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/128324
in the secon d race, I knew that Mickael [Maschio] was leading. Ichanged some lines and got some goo d lap times. I was able to pass him and knew I had the overa ll, but I true ." didn't know t hat I wou ld be leading the To make it a great double, Scots man championship tonight. There 's still a long Stephen Sword of the Jan de Groot way to go. I must be conce ntrated on my Kawasaki team won the MX2 class overall, goal and reach a to p three every weekend marking the first overall GP victory of to keep the champion ship open ." Sword 's career. Not only did he pick up his The old man of GP motocross, first Grand Prix overall in the MX2 class, he Everts, did the best he could for is also the new leader in the series points. the championship by finishing "This GP win is what I've been worksecond overall in the MX I class. T he seven-time ing for with the team , and it's good World Champ ion still conto take it tod ay," Sword said. ~ . ' trols the series points lead, and "When Ben [Townley] crashed ~ " gives som e extra energy. I really wan ted those starts today, and we have worked a lot on the bike to get it running exac tly how I want it. Overall, this is a dream come - "" the way things are going, the eve r-consiste nt Belgian won't be losing too much sleep in the coming weeks. "I gave my maximum effort today," Eve rts said. "I'm very happy with this result. Everyone was going really fast, and I collected some important points for the champ ionship. It was really tough in t he first race , and I had some difficulties making passes in the early stages, but third place was a good res ult. In the second race it was very difficult to pass Kenn eth Gundersen, and tha t battl e produ ced a gap to Brian Jorgensen . After I passed Kenneth, I pushed rea lly hard , but the race was abo ut one lap too short for me. I'm happy for Brian, and my congra tulations go to him and the team. " Jorgensen got t he holesho t in the first MX I race , followed by Kevi n Strijbos, Mickael Pichon and Eve rts . After getting an injection in both shoulders, Pichon decided to race the GP afte r his heavy crash dur ing t he qualifying session, but he was unable to kee p the same rhythm as his rivals, His teammate Jorgensen led the entire race but had to push hard in the last minutes as Melotte was coming back stro ngly. Sixth at the start. Melotte passed Everts early in the race and took secon d when Strijbos crashed on the 14th lap. "I just rode my own race ," Jorgensen said. "I felt a little pressure but was able to control it and finished nicely. I did have to pick it up a little when Melotte com e to me , but that wasn't a prob lem . This is so goo d for the team ." Jorgensen grabbed another holeshot in t he sec ond moto , leading Gundersen , Pichon, Everts and Joel Sme ts . While Jorgensen once mo re established a fi rm pace , Gunde rsen, Everts and Smets had a great batt le for second place; Everts finally passed Gunde rsen at the midway stage , and so did Smets two laps later. Gunde rsen did not finish the race as he crashed on the 17th lap, grantingJosh Coppin s and Melotte (who had a bad start) fourth and fifth positions. O nce more , Pichon finished in the top 10 and saved precious points, showing courage and determination. Alessio Chiodi got the holesho t in the first MX2 rnoto, with French youngster Sebastien Pourcel crashing in the first corner and blocking the progress of' Tyla Rattray. Claudio Federici passed for the lead while Andrew McFarlane also fell. Tow nley took the lead on the fourth lap and maintained a safe pace from the pack. Fed e rici, Swo rd, Maschio and C hiodi were fighting togeth er behind the leader, and afte r a strong race Maschio took secon d place from his teammate Sword, who finished third, Sword knew he wo uld be strong in the secon d moto and remained happy with another podium place. "By midrace I started to tighten up," Swo rd said, "Mickael [Maschio] passed me to take over second position. I was watch ing my mechanic Sean and the pit board, I knew I had to keep putting in the laps. My times we re 2;05 and then 2;04, so I knew I was keeping a steady pace , When Mickael was on my rear w hee l, I expe cted him to pass me ; it was just a matter of time - he was riding faster. When he did pass me , I stuck with him thinking that we might be able to break away from the guys behind. Town ley was up front , but the gap didn't change that much even w hen Mickae l start ed to catch him. I knew then that my th ird place was safe from Federici behind ." In the second race, Ch iodi took ano ther holesho t, but once more Federici quickly passed him for the top spot , Marc De Reuver crashed early and retired , likely losing all chance of the title. The Ger man circuit continued to take its toll as Chiodi fell after Maschio hit him on a jump. Maschio too k the lead on the second lap, with Tow nley on his rear whee l, and after a small mistake on the fourth lap, Town ley moved thr ough for the lead , Maschio and Sword tried to apply som e pressu re on the leader of the championship, and Tow nley soon crashed on a fast do w nhill section and ret ired with minor injuries. Maschio took the lead but was relegated to second by Sword , w ho we nt on to win Briefly... Rumors are now that KTM factory rider Ben Townley will not head to America in 2005 and will remain in the Grand Prix scene, probably racingthe MXI class. And it turns out that Australian lay Marmont may do a round of the World MX I Championship. The Aussie was talking about doing a round in Europe to pre pare for his 2005 assault on AMA racing, Chad Reed is not sure about compet ingin the Motocross des Nations thisyear. The Australian will get married in Octo ber and has also penciled in a race in Australia the same month. He will also compete in the U.S. O pen. "It's a matter of having time," Reed said, "I want to represent my country, but it's going to be tough to make the time, I really want to race in front of my countrymen, and while riding the des Nations is important to me, I can't do everything." C YCLE NEWS . MAY 19 200 4 33