Joel Smets (3 ), winner
Stefan Everts (72) and
Steve Raman (11) lea ve
the starting gate at the
Grand Prix af Benelux.
Ben Townley won both MX2 mo tos and moved
back into the series points lead.
38
MAY 26, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS
ust as they had done a month earlier at
round fo ur in the Worl d Moto cros s
Cham pionship in the sand of
Valkenswaard, Stefan Everts and Ben
Tow nley do minated the sand of Holland,
this time both going I- I in the ir res pecrve classes in Lichtenvoo rde , and exten ding
th e ir lea ds in the Wor ld MX I and MX2
Cham pionships,
While the ir victories in Valkensw aard
proved they are the masters of the sand, the
Lichtenvoorde circuit was anything but trad itional deep sand. Prior to rou nd six of the
championship the re was much talk of the difficulties the riders would have with what was
said to be deep sand and a treacherous forest
sect ion. As it turned out, the circuit was difficult
in the faa that the sand was not dee p enough
to form ruts, and the riders spent the complete
weekend trying to get their rhythm going. Even
Everts, who had ridden in Lichtenvoorde some
40th Anniversary
eight years ago, was disappointed with the circuit.
"I rode here in a Dutch National
Championship race back in 1995," Everts said.
"I couldn't even remember my result, but they
have changed the circuit, and I don't think it is
much good . It's not even real sand, the berms
don't hold up for one lap, so you are trying to
find lines on each lap, not one lap is the same,
and that makes it really difficult to get a
rhythm."
Still though the day did tum out for the better for Everts, his first-moto performance was
seen as the groom ing for moto two, and the
seven-time World Motocross Champion did
what he had to for viaory.
"In the first race , Ced ric Melotte w as
tough," Everts said. "He really pushed hard ,
and I had to work overtime to beat him. It's
tough racingwith somebody because you can't
find your own lines; you're just busy with push-
