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/1545838
T h e r e i s o n e p l a c e S t e f a n Everts would love to win his t e n t h World Motocross Championship and that place is Namur in his homeland of Belgium. Everts came a step closer to that dream when he pulled off Grand Prix victory number 97 and his 10th GP win of the season. Going 1-1 at the Grand Prix of South Africa, held at the Sun City circuit, Everts was never really challenged for the overall. Despite Josh Coppins slowly coming back from his shoulder injury and showing good speed, he just didn't have enough to repeat his 2005 South African win. Everts is now 136 points ahead of sec- ond-placed Kevin Strijbos, meaning he is on course for taking his 10th world title in Namur, Belgium on August 6. To win in Namur Everts needs to pick up just 15 points on Strijbos in the Czech Republic in two weeks and in Namur in early August. Coppins of the CAS Honda team finished in second overall with 2-2 results and third was Steve Ramon (Suzuki). "I am surprised that I won all the GPs so far this year," Everts said. "In a few years I might realize what I have done. I have never won 10 in a row in one season so this is a personal record for me. I had only won nine in a row before. Winning in South Africa - that is also a first - I think this is the only place I had not won. If I can win in Namur, that would be great, but I don't want to think about that just yet." Everts had something to prove in South Africa; he has lost the Sun City GP the last two seasons-the first to Mickael Pichon when the Frenchman took the Belgian out of the race, and last year Coppins won after Everts lost the lead on the final lap when he crashed while wav- ing to the crowd. "I had bad luck last year," Everts said, "But that is the past and I came here with a positive mind. I think we all had trouble with the sun in the second moto; it was dangerous and you couldn't see the lines. I also think the lappers were a little dan- gerous, but they did their best with the blue flags. I also had trouble with the alti- tude. It is higher here than in Europe." In the opening MX1 race Josh Coppins held the early lead. But just when every- one was wondering if the Everts domina- tion was about to end, the Belgian passed Coppins like he was standing still, and proceeded to pull away from the New Zealander. There is no question that Everts is on a level all alone, and not even Coppins can match him at the moment. Steve Ramon, who also led early, dropped back to third place while his Suzuki team- mate Kevin Strijbos sat at the back of the pack, finally working his way up to ninth by the race's end. In the second moto, Coppins held Grand Prix of South Africa Sun City, South Africa Round 10 July 16, 2006 JULY 26, 2006 • C Y C L E N E W S 36 FIM World MX1/MX2 Motocross Championship Series Everts brings home number 10 and Cairoli takes his first season win STORY AND PHOTOS BY GEOFF MEYER ONE STEP CLOSER Stefan Everts captured his tenth- straight GP victory in Sun City. (Below) Antonio Cairoli (1) is back to his winning ways, taking his first GP victory of the season.