2006 Portugal FIM MX World Championships Race Results - Dirt Rider Magazine

The 3rd round of the FIM MX World Championship took place in Agueda, Pourtugal, about 60 miles south of the city of Porto. More than 15,000 spectators followed the race, which followed a night of heavy rainfall that caused the first free practice session to be cancelled to preserve the track.MX1 Highlights
Having won the last three consecutive GP events, Stefan Everts is up to 90 wins thus far in his career, and will probably top 100 by the end of the season. To understand the magnitude of this event, one must step back in time to view his career and riding style in context.As a young rider, growing up under the shadow of his father Harry, also a world champion, he was talented at all costs, if only to demonstrate his worth.Despite having won nine world championships, Everts has never thrilled crowds with spectacular and aggressive riding. Instead, the Yamaha-Rinaldi rider is respected and admired by European motocross fans for his clean and successful riding, always standing on his foot pegs without uncertainty, and his clean entries and exits out of turns.The Belgian rider, in this Portuguese GP, has written another chapter of the endless motocross history all by himself. The predictable "number 72" discarded his usual style of riding in this event for a few frenzied laps in a quests for victory and one step closer to his tenth title. It was recently announced that this is the last season for the 33-year-old Belgian rider.The change in Everts' riding style was clear in two of the four event highlights. First, he reacted with two splendid block passes worthy of a supercross racer in the passing of Sebastien Tortelli. In an attempt to retake the lead, Sebastien Tortelli fell off his factory KTM a second time during the second heat and connected with the ground in a bad way. He was taken away and hospitalized with a suspected dislocated hip. A dislocated hip can mean anything from three weeks to two months; it appears his title chase is over. The destiny of this championship was all here and it saw Tortelli getting a second position in the first heat even though he fell.MX1 Moto1
As the gate came down Tortelli had a good start, but Everts soon overtook him, followed by Steve Ramon and Tanel Leok on their works Suzuki and Kawasaki.Straight away, the competition between Everts and Tortelli is heated as Everts' every move is shadowed by Tortelli, who takes seemingly impossible lines in an attempt to pass. The French rider succeeds in the 10th lap, and tries to put some distance between himself and Everts, but Stefan retakes the lead with a beautiful block pass.Tortelli tries once again to catch the Yamaha of Everts, back but he unfortunately falls in the last lap after an up-hill jump and he has to settle for a second-place finish. Everts crossed the finishing line victorious to prove once again he's the undisputed king of the GP.Ken De Dycker's performance is worth mentioning: the Belgian rider in fact set off sixth and managed to get up to the third position. Thanks to him, the CAS Honda Team is temporarily not worried about the absence of Joshua Coppins, who is unable to ride because of a sprained shoulder. The rider from New Zealand is definitely one to look out for and a contender to the title.The fourth place went to the young Belgian Kevin Strijbos, on his Suzuki, possibly because of serious shoulder pains that affected the Estonian Tanel Leok's performance. The Estonian started off fourth but ended the event in sixth position with Jonathan Barragan and his KTM ahead of him.MX1 Moto2
It's another holeshot for Tortelli in this second Moto and another determined and aggressive rush by Everts who doesn't wait for the end of the first lap to overtake his opponent. Tortelli tries to react, but due to this desperate attempt he's victim to a fall and dislocates his right hip. From now on Everts' lead is no more in danger; in fact the Yamaha rider will cross the finishing line in first position once again. It'll only happen at the end of the race that Everts will say he stopped concentrating for a few laps after he noticed Tortelli had fallen off his bike.On the KTM front, unfortunately for the team, Tortelli is now out from the competition with a serious injury, and Mickael Pichon is suffering from problems of his own, and so the only relief they had Sunday came from the Spanish Jonathan Barragan ( who's developing the new KTM 2007.) He got a second place in this Moto and a fifth position in the previous one.The young pupil who trained in "father Harry Everts" motocross school got an overall second.Kevin Strijbos started off fourth and gained a third place, which he kept for the whole race; a bittersweet day for Suzuki who witnessed their other rider Steve Ramon falling in a bad way.Everts with a strong lead of 142 points is followed by Leok with 115 and in spite of everythingTortelli is third with 99 points.Stefan Everts:
"It has been a hard day for me, especially with that first Moto. I was in the lead but Sebastien was there the whole race and pushing me. I had to ride defensively because I know he is very aggressive and could try anything. The moment he passed me, I got him back going up the hill and I think that was an important move that decided the rest of the race. In the second Moto I was very aggressive on the first lap and could pass Sebastien in the same place. I tried to pull away, but the moment I saw him on the ground I lost my concentration and couldn't really find my rhythm or pace. Jonathan followed me hard and I know he is very fit. It was another tough race but I am happy with this double victory."Jonathan Barragan:
