Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Picho n's lead grew until no on e cou ld touch the speedy Frenc hman . When t he checkered flag flew, it was Pichon crossing the line first, followed by Everts, Coppins and LUigi Seguy. Kevin Strijbos finished t his moto in fourth afte r mes sing up both starts. Picho n was more than happy with his win, and his Tiscali Honda team worked hard between motos to improve his bike's settings. Just as he has done in the last two months, Pichon dominated Everts in the second moto of the day. "Changing the settings on the bike before the second rnoto was the vital part of the weekend," Pichon said, "because I was struggling in the first race . I felt nervous and under pressure, I'm not sure why. I was pushing hard in the first part of the race but made a small mistake and went down. From that [point] , I was in second and six or seven seconds behind Stefan. I tried rea lly hard to catch him and , not riding like I normally do , I was making a lot of mistakes. I was more relaxed in the second moto, like in Namur, and was able to find some better lines. We changed the suspension because it was too soft and there was a big improvement. The track was tricky both physically and technically, but I found some great lines. I had a lot of fun in the second moto and it was great to win again. The championship is almost gone, but I want to keep on winning races ." Despite going into the weekend with a slight chance of winning the MX I championship, Everts remained confident that it will come in two weeks in Ireland . It was not the perfect weekend for Everts, although he d id leave the German circuit with his huge championship lead intact . ''l>.lthough I had a large points advantage before this weekend's race," Everts said, "I really didn't think that I'd win the championship today, because I needed a rider in between me and Mickael to make that happen, and there was no one that could do that. I've had some really bad starts this year, but I don't know what the problem is. We've been trying to cha nge our settings on the bike, but it's not yet working out so well. In the second race today, I struggled to control the power and lost traction when driving off the start gate. Then, after one lap, Mickael had already developed a big gap, and I knew it wo uld be tough to catch him. I tried to ride a consistent race, and halfway through I got really tired . I put in a lot of effort in the first race to win , and in the second race I had to pay for that. The track was difficult this weekend, but I still enjoyed my riding." The MX2 class proved to be much more exciting than the main MX I class this weekend . In the first race, Antonio Cairoli and Maschio battled for the win, but Cairo Ii crashed , allowing Alessio Chiodi and C laudio Federici to join Maschio on the podium. As for the series points leader, Ben Town ley, he retired from the first moto after a crash . Townley's teammate Marc De Reuver also DN Fe d with a bro ke n ge arbox. However, the two KTM boys had bette r luck in the sec ond rnoto , as they both led much of it. De Reuver got t he hole shot and led the race for 14 laps befo re Town ley finally passe d him. With Townley and De Reuver having a horri ble first moto, their excellent second-moto finishes he lped t hem in the overall results - just not enough to beat Maschio's co nsistent double-moto score. Masciho finished the second moto in sixth with a damaged rear brake. In the end, though, the factory Kawasaki rider won his first GP of the season, followed by Sebastien Pourcel, who got his first GP podium, and Claudio Federici in third. Maschio was very happy with his two rnotos, and despite his accident on the Saturday practice he looked very much like the rider who once dominated the class. "I started well in the first race and passed Cairoli for the lead, but he pushed really hard and came back," Maschio said. "In the midd le of t he moto, I was catc hing him again, but he made a mistake, and I was able to control the race from there. Th e second moto was harder because it was raining and more slippery. I was afraid of crashing. The start was not perfect, but I worked my way to fourth, and after about six laps I stalled the bike - I pulled in the clutch and got going qUickly. The bike was okay afterwards, although I did not have a good rhythm. I knew my pos ition was good enough, but in the last few laps I lost my back bra ke and thought that the w in had escaped me again. I am really happy to have taken t he victory, because it was very difficult here. I neede d this res ult for me eN and for the team ." Nogi(KTM). GRAND PR IX OF EUROPE FIM GAILDORF, GERMANY RESULTS : AUGUST (ROUND 14 OF Jussi Vehvilainen (Ho n); 10. David Phihp paerts (KTM); I I. Algar Leak (KTM); 12. Marvin Van Daele (Suz); 13. Tyla Ran ray (KTM); I" . Anthony Bo issie re (Yam) ; IS. Maximilian 29, 2004 16) MX I MOTO I: I. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Mickae l Pkhon (Hon); 3. Josh Coppins (Hon) ; 4. Ant"'ne Moo (Kaw); 5. Kevin Strijbos (Suz): 6. Tanel leok (Suz): 7. Josef Dobes (Suz); 8. Ken de D ijcker (Hon); 9. Mam icq Bervcets (Yam) ; 10. [ames NobIe ~Hon) ; I I. lu;gi Seguy (Yam); 12. Billy Mackenzie (Yam); Il . Lauris Fre ibergs (Hon): 14. Marko Kovalianen (Hon): I S. Fabrizio D ini (KT M). MX I MOTO 2: I. Micltien Poc rcel (224); 12. Aip' Leek (2 16); 13. Anthony Botssiere (209) ; 14. Marc De Reu¥e r ( 199); IS. Andrea Bartolini ( 170) . Briefly... Manycountries have picked their Moto cross of Nations teams. The Australian team was to be Andrew McFarlane, Cheyne Boyd and Brett Metcalfe,although McFarlane injured himselfat the GP of Europe and will now miss the event. His replacement is not yet decided. Belgium willgo with Stefan Everts, Steve Ramon and either Cedric Melotle or Kevin Strijbos. At this moment , the Belgian Federation is not that happy that Strijbos is ridingunder a Dutch racing license, although Stefan Everts is sure what the team should be. "There are some stupid people in our federation," Everts said. "I think the team should be Ramon, Strijbos and myself." The French team is not finalized, but Mickael Pichon and Sebastien Pourcel are two of the riders, and the Federation is looking into other options. Mickael Maschio, who won in Germany, would be a good choice, although he is terrible in deep sand. Italywillnot have Alessio Chiodi or Claudio Federici on the team and at the moment will run with Antonio Cairoli and two others. New Zealand will haveJosh Copp ins, Ben Townley and Daryl Hurley, with Australian 12Scc champion Cody Cooper as an alternate . The news that Gre g Albe rty n will race the Grand Prix of South Africa has been met with huge applause in the GP pits. A1bertyn is one of the most respected riders to ever race a Grand Prix, and many feel it is a good move for him to make his last major race in the GPs. Ryan Hughes made a call to the CAS Honda team in Europe to find out about racing for the British -based team in 200S. Other names beingput forward to European teams include Mike Brown and Jeremy McGrath. Rumors say that Brown has already Signed with a GP team . Once again, no major GP riders will head to America in 2005, and the European-based series willonly improve for it. Manyin Europe now feel the GP riders are at least the equals of their American-based counterparts. Tiscali Honda rider and winner of the Grand Prix of Germany Brian Jorgensen has signed to race for the Rinaldi Yamaha team in 2005. As for the team's current rider Gordon Crockard, he willrace in the MXI class for the Steve Dixon Yamaha team. Other changes in Europe are that Andrew McFarlane willteam up with Alessio Chiodi on an Italian Yamaha team, and Jussi Vehvilainen of the CASHonda team is being offered a huge deal by KTM to race the MX2class. www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • SEPTEMBER B, 2004 17

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