Stefan Everts TakesWins at Mantotva Starcross - News - Dirt Rider Magazine

Once again, Stefan Everts was victorious at last weekend's Starcross in Mantova, Italy, his fourth Starcross victory.The Starcross in Mantova is the off-season motocross venue that has marked the opening of the competitive season in Europe for the past three years. This is an excellent chance for riders to test bikes and equipment before the beginning of the World Championship in Zolder, Belgium on April 2nd. (Think of it as the European U.S. Open of Supercross, or the Glen Helen prequel.)This year, beautiful weather and a huge crowd set the scene for the event, and made for a very exciting race.Stefan Everts took the big win in the premier class, and the nine-time World Champion creates a memorable record of victories here in Mantova (1994, 2004-2006) and even though this year's season will be the last for Stefan, he shown that he's still in perfect shape and that he's going to be somebody to watch out for one more time during the World Championship.Young Kevin Strijbos, another Belgian rider, got himself and his Suzuki an overall second place thanks to his 3-3-7 score for the event.It was also good to see Garcia Vico Javier, who's coming out of two horrible seasons on his Honda/Martin, getting himself an overall thrid place with a 9-4-2. The Spanish rider needed some motivation to keep his head up and this event certainly gave him some.French rider Sebastien Tortelli, on a works KTM, showed a consistant performance, but luck wasn't on his side and his race suffered from mechanical faults.During Moto 1, Everts took the lead, followed by Brian Jorgensen, Andrea Bartolini and Sebastien Tortelli. The French rider stepped up his pace and in the second lap managed to take the lead away from Everts but the the Belgian rider didn't give in. He stuck to Tortelli's rear wheel like a shadow, waiting for an opportunity to pass. But Tortelli was very careful and managed to maintain the lead to the finish of Moto 1. Everts came in second and Strijbos took third.In Moto 2, the first rider out front was once again Tortelli, followed closely by Everts who seemed very determined not to let Tortelli and his KTM get away. Behind them was Vico, following the Belgian and the Frenchman from a slight distance. Everts finally got nealry parallel to Tortelli, when his KTM engine suddenly lost power in a turn. Many attempts to re-light the bike were in vain; Tortelli decided to call the race off for himself.Everts took the win in Moto 2 followed by two Suzuki riders: Ramon and Strijbos. Vico got fourth.Moto 3 saw a collective first turn crash which involved Tortelli, Jorgensen, Guarnieri and among other riders. Unluckily for Tortelli, he had to withdraw from the race for the second time on the same day. Everts took another first followed by Vico and Ramon, who finished second and third, respectively.Italian KTM factory rider David Philippaerts, won the MX2 class overall with 6-12-4, his teammate, South African Tyla Rattray, taking the runner up position with an 8-9-5 for the day.Everts Said: "As you know I have decided to dispute my last season from professional and . For this I have trained very much. For three years I have won at Mantova and are then . Many do not that I will give up motocross in 2007, but I assure you, this is the last year."Tortelli Said: "I know I have the speed to fight with Stefan, so that is not a problem. In Moto 3 Jorgensen crashed and I didn't want to hit him, so I stopped immediately and my KTM stalled. I am pretty happy with some of the things this weekend in Mantova, and now I will begin with my training to prepare for the Grand Prix season starting."

| | Moto 1 1. S. Tortelli (KTM) 2. S. Everts (Yamaha) 3. K. Strijbos (Suzuki) 4. B. Jorgensen (Honda) 5. T. Leok (Kawasaki) 6. D. Philippaerts (KTM) 7. S. Sword (Kawasaki) 8. T. Rattray (KTM) 9. J. Garcia (Honda) 10. Goncalves (KTM) Moto 2 1. S. Everts (Yamaha) 2. S. Ramon (Suzuki) 3. K. Strijbos (Suzuki) 4. J. Garcia (Honda) 5. S. Sword (Kawasaki) 6. A. Salvini (Suzuki) 7. C. Beggi (Honda) 8. B. Jorgensen (Honda) 9. T. Rattray (KTM) 10. T. Leok (Kawasaki) Moto 3 1. S. Everts (Yamaha) 2. J. Garcia (Honda) 3. S. Ramon (Suzuki) 4. D. Philippaerts (KTM) 5. T. Rattray (KTM) 6. T. Leok (Kawasaki) 7. K. Strijbos (Suzuki) 8. A. Salvini (Suzuki) 9. A. Meo (Honda) 10. Verhoeven (Kaw)

Overall:

1. Stefan Everts (Yamaha )
2. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki)
3. Javier Garcia Vico (Honda)
4. Steve Ramon (Suzuki)
5. Tanel Leok (Kawasaki)
6. Alex Salvini (Suzuki)
7. Steven Sword (Kawasaki)
8. Brian Jorgensen (Honda)
9. Chris Beggi (Honda)
10. Correia (Suzuki)