Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

-- - - - - MOTOCROSS ter missing the last two Grand Prix rounds, Mickael Pichon returned to action on a winning note, topping the rand Prix of Wallonie with 1-2 results. The Martin Honda rider looked brilliant in the opening moto, taking the victory, but in the second race he gated well, only to be qUickly passed by Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts, and he was forced to follow the Yamaha rider home in second. But that was still good enough to give Pichon the overall victory. Everts ended up third overall after finishing fifth in the first moto, and it was CAS Honda rider Josh Coppins who took second overall with 2-3 results. But the day belonged to Pichon. ''I'm happy," Pichon said. "I want to thank the guys on the team, even if things are not going well at the moment. They have made some improvements on the bike, and I had two good starts." Coppins, meanwhile, showed great speed all weekend, coming back from last in the second moto to finish a close third, behind race winner Everts and Pichon. There is no doubt Coppins is the fastest rider at the moment, although his starts let him down big-time in Nismes. In the opening moto of the MX I class, Coppins made a good start as he entered the first lap in fourth position. He slowly worked his way toward making up ground on leader Pichon after passing Brian Jorgensen and Pascal Leuret on lap four. At one stage, it looked like he would pull back on Pichon's lead, as the CAS rider continued to make better lap times. Second place would be his final position, though, and with Everts finishing in fifth position, the New Zealander narrowed the points gap to just 33 points with five rounds left. The second moto showed just how determined Coppins is about going after Everts. He entered the first lap near the rear of the field. Fighting hard to battle through the field, he moved into third place on lap I I and began to close down on series leader Everts, who held second place, behind race leader Pichon. Everts qUickly passed Pichon, and then Coppins carne within a few bikelengths of doing the same, only to just miss out as the race finished. "In the first race, I passed a few guys qUickly and moved into second, and I closed in on Pichon, but second was all I could do," Coppins said. "The second race, I had a bad jump from the gate, rolled too early, and I was bad in the second corner. I tried to make up some places, but then Pascal Leuret crashed in front of me, and I ran straight into him and went down hard. I was more or less last and could just put my head down and charge. I picked the bike up and worked my way through, but I lost a lot of time because I had trouble with something get- A --- - - - - Round 12 July 31, 2005 FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship Series ting caught in my goggles and my vision was not good. At first, I didn't want to take them off, because of the stones and stuff, but eventually I did take them off. I made up a lot of ground again, passed just about everyone, but I was having trouble passing with the mud in my eyes from everyone's roost. I think if I had kept my goggles on, I would have caught the two front guys quicker, and maybe had a chance to pass them. I proved I was the fastest guy in that second moto. I just want to keep a chance in the championship. My biggest disappointment was my starts." Everts enjoyed gaining his first moto win in more than two months. With his 40 AUGUST 10, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS speed apparently back, Everts is now looking to improve his championship position in the next round in Loket, Czech Republic. Everts crashed early in the opening moto, and he still needs to recapture his consistency to move away from Coppins in the points race. Everts was at the front at the start of the second race, follOWing early leader Pichon. The eight-time World Champion showcased his skills in slippery conditions and passed Pichon with fIVe laps to go. Everts qUickly pulled away from his French opponent to take the well-earned race win. "Every GP has been tough for me lately, and it's not so easy, but that second moto was a good one for me," Everts said. "I had some problems to pass my teammate, and Pichon got away from me - he is fast in the beginning. I could see Mickael was slowing and making some small mistakes, and finally I caught him, and I was happy Pichon got second - gave me some points on Josh." In the MX2 class, Antonio Cairoli of the Yamaha De Carli team was a man on a mission. The 19-year-old Italian posted the fastest qualifying time on Saturday and showed the same supremacy on race day by winning both races. Second was Ricci Yamaha rider Andrew McFarlane with a 3-4, while Rinaldi Yamaha rider

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