Italy falls to the factory Yamaha's World Championship siege

The list of adjectives to describe MX1 World Championship leader Stefan Everts and his YZ450FM is growing perilously short after the reigning number one maintained his 100% record this season by winning the Italian Grand Prix in front of 26,000 fans at Montevarchi today. The 33 year old claimed both motos to stretch his haul of consecutive victories to eleven, and seven from seven Grand Prix. His career total now stands at a phenomenal 94 and he has eight remaining rounds from which to reach a magical 100. Everts claimed his second pole position of the season and his second inside one week on Saturday with a lap-time over a second quicker than nearest pursuer Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos. The result of the Timed Practice ran straight into the first moto where the World Champion enjoyed the holeshot and promptly set his own pace ahead of the Suzuki representative. Despite running close together Everts was again faultless and stretched his run of consecutive moto victories to ten. The Montevarchi course was dry, fast and twisty under sunshine and windy conditions but the Yamaha Intur Sports representative proved that he is a true master of all terrain by leading both races from start to finish. He was handicapped slightly by a cracked exhaust in the second heat. The Yamaha YZ450FM was extremely close to exceeding noise limits and Everts himself had to weather a fiercer attack from Strijbos but he reeled off a series of laps at a crucial stage to again break his countryman. Cédric Melotte was feeling better after his light concussion from Bulgaria last Sunday even though he is still endeavouring to regain full fitness after a recent blood test revealed deficiencies in his body's vitamin levels. The Belgian's confidence can best be described as fragile after his poor luck with physical problems and a lack of results to justify his obvious speed. He did however obtain a decent start in the first moto and was holding third for the first half of the race until he was swamped in the final stages and slipped back to eighth. Later in the afternoon a collision with KTM's Jonathan Barragan led to a broken rear brake and he retired for the third time in the last four motos. Everts has stretched his lead to 89 points with almost half the season gone. Melotte rests in tenth spot. The eighth round of the World Championships will commence the second half of the 2006 campaign and ends a busy three week consecutive run of events. The British Grand Prix will get underway next Saturday at the new Matterley Basin circuit. Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I don't get bored with winning because every race is a hard job! Kevin did well today to put some pressure on me, especially in the second moto. He is keeping me focussed lately and I have to keep pushing to stay in front. It was a good close race for the crowd. It is not coming that easily for me. Every weekend is a new challenge, there are still many races to go and I want to stay in good shape." Cédric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "I am just riding to do my best and enjoy myself now. In the first race I made a great start and could follow the leaders for four or five laps. I had to slow down because I needed to find my own rhythm. We have a set-up on the bike from the start of the year and because of my problems we have not been able to work on it. I hope to test after the British GP to help get me riding smoother on the bike because I cannot make that same speed from the first ten minutes of the moto for the entire duration. The bike was moving around a lot and it was frustrating to lose those positions but I did my best. In the second race I crashed together with Barragan and he took away my front wheel. I restarted but the rear brake was broken and I had to stop. I enjoyed the first part of the day but the track was horrible." Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team: "Stefan once again was close to perfection. He had very good starts and the pattern of the races was similar to one we have already seen this season. He made the gap just big enough to keep the lead and his concentration. Cédric was looking better after Bulgaria and had recovered quite well during the week. In the first moto he proved that the speed is still there but physically he is not 100%. It was a shame that Barragan's bike broke his rear brake and he could not continue. Stefan had a small crack on the exhaust in the second moto but it was not very loud and everything turned out OK." Race classification MX1 Round: 7 - 2006 GP of Montevarchi, Italy Circuit: Montevarchi Circuit Length: 1650 Race 1: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  39' 58.623  2   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +7.556  3   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +15.670  4   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +20.976  5   J. Barragan KTM  ESP  +23.426  6   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +24.285  7   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +27.861  8   C. Melotte Yamaha  BEL  +45.620  9   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 1.739  10   