Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128230
Joe l Sm ets took th ird In the MotocrossGP event an d won the 650cc c lass. He t ra il s Everts in the MotocrossGP cl a ss by 15 w ith two ro unds le ft to ru n. "I am a reali st ," Smets said , "I am also very pos it iv e that I can race with E vert s, b ut it' s going t o t ake a big effort for me to get the cha mpionship, I am sorry to see Pichon injured , not only beca us e he is a fellow rider, but also beca us e h e could have hel ped m e today . A ft er his amazing q ualifi c atio n time o n Saturday , I r e a ll y thoug ht he wo uld be up front today ma yb e he a n d I co u l d h a v e give n Everts a hard time." By fin ishing second to Eve rts in t h e 125c c race , Ram on is n ow a handy 27 po ints ahe a d of A n dre a Bartol ini in the c ha m p io ns hi p rac e with just two races rem a inin g . Th e yo ung Belgian is very motivated afte r losi ng the title by the smallest of margi ns in las t year's series . " When yo u lose a c ha mpio nshi p by four points. you just want to put in as many good rid es as you c an , so second pla c e w a s o k a y today , " Ram on said. - I th ink if Bartolini was behind me last year, he passed m e; today he didn't. I've worked on being stronger on the bike, and I feel I am st rong er in th e head and can push when I need to, although today I fe lt weak. I needed to beat Ba rtolini , and I did t h at , so it was a good d ay fo r me ." In the 125 cc race, Evert s bounced out of th e sta rt ing bl ocks and by th e first corner wit h a lead of more than two bikelengths. T he Belg ian legend pushed hard in th e op eni ng laps an d was able t o ente r th e first l ap thre e se cond s ah e ad of seco nd - place d A l e s s i o Ch iodi , wh o h ad Ram on , Steph en Swo rd , Erik Eggens, Bartoli ni , Ben T o w n l ey , Mickael Masch io a nd Pascal Leuret behind hi m . For Everts, it was business as usual. Ra mo n watched from th e r ea r as Eve r t s raced away t o win . It was Ram on 's fifth runner- u p position o f the y ea r , a nd one he w a s lu cky to get. "T he rac e was not so bad ," Ramon said . "I co uld not go 100 perc ent, and so mebody wa s pu sh in g m e a ll t h e tim e. Bart ol ini nearly c aug ht me near the end, and I was struggling a little I go t tired , and I am not su re why . I don't have too much pres sure on m e at th e m oment, so that is m ak in g it easy. Today it was impo ssibl e to race w i t h St ef an , an d he rode f ast , so I didn 't have a ch ance aga in st him." Town ley had sec ond pla ce in co n trol until KTM put o ut a sig n t elling him to pull ov er and let Ram on past. When ask ed about the pit si gnal, Townley den ied an y team orders. "After th e first la p , I th ink I wa s seventh , " T ownle y sa id . " I made som e good p asses and re all y rode smooth . Th e last 10 laps w ere as good as the first 10 laps, wh ich w as good fo r m e. I mad e an aggressive pass o n Ram on to take second pl ac e. M y spee d was good , but o n the last lap I m ad e a m ista ke . M y fitness has co me a long wa y now - I still want to tr y and rac e with Everts; that' s m y p l an be for e t he sea so n is ov er. I've had a viru s, and I didn't fe el go od o n th e bike o n Saturd ay ." Everts' performa nce in the M ot o cro ssGP ra ce was a m irror im age of race up fr ont . Man y peop le ask m e wh at have I changed , bu t I have ofte n b een i nj u re d or had so me t y p e of problem. I' m ri ding for a to p position for the first time in th e championship , so I feel ha ppy abo ut that." Th i rd -pla ce Sm e ts neve r had a c h a n c e t o ra c e f or th e win afte r a poor start saw him in fifth p lac e on th e first lap. " I me ssed t he s tart u p aga in , " Smets said. " W e ar e having trouble w ith the starts , and if I want to race with Stefan, then I need to be at h is side o n t he first co rne r and not five bikelengths beh ind him - esp ecially with hi m do ing th e 12 5cc rac e - he is so q ui ck now in thos e first two laps." In t he 6 50 c c ra c e , noth ing changed as Sm et s ra ced tow ar d h is fifth World Mot o cr oss Cha m pionsh ip with hi s ninth 65 0 win of th e season . Smets took the lead fro m early pace sette r Javier Vico Ga rc ia and th en che c ke d o ut. " I had a good le ad," Smets sai d , " But th e bi k e started maki ng sounds, and I was n ot sure I w a s going t o make it to the end. A week earlier in a Be l gia n Championship race, th e bik e made th e sam e sound an d stopped , so I w as ex pe c t i n g the worst." Second in th e 650c c ra ce was Garci a, with lo c al German rider Bernd h is 125cc wi n. He sco re d th e ho le shot and th en put d ist an c e be twee n himself and hi s riva ls. "I' ve got 67 GP wins," Everts said . "I t's unbeli evab le how good it' s go ing for m e. Ev erything was un der contr ol. I d idn't need to push, and I also got a great sta rt, wh ich was o ur problem at th e beginn ing of the year - now I'm g ettin g th e sta rts . I j ust rod e th e pace I h ad t o, noth ing m ore and nothin g les s. In th e fi rst 15 minutes, I pushed 100 per cent , an d th en I can drop the pa c e an d do what I have to. I saw Sm ets wa s a littl e beh ind, and that also mad e i t e asi er for me . I am b e ginn ing t o f e el that rac ing tw o motos is t ell ing o n m y body . I am glad we only have two m ore Grands Prix to go, th en I take a nice rest." De n mark's B r ian J org en sen pro du c ed th e race of hi s life, t ak ing second pl ace ahead of Smets. " I got a re all y go od sta rt ," Jo r ge nse n sa i d . " I w a s reall y re laxed , a nd Smets c a m e t o m e , he pa ssed m e but the n made a m is t ak e, and I got h im ba ck. I just tri ed t o ri d e a smooth rac e. I am in contention for th e to p fou r, which is great. I pus hed today to do okay . I disl ocated m y sh oulder in th e last Grand Prix , so I was not 100 percent today. but I felt okay. I stayed one week off the b ik e l a st w eek , but I had the energ y to Brian Jorgensen surprised many, although not himself, with his strong runner-up finish in the MotocrossGP event. cue I e n ... _ S • S EPTEMB ER 3 , 2003 19