The new Sun City track was created in three months as a Supercross-style track, so it including many jumps— something that favored Moto1 winner, Mickael Pichon. Pichon added a second place in the Moto2 to win the final GP of the season. New Zealander Joshua Coppins’ third place in Moto1 and a victory in the Moto2 earned him second overall. In a rare feat, 2004 World Champion L&M/Rinaldi/Yamaha rider Stefan Everts suffered a DNF (his first of the season) in the second moto after a safe second place Moto1 finish. No luck for Albertyn, as he crashed in the first lap. He got restarted in 23rd, but made a good recovery to 16th before crashing again in the seventh and twelfth laps. He finally decided to DNF.The Japanese Cas/Honda rider Yoshitaka Atsuta got the holeshot in the Moto2 and led Albertyn, Everts, Coppins, Pichon and Strijbos until Albee took the lead at the end of the first lap—the same moment Pichon and Everts collided. Everts visibly held Pichon responsible for the collision and reacted angrily. He walked to the next corner, throwing his goggles at the Frenchman in an outburst of disappointment, earning a penalty from the officials for his conduct. Everts fell on his left shoulder and DNF— his first one since the 2001 Dutch GP in Lierop.Albee held the lead two laps before Pichon and Coppins passed him. Pichon crashed in the sandy section handing the lead to Coppins who was followed like a shadow by factory KTM rider Steve Ramon and Kevin Strijbos. But Pichon was on fire and nobody could stop him, recovering from sixth to second position, enough to win the GP. Coppins won the moto and Ramon rounded out the podium to take third overall. For Albertyn it was a credible sixth before enjoying a lap of honor in front of his fans.Mickael Pichon said: “Moto2 was not really as I would expect. Stefan was pretty aggressive in the beginning, like he has been many times this year. I understood he wants to win, but I wanted to as well. I came in the inside in a corner; I jumped from the inside to the middle but he change his line and we collided. Maybe it was not a very nice move, but last year he did the same in Austria and I almost crashed there. Unfortunately he went down this time, but as I said I just wanted to make the move. His reaction was not very nice, I imagine he was really mad and he tried to push me out in a corner. It’s not a good end for the championship, I just wanted to win this GP.”Joshua Coppins said: “I wanted to end the season with some GP wins, but Mickael has been really strong and I’m happy with this heat win. I’m looking for next year now; we’ve a lot of things to do with the team. When I first came here it looked really good but I couldn’t ride well; today was much better, they really did a good job considering the soil and the weather. The Moto2 was really exciting, I think it was amazing on television and for me it was fun. I was so happy to race with Albertyn, he has been my hero and that was really cool to be racing with him.”Stefan Everts said: “I had a good Moto1 and finished in a comfortable second place. But in the Moto2 Pichon made a really aggressive move on me which I thought was also really dangerous and I was so furious with him that as he came around for the next lap I threw my goggles at him. I know this was wrong and that I should not have reacted like I did. Unfortunately it happened and I cannot turn back time. I have been to the jury meeting and I made an apology for what I did. I also apologized for not going to the podium to collect my number one plate, but this was a genuine mistake and I didn’t realize that I was required to be there.”Greg Albertyn said: “I definitely didn’t achieve my goal but I had fun out there. The Moto1 was just ‘racing’—going down on the first lap and getting ridden over! Marnicq crashed in the sand and there was nowhere I could go. Atsuta then ran straight over my back and I was like ‘Urgggghh!’ I crashed again later and then again; it was definitely a frustrating race. I was very happy to come back for the Moto2 and actually do something. “Hearing the crowd was definitely motivating and everyone helped me along. What a fantastic last race to have in front of my home crowd, I think that everybody appreciated the fact that I led for a few laps. I was totally enjoying it and I knew that it was not going to last but I was just savoring the moment.”
