follow. "I might be in the peak of my career at the moment," Everts said. "I'm finding it a little easy in the 125cc class; it's been really nice and easy going. In the MotocrossGP it's not so easy, and Smets is a fighter. He won't give in, and that is why he has four World Championships. I was a little disappointed with [Mickael] Pichon today; I think he got nervous and just lost it and gave up. He's T complaining about his power, but he won the first few Grand Prix, so he's got power enough. It's not the bike; it's all about confidence now." Everts knows his nerves have been eased with his choice to race the 125cc class and enjoys doing two motos on Sunday. "Riding the 125cc class again was a huge advantage over the others," Everts said. "I found so many good lines in that race, and once the 250cc race began, I just went flat out from the first minutes of the race. I knew exactly which lines to take and felt as though the other would have a tough time following me. This track is very slippery in some places, and in other there was a lot of grip. I was confident from the start." Defending MotocrossGP Champion Mickael Pichon looked brilliant in the opening moments of the premier moto, making an amazing pass on Stefan Everts holle... after winning his 60th and S1st Grands Prix. He's now within three points of Mickael Pichon for the 250Cc title. Smets and Ireland's Gordon Crockard to take over second place, yet a mistake in the fifth lap saw him drop from second to third, and a long way behind Everts. "The first meters of the race went good," Pichon said. "I felt really strong and was very aggressive, then all of a sudden I got tired. Already in the first lap 1 was struggling for breath and could not fight Everts. I stalled the bike after a small jump. Had I felt stronger, that would not have happen, but I just didn't have the reflexes to stop the bike from dying. I don't know what it is. My condition is good, but I can't get the strength. I get so tired; in my arms, all my strength is gone." As for Joel Smets, as is always the case with the four-time World Champion, he fought a great race, closing in on Everts in the dying stages, eventually losing by just three seconds. "I felt really strong," Smets said. "I was a long way behind Stefan Pichon (11 led Joel Smets (31. Gordon Crockard (191 and the rest early in the MotocrossGP main. He got tired shortly thereafter and faded to third. Smets was second. 36 JULY 23, 2003' eye I e n e vv s

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