although he showed once again that his
sp e ed is often the equal of that of Everts.
"I kne w it was go ing to tough to w in,"
Me lotte said . " Pro bably I made the mis tak e of passing Everts too soon, but I w as
afraid someone would be coming back
from behind . W hen Stefan passed me, I
tried to stay in co nta ct. To avoid crashing,
I backed off a little and secured my second place."
eN
EUROCIRCUIT
VALKENSWAARD, HOLlAND
REsuLTS: APRIL 25 , 2004 (ROUND 4
Of
16)
MXI MOTa I: I. Ced ric Melone (Y
am) : 2. Stefan
Everts (Yam): 3. J Smeu (Suz): 4. Hockael Pichon (Hon ):
oel
S. Kevin Strijbos (Suz); 6. Ken De Dt;cker (Htte (Yam); 3. JoelSmets (Suz);". Mickael Pichon (Hon );
S. Jos h Coppins (Hon ): 6. Kevin Strijbos (Suz); 7. Kenneth
Gunder>en (KTH) : 8. Steve Ramon (KTH ): 9. Ken De
O ijcker (Hon) ; 10. Lauris Freibe rgs (Hon); I I. Yoshi Atsuta
Hon ); 12. Tartel Leak (Suz); 13. Mark o KovaJainen (Hon ):
\ 4. Dan ny Theyben (Yam): 15. Marl< Hucldebridge (ICTM).
MXI O/A : I. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Ced ric Melott e
(Yarn); 1, Joel Sme U (Suz); 4. Mickael Pichon (Ho n); S.
Kevin Strijbos (Suz); 6. Kenneth Gunde rse n (Hon ); 7. Steve
Ramon (KTM); 8. Ken De O ijcke r (Hon); 9. Yoshi Atsut a
Cedric Melone won the first moto
but chased Everts to the line in the
second to just miss out on his second MX 1 win of the season. Second
overall kept Melotte second in the
points standings, though.
MY OWN RACE
3
Joel Smets (3-3) MX I
Five-time World Motocross Champion Joel Smets made a welcome
return to the podium. It was the SllZUki team's first podium this year.
"It feels good to get this first podium result with the team," Smets
said. "Mentally the winter was very tough . After 10 years with a
European bike, it was a complete new engine and chassis, and I put
a lot of pressure on myself since October to make this project work.
At the first race of the year in MantoYa, we already saw the first
signs of our hard efforts, but it was also the same meeting where I
picked up my knee injury. I was still convinced that we had a bike
that would fight for GP wins . In the first moto, I got a pretty good
start and was following Steve easily without having to push . After
about 15 minutes I had a small dip and lost the pace because Mickael
and Joel caught me . I tried to keep consistent with my speed after
that and saw that I could not catch them, but I was quite tired
toward the end:'
24
Kevin Strijbos (5-6) MXI
Joel Smets' young Suzuki teammate is also making progress in the
MX I championship. His results in Holland
kept him in contention. "On the start of the
second [moto], I wheelied too much and had
to shut off to get control, so I lost some
places. The beginning of the race was bad; I
was not focused and already felt tired, but
when 1relaxed, the rhythm came, and I got
faster. I was happy that I picked up the speed,
but it was stupid to lose time on everybody at
the start, and I cannot afford to do this. Fifth is
my best overall result of the year, so I have to be happy with this."
2
Mickael Pichon (4-4) MXI
The twc-tirne World Motocross Champion never looked likelyto
beat the Belgian riders, although on Saturday he looked confident
after taking pole position . "I did not sleep well this week. and 1felt the
effects of the start of the year out on the track . I did not know why I
crashed . I went into the tum and was dose to Stefan. Maybe he
flicked a stone under my wheel, because I lost the bike without any
warning . I'm content to come away with the points , but I shou ld be
doing better with the bike and the team I have. I am always quite fast
in qualifications and proved that last year on the 250. Maybe I should
not take pole position for a change . Maybe then I'llwin some races! "
222
Antonio Cairoli (3 -10) MX2
Cairoli rode to his best finish of the season. The Italian, who rides for
the DeCarli Yamaha team in Italy, is perhaps the most exciting rider
to come into Grand Prix this year. "I had two excellent starts today,
but that's where the similarities end!" he said .
