Everts excellent again this time at Sweden

The 'Stefan Everts and YZ450FM show' rolls on unabated within the 2006 MX1 World Championships as both the rider and motorcycle of the Yamaha Intur Sports team gained their ninth consecutive victory this weekend at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden. The Scandinavian circuit had been reversed and some of the sections converted into more technical challenges but the hard and dusty terrain remained. 19,000 fans turned out in hot and sunny weather conditions. The 33 year old took his fifth pole position of the season (and third in a row) yesterday and did not hide his lack of fondness for the Uddevalla undulations, stating that the venue was one of his 'least favourites' of the calendar; hardly surprising as the Belgian has not won in Scandinavia since 2003. In the first moto Everts enacted a now familiar routine for his many fans by seizing the lead on the first lap and controlling the race from his pursuers. The Belgian notched his fourteenth moto win in a row despite the moto-long presence of Jonathan Barragan and a distance between the pair that fluctuated between one and three seconds for the total of a very hot 35 minute and 2 lap duration. On the last two laps it was the Intur Sports team rider who was more decisive through a pack of backmarkers and the first step in his 96th victory was complete. As in the British Grand Prix two weeks ago, Everts gave himself a harder job in the second sprint when he crashed on the first lap and had to work the entire race to catch his main rivals. Finally a fantastic performance was rounded off by overtaking leader Steve Ramon with one circulation remaining to notch his 15th moto win in succession. He now holds a career tally of 96 and is drawing ever closer to the big 'ton'. Cedric Melotte crashed in the morning warm-up period and jarred his hip. The Belgian needed painkillers to finish 11th in the first moto and pulled out of the second sprint unable to complete the distance. Everts' domination of the MX1 series can be seen in the World Championship standings. His points lead has stretched to 114, more than four motos, over Kevin Strijbos. Melotte is ninth. Livia Lancelot has taken third position in the Women's World Cup riding a YZ250F. The French youngster led the first moto until a heavy crash knocked her back to fourth. In some discomfort she made another mistake while out front in the second affair and claimed 10th. The teams can now enjoy another free weekend but machinery and spares will be packed and crated for the lengthy trip to the southern hemisphere and the Grand Prix of South Africa at the Sun City complex on July 16th. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "This is not my favourite track here in Sweden so I knew it would be tough because in the past two years I had been struggling. However I took a good pole when everybody was close together and the first race went OK. Barragan kept close and I had a three second lead but I made a mistake in the whoops and he caught up, then we were into the lappers. It was tight at the end and I felt a bit tired because of the heat. I rested in between the races and then the second one was better. After the mistake the first few laps were pretty hard because everyone was going fast and it was not easy to pass. I saw the Suzuki guys pull away and I thought second might be possible but first was a long shot. At one stage Steve stopped gaining seconds on me and then started to lose them; that gave me some wings! I pulled harder and it was close. It was exciting for the crowd." Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I had a stupid crash this morning and needed to take some painkillers to enter the first race. Every time I sat down on the bike I had a lot of pain in my back and around my spine. I found it difficult to use my feet and I was fighting too much with the bike today. I preferred to stop in the second race because the pain was too much." Michele Rinaldi, Team Manager: "It was not an easy weekend for Stefan on this track and he was not the clear fastest. The first heat was OK and he made a very exciting race in the second one. He looked to have reached a highest position of third but Ramon slowed down and he picked up his speed and took a fantastic result for him, us and for Yamaha." Race classification MX1 Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Circuit Length: 1750 Race 1: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  38' 45.263  2   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +4.324  3   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +14.111  4   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +23.370  5   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +24.941  6   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +54.231  7   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +59.603  8   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 8.611  9   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +1' 13.560  10   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 18.441  11   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +1' 24.967  12   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 30.351  13   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 34.027  14   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 38.964  15   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 40.610  16   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1 lap(s)  17   K. Nemeth Suzuki  HUN  +1 lap(s)  18   J. Lindhe KTM  SWE  +1 lap(s)  19   C. Desalle  Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  20   M. Kovalainen Honda  FIN  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 54.109  2   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +3.881  3   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +17.410  4   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +22.967  5   J. Coppins Honda  NZL  +30.702  6   K. Nemeth Suzuki  HUN  +38.034  7   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +59.738  8   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 7.798  9   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 15.851  10   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 18.647  11   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 21.586  12   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 27.213  13   M. Kovalainen Honda  FIN  +1' 30.737  14   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 36.841  15   N. Bradshaw Suzuki  GBR  +1' 37.859  16   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 44.060  17   T. Allier Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 55.534  18   C. Desalle  Suzuki  BEL  +1 lap(s)  19   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1 lap(s)  20   A. Bobkovs Honda  LVA  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 442  2   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 328  3   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 294  4   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 294  5   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 292  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 212  7   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 165  8   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 159  9   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 157  10   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 146  11   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 145  12   James Noble Honda  GBR 132  13   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 131  14   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 127  15   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 106  16   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  17   Gordon Crockard Honda  GBR 86  18   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 84  19   Joshua Coppins Honda  NZL 72  20   Alex Salvini Suzuki  ITA 55  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 442  2  Suzuki 369  3  Honda 317  4  Kawasaki 298  5  KTM 267  6  TM 106  MX2 : Cairoli not rewarded for challenging ride in Sweden Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Date: 2 July 2006 Crowd: 19000 Temp: 30ºC Weather: Sunny World Champion Antonio Cairoli played a fundamental part in a fantastic first MX2 moto at Uddevalla