Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

The sta rt of the MX2 class, ing and ke e ping an eye on th e other rid er. It's about time these younger g uys are coming in, bu t it make s it hard w ork. Th is year's se ries is real ly hard raci ng, mu ch harder th an 87 ......iilI-.. __• 24 Jeff Dement last yea r, but it's fun." New Zealand's Townl ey had nea rly the exact same type of da y as Everts, getting some serio us hurry-up from his o w n te am m at e Tyla Ratt ray in the ope ning moto of (12· 15, 1It h) MX2 "In the fi rst hea t I crashed, bent my fron t d isc and rode the w hole race with no bra kes ," American Jeff De me nt said of his day. "I finished 12th, which was okay. In the second race the y put more pain killers, and my clutch finger was completely numb, so I couldn't use the clutch . This trac k was so gnar ly, really hard to ride . I struggled , I got 15th in the last race , and I think I Ith overall. We go to England next. I want to do bette r there ; it's mo re techn ical," Kevin St rijbos (4·3, 3rd) MX I "I co uld have had third in the first moto, but a bac kmarker got in the wa y on the last lap ," Kevin Strijbos said. "I was pretty mad abo ut the backmarke r in the first race , but as it tu rns out , fourth was still okay. The races were good today. I got the ho lesho t bot h times, and although I felt tired at the end of the second heat, my riding was good eno ugh for this first pod ium. In the second mo to I had a little gap , and Mickael [Pichon) was push ing, but know ing Steve Ramon was out of the race made the podium a po ssibility. In the first race the other guys wer e a bit faster, and I could not hold o nto the lead. We are still working o n the bike, and I am nearly always getting the hole shot. so the Suzuk i is gett ing better and be tter. " 11 Steve Ra mon (2·DN F, 10t h MX I "My start was okay in the first heat, and I was able to come to th e front very quickly," Ramon said of his day. "My riding was good , and my lines were giving me a dec ent speed . Stefan started to push me, and I made a mistake in the rhythm section over the dou ble, and he had the lead. I was still really happy w ith second, tho ugh . In the second moto, I was finding my pace in the first few laps, but then the bike stopped. The pod ium was the goal, and of course it is disappo inting, but there is nothing we can do about it. I am still third in the championship, and we will loo k to the next GP." 37 Patrick Caps (4-4, 4th) MX2 "We have tested a lot late ly and mad e a lo t of improvement with the suspe nsio n settings," the fourth overall finisher said. "I feel very comfortable on th e bike now, and my co nfidence is co ming back. My shape is getting better week after week, and I'm co nfident to be a se rious contender for the re st of the season. My next goal is to rea ch for the pod ium." 19 Stephe n Swo rd (5-6, 5th) MX 2 th e MX2 class, th en running away w it h t he second m o to . Fo r Townley it was always go ing to be a victory th o ugh , t he tough Kiwi is showing all the fonn o f th e next World MX2 Mo tocross C hampion. " I was d isap pointed w ith lo sing the series points lead aft er my crash in G e rm any," Tow nley said. " If yo u look at my results, I've been the quickest rider. W he n the statistics came out this week, it said I led most of the laps , won more ra ces than anyone e lse and m ore or less was domina ting the series, yet it didn't say I was lead ing the championshi p. Th at irrita ted me. That is of co urse my aim to remain in the lead an d extend the lead as the series moves into the later ro unds." The o pening moto o f the MX I class once again showed the class riders o f the class . As has been the case so many tim es this year, the yo ung lio n Kevin Strij bo s led the ve terans Joel Smets and Eve rts into the opening lap , as w e ll as t hre e other mai n nam es of the series: Steve Ramon, Mickael Picho n and Melotte . Strijbos he ld his nerve for th e o pe ning seven laps before Ramon raced pas t, an d one lap lat e r Eve rts also go t by Strijbos fo r seco nd place . Ramon looked like ly to ta ke his seco nd moto wi n o f th e ye ar; howeve r, w ith four lap s to go , Everts tumed up th e heat and went on to wi n w ith nearly two seconds o n Ramon. Second was Ramo n, fo llo w ed by three more Belgia ns: Melotte, Stri jbos a nd Smets. Des pite the wi n Eve rts found the race very hard on his co nce ntra tio n. "Y u would th ink there was a lot of grip o with the sand, but there wasn't any gr ip," Everts sa id. "Yo u were always thinking about which line to take, using different lines each lap because the berms were breaking up so badly." The second MX I moto was all Everts as he he aded int o the first lap , this time fo llo w ed by Strijbo s, Me lott e , Pichon and