ANOTHER POINT FOR EVERTS
30 July 2006 - Yamaha Racing

Yamaha Intur Sports rider Stefan Everts won his eleventh event in succession at a hot and humid Loket circuit to own the Grand Prix of Czech Republic today.

The reigning MX1 World Champion now needs to score just one point more than his nearest rival at the Belgian round next weekend at Namur, his favourite circuit, to claim a record tenth title.

Everts triumphed in both Czech motos in front of 23,000 spectators and has now reached a total of 19 consecutive heat victories with the YZ 450 FM as well as a career tally of 98 overall Grand Prix wins; a phenomenal amount.

The hillside circuit located 110km west of Prague had been slightly altered over 2005 with a new pit-lane setting giving the riders more time to see their pit-boards and a tight set of corners behind the technical area. The terrain was loose and littered with small stones that made the mud slippery in places and the layout tended to favour sheer speed over technical ability.

Everts was denied his fifth consecutive pole position by just two hundreds of a second by Kevin Strijbos but it mattered little as the Belgian made a decent jump out of the gained and was just pipped to the holeshot by Josh Coppins. By the end of the first lap Everts had placed his YZ 450FM ahead of the pack and proceeded to show the CAS Honda rider the fastest route around the steep course. For two thirds of the duration the pair were not separated by more than two seconds but approaching the final ten minutes Everts broke his opponent''s resistance and claimed his eighteenth moto in succession.

The second race was a more curious affair as a bump on the first turn meant the 33 year old had to chip away at a lead held first by Jonathan Barragan and then Kevin Strijbos. As in previous Grand Prix this year Everts soon hit the front and was able to remain aloof for further domination.

Cedric Melotte was struck by more bad luck with a stone. After partially swallowing a pebble in South Africa the Belgian this time had a rock enter his boot and press against his shin. He had to pit and unfasten the boot while holding sixth and dropped down to sixteenth. Melotte had made some changes to the YZ''s engine to suit the swirling track and got into his stride late in the second moto after a bright start to capture eighth and take eleventh overall.

Round twelve of fifteen will occur in just seven days time at the ''Enduro-esque'' and special setting of Namur. With a 149 point lead and just 200 left to win Everts needs to leave his home race with just one point more than Kevin Strijbos to be Champion for the tenth time and the sixth successive occasion in a row with Yamaha since 2001 in 500cc, MXGP and MX1 categories. He will also remain the sole winner of the MX1 class since the series'' inception in 2004.

Stefan Everts, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:
''It has been a hard GP for me. The track was not that difficult in the layout and you could see that by how fast everyone was going. The next few tracks will be more technical and better for me. Josh was riding well in that first moto. There were a few places on the track where I did not have such good lines and he was closing the gap but it is hard to know the full situation when you are in front. In the end I figured out a few places where I could improve and I think he must have made a mistake but it was quite easy to win that moto finally. My start wasn''t that good in the second race and for a few laps I was in third position with Jonathan and Kevin having a small lead. I had to try hard to pass them both and it was tough, but it was also nice not having to always be working from first position. The new section around the back of the pits was very difficult and it was a place where you could make or lose some ground.

That is eleven races in a row now but I am not trying to focus on records and take each weekend as it comes. It is the chance of a lifetime to become Champion at the Citadelle; it is something that I never dared to dream of and now it might come true. I have been working hard throughout my career for a moment like that and I have many people to thank so that I am in a position like this.''

Cédric Melotte, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:
''The weekend was not so bad. I had a good qualification yesterday and we changed a few small things on the bike. I felt much better, and when my wrist is in good condition I can suggest more things to the team to improve the overall package for me. I was happy with the seventh best time. In the first moto I made a good start and kept the rhythm of the leaders for twenty minutes but then I had to let Ken and Strijbos go. I then could not believe it when a stone got in between my brace and my boot. It pushed hard against my shin. I gritted my teeth for ten minutes but I could not go on any longer and had to pull into the pits to get it sorted. In the second race I slid a bit wide on the first corner otherwise I would have had the holeshot but in the first few laps I struggled to find my pace and was hitting some bad lines. After 15 minutes things got better and easier but I felt tired towards the end. I am happy about this weekend. I have not had much luck this season but I am keeping motivated and that is encouraging.''

