EVERTS CONQUERS ''THE CITADEL''
08 August 2004 - Yamaha Racing

The unique citadel circuit of Namur played host to round 13 of the world motocross championship this weekend and once again Stefan Everts (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) took the overall win.

Everts earned his 78th career victory after topping the opening race and finishing third in the second race. Joshua Coppins (Honda) took second overall in front of Michaël Pichon (Honda) who won race two. Yamaha L&M Motocross Team rider Cédric Melotte made his comeback at Namur, but back pain in the first race forced him to retire. Young father Everts now leads the MX1 World Championship with 579 points, Pichon is second with 479 points.

In race one it was Steve Ramon (KTM) who briefly lead the pack, closely followed by Everts in second, Michaël Pichon in third and Josh Coppins (Honda) in fourth. Everts wasted no time and pushed into the lead by lap two and set a pace that the rest of the field were unable to match. Pichon maintained his speed and pushed up to second place by lap two, but crashed three laps later, relegating himself to seventh. Josh Coppins and Steve Ramon made the most of the Frenchman’s error and pushed up into second and third places which they held onto until the chequered flag, whilst Michaël finished in fourth.

Although Everts’ team-mate Cédric Melotte (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) tried to compete at Namur he retired from race one, on lap six whilst holding onto 11th place. Melotte was suffering from extreme back pain from an injury sustained earlier in the year. MX1 wildcard rider Billy Mackenzie (Yamaha UK Race Team) rode hard to claim a credible tenth.

Pichon took the early lead in race two, but Everts powered his YZ450FM past Pichon in the wooded section and headed the pack around most of lap one. Stefan though made a rare mistake on lap two. Pichon (Honda), Strijbos (Suzuki), and Coppins (Honda) monopolised on his momentary crash and surged by. Pichon and Coppins pushed really hard on the following laps but Everts was able to climb back up from seventh to come home third. Belgian duo Danny Theybers (Van Beers Yamaha) and Marnicq Bervoets (Team Yamaha Evolution) enjoyed strong finishes in race two taking respectively seventh and eighth.

The 14th round of the championship takes place at Gaildorf, Germany in three weeks.

Stefan Everts (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) – overall winner
“With the birth of my son Liam on Friday and my win here at Namur I think it’s the most emotional and perfect weekend of my whole life. I was very aggressive on both motos, especially at the beginning stages of the race – an ingredient that I lacked last weekend in the Czech Republic, but it workedoutfineformehere.ItwasapitythatIcrashedinthesecondraceandafterthatitwasverytough.SteveRamonwaspushingreallyhardandIknewthatIneededtofinishinthirdtowintheGPoverall.WhenhepassedmethoughhecrashedveryhardbutIknewhewasOKandIwentontotakethirdplaceandtheoverallwin.I’m very happy.”

Cédric Melotte (Yamaha L&M Motocross Team) – dnf
“I knew that I was only 60% fit before the start of the races this weekend and although I tried hard to compete in race one, after 10 minutes into the race the pain in my back was so bad that I had to retire. I will rest some more now and try to be back to race fitness as soon as possible.”

Billy Mackenzie (Yamaha UK Race Team)–19th
“I was really happy with my first race result. Tenth place in the MX1 class is pretty good especially considering the amount of time I’ve had off the bike with injuries. I was really upset with myself though in the second race and I made a silly mistake and stalled the bike. This put me out of the race and I lost my rhythm and struggled to get back up to my full speed.”


Race classification MX1

Round: 13 - Grand Prix of Wallonie
Circuit: Namur
Circuit Length: 2477
Lap Record: 2'' 38.855 (Mickael Pichon, 2004)

Race: 15 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL 41'' 5.972
2 J. Coppins Honda NZL +7.122
3 S. Ramon KTM BEL +24.489
4 M. Pichon Honda FRA +59.964
5 K. De Dijcker Honda BEL +1'' 2.616
6 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +1'' 3.648
7 J. Bill KTM CHE +1'' 27.567
8 Y. Atsuta Honda JPN +1'' 28.309
9 L. Seguy Yamaha FRA +1'' 42.415
10 B. Mackenzie Yamaha GBR +1'' 54.621
11 T. Leok Suzuki EST +1'' 58.170
12 J. Dobes Suzuki CZE +2'' 0.621
13 C. Burnham KTM GBR +2'' 3.086
14 M. Kovalainen Honda FIN +2'' 7.471
15 F. Dini KTM ITA +2'' 9.541
16 A. Pyrhonen Suzuki FIN +2'' 10.605
17 L. Freibergs Honda LVA +2'' 11.488
18 E. Oddenino TM ITA +2'' 21.941
19 CF. Godrie Honda BEL +2'' 23.357
20 J. Noble Honda GBR +2'' 24.719

Race 2: 15 Laps
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 M. Pichon Honda FRA 40'' 59.763
2 J. Coppins Honda NZL +19.017
3 S. Everts Yamaha BEL +31.729
4 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +57.700
5 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +1'' 14.249
6 T. Leok Suzuki EST +1'' 40.014
7 D. Theybers Yamaha BEL +1'' 46.482
8 M. Bervoets Yamaha BEL +1'' 54.387
9 J. Dobes Suzuki CZE +1'' 57.667
10 Y. Atsuta Honda JPN +2'' 2.496
11 J. Noble Honda GBR +2'' 5.241
12 M. Kovalainen Honda FIN +2'' 6.807
13 L. Freibergs Honda LVA +2'' 9.489
14 F. Dini KTM ITA +2'' 20.047
15 M. Jones KTM GBR +2'' 45.490
16 S. Breugelmans KTM BEL +2'' 55.151
17 A. Pyrhonen Suzuki FIN +1 lap(s)
18 F. Izoird Suzuki FRA +1 lap(s)
19 A. Meo Kawasaki FRA +1 lap(s)
20 J. Bill KTM CHE +1 lap(s)

Fastest Race Lap:
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time
1 M. Pichon Honda FRA 2'' 38.855

Championship standings MX1
Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Points
1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 572
2 Mickael Pichon Honda FRA 479
3 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 441
4 Steve Ramon KTM BEL 394
5 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 360
6 Tanel Leok Suzuki EST 298
7 Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 294
8 Cédric Melotte Yamaha BEL 291
9 Ken De Dijcker Honda BEL 211
10 Yoshitaka Atsuta Honda JPN 181
11 Luigi Seguy Yamaha FRA 178
12 Joel Smets Suzuki BEL 175
13 Christian Burnham KTM GBR 175
14 Lauris Freibergs Honda LVA 157
15 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 139
16 Kenneth Gundersen KTM NOR 133
17 James Noble Honda GBR 128
18 Marnicq Bervoets Yamaha BEL 119
19 Javier Garcia Vico Aprilia ESP 111
20 Danny Theybers Yamaha BEL 111


Manufacturers standings MX1
Pos. Manufacturer Points
1 Yamaha 303
2 Honda 292
3 Suzuki 228
4 KTM 217
5 TM 25
6 Kawasaki 10

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