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2005 WORLD MX

2005 WORLD MX: R3 of 17, April 24, 2005 - AGUEDA, PORTUGAL

• Last year's result:
• 2004 MX1 WINNERS: R1 Everts, Yamaha ; R2 Pichon, Honda
• 2004 MX2 WINNERS: R1 Townley, KTM ; R2 Sword, Kawasaki

SCHEDULE:

• Practices: Saturday 9.30 am
• Qualifying: Saturday 2 - 5pm
• Race: Sunday
• MX2 races 12.05 and 3.02 pm
• MX1 races 1.05 pm and 4.05 pm

RACE RESULT

MX1

• MOTO 1
• 1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL
  2 L. Seguy Yamaha FRA +19.9
  3 J. Vehvilainen Honda FIN +22.8
  4 J. Coppins Honda NZL +23.6
  5 P. Leuret Honda FRA +49.7
  6 A. Pyrhonen TM FIN +50.9
  7 K. De Dijcker Honda BEL
  8 M. Priem Yamaha BEL
  9 S. Ramon KTM BEL
  10 P. Cooper Honda GBR
• Townley 14th

• MOTO 2
• 1 M. Pichon Honda FRA
  2 J. Coppins Honda NZL +17.6
  3 S. Everts Yamaha BEL +40.7
  4 S. Ramon KTM BEL +46.7
  5 J. Smets Suzuki BEL
  6 P. Cooper Honda GBR
  7 Y. Atsuta Suzuki JPN
  8 D. Theybers Suzuki BEL
  9 J. Noble Honda GBR
  10 J. Vehvilainen Honda FIN

MX2

• MOTO 1
• 1 A. Cairoli Yamaha ITA
  2 T. Rattray KTM RSA +9.9
  3 M. Maschio Yamaha FRA +19.2
  4 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +34.4
  5 D. Guarnieri Yamaha ITA
  6 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA
• MOTO 2
• 1 A. Cairoli Yamaha ITA
  2 B. MacKenzie Yamaha GBR +12.7
  3 S. Sword Kawasaki BGR +16.3
  4 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA
  5 A. Boissiere Yamaha FRA
  6 T. Church Kawasaki GBR

MX1 : Everts clinches 81st career success

• World Champion Stefan Everts sampled the perfect tonic to his troublesome outing in Spain last week by winning the Grand Prix of Portugal at Ageuda today. The Belgian was back on form and strode towards his eighty-first career victory by dominating the opening MX1 moto and taking a solid third place in the second race.The Agueda track, with its distinctive red mud, was a changeable beast over the weekend as heavy rainfall turned the dirt into a slushy, rutted mess. Intermittent sunshine broke through the Portuguese clouds in the afternoon to dry the terrain so that the second motos of both class offered a technical and far less swampy test. Everts has now taken over the lead of the MX1 standings by sixteen points from Pichon.
• With its predominant single racing line, overtaking was at a premium and Everts enacted the perfect race strategy in the first moto by hitting the front and pulling out a substantial margin inside three laps. His Championship rivals had a race to forget as both Smets (Suzuki) and Pichon (Honda) retired with mechanical problems. Luigi Seguy, (Yamaha-JK racing) rode his YZ 450F to an excellent second place behind Everts.
• Stefan tried to repeat his performance in the next race and actually stole a rare holeshot. The eight times World Champion hit the deck briefly on lap four that allowed the chasing Pichon through to win the race. Everts harried Josh Coppins in second place but with the overall still on the plate thanks to third position, he backed off in the final circulations to ensure victory.
• Brian Jorgensen qualified in fifteenth position on Saturday but sustained a concussion as a result of a spill during warm-up this morning and was suffering bouts of memory loss. The Dane was clearly not fit for the races and was forced to sit out. Claudio Federici is currently going through a dry patch of form. The Italian, who has just recovered from an ankle injury, has still to find his speed and a series crashes ruled him out of both motos.
• The fourth round of the World Championships takes place in two weeks time on May 5th at Namur for the Grand Prix of Belgium.
• Stefan Everts (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) - overall winner: "Grand Prix are never easy but the first race was great and I really enjoyed it. I had a really good start and I managed to catch Jussi right away and control the race. In the second moto I finally took the holeshot! This is something I have been waiting for a long time and something we have been working a lot towards with the team. I made a small mistake and it was tough to get going right away. I tried to catch Josh but he was going very fast at that moment. A Russian backmarker would not move in front of me and by the time I got past the gap was too big. I am very happy with the overall result and this has been very positive for us in the Championship."
• Carlo Rinaldi(Yamaha L&M Motocross Team racing manager: "Brian did not have a bad crash this morning but he hit his head and was feeling dizzy. Before the moto he was losing his memory and could not remember anything so it was obvious he had a concussion. It was dangerous for him to ride in this condition."
  