| MX1 Moto1 | ||
| 1. | M. Pichon | Honda |
| 2. | S. Everts | Yamaha |
| 3. | J. Coppins | Honda |
| 4. | K. Strijbos | Suzuki |
| 5. | S. Ramon | KTM |
| 6. | B. Mackenzie | Yamaha |
| 7. | C. Melotte | Yamaha |
| 8. | J. Noble | Honda |
| 9. | K. De Dijcker | Honda |
| 10. | T. Leok | Suzuki |
| MX1 MOTO2 | ||
| 1. | J. Coppins | Honda |
| 2. | M. Pichon | Honda |
| 3. | S. Ramon | KTM |
| 4. | K. Strijbos | Suzuki |
| 5. | Y. Atsuta | Honda |
| 6. | G. Albertyn | Suzuki |
| 7. | C. Melotte | Yamaha |
| 8. | M. Kovalainen | Honda |
| 9. | J. Dobes | Suzuki |
| 10. | J. Noble | Honda |
| Class MX1 World Championship Point Standings (after Round 16 of 16) |
||||
| 1. | Stefan Everts | Yamaha | BEL | 688 |
| 2. | Mickael Pichon | Honda | FRA | 620 |
| 3. | Joshua Coppins | Honda | NZL | 564 |
| 4. | Steve Ramon | KTM | BEL | 475 |
| 5. | Kevin Strijbos | Suzuki | BEL | 457 |
| 6. | Tanel Leok | Suzuki | EST | 356 |
| 7. | Cédric Melotte | Yamaha | BEL | 345 |
| 8. | Brian Jorgensen | Honda | DNK | 294 |
| 9. | Ken De Dijcker | Honda | BEL | 259 |
| 10. | Yoshitaka Atsuta | Honda | JPN | 224 |
MX2 CLASS
2004 World Champion Ben Townley took his ninth win of the season with a 1-1 score. Teammate and home rider Tyla Rattray could not beat Townley in spite the support of his fans and had to settle for 2-3 moto finishes. An excellent performance for the Italian Antonio Cairoli who ascended to the third step of the podium with a fifth in Moto1 and a second in the Moto2.Ben Townley said: “This has been a very special day for me. Since Ireland I have been focused on getting another two wins and taking my total to 21 and I did exactly what I planned. Tyla was really motivated coming to his home GP and he put a lot of pressure on me in Moto1. We had some problems with lapped riders at one point and with that he was able to come alongside me but I had the momentum and could keep the lead. It was a big fight all the way to the end so I knew it would be fun for the Moto2. I am really looking forward to going to the MX1 class because maybe I’ll have to pass some other riders and not just the same ones! It was a good scrap with Antonio Cairoli in the Moto2 and he reminds me of how I was in 2002 where I used to go to the front and do everything possible to stay there. I have learned a little bit more now, like take your time because it is a 40-minute race. It was a tough moto. I felt a bit sick after the Moto1 and was struggling for motivation but in the end it turned out really good”Tyla Rattray said: “I’m happy to be on the podium, there was a lot of pressure on me as many people expected me to win. Second is good enough as Ben was really strong today, he was the best on the track. With the two-stroke I was loosing traction in the paddock section, but despite this disadvantage I pushed really hard in the last laps of the Moto1 to beat Ben. Some riders jumped too early at the second start and I missed it; I had to come back from sixth to three, but then Ben and Antonio were far away. It was good to race in front of my home crowd, I hope we’ll be back next year and see more fans cheering us to beat some New Zealand kids.”Antonio Cairoli said: “I came to Sun City with an aim of finishing as high as possible to ensure my third place in the world championship. I’m very happy to finish in third place today and even happier that I managed to stay ahead of Stephen Sword and finish the year in third place in the World.”
| MX2 Moto1 | ||
| 1. | B. Townley | KTM |
| 2. | T. Rattray | KTM |
| 3. | A. Leok | KTM |
| 4. | G. Swanepoel | KTM |
| 5. | A. Cairoli | Yamaha |
| 6. | P. Caps | Yamaha |
| 7. | C. Federici | Yamaha |
| 8. | A. Chiodi | Yamaha |
| 9. | A. Bartolini | Yamaha |
| 10. | C. Nunn | Honda |
| MX2 Moto2 | ||
| 1. | B. Townley | KTM |
| 2. | A. Cairoli | Yamaha |
| 3. | T. Rattray | KTM |
| 4. | S. Pourcel | Kawasaki |
| 5. | P. Caps | Yamaha |
| 6. | S. Sword | Kawasaki |
| 7. | A. Leok | KTM EST |
| 8. | A. Boissiere | Yamaha |
| 9. | C. Nunn | Honda |
| 10. | C. Federici | Yamaha |
