2004 Motocross World Champions at Ballykelly Ireland - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

It's number eight for Belgian Stefan Everts in the MX1 class and the first for New Zealander Ben Townley in the MX2 class as both are crowned World Champs after the penultimate round of the FIM Motocross World Championship in Ballykelly (Northern Ireland).MX1 CLASSWith 31-year-old Stefan Everts winning his eighth World title, he is now the most successful rider in the history of the Motocross World Championships.Everts started racing when he was ten, clinched his first 125 title 1991 then moved to the 250 class with Suzuki. However, 1992 he was injured twice and it was Greg Albertyn's turn to be World Champion. In 1995 Stefan earned his second title with Kawasaki. He moved to Honda in 1996 and won the world champion and repeated the feat in 1997. Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli beat him in the last GP in Greece to take the crown in 1998 to end the streak. Then came the bad years, 1999 and 2000 when Everts broke his leg and then his arm during the respective pre-season races.2001 was the year of the re-birth for him. Everts ended his relationship with his personal manager, terminated his previous contract and moved to the Italian Team Rinaldi/Yamaha, and with this team went on to win the 500 class in 2001 and 2002, the MXGP class in 2003 and the MX1 class this year. And now with eight titles and 78 GP wins he's become the most successful GP rider.L&M;/Rinaldi/Yamaha rider Stefan Everts and Tiscali/Martin/Honda rider Mickael Pichon were once more the main animators of the MX1 class. They shared Moto wins, each scoring 47 points, however, with the FIM rules give Moto 2 more weight and so it was Everts winning the GP.Moto1
Cedric Melotte holeshot the start followed by team mate Everts and Pichon. The Tiscali/Martin/Honda rider pushed hard in the early stages of the race, climbing into second place by lap two and began to gain on Everts. The Frenchman made his move one lap later and sneaked past on the inside line, but Everts was not defeated and kept the pressure on, passing his Honda rival again on lap six. The scene was set for a dramatic showdown of the two riders, but lapped riders would decide the outcome. Everts struggled to maintain his rhythm weaving through traffic and Pichon capitalized - making a pass on lap sixteen and went onto take the race win. Third place went to Cas/Honda rider Joshua Coppins, Melotte was fourth and factory KTM rider Steve Ramon rounded out the top five.Moto2
After winning his eighth World title Everts could race without any pressure the Moto2. Coppins grabbed the holeshot, but Everts and Pichon passed him, and soon Everts was leading Pichon by six seconds. He cruised on to the win. Estonian rider Tanel Leok finished third in this Moto, after a DNF in the Moto1 when broke his Suzuki. Coppins and Suzuki rider Kevin Strijbos were fourth and fifth.Stefan Everts said: "It was the same old story in Moto1 today with the lapped riders. They just don't move over. Luigi Seguy and Billy Mackenzie were in front of me for a few corners and that pretty much blew my victory because when Pichon came by me, I got blocked by them. It's a pity because I really tried to win the race. I made another really good start in Moto2 and I knew that I had to push really hard to break away from Pichon and maintain my lead. Towards the end of the race, I was a little stronger than Pichon and I think this made the difference that allowed me to take the win. I'm very happy to win my eighth world title here today. The race seasons are always very long and a lot of things can happen to spoil your chances of success. I've been very consistent although the year wasn't without problems for me, but I made it through to win and I'm very happy for myself, my team, Yamaha, the sponsors, family and my fans."Mickael Pichon said: "It was not an easy weekend, the track was really difficult and slippery. I'm a little bit tired at the moment, as I've been racing every weekend for four months now. I spent a lot of energy in the Moto 1 to win it. I thought it could be okay in the second one but Stefan and Josh were really fast at the beginning. I was just able to stay with them and pass Josh, I pushed really hard to catch Stefan but after twenty minutes I was really tired, my arms pumped off and I could only stay in second."

|||| |---|---|---| MX1 MOTO 1****MX1 MOTO 2 1. M. Pichon, Honda S. Everts, Yamaha| 2. |S. Everts, Yamaha |M. Pichon, Honda| | 3. |J. Coppins, Honda |T. Leok, Suzuki | | 4. |C. Melotte, Yamaha |J. Coppins, Honda| | 5. |S. Ramon, KTM |K. Strijbos, Suzuki | | 6. |K. Strijbos, Suzuki |B. Mackenzie, Yamaha| | 7. |K. De Dijcker, Honda |G. Crockard, Honda| | 8. |M. Bervoets, Yamaha |S. Ramon, KTM | | 9. |D. Theybers, Yamaha |L. Freibergs, Honda | | 10. |L. Freibergs, Honda |D. Theybers, Yamaha |

|||||| |---|---|---|---|---| MX1 World Championship Point Standings after Round 15 of 16 | 1.| **2004 World Champion Stefan Everts |Yamaha |BEL |666 | | 2. |Mickael Pichon |Honda |FRA |573 | | 3. |Joshua Coppins |Honda |NZL |519 | | 4. |Steve Ramon |KTM |BEL |439 | | 5. |Kevin Strijbos |Suzuki |EL |421 | | 6. |Tanel Leok |Suzuki |EST |338 | | 7. |Cedric Melotte |Yamaha |BEL |317 | | 8. |Brian Jorgensen |Honda |DNK |294 | | 9. |Ken De Dijcker |Honda |BEL |247 | | 10. |Luigi Seguy |Yamaha |FRA |217 |

