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/128332
Briefly... American Jeff Dement finished with 8-10 results for sixth overall. The Texan was held up in both motos by crashes on the first comer and co uld have easily been on the pod ium. In moto one Italian rider Claudio Federici ran into Dement, causing the SRS Honda rider to enter the first lap in near last. In the second Dement was slowed when Anto nio Cairoli crashed in fro nt of him. The 28-year-old, who finished o n the podium in Belgium a week earl ier, looked in great form all weekend. making mistakes: ' Finishing in between Pichon a nd Everts was Hond a rider Brian Jo rge nso n, who w e nt 2-3 o n the day and moved into seve nt h p lace in the MX I championship. " It was im po rtant for me to do well here," Jorgensen sa id. "T his is like a home Grand Prix fo r m e . I rode two st ro ng ra ces. In t he first ra ce, it was difficu lt. I staye d a lon g w ay behind and t ried to ke e p my go ggles clean. I pushed hard in t he last laps and closed on [Kevin] Str ijbos [firs t moto Winn e r]. " I m ade a good start," Jorge nsen said of his se cond m o to. " My plan w as to pus h really hard an d was ab le to pull away from Stefan, w ho was in second. I mad e two big mistakes, though , and had to slow down. Mickae l passed m e , and th e n I made ano ther mistake, and Stefan got by me. It was like fou r o r five laps to go , and I co uldn't get him back again. I sti ll have tendon itis in my left arm , so it's st ill difficu lt." As fo r Be n Town ley, th e 19-y ear-old New Zealande r returned to the top of t he MX 2 podium for t he first tim e in a m o nth a nd resu med his attack on the competition an d we nt I- I fo r maximum points. It was in Sweden t hat To w nle y picke d up his first-ever GP w in bac k in 20 02 , a nd once again, the tri cky Uddevalla circuit offered t he CHAMP KTM r ider some ha ppy moments. " I've made so many m istakes lately, and las t weekend I fe lt a little ro bbed ," Tow nley said . " I won t he first heat in Belg ium and was le ad ing the second easy w hen the bike bega n to slow. Today it fe lt good to come back and win. I came he re w ith o ne purpose, and that was to score w ins in both races. I felt good here; this has been a good country for me." Alessio Chiodi co uld do nothing to m atch the speed of Town ley, alt hough he did win the war o f the ve terans, as he finished ahead of his good frien d Bartolini for second overall wi t h a pai r o f secondplace finish e s. "Not possible to win," Chiodi sa id . "For me I wo uld like to w in, but Townley is just too fast . Twice seco nd is good for my c hampionship. I am getting better, a nd I ha d a t hird in my las t podiu m , no w second, so ne xt ti me I would like first, but it' s d ifficult . "To day we needed a good start, and Andrea took both holeshots, and I was twice in se co nd in the first corner," Chiodi added . "The first heat I waited a little, because I didn't want to make a m ista ke early. I t ried to pass Andrea [Bartolini] . I didn't take too many r isks, though. In the se cond moto I w as third, and I stayed in t hird for a while. Then I saw Stephen Sw ord had a problem w ith his gear lever, Ramon (24); 6. r-farkc KovaJianen (24); 7. Antti Pymonen (24);8.JoshCoppins (20); 9.Joakim EH asson (1 0. Yoshi 8);1 Atsu," (16); 11. Fab'ino Dini (15); 1 Janel Leek (14); 13. 2. M HuckJebridge (1 14. Em arl< 4); icoOdden ino(1 15.Ken 4); De D ijcker ( 14). FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSH IP MX I SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Alter II of 16 rounds), I. Stefan Everts (483/5 wins); 2. Mickael Picho n (3861 wins ); 3 3.JoshCopp;ns(357 wln ): 4.Steve Ramon(350); 5. Kev;n /1 Strqbcs (295); 6. Cedric M elotte (291/ 1 vv;n); 7. Brian Jorgense n (2461 1 win): 8. Tanelleok (242); 9. Joel Smets (175); 1 Ken De Dqcker (174); II. (TIE) Yash; Atsuta 0. (145yChri Bumham (145); 13. Luigi 5eguy (137); 14. s lauris Feelbergs (135); 1 K 5. enneth Gundersen ( IB). MX2 MOTO I, I. B T ley (KTM 2. Alessio en own ); Chiodi (Yam); 3. Andrea Bartolini (Y am); 4. Patrick Caps (Y am); S. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 6. Andrew McFarlane (Yam); 7. Claudio Federici (Yam B Jeff Dement (Ho 9. ); . n); Anthony Bcissiere (Yam); 10. Carl N unn (Hon): I I . Pascal Lauret (KTM); 12. T a Ratt"'y (KTM 13. Rui Goncalves yl ); (Yam); 1 Jukka Ptnoen (Ho 15. Antonio Cz;ro1; (Yam). 