"I was close to the top three at Bellpuig but I am so happy to finally take my first podium. My start was not very good in the first Moto but my speed and riding was strong, and 5th position was a good result. In the second race I was quickly into second behind Stefan and I was watching his lines. Behind me Strijbos was pushing hard but I was also going for it because I could see that podium. We are working hard with the new bike and it is going very well at the moment."Kevin Strijbos:
"I am happy with the result because I did not start well in the first Moto and it was hard to pass people. Finally I was fourth and this was not too bad for the overall result. I was not riding so hard at the end because I wanted to save some energy. Everything went well in the second heat. Some riders crashed and that helped my position. I was riding pretty good, it was not my best race but I am pleased with this first podium of the year."MX1 MOTO 1
1 S. Everts Yamaha
2 S. Tortelli KTM
3 K. De Dycker Honda
4 K. Strijbos Suzuki
5 J. Barragan KTM
6 T. Leok Kawasaki
7 S. Ramon Suzuki
8 J. Noble Honda
9 C. Melotte Yamaha
10 S. Sword Kawasaki
MX1 MOTO 2
1 S. Everts Yamaha
2 J. Barragan KTM
3 K. Strijbos Suzuki
4 T. Leok Kawasaki
5 K. De Dycker Honda
6 M. Priem Yamaha
7 J. Bill Yamaha
8 P. Leuret Honda
9 W. Avis KTM
10 A. Pyrhonen TM
After 3 round of 15
1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 142
2 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 115
3 Sebastien Tortelli KTM FRA 99
4 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 98
5 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 97
6 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 97
7 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 83
8 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 66
9 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 65
10 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 53
MX2
It's another victory for Tyla Rattray; the South African KTM rider who has solidified his leadership position after three consecutive victories, just like Everts in MX1.It must be said that the 17 year old Cristophe Pourcel turned out to be the real surprise of this class: he's got great ambitions and like most of the French riders he has the dream of racing in America, and this dream is probably going to come true next year. The Kawasaki rider gained two fantastic 2nd places which got him an absolute second with 108 points alongside the KTM Dutch rider Marc DeReuver. DeReuver had a slightly hectic day with a fourth place in the first heat, and a fifth in the second after an exhausting recovery caused by physical contact with another rider on the starting line.Antonio Cairoli, the Italian rider who last year won the championship, won the first Moto with what looked like a lot of determination, but unfortunately he fell right at the beginning of the second Moto, and thus had to start over from the very last position. After a big recovery he managed to take his Yamaha De Carli to the 10th place.Alessio Chiodi: former three times world champion was with fifth overall.The rider of the team Yamaha Ricci passed the chequered flag in eighth, after finally managing to get the better of Rui Goncalves and Searle.Chiodi had a bad start that placed him mid-pack on the opening lap. Later in the day he made a better launch from the line and rode safely to third.Tyla Rattray:
"Winning three in a row has given me a lot of confidence and I feel good at the moment. It is still a long season and with a lot of races to run but I am looking forward to racing the whole series. Last season I was injured and only did a few rounds, so hopefully I can stay injury free and keep on winning some races."Christophe Pourcel :
" I don't know what happened before the first race, I had stomach troubles and vomited twice on the grid, I couldn't do the sighting lap. I had a good start, but due to my troubles I felt a little bit tired after thirty minutes. In the last lap I tried to pass Cairoli, but I did a small mistake and finally secured my second position behind the World Champion, it was not so bad. In the second race I got another good start behind Gonalves, I lost time behind him at the beginning but I knew that he wouldn't keep the same rhythm. I passed him in the ninth lap, and I'm sure that without my physical problem I would have won the heat. Twice second is anyway a good result for me".Antonio Cairoli:
"The first race was good for me but I am not happy about the second because of the crash at the start. I pushed so hard to close the gap to the other riders and take positions but this track was not an easy one for overtaking. I finished tenth which was OK but it was not a good day for me. Race after race we are getting better and faster. I want to fight with Tyla and he is a very fast rider. We need to be stronger at the start because I showed that I have the speed."MX2 MOTO 1
1 A. Cairoli Yamaha
2 C. Pourcel Kawasaki
3 T. Rattray KTM
4 M. De Reuver KTM
5 C. Nunn KTM GBR
6 D. Philippaerts KTM
7 B. MacKenzie Yamaha
8 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA
9 R. Goncalves KTM POR
10 T. Searle Kawasaki GBR
MX2 MOTO 2
1 T. Rattray KTM
2 C. Pourcel Kawasaki
3 A. Chiodi Yamaha
4 P. Caps Honda
5 M. De Reuver KTM
6 B. MacKenzie Yamaha
7 T. Searle Kawasaki
8 C. Nunn KTM
9 G. Swanepoel Kawasaki
10 A. Cairoli Yamaha
After 3 round of 15
1 Tyla Rattray KTM RSA 128
2 Marc De Reuver KTM NED 108
3 Christophe Pourcel Kawasaki FRA 108
4 Antonio Cairoli Yamaha ITA 89
5 Alessio Chiodi Yamaha ITA 81
6 Carl Nunn KTM GBR 76
7 David Philippaerts KTM ITA 74
8 Billy MacKenzie Yamaha GBR 74
9 Kenneth Gundersen Yamaha SWE 73
10 Tommy Searle Kawasaki GBR 57