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
Date: 11 June 2006
Crowd: 26000
Temp: 26ºC
Weather: Sunny
Race 1: 21 Laps1 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 Laps1 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 MX1:1 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 MX1:1 Yamaha 342
2 Suzuki 289
3 Kawasaki 245
4 Honda 241
5 KTM 221
6 TM 91
Related Linkswww.yamaha-racing.com
Related News