Be lgian ride r Sven Bre ugel man s. From that moment on, Everts took off and led fro m start to finish, winning by 14 seco nds over Melotte and a further fo ur seconds over third-place St r ijbo s, who finis he d just ahead o f Pich on. Fifth place went to Josh Cop pins. Eve rts was happy w ith his pe rfo rm ance , and he co nce ded that his t ime at the top is a long w ay fro m be ing over. " In the second race I could ride my o w n pace ," Everts said . "I could find the lines , and at one po int, I was m aking a secon d a lap on second place . I co ntro lled th e race complete ly. My ph ysical cond ition is really good at the moment. I struggled w ith th e setup because the track is sand, but it 's not really deep sand. I went with a hard track setup, and that worked much better in the races ." "In th e first moto I was in sixth pos ition , and at the seco nd tum I made a good pass on a few riders to move to th ird and then passed Caps," Sword said. "W ithin a few laps, Rattray found a way arou nd me . I stalled th e bike in a comer and lost two positions to Cairoli and Caps. Afte r that I struggled to get into a rhyth m. When that start gate dropped for race two, the bike just sat there. and I spun up on the line . I was way back almost in 20th pos ition at the first turn . I knew I had the speed and I wo uld have to battle my way thro ugh if I wanted to stay in contention with Townley and Rattray." Melotte is looking like a sure thing to finish second o n the series points . In Uchtenvoorde, the Yamaha-mounted rider found th e circuit not to his liking. "I had some pain on my back from a crash in practice an d was sore this m oming," Melotte said. "Th e racing was difficult www.cyclenews.com Brief'Y··· A Chinese Motocross de legate will attend the Grand Prix of Italy in a mo nt h's time . It now looks Ioo -percent sure that China will e nter into the World Motocross Champions hip in 2005, with the Grand Prix of Japan ru n a wee k earlier. Wolfgang Srb is ex cited abo ut the poss ibility of going to Asia with the World Champio nship. "It' s going to be very exciting," Srb said. "I do n't think the de legate s are com ing for noth ing to Italy: it looks very muc h like it's going to happen, w hich is great ne ws for the 200 S series." O th er news from the FIM is that the MX2 class will also ru n with just 30 r ide rs in 2005, This year the re was a lot of talk amo ng the ride rs that the new 30-ride r· on ly list for the MX I class would kill th e spo rt . The racing in this year 's MX I class has been th e best in several years . While the past few years have seen Ste fan Everts , Joel Smets and Mickael Pichon dominate in the MX I and MX2 classes , th is year the re are at least five or six riders racing for victory. Italian rider Antonio Cairoli is ve ry muc h a rider wh o is looking toward Ame rica as his futu re . The young Italian ride r is the surprise packet of the MX2 class. Having en tered the series as an unknown , the Yamaha rider is now at the to p of many teams' shop ping list . He has taken th e holeshot about 10 of the 12 races . "It' s more difficult for Italian riders to race well in the sand, so I'm very happy with my result [third overall) today," Cairoli said. " I didn't get such a good start in the first race, but I tried really hard to push forward , and I was happy with my final position." When asked about the secret fo rm ula for his sudden rise to fame, the youngster replied, "There are no secrets to my train ing. I'm just worki ng rea lly hard , and I've been living in Belgium since January, so I've bee n prac ticing a lot o n the sand tracks. Actually, I prefer to race supercross, but my imp roving resu lts in the Motoc ross GPs really are just a res ult of my hard work , and I hope to finish the seas on at least in the top five." A poo r crowd of aro und 60 00 attended the Grand Prix of Benelux. It was not surp rising though, with the Dutch Gran d Prix held at the more familiar circuit of Valkenswaard lust a month ea rlier, plus two Dutch Moto cross Ch ampio nship rou nds held in the last mo nth, it was d ifficult to imagine that a large crowd wo uld turn out fo r th is, the third Gra nd Prix held in the last two mo nths in the Benelux (Belgium/ Holland! Luxem bou rg) area . Brian Jo rge nse n, the winner of the previous Grand Prix in Germany, failed to make the Sunday program after crashing o ut in practice on Sat urday and injuring his sho ulder. "I am so disappo inted," Jorgense n said. "Having won in the last ro und and th en not being able to race is d ifficult. I will go to the doctor. If he says I can't race in England, then I won't race. If I don't have muscle damage, the n I race in the next round." CYCLE N EWS . MAY 26,2004 39

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