Career win number 93, six Grand Prix in succession, the third double on the trot and nine consecutive moto victories fell to Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross team's Stefan Everts at the fast Sevlievo circuit for the Grand Prix of Bulgaria and the sixth round of fifteen in the 2006 FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship. 25,000 spectators (weekend figure) witnessed the 33 year old Belgian and absolute series leader own another two motos in vastly different weather conditions in which the YZ450FM excelled once more.
The wide expanse of the Sevlievo track, situated in the modern and impressive infrastructure of the circuit, was quick and dry for the first moto but then the heavens opened and dropped a plethora of rain onto the venue creating a difficult and technical test, as well as constituting the first wet race of the season.
Despite insisting that a repeat of his Japanese domination would be unlikely Saturday afternoon, Everts faced little opposition in both races after taking the lead within the first two laps of both sprints. He controlled the distance assimilated both times over Kevin Strijbos and his superiority has now translated into an 81 point advantage from Kawasaki's Tanel Leok in the World Championship standings meaning that he can afford not to finish three motos and still be in front.
Cedric Melotte completed only three laps today during the first outing. The Belgian fell heavily on Saturday and hit his head. Feeling dazed and unable to concentrate he elected to retire frustrated instead of risking further mishap. The 27 year old did not take to the line for the second race. Melotte has also been suffering from reduced energy and stamina possibly brought on by over-training. He had several tests after arriving back from Japan and his body was found to be lacking certain minerals. "Cedric had been training quite hard, as normal but has been feeling bad after the races, which is unusual for the condition he should have," said Team Manager Carlo Rinaldi. "The season has been up and down for him. Portugal was bad but then Teutschenthal was better after he had some rest. Japan was again not so good, so we rested him before this GP. The blood tests said he was low on iron and some B12 among other things in line with the symptoms of over-training. Cedric needs to rest and renew his levels and we should see an improvement."
The trip to Bulgaria represented the first of three consecutive meetings. The teams now travel directly to Italy and the Montevarchi circuit before then heading to Matterley Basin and the British Grand Prix.
Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:"Any race is a new race so anything can still happen but I have managed to keep the pace up and not make any mistakes. The second moto was difficult because of the conditions and I had to lose my goggles after a few laps. I had to slow down because of all the mud in my eyes but overall I am happy with the day. Coming here I was unsure because this is not the best track for me to try and win like Japan but I was consistent with my speed. The bike has been great on the starts and being able to push hard in the first ten to fifteen minutes really makes a difference."
Cedric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:"I had a big crash on Saturday and I found that I could not concentrate on my riding today. I tried to make some fast laps but it was getting dangerous so I decided to stop. I am having very little luck at the moment."
Carlo Rinaldi, Team Manager Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:"It was two different races today because of the track conditions and Stefan proved that it doesn't matter what weather or demands he faces. He made two very consistent and error-free races. The rhythm was strong at first but he could deal with it. The bike came through very well because there was a lot of water and you can sometimes have a strange problem like with the electrics. We made some changes between the motos to cope with the changing terrain and they worked out fine."
Race classification MX1:Round: 6 - 2006 GP of Sevlievo, Bulgaria
Circuit: Sevlievo
Circuit Length: 1695
Crowd: 25000
Temp: 18ºC
Weather: Rain
Race 1: 21 Laps 1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL 40' 47.650
2 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +6.971
3 S. Ramon Suzuki BEL +11.846
4 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +16.978
5 P. Leuret Honda FRA +27.050
6 W. Avis KTM RSA +31.597
7 K. De Dycker Honda BEL +33.118
8 J. Bill Yamaha GBR +35.635
9 T. Leok Kawasaki EST +47.909
10 J. Garcia Vico Honda ESP +56.167
11 G. Crockard Honda GBR +58.292
12 C. Desalle Suzuki BEL +59.949
13 M. Van Daele Honda BEL +1' 3.002
14 M. Priem Yamaha BEL +1' 11.247
15 C. Federici Kawasaki ITA +1' 17.882
16 A. Pyrhonen TM FIN +1' 19.780
17 A. Salvini Suzuki ITA +1' 27.943
18 B. Verhoeven Kawasaki NED +1' 29.174
19 D. Theybers Suzuki BEL +1' 35.502
20 L. Freibergs Suzuki LVA +1' 38.832
Race 2: 18 Laps1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL 40' 51.233
2 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +2.117
3 S. Ramon Suzuki BEL +3.631
4 T. Leok Kawasaki EST +27.962
5 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +39.143
6 K. De Dycker Honda BEL +1' 40.327
7 P. Leuret Honda FRA +1' 53.287
8 J. Garcia Vico Honda ESP +1' 59.266
9 M. Van Daele Honda BEL +2' 5.055
10 A. Salvini Suzuki ITA +1 lap(s)
11 C. Federici Kawasaki ITA +1 lap(s)
12 C. Desalle Suzuki BEL +1 lap(s)
13 A. Pyrhonen TM FIN +1 lap(s)
14 W. Avis KTM RSA +1 lap(s)
15 B. Verhoeven Kawasaki NED +1 lap(s)
16 L. Freibergs Suzuki LVA +1 lap(s)
17 G. Crockard Honda GBR +1 lap(s)
18 A. Bobkovs Honda LVA +1 lap(s)
19 J. Noble Honda GBR +1 lap(s)
20 M. Norlen Suzuki SWE +1 lap(s)
Championship standings MX1: 1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 292
2 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 211
3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 209
4 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 197
5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 191
6 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 150
7 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 123
8 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 106
9 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 105
10 Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 102
11 Sebastien Tortelli KTM FRA 99
12 Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 97
13 Julien Bill Yamaha GBR 90
14 Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 84
15 Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 82
16 James Noble Honda GBR 79
17 Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 60
18 Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 43
19 Stephen Sword Kawasaki GBR 40
20 Alex Salvini Suzuki ITA 31
Manufacturers standings MX1:1 Yamaha 292
2 Suzuki 245
3 Kawasaki 211
4 Honda 205
5 KTM 202
6 TM 82
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