Historic 100 reached by Everts at Lierop

The Grand Prix of the Netherlands marked another important chapter in a truly memorable season for Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team's Stefan Everts as the 2006 World Champion dominated both motos in the Lierop sand for his 100th career success and his thirteenth triumph from fourteen rounds on the YZ450FM in the 2006 campaign.

The penultimate meeting of the year occurred under dark clouds that freely dispensed rain all day over the Lierop circuit. 33,135 spectators gathered to watch the hardest GP of the term so far for the MX1 and MX2 riders. The sand quickly cut into a path of bumps, ruts and heavy, rough sections that tested the machines as much as the endurance and fitness of the riders.

Everts claimed his eighth pole position of the season yesterday with a lap-time almost a second quicker than fellow countryman Steve Ramon as Belgian riders filled the top four positions on the leader-board.

The 33 year old started well and was in second place negotiating the first corner behind Josh Coppins. By the fourth turn the World Champion was ahead and embarked on a trouble-free ride. He had to remain alert cutting through backmarkers that he lapped up to 7th position and the 41 second winning advantage at the flag was a clear indication of the dominance Everts enjoyed in his self-confessed 'playground'. The victory was his 24th moto success in 2006.

In race two he delivered a repeat performance and was a class apart of the MX1 flock as he again pulled away from his Honda rival. 25 motos from 28 this year were duly confirmed and Everts danced and punched the air at reaching his phenomenal goal of 100 victories; 43 more than the next most successful rider Joel Smets and clinched in an 18 year career stretching back to 1989.

Cédric Melotte attempted to ride this week but the bruising on his right foot as a consequence of three broken toes meant that pushing the Yamaha was still too painful for the Belgian. He should return to action next week in the Belgian Championship and be fit to ride at Ernee.

Everts has already wrapped up the 2006 campaign but extended his point margin over Kevin Strijbos to 198. Melotte is tenth after his second non-start in a week.

The fifteenth and final round of the World Championship will take place in two weeks time for the Grand Prix of France at the Ernee circuit, less than 100km west of Le Mans.

Stefan on the podium   

Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "There is not much left to win now, maybe just the Motocross of Nations! This has been a tough little period for me. Mentally I have been a bit 'done' and physically it has been hard. Last week was a hard race; Josh said that the riders can learn from me physically but he was very strong in Ireland also so he is right there also. Anyway, it has been a long way to this 100th GP win. I started in 1989 and now we are in 2006, so that is eighteen years to try and win 100 GPs; it has been a long road. Counting from one to ten in terms of titles can take some time, but one to one hundred is something else. I am so, so happy, thanks to everyone who has supported me."

Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "Only fifteen days after the crash the toes on my foot had recovered but there was a large bruise on the bottom of my foot and it was difficult to put a lot of weight on my leg so this race came too soon for me. I am able to cycle and the whole injury is getting better so I hope to be back to a good level by the time of Ernee."

Carlo Rinaldi, Racing Manager, Yamaha Intur Sport Motocross Team: "We have run out of objectives for this season! Stefan's achievement was unbelievable and the way he won today was excellent; he was riding far above the level of the others. Mentally and physically he is a little bit exhausted but his skill on the sand allowed him to win today. He dominated both motos and was just perfect all day."

Circuit Length: 1875 Temp: 20 Crowd: 33135 Weather: Wet     2006 GP of Lierop, The Netherlands 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 40'57.876 2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0'43.152 3 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 1'32.032 4 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1'37.711 5 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 1'40.262 6 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 1'41.951 7 Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki NED 1'47.567 8 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 9 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP -1 Laps 10 Marcus Norlen Suzuki SWE -1 Laps 11 Kristof Salaets Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 12 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL -1 Laps 13 Alex Salvini Suzuki ITA -1 Laps 14 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN -1 Laps 15 Lauris Freibergs Suzuki LVA -1 Laps 16 Clement Desalle  Suzuki BEL -1 Laps 17 Anne Advokaat Honda NED -1 Laps 18 Johnny Lindhe KTM SWE -1 Laps 19 James Noble Honda GBR -1 Laps 20 Aigar Bobkovs Honda LVA -1 Laps

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 40'20.984 2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0'36.728 3 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0'55.438 4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 2'7.398 5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 2'36.900 6 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 7 Wyatt Avis KTM RSA -1 Laps 8 Lauris Freibergs Suzuki LVA -1 Laps 9 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN -1 Laps 10 Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki NED -1 Laps 11 Mark Jones Honda GBR -1 Laps 12 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL -1 Laps 13 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL -1 Laps 14 Marcus Norlen Suzuki SWE -1 Laps 15 Clement Desalle  Suzuki BEL -1 Laps 16 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA -1 Laps 17 Mike Kras Suzuki NED -1 Laps 18 Kristof Salaets Yamaha BEL -1 Laps 19 James Noble Honda GBR -2 Laps 20 Johnny Lindhe KTM SWE -2 Laps

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 2'9.699

 Rider Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 689 2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 491 3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 454 4. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 434 5. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 405 6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 338 7. Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 293 8. Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 267 9. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 247 10. Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 224 11. James Noble Honda GBR 202 12. Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 196 13. Julien Bill Yamaha GBR 167 14. Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 161 15. Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 153 16. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 146 17. Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 131 18. Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 120 19. Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 102 20. Sebastien Tortelli KTM FRA 99

Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. Yamaha 689 2. Suzuki 561 3. Honda 538 4. Kawasaki 420 5. KTM 416 6. TM 161

RACE REPORT 03/09/2006 Cairoli still defending his crown   Tony Cairoli   

World Champion Antonio Cairoli finished as runner-up overall in a soaked MX2 Grand Prix of attrition and mere survival at Lierop. The Italian gained results of first and third for his third consecutive podium at the penultimate round of the series.

