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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128345
Mickael has been rea lly stro ng," Coppins said. "I'm happy w ith [t he secon d-moto] win. The second race was really exciting. I think it was amaz ing on te levision, and for me it was fun. I was so happy to race with Albertyn; he has been my hero and that was rea lly co ol to be racing w ith him." Third place went to KTM facto ry rider Steve Ramon , w ho went S-3 o n the day. The op e ning MX I race was not te rribly exciting; Picho n took an early lead and raced away with the mo to w in, leading hom e Everts and Co ppins. Albertyn spent much of the race on the gro und, crashing t hree times and eventually pulling o ut of the race after aggravating an old thumb injury. Th e second MX I moto went much be tter for Albe rtyn , as he led the op en ing two laps . Pichon eve ntually passe d the South African and then crashed in the same corner where Albertyn had crashed in the opening moto. With the Fren chman on t he groun d, Co ppins tu rned up the hea t, passe d Albe rty n and moved into the lead . C oppins w o uld not be headed again and cam e within four laps of ta king the overall victory, but wh e n Picho n fought his way back into secon d place by passing Ramon o n lap 16 of the 19-1ap race, t hat went o ut the w indow. W ith a 1-2 , Pichon rec o rded his sixt h Gra nd Prix victo ry of the year. "I just wa nted to win th is GP," Picho n said. "W hen I too k the lead in the sec ond mot o , I managed a safe distance. I don 't I rea lly know w hat I did , but I crashed pre tty hard in the sand section. It was a stupid crash . I restarted as soon as possi ble, and then I knew t hat Josh was leading and tha t I had to finish se cond to win the GP. I pushed really hard to co me back. It was • not so eas y because it was pretty difficult to make th e diffe rence o n that track, but I came bac k second beh ind Josh, and that w as enough to w in th e GP." In the MX2 class it was , o nce again, a battle betwee n the two CHAMP KTM riders, Ben Tow nley and Tyla Rattray. Townley, w ho was crow ned two weeks ea rlier, was in brilliant form , going I- I, and showed the same form that earned him nine Grand Prix victories this year. "It was a really good day fo r me ," Tow nley said. "I en ded the season w ith 21 w ins. Tyla was really motivated fo r this GP and , in t he first race, he put a lot of pressure o n me . We had so me prob lems w ith th e lappers, but I was able to keep the pace with him. "I felt sick after the first race, and the second moto was to ugh for me ," Townley ad mitted. "It was hard to find the motivation to go on the gr id." Ratt r ay, who, like Albertyn , is a native o f So ut h Africa , knew his chan ce s of taking his home Grand Prix was slim at bes t and was co ntent with yet another se cond-place finish. Rattray 's 12Scc two-stroke was at a huge disadvantage aga inst the powerful KTM 2S0" four strok e of Town ley's. But Rattr ay never gave up and instead gave the crowd something else to cheer about. "I'm hap py to be o n th e podiu m," Rattray said. "T he re w as a lot of pressure o n me, as many peopl e ex pect me to w in. Second is good en ough, as Ben was really stro ng to day. He w as t he bes t on t he track. With the two-stroke, I was los ing traction in the paddock section, but des pite th is disadvantage, I pushed really hard in the last laps of the first moto to try to beat Ben. Som e riders jumped too early at the sec o nd start and I missed it; I had to co me bac k from sixth to three, but t hen Be n and Anto nio were far away. It has been good to race in front of my home crowd . I ho pe we'll be back next year and see more fans cheering us to beat so me New Zealand kids." eN GRAND PRIX OF SOUTH AFRICA SUN CITY, SOUTH AFRICA RESULTS: SEPTEMBER 26, 2004 (RO UND 16 OF 16) MX I MOTO I : I. Mk kael Pichon [Hen): 2. Stefan Everts (Yam); 3. Josh Co ppins (Hon): 4. Kevin 5trijbos (SUI) ; S. Steve Ramon (KT M) : 6. Bilty M ackenzie (Yam); 7. C edric Me lone (Yam); 8. James Nobles (Hon) ; 9 . Ken De Dijcke,. (Hon ); 10. Tanel Leak (Suz); I I. Yoshi Atsuta (Hon ); 12. Antti Pyrhonen (TM); 13. Collin Dugmor e (Hon); 14. Marko Kovalianen (Hon) ; 15. Jose f Debes (Suz). MX I MOT02: I . Josh Coppins (Han); 2. Mickael Pichon (Hon); 3_ Steve Ramon (KTM): -4 . Kevin Strijbos (Suz); 5. Yoshi Atsuta (Hon): 6. Greg A1bertyn (Suz); 7. Ced ri c M eloCte (Yam); 8. Marko Koval ianen (H on ); 9. Josef Debes (Suz); 10. James Noble (Hon ); II . Ch ris Bumham (KTM); 12. Antt i Pyrhonen (TM); 13. Ervic. Oddenino o (TM); 14. Tanel Leek (Suz); IS_Fabien Izoird (Suz) . FIM WORLD M X I CH A MPIO NSHI P POINTS STANDINGS (Aher 16 of 16 rounds): I. Stefan Everts (6B8I7w ins); 2. Mickae l Pichon (62 0/6 w ins); 3. Josh Coppins (564/ 1 win); 4. Steve Ramon (475); 5. Kevin Strijbos (457); 6. Tanet Leok (356 ); 7. Cedric Melotte (345 / 1 win); 8 . Brian Jo rgense n (294/ 1 win); 9. Ken De Dijcker (259) ; 10. Yoshi Arsuta (2 24); II . Luigi Seguy (21 7); 12. Chris Burnham (200 ); 13. Lauris Frerbergs ( 199); 14. Marko Kovalaine n ( 190) ; IS. James Noble ( 189). MX2 MOT a I: I. Ben Town ley (KTM); 2. Tyla Rattray (KTM); J. A;gar Leok (KTM); 4. G.""h Swanepoel (KTM); 5. Anton io Ca ir oh (Y ; 6. Patrick Caps (Y ; 7. Claudio am) am) Fed e rici (Yam); 8. Alessio Chiodi (Yam); 9. Andrea Bart olini (Yam ); 10. Carl Nu nn (Hon) ; II . Anthony Boissiere (Yam); 12. Sebastien Pourcel (!