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/128336
the first mota ." In second place, behind Tow nley, was Italian vet eran Alessio Ch iod i, wh ile another Italian, Antonio Cairoli, finished third. In the opening MX I race , it was Brian jorgensen who jumped out at the start and led early. Behind him came Tanel Lee k, josh Copp ins, Sven Bre ugelmans, julian Bill and Pichon. The Dane held the point until lap I I, when his Martin Honda teammate Pichon sneaked up and zap ped him. No t long after that, both Co ppins and Everts got aro und jor gensen with six laps remaining. O nce in the lead, Pichon pulled aw ay for the win, while Everts got arou nd Coppins to nab second. "I am happy," Pichon said. "The pace was rea lly quick, and I was in eighth place in the start of the race. I pushed really hard and could get away from jorgensen. Everyone had the same speed, so I had to push really hard. I didn't wa nt anyone to catch me ." As for Everts, he once again had to bow to the power of Pichon. Everts gated poorly and could never recover. "I had a bad start," Everts said. "1had a lot of wheel spin off the gate . We had been working on my bike to get better starts , so I was really disappointed with that . I moved in, but Pichon was long gone by the time I passed Co ppins." In the second MXI race , Co ppins took the lead ahead of Everts and Pichon. By lap seve n, however, Pichon had worked his way into the lead and was showing Coppins and Everts a clean pair of heels. Everts would also get past Coppins on lap 10 and that would be the order of finish. , "I, once again, missed the jump from the gate," Pichon said. "1 was lucky. In the fi rst tw o corners, I was in fourth place. I saw Coppi ns and Everts in fro nt and pushed rea lly hard to catch them. I then passed Eve rts and tried to pass Coppins. Coppins was in really good form , and I couldn't pass him. I tried to stay wit h him, because I rea lly was str uggling. I w as able to pass him, tho ugh, and then move away quickly, I was about a second quicker, and my confidence was good and I could do it easy." Everts, who is getting closer to that elusive eighth World Motocross Championship, is not too worried about his weekend's resu lts, although he is motivated to change the present situation . "I had a great start in the second race ," Everts said. "1 was alongside Coppins in the first corner, but he just edge d me to get the lead. We changed something on the gearbox, and that made a difference out of the start. I was not aggressive (Above) Even after winning the last three GPs, Pichon still has a lot of ground to make up in order to catch Everts in the MXI paints standings. (Below) Pichon leads Everts . . &':l enough, and Pichon was really riding a little wild. Whe n he passed me, he nearly took me down . I have a big lead in the champ ionship, but I want to win. I used too much energy in the early laps and lost my strength. I was able to get my rhythm back and passed Coppins for second place." Italian sensation Antonio Cairoli pro- duced a brilliant perfo rmance to lead the opening MX2 mota. The Yamaha-mou nted rider quickly pulled away as series favorites Mark De Reuver, Ben Townley and Tyla Rattray held down fifth, 10th and 17th, res pectively. By the end of lap three, Cairoli was a long way in front , and Townley had worked his way into fifth position. It wasn't long befor e Townley www.cyclenews.com was on the back whe el of De Reuver and pushing for a second-place finish. It didn't happen , though , and Cairoli won , ahead of De Reuver and Townley. In the seco nd mota , anot her Italian, Alessio Chiodi, jumped into the early lead , ahead of Town ley, Sebastien Po urcel, Ste phen Swo rd and Cairol i, Townley, knowing he nee ded to win the CYCLE NEWS • AUGUST 11, 2004 27