Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

I MOTOCROSS Round 15 I~ FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocros s Championship passed him during the opening lap and op ened up a sizable lead. Marc D e Reuver was third out of the start gate, caught Tow nley on lap nine and th en passed him for the lead. As has happened so many t imes this year, D e Reuver 's bike failed and Townley w on the heat, effectively assuring him the t itle . Tyla Rattray came back from sixth to seco nd, foll owed by An ton io Cairoli , Belgian Marvin Van Daele and Port uguese Rui Goncalves respectively. In the second MX2 heat , Ben Townley grabbed t he first hole shot of his GP caree r and ro de simple amazing; aft er six laps he led Cairoli by 20 seco nds and won easily. Townley was follo w ed across the line by: Ai gar l.eok, D e Reuver, Cairoli and Rattray r espect ively. M ickael Maschio was involved in a pileup at the start, and Ste phane Sword re tired again with an engine failure. " I was r iding good in t he first race," Townley said. " De Reuver had nothing to lose and pushed really hard w hen he passed me, and I didn't want to take any risks. But finally he had a problem with t he bike, and I won the race and the champi onship." eN Jo sh Coppins put together another great ride and went 3-4 o n the day fo r th ird overall. GRAND PRIX O f IRELAND BAUYKELLY, IRELAND RESULTS : SEPTEMBER 11, (ROUND l S Of 16) 2004 MX I Mo tol: I. Mic kael Pichon (Hon); 2. Ste fan Eve rts (Yam); 3. Josh Co ppins (Ho n); 4. Ced ric Me lotte (Yam); S. Steve Ramo n (KTM); 6. Kevin Strijbos (Suz); 7. Ke n De Diicke r (Ho n); 8. Marn k q Bervoets (Yam); 9. Dan ny Th ey be rs (Y ; 10. Lauris Freibe rgs (Hon ); I I. Marko am) Kovalainen (Hon ); 12. Billy Mackenz ie (Yam); 13. Josef Do bes (Suz); 14. James N o ble (Ho n); 15. Luigt Seguy (Yam) MX I Moto2: I. Ste fan Eve rts (Y am); 2. Mickael Pichon (Hon); 3. Tanel Leek (Suz); 4. Josh Coppins (Hon); 5. Kevin Strf jbcs (5uz ); 6. Billy Mack enzie (Yam); 7. Go rd o n Croc kar d (Ho n); 8. Steve Ramon (KTM); 9. Lauris Fre ibe rgs (Hon); 10. Danny The ybe rs (Yam); II . C hris Burn ham (KTM); 12. Ken De Dqcker (Ho n); 13. Cedric Me lo tt e (Yam); 14. James Nob le (Hon ); 15. Mark o Kovalainen (Hon) flM WORLD MX I CHAMPIONSH IP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Mer 15 of 16 round s): I. Stefan Everts (666/7 wins); 2. Mickael Pichon (573/5); 3. Jos h Coppins (5 19/1 ); 4. Steve Ramo n (439); 5. Kevin 5tri jbos (42 1); 6. Tanel Leek (338); 7. Cedric Me lo tt e (3 17/ 1); 8. Brian Jor ge nse n (294) ; 9. Ke n De Ducker (247); 10 . Luigi Seguy (2 17); II . Lauds Freibergs ( 199); 12. Yos hi Ats UU ( 198); 13. Ch ris Burn ham (185); 14. joe l 5mets ( 175); 15. Marko Kovalainen ( 170) MX 2 Mo t o l : I. Be n Town ley (KTM); 2. Tyla Rattra y (KTM); 3. Antonio Cairo li (Y am); 4. Marvin Van Daele (Sua) : S. Rui Goncalves (Yam); 6. [usst Vehvilainen (Ho n); 7. Alessio C hiodi (Yam); 8. Aigar leek (KTM); 9. Seb ast ien Pou r cet (Kaw); 10. Carl N unn (Hon ); I I. David Philippaerts (KTM) ; 12. jonathan Bar ragan (KTM) ; 13. Garath Swanepoel (KTM); 14. Manuel Prie m (Suz); IS. Patrick Cap s (Yam) MX l Motol : I. Be n To wn ley (KTM); 2. Aigar Leek (KTM); 3. Marc De Reuver (KTM); 4. Antonio Ca iroli (Yam); S. Tyla Rattra y (KTM); 6. Garath Swa nepoel (KTM); 7. Anthony Boissiere (Y ); 8. Claudio Federici (Yam); 9. am jonathan Bar ragan (KTM); 10. Cart Nu nn (Ho n); II . Patrick Ca ps (Y ); 12. David Philippaerts (KTM); 13. Alessio am am); IS. Wyatt Avis (5uz) C hiod i (Yam); 14. RuiGoncalves (Y flM WORLD MX 2 CHAMPIONSH IP SER IES POINTS STANDINGS (After IS of 16 rounds): I. Ben Town ley (57 2/8 wins); 2. TyIa Rattray (464/2); 3. Antonio Caircli (409/ 1); 4 . Stephen Sw ord (382/ 1); 5. Alessio Ch iodi (362); 6. Mickael Masch io (343); 7. Andrew