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/128345
FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship at wa s expecte d t o be a somewhat casual, carefree en d to a succes sfu l 20 04 G r a nd Prix seaso n turned ou t to be quite interesting, and eve n a little o n th e dr amat ic side , when eight- time W or ld Mo tocro ss Ch a mp io n Ste fan Eve rts came unglued fo llow ing an o ntrack incide nt wit h season-long rival Tiscali Honda's Mickael Pichon, the eventual w inner of the Grand Prix of South Africa. After finishing second to Pichon in the first moto , Eve rts and Pichon made contact early in the seco nd rnoto, resulting in the recently crowned champ cras hing. It was a ra the r minor -looking fall, but instead of righting the bike and rejo ining the race as quickly as he could, Everts , in the heat of the moment, chose to walk across a section of the track, stand in the racing line and wait for the field to come arou nd. Greg Albe rtyn was leading at the time, followe d by Pichon and Josh Coppins, and just as they approached the spo t w here Everts was stand ing, the obvio usly frustrated champion hurled his goggles at Pichon. Everts then remounted his bike , but his tantrum wasn't over yet . W S2 Still steamed, Everts rode aro und the circuit at a slow pace , waiting fo r Pichon to lap him, at wh ich po int Everts blocked the Hon da rider's line, nea rly taking the Frenchman out . It goes with out saying that Pichon was not happy w ith Everts ' actions, but , unlike Everts, the Frenchman managed to kee p his coo l. "He [Everts] was pre tty aggressive in the beginning, like he has been many times this year," Pichon said. "I understand he wants to win, but I want to win as well. I came on the inside in a co rner and I jumped from the inside to the middle, but he changed his line and we collided . Maybe it was not a very nice move, but last year he did the same in Austria and I almost crashed the re. Unfo rt unate ly he wen t dow n this time , but , as I said, I just wa nted to make the move . His reaction was not really nice. I imagine he was really mad, and he tried to push me out in a corner. It's not a good end for the championsh ip," Everts le ft the track immediately after the incide nt and wou ld not talk to the press or the FIM , who had asked him to go to the jury room. Later that evening , Eve rts said , "If I am OaOBER 13,2004 • CYCLE NEWS allowed to race next year I want to win the cham pionsh ip. Wha t I did was wrong and I am sorry for my actio ns. I felt Picho n made a very dirty pass on me and I was very angry," The incident rem inde d Albertyn of a similar situ at ion that happe ned ma ny 40th Anniversary years ago that invo lved Everts . "I saw him wa lking onto the t rack and thought, 'W hat the hell? He 's pisse d with somebody,' I saw him do that o nce to [fallon] Vohland bac k abou t 10 years ago in Ernee. He got in my way and I didn't know wha t was going on . I figured he was pissed with Pichon." Coppins said that he was surprised something like this hadn't happen ed earlier in the year. "I've been waiting for this for months," he said. "They have both been aggress ive and it was going to happen eventually I think Pichon rode very . aggressive in that corner; it was not a place to make a pass." The Pichon- Everts incident wasn't the only dramatics on the day, as the MX 1class riders staged a symbolic 10-minute "strike" just prior to the start of the ir second moto - and on live te levision, no less. The holdout, led by Eve rts, was the riders ' way of showing thei r displeasure with Youthstream's plans to stop paying the riders' pr ize money in 2005. When goggles weren't flying and the riders finished strik ing, the racing at the South Africa Grand Prix was good and interesting, and a lot of that had to do with the return of local hero, former three-t ime Wo rld Champ Albertyn . Although his de but in the first moto did not go well, he did lead some of the sec ond rnoto , giving the home fans something to get excited abo ut. Albe rtyn showed signs of the 'Y\lbee " of old, but the lack of serious riding and training wo uld soon take its to llon the Suzuki RMZ450 ride r. Still, Albertyn finished an impressive sixth in the second moto on a bike he had hardly ridden before . Finishing in second place on the day was CAS Honda rider Josh Coppins. The New Zealander wen t 3- 1 and cam e very close to taking the ove rall. "I wanted to end the season with some GP wins, but