Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

MOTOCROSS tefan Everts recorded his ninth World Motocross Championship after putting a couple of exclamation marks on the season with I-I moto finishes at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, held at the lierop Circuit in Holland. And while the winningest Grand Prix rider of all time was savoring the moment with his son liam, the young Antonio Cairoli was celebrating his first World Motocross Championship with his Team Yamaha crew after claiming the MX2 title. Even at 32 years of age, Everts is not finished putting it to the up-andcomers, and not even the superfast New Zealanders - Josh Coppins and Ben Townley - could stop him in 2005. Everts, of the Rinaldi Yamaha team, enjoyed his return to lierop, the same circuit where his beloved Belgium team won the Motocross of Nations in 2004, and also a circuit he rides better than anyone. S 48 Round 16 September 4,2005 ~ FIM World MXI/MX2 Motocross Championship "I think the track was a big advantage for me," Everts said. "I love the sand. You can have such great timing, and there were many good timing sections. Last week I was tired in England, and today, here in lierop, it was a different track and I was more confident. "This year I have been having trouble in the starts," he continued. "It's been a tough season. Compared to other years, this one was more difficult than before. I kept the points to a distance, and that was important. I knew Ben [Townley] was going to be fast. He is a great sand rider, and he was aggressive in the early part of the race. I decided to follow him if he got the lead, and that worked out. It was hard to win. I was very tired at the end, but I just had a little more than the others. "It was so difficult this year. I was fighting and crashing a few times, and I have had to fight my way to the front on a lot of occasions," he added. "Those small crashes in some of the rounds SEPTEMBER 14, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS were hard for me, and that has not happened so often before. Everyone gets old, I guess." Cairoli was understandably happy with his MX2 Championship. The Yamaha rider became the first Italian to win a World MX title since Alessio Chiodi and Andrea Bartolini in 1999. Cairoli, who moved to Belgium to train and race, proved that the move was a big advantage around the lierop Circuit. "I train in Belgium and live there a lot. It made it easier for me, and I improved a lot," he said. "Before this race, I wanted to win the title here. This area is like my second home; I want to finish the championship here. "I had pain in my hand from the crash yesterday," added Cairoli, who fell during Saturday's practice. "It's good enough to finish the race. I crashed with [Patrick] Caps, but I came back to get the points and win the title, so that is okay. I was very focused and only looking at winning." KTM factory rider Steve Ramon's secondplace overall in Holland was a stunning result. It was his third runner-up placing in three races. As the season closes, he is beginning to look like he'll be a serious contender for the '06 title. Fellow KTM factory rider Townley was third overall in the MX I class. A big crash at the start of the second moto cost him dearly, although he never stopped working around the very demanding circuit. "When I went down, it cost me the overall," he said. "When I took the lead in the second moto, I thought Stefan [Everts] would be conservative, but he took control of the race. I thought I would follow him, but he surprised me. After last weekend, he was tired after both races, and I didn't expect him to be so strong [here]. He is nine times World Champion, and that record will stay forever. He needs to be congratulated; he is a true legend." The opening laps of the MX I class

• Cover