MX2 CLASSNew Zealander Ben Townley is the second Kiwi to clinch a Motocross World Title after Shayne King became the 1996 500 World Champion. Next year the 19 year old will move to the prestigious MX1 class alongside Everts, Pichon, Smets and Coppins.Townley arrived in Europe in 2001, when a German team coaxed him from New Zealand where he had already achieved twelve national titles. At only sixteen, Ben took his first points in the Belgium GP and then was forced to move to another team during the season when his previous one failed. In 2002, Ben ride for the Vangani team and won his first GP in Sweden and finished the year in sixth. 2003 was a bad year for Ben, he training in the States and raced some SX races but injured his wrist and missed most of the year. This season he rode a factory KTM 250 4-stroke and won the MX2 World Championship.Moto1
Team DeCarli/Yamaha rider Antonio "young goblin" Cairoli holeshot the start as usual, but Ben Townley passed him during the first lap. Dutchman Marc De Reuver started in third caught Townley on lap nine and passed him for the lead. Technical problems on his factory KTM 4 stroke forced the Dutch star to the sidelines and handed Townley first place on a plate, guaranteeing Townley his first ever MX World Championship.It wasn't such a good day for the two Kawasaki factory riders, Mickael Maschio and Stephen Sword as they both DNF with bike troubles. Townley's Factory KTM team mate Tyla Rattray recovered from a mediocre start to take second and Cairoli finished third.Moto2
Moto 2 saw Townley get the first holeshot of his GP career and turn in an amazing ride—he led Cairoli by twenty seconds after six laps. Townley went on to win, followed by Aigar Leok (who got his first race podium), De Reuver in third, Cairoli fourth and Tyla Rattray fifth. Maschio was involved in a pile-up at the start and Sword DNF again with engine problems. Cairoli fourth place finish garnered him a well-earned second overall.Ben Townley said: "It is an amazing feeling to take the Championship. On that last lap I realized that all the work and commitment I had put in, not just in the last four years but my whole riding career, was paying off and it felt very satisfying.In the first Moto, Marc De Reuver picked up the pace in the middle of the race and I was unable to match that speed, plus I did not want to take any unnecessary risks. He ended up having some bad luck so I was able to win the race and the Championship at the same time, which was really cool. It was fortunate for me but very special.I took my first holeshot in Moto 2! I focused on getting away as quickly as possible and at one stage I had a lead of 30 seconds. I have to say that is one of the best motos I have ever ridden. It feels like a long time ago since my last double win, that was in Sweden, but I have had a few problems and I found in the last few weeks that riding in the sand has helped my conditioning. I felt no pressure today. On the start-line for that Moto1, I was more excited than anything. I wanted to know what would happen! I want to thanks my parents who came here to celebrate the title with me."Antonio Cairoli said: "Yesterday I really enjoyed the track, but today it was much more difficult. It wasn't easy to win today because Ben was really fast. I rode quite well in Moto 1 and although I made some mistakes I was happy with my performance. In Moto 2 I started very well but once again Ben was really fast. I rode well again and finished the race in fourth position and the two results gave me second overall, which of course I'm pleased with and now I'm hoping to finish the year in third place overall. I will defend it to Stephen Sword in the last round."

|||| |---|---|---| MX2 MOTO 1****MX2 MOTO 2 1. B. Townley, KTM B. Townley, KTM| 2. |T. Rattray, KTM | A. Leok, KTM | | 3. |A. Cairoli, Yamaha | M. De Reuver, KTM| | 4. |M. Van Daele, Suzuki |A. Cairoli, Yamaha| | 5. |R. Goncalves, Yamaha |T. Rattray, KTM| | 6. |J. Vehvilainen, Honda |G. Swanepoel, KTM| | 7. |A. Chiodi, Yamaha |A. Boissiere, Yamaha | | 8. |A. Leok, KTM | C. Federici, Yamaha| | 9. |S. Pourcel, Kawasaki | J. Barragan, KTM| | 10. |C. Nunn, Honda |C. Nunn, Honda|