today for the Grand Prix of Sweden but his runner-up position was tempered by two crashes in the second outing of round nine that lowered him to sixth overall. The Uddevalla course was perhaps at its toughest for the MX2 events. Watered and very slick before the first race of the day and then worn and bumpy starting the second sprint after lunch, the terrain was far from easy and physically demanding for the riders. Cairoli wowed the 19,000 attendance, bathed in 30c plus temperatures, with a re-enactment of his electric battles from Italy and Great Britain with his countryman David Philippaerts. The De Carli Yamaha representative pulled through from a mediocre start to pass Philippaerts and Christophe Pourcel and lead but could not escape the attentions of Philippaerts. The entertaining dice - with the riders using different lines and aggressive styles - went down to the last lap and the final corner when Philippaerts charged around the outside of the banked right hander to snatch victory by a tenth of a second. Later in the day Cairoli went down on the first lap and had to dispel a lot of energy to move up to the tenth. The Italian was fatigued by the end of the twenty two laps and made another mistake less than two minutes from the finish for a final standing of twelfth. Kenneth Gundersen demonstrated he was on good form by winning the second qualification heat yesterday. However the Norweigan, cheered on by many fans, family and friends, was unable to find the same speed in both of the motos as his stamina mysteriously deserted him. The Ricci Racing rider was eighth overall with eighth and tenth positions despite some decent starts. Team-mate Alessio Chiodi was eighth and thirteenth for a final standing of ninth in one of the former triple World Champion's less effective weekends. 'Chicco' is still feeling the effects of his harsh Japanese crash and subsequent knee injury and adopted a cautious approach on a tricky Scandinavian surface. Bike-it Yamaha UK Dixon Racing's Billy Mackenzie was trawling through the lower half of the top ten in the opening throes of the first moto until a small slip halted his progress by three positions. Several laps later he had to retire with a technical problem. Mackenzie again went down in the second moto but grabbed ninth position for minor consolation. The World Championship picture shows Cairoli in third trailing Pourcel by 48 points. Mackenzie is sixth and some distance away from Tyla Rattray in fifth. The tenth round of the series will be enacted at the plush Sun City complex for the Grand Prix of South Africa in two weeks time. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "The first moto was really good but I did not have the energy to make a gap over Philippaerts. I have been training in the sand this week and I felt some arm-pump at this track; it was hard going over the bumps. After fifteen minutes I felt better and set a good rhythm over the others. On the last corner he went very fast on the outside and won by less than a second. I thought I had the race because he went crazy and straight on into the green fence. I don't think it was correct but Philippaerts is a very strong and fast guy. It was OK for the Championship but the second moto was a disaster. I started badly and then crashed on the first lap. I recovered to tenth but then crashed again with two laps to go because I was so tired and could not see the line. Pourcel winning that second heat was not good for the Championship. I want this title and must train harder to make it happen." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "Everything felt so good yesterday and today I had no energy at all. I was completely empty and it is so frustrating because I had some good starts but I was finished. I don't know what it is but I am not feeling good. I think I have some allergy. I will go home now and see the doctor. I was also training pretty hard these last two weeks and it may have affected me today. I will get some rest before South Africa." Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I didn't have a good feeling on the track mainly because of my knee. I was being too cautious and I felt like I didn't have complete control. The knee still hurts so I am afraid of catching it again. My start was good in the first moto but in the next race I crashed after ten minutes and my confidence slipped. It is not a good day but I feel like my condition is slowly getting better." Race classification MX2 Round: 9 - 2006 GP of Uddevalla, Sweden Circuit: Uddevalla Circuit Length: 1750 Race 1: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 17.217  2   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +0.108  3   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +9.254  4   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +18.357  5   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +23.307  6   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +39.353  7   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +48.095  8   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +56.679  9   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +1' 2.049  10   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +1' 3.657  11   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +1' 14.223  12   A. Leok Yamaha  EST  +1' 21.815  13   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 21.903  14   E. Remes  Honda  FIN  +1' 37.414  15   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1' 46.161  16   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +1' 51.872  17   J. Dougan Honda  GBR  +2' 0.809  18   A. Pellegrini Suzuki  ITA  +1 lap(s)  19   J. Tarroux Kawasaki  FRA  +1 lap(s)  20   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1 lap(s)  Race 2: 22 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  40' 13.934  2   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  +11.074  3   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +33.578  4   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +34.886  5   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +40.170  6   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +43.236  7   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +48.102  8   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +51.551  9   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +52.057  10   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 6.734  11   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1' 9.925  12   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +1' 13.686  13   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 14.994  14   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +1' 35.092  15   N. Aubin Kawasaki  FRA  +1' 47.862  16   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 53.417  17   T. Church Kawasaki  GBR  +1 lap(s)  18   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1 lap(s)  19   E. Remes  Honda  FIN  +1 lap(s)  20   X. Boog Yamaha  FRA  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 350  2   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 304  3   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 302  4   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 284  5   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 261  6   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 213  7   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 205  8   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 196  9   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  NOR 194  10   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 181  11   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 180  12   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 169  13   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 164  14   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 127  15   Manuel Monni KTM  ITA 99  16   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 94  17   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 87  18   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 73  19   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 69  20   Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda  FRA 56  Manufacturers standings MX2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 412  2  Yamaha 388  3  Kawasaki 367  4  Honda 139  5  Suzuki 16