-
, Rou nd 3
MOTOCROSS
Ap r. 3, 2 0 04
FIM Wo rld MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship
STORY AND PHOTOS BY
G EOFF MEYER
ust when it seemed as though
Mickael Pichon was about ready
to break like a breadstick after
his terrible misfortunes at the
opening two rounds of the MX I
Championsh ip Series. the twotime World Motocross Champion
came storming back to take a surprising victory in the Grand Prix of Portu gal, go ing 2 -1 and show ing ser ies
leader Stefan Everts that he is going to
have to fight hard if he wants to retain
his World title . Pichon went into
rou nd th ree w ith two DNFs on his
record and a huge points deficit to
Everts , and wh ile he is still some 28
points beh ind the Belgian legend in the
series points, Pichon's performance
around the technically difficult circuit
in Agueda showed he is close to being
back to his best form .
Everts did manage to finish with
identical results to Pichon's, going 1-2,
but Pichon's win in the all-important
second moto made him the official
overall winner.
Third place in Portugal went to
Everts' teammate and opening -round
winner Cedric Melotte, who tallied
S-4 resu lts.
For Pichon, the win also proves that
he's completely healed from his knee
injury and that his new Honda team is
backing him fully something he felt
,
wasn't the case last year with Suzuki.
The Frenchman , who has failed to finish two of the six motos in the championship so far, is finally beginning to look
like a serious title contender,
"I am so happy," Pichon said. "l owe
so many people thanks : my doctors,
familyand the Martin Honda team. We
have all worked together, and to win
36 APRIL 14, 2004 • CYCLE N EWS
40th Anniversary