"In the first race I took the holeshot, but
Townley took the lead. When Townley
crashed, I took the lead again, and I felt great,
riding very consistently. Townley and Rattray
were just a bit quicker near the second half
of the race, but getting my first podium was
amazing. In the second race I took the
holeshot again, but Townley and de Reuver
quickly came by. I don't know why, but two
laps in the race, my legs started hurting, and I had to fight really hard
just to finish. My body tensed, I started making mistakes and crashed
in the double jump."
19
Stephen Sword (4-6) MX2
Scotland's Stephen Sword rides for the Jan de Groot Kawasaki team
and rode very well in Valkenswaard. He just missed out on a topthree finish and will go to Teutschenthal with something to prove.
"From a top-five start in the first moto, I never seemed to find a
comfortable rhythm, I moved to fourth position and just tried to
keep good lap times. Townley must have made a mistake because I
could see him in front . I was trying hard to catch him, but he broke
away. I saw de Reuver was cruising with machine problems, which
moved me up one position. With about IS minutes to go, my rear
brake went. I couldn't hit the jumps as hard as [I] would have liked,
then McFarlane and Federici closed me down, but I managed to
hang onto fourth position . I wasn 't happy with the way I was riding.
My mechanic Sean blames the lack of time riding in sand, and I th ink
my confidence was a little weak, worrying about twisting my ankle .
It was very rutted out there, and I haven't been able to practice hard
all season during the week, I can ride, but then I twist it and have to
rest it. It's been nigglingme all season. I am lacking confidence, and I
need to get some of that sharpness back ."
www.cyclenews.com
,Briefly...
I
Netherlands Honda rider Ken De Dljcker
is also a rev elat ion in the MX I Champio nship. The Honda rider was not on the
o riginal entry list for the MX I class,
although injury to some riders early in the
season saw him get an entry for round on e .
De Dijcke r is now 10th in the po ints standings and has sco red th ree top -six finishes,
picking up 6-9 finishes in Valkenswaard .
The Valkenswaard circuit was nothing
like it used to be . With many hot summers
in the last few yea rs in Europe, the d irt is
mu ch harder. It was requested fro m the
FIM that the dirt be turned over, making for
better lines for the riders, altho ugh that did
not happen. The speeds around the long
sand circuit were very fast, and the track
was also one-lined , which disappointed Ste ran Everts. "They need to get a tractor on
this trac k," Everts said, "cut into it and tu m
the dirt over. It's so hard , not really even a
sand track anymor e ." Some changes were
made to the track, though , with some
jumps added, extra comers and other parts
of the circuit slowed it down. The lap times
from this year were 10 seconds a lap slower than in 2003 .
The pace of the races in this yea r 's MX I
and MX2 seems much better than last season . With on ly the top 10 riders re ceiving
prize money, the act ion is always around
that 10th place positio n, although a number
of riders have picked up their pace , and the
racing inside th e top fove is also ve ry exciting. Many of the GP backmarkers have
picked up their pace, so ove rall the re is racing going o n fro m first to lase- Fo r sure the
prize money problem has to be corrected,
although the fans sho uldn't be co mplaining
too much.
(Han) ; 10. lAuris Fre+bergs (Hon) ; II . Tanelleok (Suz); 12.
Josh Coppins (Han): 13. Danny Theyben (Yam): 14. Marlchio (Kaw ): 15. Jeff Dement (Hoo ).
FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX 2 S ERI ES
POINTS STANDINGS (Afte,. 4 of 16 rounds): I. Ben
Town~y ( 16 9/ 3 wins ); 2. Stephen Sward ( 152); 1. Andrew
M<:Farlane (128): 4 . Tyla Ratuay (121/1 w;n): 5. Harc De
Reuv ( 12 1): 6. ""tonio ea;"", (86 ): 7. Carl Nunn (84): 8.
e(TIE) Mockael Ha>chio (80 VAlgar Look (80 ); 10. James
Dobb (78); II . David Philippaerts (6 1); 12. A!@ssioChiod i
(55 ): I J . Sebastien Pccrcet (41): 14. jonathan Ilamogan (46):
15. Hanuel Priem (42) .
CYCLE NEWS • MAY 5,2004
27