McFarlane (329/1); 8. Ca rl Nunn (275 ); 9. Patri ck Caps (264); 10. Claud io Fed e r ici (2S6); I I. Aigar Leek (25 1); 12. Sebastien Pourcel (236) ; 13. Anth on y Boissie re (228); 14. M.,c De Rower (2 19); IS. Andrea Bartol ini ( 18S) The Champs: Townley (left) and Everts (right). but it w as nice for him to be here . I've been working hard for thi s since four years now, and in the last lap of t he first heat I was t hinking t o all the w ork we 've done w ith my partners. I want t o thank all of t hem, and also my parents who came here to celebrat e the title w ith me. I am goi ng to party now. We have a party tonight, then to morrow night and also on Monday night ; once th ey are done I am getting back into tra ining. I wa nt to w in t he last rou nd in two weeks and get ready fo r the Motocross of Nations." Belgian rider Ce dr ic Melotte took the holeshot in t he first MX I moto. After a lap Ste fan Everts was leading Melotte and Pichon . Pichon then took t he lead on t he t hird lap but was unable to leave Everts behind. The two riders battled it out for a few laps before Pichon was able to make a pass stick in the closing stages of t he race. When the checkered flag flew, it was Pichon taking the w in, followed by 24 SEPTEMBER 22 ,2004 • Everts and Joshua Co ppins, w ho came back fro m a 10th place start. Co ppins got t he holeshot in the seco nd MX I moto, but Everts and t hen Pichon passed him rat her quickly. After t hree laps Everts was leading Pichon by five seconds and was able to take the wi n w it hout any trouble. Tanel Leo k, w ho took fourth in t he pre vious race when his bike broke, got his second podium of the season with a third , the n came Cop pins, Stri jbos, Mackenzie and Irish hero Gordon Cro ckard , respectively. " I made another really good st art in race two, " Everts said. ':And I knew that I had to push really hard to break away from Picho n and maintain my lead . Tow ards the end of the race , I was a little stronger than Pichon, and I t hink this made the difference t hat allowed me to take t he wi n." Antonio Cairoli took the holeshot in the first MX2 race, but Ben Tow nley CYCLE NEWS My 2 OWN RACE Mickael Pichon 1-2 2nd (MX I) " It was not an easy weekend." Pichonsaid. " The track was really difficult, and I'm a little bit tired at the moment as I've been racing every weekend since four months now. I spent a lot of energy in the first moto when I tried to win it. I thought it could be OK in the second one. but Stefan andJosh were really fast at the beginning. I was just able to stayw ith them and pass Josh. I pushed really hard to catch Stefan, but after 20 minutes I was really tired , my arms pumped up and I could only stay in second." 30 Joshua Coppins 3-4 3rd (MX I) "I'm pretty happy with this weekend," Coppins said, "because for two weeks I'm a little sick and I've not been train ing on the bike. I have been racing two races last week and it has been difficult to recover, so the results are good for me. In the first round I had to come back from 12thplace. In the second I started well but I didn't haveenough speed to staywith Stefan [Everts] and Mickael [Pichon]. I did the best I could; the track was really nice and I think that they did a pretty good job considering the weather." 222 Antonio Cairoli 3-4 2nd (MX2) " Yesterday I really enjoyed the track." Cairoli said. " But today it was much more difficult for us. I got the holeshot, but Benpassed me straightaway; he was really fasttoday. I crashed later. but anyway I couldn't follow him. I got another good start in the second moto, but Ben was faster than in the first heat. I'm happywith my secondplace overall. I'm now third in the standings, that was my goal,and I will defend it to Stephen Sword in the lastround." 40th Ann iversary

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