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/128325
Round 6
MOTOCROSS
for me this weekend because the track
was really bumpy. I tried hard to catch
Stefan, but he was too fast fo r me today.
Although I lost some points to Stefan in the
championship, second place is okay, and
I'm happy with my result ."
Melotte and Strijbos both showed great
speed and continue the resurrection of the
Belgian cou ntry in the likelihood of Smets
and Everts' retiring in 2006 .
"It was really good fun racing wit h Kevin
Strijbos today, and I was happy w ith my
last-lap pass in race one, " Melotte said.
"But when I passed him in the secon d race ,
I hit a bump w hich pushed me over a
be rm, so I had to wo rk really hard to catch
him again before I could finally make a
pass. Next week I'll do some training in
Italy on the hard surface tracks and get
ready fo r the UK GP."
Th e opening rnoto of the MX2 class
was a Townley cakewalk, and despite letting his teammate Rattray into the picture
for a little while , the New Zealander led
every lap and won by 2 'f, after cruising the
last lap. In th ird place was Italian fireball
Antonio Cairoli.
Even though Townley said he was not at
his best, he still got the 2S points he want-
40
I
May 16,2004
~
FIM World M XI/MX2 Motocros s Cha mpionship
ed .
"I didn't have a good feeling the whol e
weekend," he said. "I was just cons istent.
You know when you go out into the lead ,
you have the o ne racing line, and Tyla
found some good lines co ming from
behi nd. I en joyed the track. It was really
demanding: it's the type of con ditions I
enjoy. I came into Holland fee ling con fident. I didn't worry abo ut my accident in
Germany, not at all."
Rattray had produ ced a bliste ring
midrace attack on Tow nley, although his
more expe rie nced team mate didn't give
t he South African the chance to take the
win. Riding with an injury did not stop
Rattray fro m fighting hard for his podium
place.
"O n Saturday I hurt my ankle in the
qualifying race, so it was a to ugh day,"
Rattray said. "I didn't stan so we ll in the
first moto but took the inside and then
railed the outside of the second to move
up to sixth. I used quite a bit of energy in
the first moto trying to catch Ben and did
not find it easy to pass riders."
In the second moto it was again
Townley who led every lap, this time winning by 2 1 secon ds ove r Rattray, w ith
MAY 26, 2004 • CYCLE N EWS
Ca iroli a furthe r e ight seconds off the pace .
Rattray scored the same resul t as he did
in Valkenswaard three weeks earlie r, and
once again he showed he is very dangerous
in the sand . Des pite racing on the KTM
12Scc two-stroke, his speed was very
often the equal of Townley on the mo re
powerful KTM 2S0cc four-st ro ke .
"I was more re laxed in the secon d
moto, but also fee ling tired ," Rattray said.
"It was good racing between Ben and I. He
realized that I was quicker in the first race,
but w he n I got close, he rea lly picked t he
pace up . The 12S was working rea lly w ell
th roughout the weekend in t he sand. I am
happ y w ith seco nd place, but first is really
where I wan t to be ."
eN
G RAND P RIX O F B EN fLUX
LJCHTtNVOO RDE, H OllAND
RE SULT
S:
MAv 16, 2004
(ROUN D
6)
MX I MO TO I: I. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Steve Ramon
(KTM) ; 3. Cedric Melone (y",,); 4. Kevm Stn,oo. (Son); S.
Joel Smets(Son); 6. Mickael Pichon (Han); 7. joonen (Suz); 15. Vootoi Auona (Hen ).
HX I MOTO ~ I. Stefan E-u (Yam 2. CeG1c
);
MeIotte ('Dm ); 3. ICeWl Stritboo (Son); 4. Mrlaol PIchon
(Hen); 5. jo