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 5.510  11   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 9.784  12   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 10.435  13   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1' 10.905  14   R. Jelen Suzuki  SVN  +1' 22.435  15   C. Desalle  Suzuki  BEL  +1' 26.128  16   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 26.501  17   J. Moze  Suzuki  SVN  +1' 31.077  18   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 32.498  19   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 37.790  20   K. Salaets Yamaha  BEL  +1' 43.482  Race 2: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   S. Everts Yamaha  BEL  40' 26.487  2   K. Strijbos Suzuki  BEL  +8.683  3   T. Leok Kawasaki  EST  +26.828  4   S. Ramon Suzuki  BEL  +40.982  5   J. Garcia Vico Honda  ESP  +46.607  6   B. Jorgensen Honda  DNK  +1' 7.361  7   K. De Dycker Honda  BEL  +1' 13.155  8   P. Leuret  Honda  FRA  +1' 17.459  9   M. Priem Yamaha  BEL  +1' 23.597  10   M. Van Daele Honda  BEL  +1' 23.750  11   J. Noble Honda  GBR  +1' 33.642  12   A. Pyrhonen TM  FIN  +1' 38.337  13   D. Theybers Suzuki  BEL  +1' 38.801  14   L. Freibergs Suzuki  LVA  +1' 40.490  15   A. Salvini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 41.047  16   J. Bill Yamaha  GBR  +1' 46.482  17   R. Jelen Suzuki  SVN  +1' 47.245  18   W. Avis KTM  RSA  +1' 58.566  19   J. Dobes Suzuki  CZE  +1 lap(s)  20   G. Crockard Honda  GBR  +1 lap(s)  Championship standings MX1 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Stefan Everts Yamaha  BEL 342  2   Kevin Strijbos Suzuki  BEL 253  3   Tanel Leok Kawasaki  EST 245  4   Ken De Dycker Honda  BEL 231  5   Steve Ramon Suzuki  BEL 227  6   Jonathan Barragan KTM  ESP 166  7   Pascal Leuret  Honda  FRA 147  8   Manuel Priem Yamaha  BEL 120  9   Brian Jorgensen Honda  DNK 120  10   Cedric Melotte Yamaha  BEL 118  11   Javier Garcia Vico Honda  ESP 115  12   Marvin Van Daele Honda  BEL 108  13   Julien Bill Yamaha  GBR 107  14   Sebastien Tortelli KTM  FRA 99  15   Antti Pyrhonen TM  FIN 91  16   James Noble Honda  GBR 89  17   Danny Theybers Suzuki  BEL 73  18   Alex Salvini Suzuki  ITA 47  19   Wyatt Avis KTM  RSA 46  20   Stephen Sword Kawasaki  GBR 40  Manufacturers standings MX1 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  Yamaha 342  2  Suzuki 289  3  Kawasaki 245  4  Honda 241  5  KTM 221  6  TM 91  MX2 : Cairoli runner-up at home Grand Prix thriller Round: 7 - 2006 GP of Montevarchi, Italy Circuit: Montevarchi Date: 11 June 2006 Crowd: 26000 Temp: 26ºC Weather: Sunny World Champion Antonio Cairoli entertained his many fans with two exciting motos at a sunny Montevarchi today for the seventh round of the MX2 FIM World Championship. The De Carli Yamaha rider had the 26,000 attendance on its feet as he fought with friend and rival David Philippaerts for victory until the last laps but eventually had to settle for a brace of runner-up positions. Cairoli aced his qualification heat yesterday and, along with Philippaerts, looked easily the strongest rider on the tight and stony course. 'Toni' started well in both motos but lost the lead to KTM's Philippaerts and then second place to Tyla Rattray in the first race as he struggled with a sore wrist that was numbing his arm. He eventually found a better rhythm to pass Rattray and set off after the leader resulting in the first of two finales that proved to be the highlights of the Grand Prix. The second race quickly became 'part two' of the all-Italian scrap and Cairoli was again powerless to pass Philippaerts who had recovered well from a crash while leading that had dropped him to third. With Christophe Pourcel not enjoying one of his best days, Rattray falling out of the second moto and De Reuver also registering a DNF because of a faulty gearbox, Cairoli has narrowed the margin in the World Championship standings and now lies 15 points from second place. Kenneth Gundersen could, and should, have finished higher than his final classification of 10th. The Norwegian started badly in the first moto and rose only as high as 8th, without a rear brake, on a track that was not easy to pass and afforded varying levels of grip. A promising start and third position was squandered on the first lap when the front wheel of his YZ250F slid out and dumped the number '12' on the floor. His resulting effort terminated with 17th spot by the chequered flag. Davide Guarneri was unlucky not to take pole position on Saturday as the Italian's silencer on the Ricci Racing Yamaha unbelievably came loose again (as in Bulgaria last week) and the resulting one minute penalty for violating noise regulations meant that he had to qualifying for his home Grand Prix via the Last Chance session and confirmed 26th spot. He was 7th in the first moto but could not make the finish in race two. Bike it Yamaha's Billy Mackenzie was no match for the Italian's speed on home turf. The Japanese GP winner was taken out of the race by Luigi Seguy in the first foray and slipped back to 13th after a decent start in the second outing. The 22 year old is still bothered by a broken bone in his left hand. Alessio Chiodi could not avoid the fallen Fabio Mossini on the first lap of the second MX2 heat yesterday