4. n); MX2 M OTO 2: I . Tow nley; 2. Chiodi; 3. S ord; 4. w finish the race, so I didn't push too hard." Bartolini; 5. Cairoli; 6. Caps: 7. Mickael Maschio; 8. Manuel Sword e nded up fou rt h w ith a 5-3 . Priem (5uz);9.Wyatt Av;s (5oz); 10. Dement: II. Ran...y; 12. Leuret: 13. Goncalves; 14. Bclssiere : IS. Nunn. O /A : I. Ben Townley (50); 2. Alessio Chiodi (44): 3. GRAND PRIX O F SWEDEN Andrea Bartolini (38): 4. Stephen Sword (36); S. Patrick UDDEVAlLA, SWEDEN Caps (33); 6. Jeff Dem ent (24); 7. Anton;o CZ;",1i (22); B . R J 4 2004 (R 1\ 16) Tyla Rattray ( 19); 9. Pascal Leu ret ( 19); 10. Anthony ESUlTS: UlY , OUND OF Boissiere (19); I I. Can Nunn (17); 12. Rui Gonc alves (1 6); MX I MOTO I: I. Kevin Strijbos (Suz): 2. Brian 13. Andre w McFarlane ( 15): 14. Mickael Maschio ( 14): IS. Jorgensen (Hon); 3. Mickael Pichon (Han ): 4. Stefan Everts Wyatt Avis (14). (Ya S. Antti Pyrhonen (TM); 6. Steve Ramon (KTM); m): FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP MX2 SERIES 7. Ken De Dijcker (Hon); 8 . Marko K ovalainen . ~(:i~~ POINTS STANDINGS (Afte r II of 16 (Han): 9. Sven Bre ugelmans (KTM); 10. Enrico "" rounds); I. Ben Townley (427/6 wins); 2. Odd enino (TM); I I. Luigi Seguy (Yam 12. Juss ); Tyla Rattra y (150/1 wins); 3. Stephen Laansoo (Han ); 13. Jos h Copp ins (Ha n); 14. Sword (342/1 win): 4. Andr ew Josef Dobes (Sue): IS. Fabrizio Oini (Ha n). McFarlane (looll win): 5. Mick.ae l MX I MOTa 2: I. Picho n: 2. Everts : 3. Maschio (26 1): 6. Antonio Cairoli Jo rgensen: 4. Ramon; 5. Atsuta; 6. Strijbos; 7. (257): 7. Alessio Ch iodi (251); 8. Lea k; 8. Eliasson ; 9. Coppins; 10. Kovalianen; r I. Patrick Caps (214): 9. Carl Nunn Hucklebridge: 12. Din i: 13. Pyrhcnen: 14. Freibergs: (208); 10. Clauo Federi ci 15. Tbeybers. (176); I I. A>gar look (171 ): O/A: I. Mickael Pichon (45): 2. Brian Jorgensen 12. James Dobb ( 154); 13. (42); 3. Stefan Everts (40): 4. KevinStrijbos (l3 ); 5. Steve Jeff Deme nt ( 150): 14. Ant hony Bo issier e ( 148) ; 15. Sebastien Mickael Pi chon posted hi s s e co n d Pourcel ( 146). so I passed him for second ." Bartolini ended up th ird . "Fo r m e it's been d ifficult th is year," he said . " I cras hed many t ime s in th e last race in Italy. I want to eN win in a row ond hi s third of the s e r ie s. He trails Everts by nearly 100 points . A strong rumor in Sweden has Stefan Everts poss ibly signing w ith the Jan de Groot Kawasaki team for the 2005 season. It is understood that Everts and the Rinaldi Yamaha team are having trouble with some details, and the Belgian legend Is so disap pointed that he has began to loo k else where in the paddock. If Everts went to Kawasaki, he w ould have to race the new Kawasaki 450 four-stroke , something many feel would be a mista ke . As for Everts , he is keeping tight- lipped about the '05 talks. "I am not happy about some aspects of w hat Yamaha w ant," he said . "I don 't wa nt to get into details, but it' s d isappoi nted me , and it has distracted me a little at the moment." For Everts the team talks and upcoming birth of his first child are taking his mind off th e challenge for his eighth World title . Having crashed twice in Swe den and once in th e previous Grand Prix in Belgium, the man of ste el is looking for - ''''' wa rd to having some time off in the com ing week s. "I am glad we no w have a break befor e the next Grand Prix in Czech Rep ublic. My mind is no t I 00 percent o n racing, and I need a brea k. It' s time for Kelly [Everts' girlfriend) to give birt h, and we can enjoy that moment." England's veteran racer James DDbb went o ut of the Gr and Prix of Sweden wit h a shoulder injury. Speaking of Ja m e s Dobb, he will be working with Mike and Jeff Alessi in the future . Dobb, who owns a management company in England , has signed the two American sensations. "They co ntacted me, and I'm worki ng with Allison Turner, who has bee n a longtime friend." Dob b said. "I am a consultant for Allison and t he Alessi family. In this day and age I don't need to be in America too much . I've always had a manage m ent company, and w hen t his came up, it was too good to re fuse. They are good kids. There is a fine line - cocky and confiden t - and they are bot h co nfident in their ab ility. The y don 't just say they can bea t them, they ho nestly think they can. Ifyou go to the Nat ionals and be happy with a second place , the n you're do ing it wrong. Somebody has to do it, raise the game, so why not Mike Alessi." Joel Sm ets looks like he will return to racing much quicker than ex pected. The fivetime World Motocross Champion is recovering fro m his viral infec tion and shou ld be back in action in a month. vcts NEWS . JULY 14, 200 4 27