Cairoli - who has sweet memories of the Lierop sand after his World Championship celebrations one year ago - initially led the opening moto but was pursued by David Philippaerts and had to let his countryman through to set the pace. Approaching the final stages of the moto Philippaerts crashed and slipped back to fourth place (before another spill dropped him further down the classification) giving the Sicilian a reasonably clear track to seal his 10th moto of the season.

In the second race a bad start immediately ruled out a second victory as Pourcel drew clear at the front ahead of Rattray, and Cairoli had to beat a path to third; a job made easier once he had disposed of Rui Goncalves. It meant the five points gained on Pourcel from Moto1 were conceded before the end of the afternoon.

Billy MacKenzie   

The Yamaha Team Ricci packed up early after their sole rider Kenneth Gundersen fell out of a top ten position in the first moto and hurt his right shoulder. The early diagnosis estimates no broken bones but the luckless Norwegian will have a further examination tomorrow and only then will he be informed as to the likelihood of being able to ride at Ernee. Davide Guarneri was in no condition to compete and Alessio Chiodi elected to miss the Grand Prix with a still painful broken finger.

With one round remaining Cairoli has a mathematical chance of defending his crown. 50 points have still to be won and the De Carli racer trails Pourcel by 28. Billy Mackenzie is the next highest Yamaha rider in eleventh and dropped three places with a double DNF today.

The trip to Ernee and the French Grand Prix will provide the MX2 competitors with their final outing of the season in two weeks time. The Motocross of Nations in which Cairoli, Gundersen and Mackenzie will represent their countries takes place immediately after the Gallic meeting.

Antonio Cairoli   

Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "Christophe is a very good rider and has been consistent this season; this for the Championship is very important. This year I have lost a lot of points in three or four heats and I am far behind him now. I just want to win in France and I won't be thinking about the Championship because it is too hard. In the first moto I started well but Philippaerts was going very fast. I know that my physical condition is good and if I didn't make any mistakes I would be in contention for the win. David made two mistakes and I was ready to take the heat. I was really happy to win at this track because last year I took the world title here and this is always a big race for me. In the second race I was braking too late for the first corner and went wide. I got caught in the middle of the group in the second turn and then it was very hard to close down the gap."

Circuit Length: 1875 Temp: 20 Crowd: 33135 Weather: Wet     2006 GP of Lierop, The Netherlands 03/09/2006 Race 1 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 40'53.916 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'16.401 3 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 0'31.286 4 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 0'57.200 5 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 0'58.845 6 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 1'0.295 7 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 1'21.844 8 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 1'33.696 9 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 1'41.615 10 Joel Roelants KTM BEL 1'46.024 11 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'49.922 12 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'55.204 13 Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 2'1.008 14 Rob van Vijfeijken Yamaha NED 2'3.608 15 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha NED 2'18.009 16 Wayne Smith Honda GBR -1 Laps 17 Xavier Boog Yamaha FRA -1 Laps 18 Nick Tuin Yamaha NED -1 Laps 19 Johan Carlsson Yamaha SWE -1 Laps 20 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA -1 Laps

Race 2 - 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time 1 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 40'43.318 2 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 0'21.464 3 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 0'40.615 4 Rui Goncalves KTM POR 0'59.948 5 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 1'13.800 6 Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 1'18.715 7 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 1'21.487 8 Marcus Schiffer KTM GER 1'35.252 9 Matti Seistola Honda FIN 1'43.760 10 Dennis Verbruggen Yamaha NED 1'58.452 11 Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 2'12.457 12 Pierre-Alexandre Renet Honda FRA 2'22.505 13 Rob van Vijfeijken Yamaha NED 2'26.282 14 Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA -1 Laps 15 Johan Carlsson Yamaha SWE -1 Laps 16 Nicolas Aubin Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps 17 Nick Tuin Yamaha NED -1 Laps 18 Gregory Aranda Kawasaki FRA -1 Laps 19 Tom Church Kawasaki GBR -1 Laps 20 Wayne Smith Honda GBR -1 Laps

Best Lap Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time David Philippaerts KTM ITA 2'9.633

 Rider Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points 1. Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 541 2. Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 513 3. Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 446 4. David Philippaerts KTM ITA 440 5. Marc De Reuver KTM NED 373 6. Carl Nunn KTM GBR 343 7. Rui Goncalves KTM POR 300 8. Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 296 9. Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 291 10. Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki RSA 286 11. Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 281 12. Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 215 13. Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 211 14. Manuel Monni KTM ITA 183 15. Davide Guarneri Yamaha ITA 153 16. Aigar Leok Yamaha EST 149 17. Matti Seistola Honda FIN 141 18. Anthony Boissière Yamaha FRA 106 19. Maximilian Nagl KTM GER 97 20. Luigi Seguy Yamaha FRA 94 43. Matteo Bonini Yamaha ITA 7

Manufacturer Standings 03/09/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points 1. KTM 640 2. Yamaha 607 3. Kawasaki 566 4. Honda 232 5. Suzuki 22