and the crash relegated him to the back of the pack. The former multi World Champion left his fast lap late in the Last Chance session (and needed the help of team-mate Guarneri) and disappointedly entered the gate in 28th. During the motos he was always struggling to make up ground but tried his best in front of a willing partisan crowd. He finished the day with 18th and 11th for 14th overall. The eighth round of the series will take place at the new Matterley Basin circuit in England for the British Grand Prix. The visit to the UK will end a hectic three week spell of consecutive races. Antonio Cairoli, Team Yamaha De Carli: "For sure I wanted to win in my country but today David was very fast. I lost concentration in the second heat when I saw Rattray and Goncalves crash. I was riding a bit stiff and didn't have a good feeling but afterwards when David came back I was able to pick up my speed. It was very hard to pass him here and I didn't want to make a mistake because the standings would be much closer. For me and for the Championship this is a good GP." Kenneth Gundersen, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I felt really good in the first race but after twenty minutes I lost the rear brake. Otherwise I believe I could have finished top three in that race. In the second moto I lost the front end and was half a lap behind before I was really going again. Normally I could have finished on the podium at a track like this but again bad luck." Alessio Chiodi, Yamaha Team Ricci: "I have to say thank you to Davide in the Last Chance yesterday because he gave me a tow and helped me qualify. I did not have the speed to make a single lap like that. To be low in the gate was not good but I tried my best. The first moto was not that bad but I crashed and hit my knee again and after that it was so difficult. One point is better than none though so I kept pushing. This was a hard GP for me. I am disappointed for the fans because their support was fantastic. I hope I will be OK for the British GP, I have one more week to recover now."    Race classification MX2 Round: 7 - 2006 GP of Montevarchi, Italy Circuit: Montevarchi Circuit Length: 1650 Race 1: 21 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 36.141  2   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +0.574  3   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +16.917  4   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +17.706  5   T. Rattray KTM  RSA  +23.075  6   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +36.401  7   D. Guarneri Yamaha  ITA  +45.930  8   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +53.511  9   M. De Reuver KTM  NED  +55.889  10   A. Leok Yamaha  EST  +1' 1.470  11   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +1' 6.108  12   M. Monni KTM  ITA  +1' 9.536  13   M. Seistola Honda  FIN  +1' 12.376  14   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +1' 16.020  15   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +1' 16.379  16   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +1' 23.003  17   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 23.712  18   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 24.317  19   M. Schiffer KTM  GER  +1' 32.455  20   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1' 36.226  Race 2: 20 Laps  Pos.  Rider Manufacturer  Nat. Total Time  1   D. Philippaerts KTM  ITA  39' 12.775  2   A. Cairoli Yamaha  ITA  +3.369  3   C. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +23.136  4   G. Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA  +27.544  5   S. Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA  +32.296  6   R. Goncalves KTM  POR  +35.024  7   T. Searle Kawasaki  GBR  +52.100  8   C. Campano KTM  ESP  +56.315  9   M. Seistola Honda  FIN  +56.779  10   L. Seguy Yamaha  FRA  +1' 1.998  11   A. Chiodi Yamaha  ITA  +1' 2.677  12   C. Nunn KTM  GBR  +1' 8.173  13   B. MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR  +1' 13.787  14   F. Mossini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 14.195  15   P A. Renet Honda  FRA  +1' 15.457  16   A. Pellegrini Suzuki  ITA  +1' 25.976  17   K. Gundersen Yamaha  NOR  +1' 30.079  18   A. Meo Honda  FRA  +1' 32.919  19   M. Schiffer KTM  GER  +1' 37.490  20   J. Wing KTM  SWE  +1' 43.147  Championship standings MX2 Pos.  Rider  Manufacturer  Nat. Points  1   Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 274  2   Marc De Reuver KTM  NED 246  3   Tyla Rattray KTM  RSA 235  4   Antonio Cairoli Yamaha  ITA 231  5   David Philippaerts KTM  ITA 210  6   Billy MacKenzie Yamaha  GBR 168  7   Carl Nunn KTM  GBR 159  8   Sébastien Pourcel Kawasaki  FRA 140  9   Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha  NOR 139  10   Gareth Swanepoel Kawasaki  RSA 134  11   Rui Goncalves KTM  POR 132  12   Tommy Searle Kawasaki  GBR 129  13   Alessio Chiodi Yamaha  ITA 124  14   Davide Guarneri Yamaha  ITA 94  15   Luigi Seguy Yamaha  FRA 94  16   Manuel Monni KTM  ITA 73  17   Anthony Boissière Yamaha  FRA 66  18   Aigar Leok Yamaha  EST 64  19   Matti Seistola Honda  FIN 61  20   Patrick Caps Honda  BEL 46    Manufacturers standings MX2 Pos. Manufacturer Points  1  KTM 318  2  Yamaha 306  3  Kawasaki 280  4  Honda 114  5  Suzuki 13