Everts closes gap on title leads

Stefan Everts wins in both the 125cc and Motocross GP races at Uddevalla in Sweden on Sunday mean he is now closing on both titles.

The Yamaha rider is the most successful motocross rider of all time, and he underlined the fact with his second successive double.

The Belgian hole-shotted the MX GP race to lead into the first corner, and held that position until the end of the race. Mickael Pichon dropped from second to third after stalling his Suzuki, allowing Joel Smets to take second. British rider Gordon Crockard took fourth, with Everts’ team-mate Marnicq Bervoets in fifth.

” When I was 25 points down people were writing me off, but it’s now down to three points, ” said Everts. ” I want five more GP wins to secure the title. ”

In the 125cc race, Everts took three laps to pass fast-starter Andrea Bartolini. One lap later the Italian crashed dropping him to seventh. As Everts pulled clear, the race became a battle for second between KTM team mates Steve Ramon and Mac De Reuver. Ramon appeared to have claimed the position right until the final lap, when De Reuver managed to barge his way on to the second spot.

” It was no problem to make a clean pass on Andrea for the lead but as he is Yamaha’s candidate for the title I won’t do anything to interfere with his race. I hoped he might be able to follow my lines and pull away with me, but he fell after a few laps, ” said Everts.

Everts’ win in the MX GP race moves him just three points behind championship leader Pichon and in the 125cc championship he lies in sixth, 35 points behind leader Steve Ramon.

Yamaha recently announced the Belgian will remain with the factory team for a fourth season next year.

The 650cc GP was won by Joel Smets, taking his seventh consecutive win for the KTM team.

The next race is Namur in Belgium in two weeks, and it promises to be the highlight of the MX GP calendar. With Everts, Smets and Bervoets all hoping for victories at their home round, we’ll be keeping you up-to-date with all the news from the series.

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