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MX500
Stefan Everts' surge into
the record books was put on hold for at least one week, but the World
500cc MX Championship leader was still all smiles - the man who
temporarily ended his victory roll was none other than Rinaldi Yamaha
team-mate Marnicq Bervoets, and the second place of Everts was enough to
extend his series lead to a massive 62 points. He could now clinch the
title next weekend in Germany. To complete the team's joy Andrew
McFarlane brought his semi-factory YZ426F home in fifth place again.
It was just seven days before that Bervoets had warned he intended to
battle for the win in every race for the rest of the season, after the
first half of his season had been wrecked by the need for operations on
his forearms, and ironically this victory came on the same Roggenburg
track, over looking the Franco-Swiss border, where his last victory had
come 11 months ago. The track was very different this year however:
"Last year I won in the mud, this year it is so dry and fast. The fact
that I could win here shows just how good my Yamaha YZ500FM is, because
I am not normally at my best on such tracks. But my pole position from
yesterday already proved I am right back to form, and, after I got the
holeshot, I had the confidence to push really hard in the first few laps
to open up a lead before Stefan could get to second."
Indeed Bervoets soon led by a massive 17 seconds, and could stroll
through the second half of the race as Everts settled for a safe second
after a hair-raising incident on the first lap: "I was very lucky that I
didn't crash at the start. Another rider pushed me very hard at the
second turn and I ran right off the track, between the berm and the
fence. It was a scary moment, but I managed to rejoin the race and
gradually work my way forward to second. I didn't ride at my best here,
but I must congratulate Marnicq; he rode fantastically all weekend and I
am glad he has got another win. My pit didn't board me that Smets had
problems, so I was just concentrating on my
own race."
A first lap crash for the defending champion Joel Smets saw him go home
pointless, and Bervoets has closed to within 11 points of second in the
series: "I'm not looking at the points. I have been second four times.
Like I said last week, I just want to win as many races as possible for
the rest of the season."
McFarlane also showed strongly to grab fifth in the closing stages: "My
start was good again, but I took a long time to settle down. The track
is so fast - there is one downhill where we must be doing 130-140 km/h -
we're flat out in 4th gear anyway - and you wouldn't want to get
headshake going down there. I found my rhythm later in the race though,
and I made a pretty aggressive pass on Garcia, but there was no other
way and we are fighting for that number four plate, so anything goes."
Everts now goes to Gaildorf, near Stuttgart in southern Germany, looking
for his record-breaking 51st GP win, where he could also clinch the
world title - his fifth.
500cc Results: 1. Marnicq Bervoets
(B) Yamaha; 2. Stefan Everts (B) Yamaha; 3. Johnny Lindhe (S) Husqvarna;
4. Andrea Bartolini (I) Husqvarna; 5. Andrew McFarlane (AUS) Yamaha; 6.
Francisco Garcia Vico (E) KTM; 7. Peter Johansson (S) KTM; 8. Kurt
Nicoll (GB) KTM; 9. Shayne King (NZ) KTM; 10. Chris Burnham (GB) Honda
500cc Championship: 1. Everts, 235;
2. Joël Smets (B) KTM, 173; 3. Bervoets, 162; 4. Garcia Vico, 92; 5.
McFarlane, 79; 6. Lindhe, 67; 7. Shayne King, 56; 8. Leok, 48; 9.
Johansson, 44; 10. Burnham, 43.
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MX250 -
Claudio
Federici took his Axo Team Yamaha to a superb victory at the Swiss 250cc
MX GP at the Roggenburg circuit. He produced the perfect race, taking
the holeshot before running away from the field, unchallenged for the
full 20 laps. The Italian rider, who has been fighting for a podium
place all season, looked in total control. Federici is now a strong
third in the championship with a fair chance of climbing to second in
the rankings by the end of the year. At one stage of the race Yamaha
riders held first, second and third positions, though the final
shake-out saw Yves Demaria take the flag in fourth place with Pit Beirer
in sixth.
Federici's confidence had soured after taking pole position on Saturday:
"I found many good lines and this is a very fast track so the Yamahas
once again showed they are probably the quickest bikes in the class. I
came here not expecting to win though, just looking to make the podium.