MX2 : Cairoli wins Portuguese GP

• The MX2 Grand Prix of Portugal yielded a fantastic result for Yamaha as the YZ 250F continues to prove its mettle in the category. Yamaha swept the podium today at Zolder with Antonio Cairoli winning his first Grand Prix of the season, heading home countryman Alessio Chiodi and debut 'podium-ee' Billy Mackenzie. Cairoli now leads the Championship by nineteen points from Chiodi, Melotte has dropped to fifth.
• Cairoli's lightening starts helped the teenage Italian to his first ever double moto GP success. The 2004 number '3' led both races from start to finish only encountering some problems when having to cut through the backmarkers. Chiodi finished fourth behind Yamaha Evolution rider Mickael Maschio in the first moto on a circuit that was very wet and slushy after copious amounts of overnight rain had soaked the venue. The track would dry significantly during the afternoon but would still prove a technical and difficult terrain on which to overtake. While Cairoli was escaping in the second moto Maschio had crashed at the start and Chiodi held second for fourteen of the twenty one laps. Bike It Dixon Yamaha rider Billy Mackenzie, who triumphed in the second moto last week at Bellpuig, charged through from a good start and proved more than a match for Chiodi. The Italian would crash under pressure from the Scot and break the silencer on his 250F, eventually losing third spot to Kawasaki's Stephen Sword.
• The all-Yamaha celebration was the second of the season for both Cairoli and Chiodi. Young French ace Anthony Boissiere (Team PSM-Yamaha) finished fourth overall, just missing out on his first podium. Six Yamaha riders filled the top ten overall positions.
• Championship leader prior to today, Cedric Melotte had to come through the Last Chance qualification after a crash on Saturday led to a sprained right wrist. The Belgian did not have a happy opening moto starting from a poor position on the line and another fall on the second turn severely limited his chances of success. Trying to make up ground through the ooze, Melotte circulated well behind the pack but managed to collect a point. In the second race he started poorly along with Andrew McFarlane and the pair had their work cut-out slicing through the field. The Australian would pass the chequered flag in tenth while Melotte retired with a painful hand. McFarlane had been as high as fifth in the initial MX2 sprint but a crash while trying to move through to fourth led to 'Sharky' losing a lot of time and positions restarting the bike and he pulled out of the race on lap thirteen.
• The fourth round of the World Championships takes place in two weeks time on May 5th at Namur for the Grand Prix of Belgium.
• Antonio Cairoli (Team Yamaha De Carli)- overall winner: "I am really happy with this GP because this is the first time I have won both motos. I liked the track from yesterday and I could find my speed quickly. My starts were important today and once I was out at the front I was free. For the first half of the race I did not have any problems but when I found the backmarkers I had to change lines and this cost me some time."
• Alessio Chiodi (Team Ricci Racing) - overall second: "The second moto was very difficult for me in the last three laps. I made a mistake on the step-up. I was too late changing a rut and made a front flip! It was a heavy crash and I hit my head hard, the bike also came down on top of me. The silencer was broken so I was happy to finish the race and not be injured. Both races were hard today because of the track. It was very wet and there was only one line, the starts were so important. To finish on the podium today was important for the Championship."
• Billy Mackenzie (Yamaha UK Race Team) - overall third
  "It was quite scary being at the front of a GP last week but I got over it in a day and wanted some more! I have felt like I should be at the top for quite a while now but Steve Dixon and the guys have given me a great bike to show what I can do. Today I was really glad to get on the podium. It wasn't quite as nice as winning a race but it is another step forwards and maybe I can push on to try and get more top threes and reach that top step before the end of the year."
• Andrew McFarlane (Team Ricci Racing) - overall 14th
  "Things did not go well. I did not have any luck here last year either. In the first race I couldn't find a good line to get past people. I tried to pass Guarneri and had to move off the racing line, which was risky, and ended up crashing. It took me a lap to get the bike going and I was well out of the points so it was better to pull in and get ready for the second one. I had a good start in the next moto but someone hit me on the inside and myself and Melotte were almost last. I could come back to tenth but that was the best I could do in the conditions."
• Cedric Melotte (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) - overall 27th
  "The beginning of weekend was perfect. I tried to push my speed up to a new level for this GP but I had no luck. In the qualifying race I crashed and hurt my hand and I did not feel good afterwards, it is still painful. I have the impression something is still not right with the wrist. On the second corner of the first moto I slid away and could not start the bike fast because the kickstart was bent and kept hitting the footpeg. It was a hard race but I tried to push as much as I could. In the second moto I was on the ground again in the first turn as I wanted to make some ground. After a few laps coming back I had no sensation or strength in my hand and crashed; after this I decided to stop."

