Everts Times Three

Paul Carruthers | September 14, 2003

The following release is from Yamaha…

Stefan Everts (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) rewrote the history books by winning all three classes at the final round of the Motocross World Championships in Ernee, France today.

After securing the Motocross GP World Championship in the Czech Republic two weeks ago and having entered the record books for winning two classes in one day earlier this year, the super-fit Belgian decided to make a unique attempt at all three Grand Prix classes in one day. The three victories take Everts’ total number of GP victories to an unprecedented 72 which, ironically, is also Everts’ race number, chosen because he was born in 1972.

Earlier in the day Everts had won the 125 and Motocross GP races with relative ease, but it was the 650 event which produced some of the best racing of the day. Riding a machine he hadn’t ridden before Saturday’s free practice sessions, Everts was forced to battle wheel-to-wheel with KTM riders Joel Smets and Javier Garcia Vico. Such was the pace that all three riders made mistakes in the heat of the battle, but Everts was able to recover from his small crash to take the historic treble.

Stefan Everts (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team)- first (125, 650 and Motocross GP)

“What a day. A great day but really, really tough! I knew that because of the changes in the championship this would be my last chance to attempt three classes in one day, but even if that wasn’t the case I would never try it again, it has been so physically demanding. I don’t really know what to say because the results say more than I ever could. Looking back the 650 was the toughest race of the day. I had a good battle with Garcia Vico but had a small crash and that let him through. I sat behind him for a few laps to recover,  I thought to myself maybe he would get tired,  before repassing. The whole day has been really exciting and sincerely I have to thank all my team for their hard work this season. I couldn’t do it without them.”

Motocross GP

1. S. Everts Yamaha

2. B. Jorgensen Honda

3. J. Coppins Honda

4. P. Caps KTM

5. K. Strijbos Suzuki

125cc GP

1. S. Everts Yamaha

2. A. Chiodi Yamaha

3. L. Seguy Yamaha

4. T. Rattray KTM

5. S. Ramon KTM

Paul Carruthers | Editor

Paul Carruthers took over as the editor of Cycle News in 1993 after serving as associate editor since starting his career at the publication in 1985. Carruthers has covered every facet of the sport in his near-28-year tenure at America's Daily Motorcycle News Source.