Carlo Rinaldi, Racing Manager, Yamaha Intur Sports Motocross Team:
''It was perfect this weekend even though the win was far from easy this time. In the first moto Stefan made a good start and took the lead but Coppins was right there and pushed so hard for the whole moto, so Stefan had to do his best to keep Josh behind him. In the second heat he had a collision in the first corner and had to come through; that time it was Strijbos who was the quickest. This was the 98th win and it is just amazing. We made some small tweaks to the engine so it would suit Cédric''s riding style better. The track was tricky because it was slippery so he had a different characteristic on the power to help him with that.''

Circuit Length: 1630
Temp: 27
Crowd: 23000
Weather: Humid


2006 GP Loket, Czech Republic 30/07/2006
Race 1 - 21 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 40''8.345
2 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0''4.521
3 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0''15.160
4 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0''24.355
5 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0''34.034
6 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0''38.930
7 James Noble Honda GBR 0''46.271
8 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 1''5.258
9 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 1''11.872
10 Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 1''18.916
11 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 1''24.088
12 Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 1''28.349
13 Alex Salvini Suzuki ITA 1''29.152
14 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1''30.160
15 Lauris Freibergs Suzuki LVA 1''33.605
16 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 1''34.833
17 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1''45.452
18 Bas Verhoeven Kawasaki NED 1''47.520
19 Aaron Bernandez Honda ESP -1 Laps
20 Gordon Crockard Honda GBR -1 Laps

Race 2 - 21 Laps
Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
1 Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 40''35.004
2 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0''5.770
3 Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 0''15.616
4 Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 0''25.449
5 Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 0''35.807
6 Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 0''39.903
7 Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 0''45.960
8 Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 0''55.615
9 Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 0''58.644
10 Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 1''3.424
11 Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 1''9.872
12 James Noble Honda GBR 1''11.729
13 Kornel Nemeth Suzuki HUN 1''17.070
14 Alex Salvini Suzuki ITA 1''45.936
15 Marko Kovalainen Honda FIN 1''54.677
16 Aaron Bernandez Honda ESP -1 Laps
17 Pascal Leuret Honda FRA -1 Laps
18 Aigar Bobkovs Honda LVA -1 Laps
19 Cyril Coulon Suzuki FRA -1 Laps
20 Lauris Freibergs Suzuki LVA -1 Laps

Best Lap
Rider Manu. Nat. Total Time
Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 1''51.735

Rider Standings 30/07/2006

Pos. Rider Manu. Nat. Points
1. Stefan Everts Yamaha BEL 542
2. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 393
3. Steve Ramon Suzuki BEL 368
4. Tanel Leok Kawasaki EST 355
5. Ken De Dycker Honda BEL 353
6. Jonathan Barragan KTM ESP 273
7. Pascal Leuret Honda FRA 202
8. Cedric Melotte Yamaha BEL 190
9. Manuel Priem Yamaha BEL 189
10. Javier Garcia Vico Honda ESP 172
11. Julien Bill Yamaha GBR 167
12. James Noble Honda GBR 161
13. Joshua Coppins Honda NZL 158
14. Brian Jorgensen Honda DNK 131
15. Antti Pyrhonen TM FIN 128
16. Marvin Van Daele Honda BEL 127
17. Gordon Crockard Honda GBR 117
18. Sebastien Tortelli KTM FRA 99
19. Wyatt Avis KTM RSA 84
20. Danny Theybers Suzuki BEL 84

Manufacturer Standings 30/07/2006

Pos. Manufacturer Points
1. Yamaha 542
2. Suzuki 449
3. Honda 403
4. Kawasaki 359
5. KTM 329
6. TM 128

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