GRID

• 1 Mickael Pichon, FRA (Honda) 1m 45.336
• 2 Kornel Nemeth, HUN (Suzuki)
• 3 Antti Pyrhonen, FIN (TM)
• 4 Steve Ramon, BEL (KTM)
• 5 Joel Smets, BEL (Suzuki)
  "The track is good and the preparation was great looking at it yesterday but the jumps are quite nasty because the take-offs are rutty. The rain made the soil very soft and it was cutting up easily. You had to concentrate out there and pick the lines carefully because they can change every lap. The jump-faces need to be cleaned if it rains again.I have been really enjoying the races so far this season. I just want to score points in each moto and if I am struggling in the first, then I have learnt to be a little bit patient for the second."
• 6 Joshua Coppins, NZL (Honda)
• 7 Ken de Dijcker, BEL (Honda)
• 8 Stefan Everts, BEL (Yamaha)
• 9 Ben Townley, NZL (KTM)
• 10 Marvin Van Daele, BEL (Honda)
• STRIJBOS BREAKS COLLAR BONE: "Team Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos has broken his collarbone during Timed Practice for the Portuguese World MX1 Championship at Agueda.The 19 year old headed back to Belgium after a crash in the first part of the session. If the injury requires surgery, then a plate will be inserted and there is every chance the Belgian rider could be riding in little over a week." (SUZUKI)

PICHON ON POLE:

Under varying weather conditions and on a changing track the World Championship riders went for qualification in Agueda, home of the third Motocross Grand Prix this season. Rain ruined the terrain in the morning but sunshine was back at the end of the day for the MX1 Timed Practice.

This session was similar to most of the previous ones with Mickael Pichon leading the period to obtain another pole position. The Frenchman only did eight laps when most of his rivals registered twelve or more to top the timing sheets. “This week we finally didn't have so much time to test with the team and we'll use the 2004 settings on the bike this weekend. I felt comfortable on the bike and made a fast lap pretty quickly, even if I didn't have fun on this track; the design of the jumps is not good, the landings are too flat and it's painful for all of us. Once more the start will be really important, it's so difficult to pass here. The start will be the key for the win and I'm sure that Stefan, Joel, Ben and Steve will be serious contenders even if they are not in the top three today,” said Mickael. Less than two seconds behind Pichon eight riders finished in the same second, with surprising Hungarian Kornel Nemeth and Finn Anti Pyrhonen getting their best qualifying results with second and third position on this pretty difficult track with many ruts! Steve Ramon, Joshua Coppins, Ken De Dycker, Stefan Everts and Ben Townley ended the session pretty close. “It has been a pretty difficult week, I felt like a very old man on Monday,” said Everts. “Things were better in the week, the problem was my ribs had bruised badly but it doesn't bother me so much on the bike. My thumb was injured too but it healed quite fast. The main problem at the moment is a big cut that I have in my hand for a few weeks now that won't close. But in general my riding was not so bad today, I didn't felt as good as last week but today was only practice and tomorrow will be the race,” added the reigning champion. Belgian Kevin Strijbos broke his collarbone after a crash in the qualifying session and will fly back to Belgium for surgery.

Alessio Chiodi led the entire first qualifying heat but this race was not boring at all! With Cedric Melotte and Tyla Rattray second and third after one lap the sprint was interesting and the three leaders stretched a gap over the pack. Rattray took second spot at mid-distance, but Melotte passed him back straight away before he cr ashed on the seventh lap and retired. Pushing hard Rattray applied pressure on Chiodi but the Italian veteran never gave up and won, followed by Rattray and Antonio Cairoli. In the second heat young Italian Antonio Bonnini confirmed his good work in Spain was no fluke and got another holeshot; he had a strong lead when he crashed on lap ten; coming back from fourth to second Mickael Maschio took the lead and won the race, his best result so far. Second position went to local hero Rui Goncalves and third to Matti Seistola, the European champion. Both crashing in their heat race, Cedric Melotte and Stephen Sword qualified in the last chance and will have a bad position on the grid. Third last week in the first heat, Eric Eggens dislocated his shoulder during the first free practice session and will be out for three weeks. (MX1)