Once I was in the lead I looked back and Beirer and Demaria were behind
me, all the Yamaha riders seemed to get good starts. Chad Reed past
Beirer but after that I could keep around 12 seconds ahead of him so I
knew I had a good chance of winning. This track is very similar to those
in Italy, very hard and fast, so I expected to do well here but a win
was a big surprise; I am very happy. It's not going to be easy but I
want to try and pass Crockard for second place in the championship. At
worst I should finish third, which was my original aim this year."
Kawasaki Racing Team’s Chad Reed climbed to the podium yet again. But
Chad didn’t make things easy for himself, the 19 year old Australian
often struggles to come up with a fast lap in qualification but has
proved more than once that he is more than capable when it comes to
racing. "Qualifying was a struggle but I didn't let it worry me, if I am
on the grid then I know I have as much chance as everyone else." said
Reed.
Having
to take one of the final picks on the start gate, Reed started on the
extreme outside and was very lucky to avoid a big pile up of riders
shortly after the first turn. By the end of lap one Reed had moved
up to 7th spot, a solid position to push towards another podium finish.
Federici had grabbed the holeshot ahead of Bolley and Pichon.
Chad
followed Demaria and the pair soon passed Dugmore and Zanni to go 3rd
and 4th but Reed kept up the pressure on Demaria and by lap 7 of 21 he
moved to 3rd and was within sight of Pit Beirer. Federici was out
in front but Pichon had crashed allowing the Italian some breathing
space. "Federici was very strong to day, you can’t take it away from
him, I think this type of going, dry, hard and very fast suited him – he
was strong right from the free practice sessions on Saturday so he was
always going to be hard to beat around here. " said Chad
With
Pichon out of the frame, the race was wide open and produced some of the
best racing of the season. "When Pichon crashed Federici had a bit of a
breather, Beirer was pushing maybe a little too hard so I was up to 3rd
by lap seven. I didn’t want to make a pass on him because I knew he
would come straight back at me, I just waited and put him under
pressure." said Reed.
Watching Beirer in front starting to make mistakes, Reed kept at a safe
distance, "I learnt a lot last week
end in Namur when Pichon got through on me, he forced me to make
mistake I wouldn’t normally do, I thought about it and used this on Pit,
it worked."
Gordon
Crockard who is currently lying in second position in the championship
was fighting his way through from 14th position, ahead of Pichon after
his crash and struggling to get back into the top five. "Crockard was
coming strong in the last few laps, he must have had some good lines to
make up so much ground and he passed me with only a lap to go." said
Chad who added. "As long as I’m on the podium I am happy, I am now 4th
in the championship, and we still have a few rounds to go, Federici has
15 points on me in 3rd but I would like to think that I could finish 3rd
in my first European season. I have put in a lot of work but we still
have some way to go before the series is over "
250cc Results: 1. Claudio Federici
(I) Yamaha; 2. Gordon Crockard (GB) Honda; 3. Chad Reed (AUS) Kawasaki;
4. Yves Demaria (F) Yamaha; 5. Frédéric Bolley (F) Honda; 6. Pit Beirer
(D) Yamaha; 7. Collin Dugmore (SA) KTM; 8. Mickaël Pichon (F) Suzuki; 9.
Justin Morris (GB) Honda; 10. Carl Nunn (GB) Husqvarna
250cc Championship: 1. Pichon, 223;
2. Crockard, 152; 3. Federici, 124; 4. Reed, 109; 5. Beirer, 102; 6.
Bolley, 96; 7. Coppins, 94; 8. Demaria, 67; 9. Vehviläinen, 63; 10.
Theybers, 50.
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MX125 -
125cc Results: 1. James Dobb (GB)
KTM; 2. Luigi Seguy (F) Yamaha; 3. Steve Ramon (B) Kawasaki; 4. Kenneth
Gundersen (N) KTM; 5. Alessio Chiodi (I) Yamaha; 6. Patrick Caps (B)
Yamaha; 7. Thomas Traversini (I) KTM; 8. Matthieu Lalloz (F) Yamaha; 9.
Erik Camerlengo (I) Yamaha; 10. Enrico Oddenino (I) KTM
125cc Championship: 1. Dobb, 215; 2.
Ramon, 128; 3. Seguy, 104; 4. Erik Eggens (NL) KTM, 101; 5. Gundersen,
95; 6. Chiodi, 88; 7. Caps, 63; 8. Belometti, 60; 9. Sword, 60; 10. Mark
de Reuver (NL) Yamaha, 58.
Next GP: Gaildorf (Germany) on
August 19th.
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