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/128378
- Round 4 MOTOCROSS May 8, 2005 FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship Series STEFAN EVERTS RISES TO THE TOP AGAIN STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF MEYER here have not been many Grands Prix as tough as the 2005 Grand Prix of Belgium. Heavy rain left the already challenging course in horrible condition for the racers. There is one rider, though, that knows just how to conquer the Namur Citadelle. Racing to 2-1 moto finishes, Stefan Everts took his sixth Grand Prix victory at the challenging Belgium track. With his one Motocross of Nations overall victory back in 200 I, he now equals the seven victories by fellow Belgian Roger DeCoster at Namur. The win was also Everts' 82nd Grand Prix victory. Everts took the overall ahead of his Rinaldi Yamaha teammate, Brian Jorgensen. Jorgenson won the opening moto, but a fifth-place finish in the second relegated him to second overall. Third went to KTM factory rider Ben Towniey with 7-2 finishes. At one stage during the opening moto, Everts had made two costly mistakes, dropping him back to seventh. It looked T (Left) Stefan Everts persevered thraugh the horrible conditions at Namur to record his 82nd career victory. 50 MAY 18, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS definite that he would lose his undefeated run around Namur. Riding like a true champion, though, he passed several riders in some of the most difficult sections of the course. The opening moto of MX I saw Jorgensen take an early lead, and the Danish rider was never passed; all the battling took place behind him. The action, though, was for the other podium places, as Everts finished second after twice making mistakes in the woods section. The defending World Champion proved that there is no place like Namur for him. At one stage, he was as far back as eighth, until he finally fought through to second place. "I found a really good line on the toughest part of the circuit in the opening moto and was able to pass just about all the rides there," Everts said. "It was a great feeling to do that in such a difficult section. That was even better than winning the overall. I tried so hard at the beginning of the race to make up ground. I made some mistakes, and then I found this spot to catch everybody except Jorgensen. I didn't have the best start in the first moto, and on top of that, I lost two places when I got stuck on an uphill section." For Jorgenson, the win marked a turning point for him this season. "With the problems I had in rounds. two and three, I came here with not a lot of confidence, and this is one circuit you need confidence on," Jorgenson said. "In the first moto, I got a great start and kept looking back for Stefan, but I was pulling away from him. Things simply 'clicked' today like they sometimes do in racing. Qualifying was not great yesterday, but when we made some adjustments to the suspension this morning, we definitely made a huge step in the right direction. Overall, I'm very happy, and I feel that I have turned my season around here." Another Belgian rider, Marvin Van Daele, on a Honda finished third in the opening moto. Van Daele moved past England's James Noble on the opening lap, but Noble was quickly back into second and remained in second until the ninth lap, when he crashed, dropping down to eighth. The second MX I moto, a good battle between Everts and Townley took place, with the two running away from the rest of the field. Townley came close to passing Everts but couldn't make it stick. The