Everts Wins In Portugal

| April 25, 2005

Just as he has done so many times in the past, Stefan Everts is already moving away from his rivals early in the MX1 Championship points standings, after the Belgian wrapped up the overall victory at Grand Prix of Portugal, April 24.

In tough conditions, Everts had some luck, as Mickael Pichon had misfortune.

On the badly rutted circuit in Portugal, Everts, however, also made a mistake, crashing in the second moto while leading, but he pushed hard to finish third in the moto and take the overall win with a 1-3. He is now 16 points clear of second place Pichon of the Martin Honda team.

Many of Everts’ rivals had mixed results on the day. Pichon DNFed the opening moto with a carburetor problem, but he was able to fight back and win the second moto. Still, he lost valuable points in the series standings.

Everts led home two CAS Honda riders, Josh Coppins, who went 4-2 for second, and Jussi Vehvilainen, who went 3-10 for third overall. For Everts, it was obviously a good day, despite riding with pain from his injured rib and thumb. The win was the eight-time World Champion’s 81st Grand Prix victory, and he now heads to his favorite track on the circuit, Namur.

Italian Yamaha rider Antoine Cairoli was also looking strong in Portugal, as he picked up 1-1 results for the MX2-class victory. Second was another Italian, Alessio Chiodi who went 4-4 for the day. Scotland’s Billy Mackenzie scored third overall with 10-2 result.

For early season favorite Tyla Rattray it was a terrible day, as he crashed out of the second moto and injured his shoulder. Rattray is now a massive 32 points behind Cairoli in the championship points.

Results:

MX1 MOTO 1: 1. Stefan Everts (Yam); 2. Luigi Seguy (Yam); 3. Jussi Vehvilainen (Hon); 4. Josh Coppins (Hon); 5. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 6. Antti Pyrhonen (TM); 7. Ken De Dijcker (Hon); 8. Manuel Priem (Yam); 9. Steve Ramon (KTM); 10. Paul Cooper (Hon); 11. Yoshi Atsuta (Suz); 12. Kornel Nemeth (Suz); 13. Mark Hucklebridge (Hon); 14. Ben Townley (KTM); 15. Antoine Meo (Husky)

MX1 MOTO 2: 1. Mickael Pichon (Hon); 2. Josh Coppins (Hon); 3. Stefan Everts (Yam); 4. Steve Ramon (KTM); 5. Joel Smets (Suz); 6. Paul Cooper (Hon); 7. Yoshi Atsuta (Suz); 8. Danny Theybers (Suz); 9. James Noble (Hon); 10. Jussi Vehvilainen (Hon); 11. Marvin Van Daele (Hon); 12. Pascal Leuret (Hon); 13. Jonathan Barragan (KTM); 14. Aaron Bernardez (Hon); 15. Antoine Meo (Husky)

MX1 O/A: 1. Stefan Everts (45); 2. Josh Coppins (40); 3. Jussi Vehvilainen (31); 4. Steve Ramon (30); 5. Paul Cooper (26); 6. Mickael Pichon (25); 7. Pascal Leuret (25); 8. Yoshi Atsuta (24); 9. Luigi Seguy (24); 10. Antti Pyrhonen (21); 11. Danny Theybers (18); 12. Manuel Priem (18); 13. Joel Smets (16); 14. Ken De Dijcker (14); 15. Marvin Van Daele (13)

MX1 SERIES POINTS STANDINGS: 1. Stefan Everts (125/2wins); 2. Mickael Pichon (109); 3. Josh Coppins (101); 4. Joel Smets (96); 5. Ben Townley (85/1); 6. Steve Ramon (75); 7. Paul Cooper (68); 8. James Noble (55); 9. Ken De Dijcker (54); 10. Kevin Strijbos (48); 11. Antti Pyrhonen (43); 12. Danny Theybers (42); 13. Pascal Leuret (40); 14. Jussi Vehvilainen (38); 15. Kornel Nemeth (36)

MX2 MOTO 1: 1. Antoine Cairoli (Yam); 2. Tyla Rattray (KTM); 3. Mickael Maschio (Yam); 4. Alessio Chiodi (Yam); 5. Davide Guarneri (Yam); 6. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 7. Anthony Boissiere (Yam); 8. Rui Goncalves (Yam); 9. Patrick Caps (Hon); 10. Billy Mackenzie (Yam); 11. Matteo Bonini (Hon); 12. Aigar Leok (KTM); 13. Tom Church (Kaw); 14. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 15. Jason Dougan (Suz)

MX2 MOTO 2: 1. Antonio Cairoli (Yam); 2. Billy Mackenzie (Yam); 3. Stephen Sword (Kaw); 4. Alessio Chiodi (Yam); 5. Anthony Boissiere (Yam); 6. Tom Church (Kaw); 7. Carl Nunn (KTM); 8. Christophe Pourcel (Kaw); 9. Rui Goncalves (Yam); 10. Andrew McFarlane (Yam); 11. Matti Seistoli (Hon); 12. Wyatt Avis (Hon); 13. Manuel Monni (KTM); 14. Max Nagl (KTM); 15. Christian Stevanini (Hon)

MX2 O/A: 1. Antonio Cairoli (50); 2. Alessio Chiodi (36); 3. Billy Mackenzie (33); 4. Anthony Boissiere (30); 5. Christophe Pourcel (28); 6. Stephen Sword (27); 7. Rui Goncalves (25); 8. Mickael Maschio (25); 9. Tom Church (23); 10. Tyla Rattray (22); 11. Davide Guarneri (16); 12. Carl Nunn (14); 13. Patrick Caps (Hon); 14. Andrew McFarlane (11); 15. Manuel Monni (11)

MX2 SERIES POINTS STANDINGS: 1. Antonio Cairoli (122/1win); 2. Alessio Chiodi (103/1); 3. Tyla Rattray (90/1); 4. Stephen Sword (80); 5. Cedric Melotte (76); 6. Billy Mackenzie (71); 7. Andrew McFarlane (71); 8. Mickael Maschio (61); 9. Carl Nunn (54); 10. Erik Eggens (53); 11. Anthony Boissiere (53); 12. Patrick Caps (49); 13. Rui Goncalves (47); 14. Christophe Pourcel (35); 15. Matteo Bonini (44)

By Freelance