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Once we found our way through the gates with some press passes and a guest pass we were all set. The sound of 4 strokes kept us awake. The GP track of Neeroeteren was treated with some challenging changes. Although the GP was taking place in Belgium, the track had a very rocky hard pack surface instead of deep sand. Loads of jumps were added to the track and the last part of the track looked more like a supercross section than that of a European outdoor track. The rhythm section claimed a few victims but those riders with skills were loving it. The crowd had a great overview from the top and it was a lot safer to watch from there than to line up on the fence as the stone spray would get you sooner or later. Michael Pichon (Honda) scored another pole position during Saturday's time qualifying. His 8th pole of the season: "I was a little bit tight before the qualifying session, as with the fastest lap in both free practice session everyone was expecting me to take the pole position. I crashed in my first lap, then put a 2.09 but Strijbos and then Everts improved it. I knew that I could go faster as I did a couple of mistakes, and I did it. It's a difficult track to remind, there's plenty of places where you can win or lose time! But I like this track pretty much, except the ground as there's stones and rocks; it's a funny track, there are many jumps, it's bumpy and technical so it's nice for the riders and the crowd" The MX2 class was divided in two qualifying heat races again. Championship leader Ben Townley (KTM) rode his red #30 plate to a victory in qualifying heat one and championship runner up Stephen Sword (Kawasaki) won heat number 2 showing they were both ready for Sunday's race. Meanwhile on Saturday the Alessi's were seen at the venue. Word on the street was that they tested some European bikes earlier that week and checked out the GP racing that weekend. Also on Saturday the 2005 Yamaha bikes were presented by Andrew McFarlane, Alessio Chiodi, Cedric Melotte and Stefan Everts. It's June 2004 and the 05 bikes are already done. The 125cc two-stroke class sees the arrival of the lightest and fastest YZ125 ever to leave Yamaha's factory gates. With an all-new compact six-speed engine and an equally-new aluminum frame it tips the scale at just 86kg. The new engine architecture boasts among others a new cylinder head and piston, revised port shape and timing and a close-ratio sixspeed transmission replaces last season's five-speeder. For the first time in its illustrious history the YZ250 is equipped with an ultra-light frame manufactured from aluminum tubing and featuring a semidouble cradle layout that is similar to its predecessor. The main advantage of this new aluminum chassis is that it offers a significant weight reduction to make the YZ250 one of the sharpest-handling bikes in its class. The YZ250's have a 66.4 x 72mm long-stroke YPVS engine. In the paddock the Suzuki-Kurz set up had some cool historical Suzuki bikes on display. They were full factory back then but no competition for any stock bike nowadays. Before we made our drive back to Germany Glen Dempsey introduced Ben Townley to us. Ben was pleased to meet "Cycling McGoo" as he had heard plenty of stories of McGoo. It was a pleasure for McGoo to meet the Kiwi in return. McGoo quickly took the sleeping spot in the back of the van for the drive back. After downloading the MX pics at the hotel we made it back in time for pro-dirt (Paul and I at least). Tired from the early morning, driving and wandering around the MX track all day I wanted to go to bed soon after dirt. It didn't turn out that way. Holland played Sweden for the European Championships. Holland won and that needed to be celebrated. The red MX wristband then gave me free access to the PowPow party, and also free drinks (must have been the VIP color that night). With the camera still in the hip sack from the dirt contest I took on my task as FAT Paparazzi for the rest of the night (good stuff). After downloading those in my computer it was 05:00am. And you say we have it easy. BdJ Here's the race report that I came up with for Transworld Motocross with the help of several press releases. MX2 With sunny conditions and 23 degree (Celsius) temperature the GP started off with the MX2 class on Sunday. Italian Youngster Antonio Cairoli claimed another holeshot. Cairoli led the race for two laps before MX2 championship leader Ben Townley took over first place. Andrew McFarlane had a strong start but was forced to pull out after he touched bikes with Townley and his front wheel got damaged. The technical section right before start-finish proved to be one of the most challenging parts of the tight track. Cairoli and Sword were just two of many riders who crashed in the whoops. Tyla Rattray is keeping it real on the 125 two-stroke and finished 2nd behind his Champ-KTM teammate who won the race. Sebastien Pourcel and American veteran Jeff Dement (Honda) were the surprise of the day with a 3rd and 4th place respectively. The battle in heat two between the MX2 stars from down under, Andrew McFarlane and Ben Townley was only short-lived. Townley was sidelined after technical problems, but Yamaha UK Race Team rider McFarlane did not get an easy win. 2002 world champ Michael Maschio (Kawasaki) capitalized on a mistake from Andrew to take the lead. In the very last lap McFarlane made a huge comeback effort and this time Maschio made the mistake under pressure. Jeff Dement (Honda) again finished well in 3rd and Rattray's 4th in heat 2 was enough for his second GP win this season. Race classification MX2 Round: 10 - Grand Prix of Belgium Circuit: Neeroeteren Race: 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 B. Townley KTM NZL 41' 30.607 2 T. Rattray KTM RSA +8.318 3 S. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +13.119 4 J. Dement Honda USA +14.587 5 M. Maschio Kawasaki FRA +24.710 6 P. Caps Yamaha BEL +32.635 7 A. Leok KTM EST +40.264 8 C. Stevanini Honda ITA +42.357 9 J. Dobb Honda GBR +43.905 10 C. Nunn Honda GBR +46.846 11 M. Van Daele Suzuki BEL +53.304 12 D. Philippaerts KTM ITA +1' 0.296 13 M. Nagl KTM GER +1' 4.235 14 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +1' 7.497 15 A. Boissiere Yamaha FRA +1' 8.845 16 M. Seistola Honda FIN +1' 12.722 17 R. Goncalves Yamaha POR +1' 12.952 18 M. Priem Suzuki BEL +1' 37.057 19 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +1' 47.116 20 T. Church Kawasaki GBR +6 lap(s) Race 2: 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 A. McFarlane Yamaha AUS 41' 52.197 2 M. Maschio Kawasaki FRA +4.052 3 J. Dement Honda USA +12.758 4 T. Rattray KTM RSA +26.469 5 P. Caps Yamaha BEL +32.233 6 S. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +48.350 7 A. Cairoli Yamaha ITA +51.344 8 M. Priem Suzuki BEL +53.204 9 M. Van Daele Suzuki BEL +55.246 10 R. Goncalves Yamaha POR +1' 1.639 11 A. Chiodi Yamaha ITA +1' 3.285 12 M. Seistola Honda FIN +1' 4.957 13 M. Monni Yamaha ITA +1' 6.406 14 J. Barragan KTM ESP +1' 7.421 15 A. Boissiere Yamaha FRA +1' 8.369 16 M. Nagl KTM GER +1' 9.972 17 C. Pourcel Kawasaki FRA +1' 15.481 18 C. Stevanini Honda ITA +1' 20.035 19 C. Nunn Honda GBR +1' 20.151 20 G. Swanepoel KTM RSA +1' 32.313 MX1 Denmark's Brian Jorgensen (Honda) just beat Josh Coppins (Honda) for the holeshot, but the main attraction of the race was of course #72 of home rider Stefan Everts (Yamaha). The seven-time world champion swiftly moved into second behind France's Pichon (Honda) early on. However, hopes for another win of the crowd favourite faded when Stefan crashed on one of the steep downhills. Everts explained: "I stalled the engine on a downhill, the rear wheel dropped and flicked me off. I hit my head on the ground and I was a little dizzy afterwards." At the track where he won the Belgian Championship round earlier this year, Cédric Melotte made an impressive comeback from seventh after the opening lap to third by half race distance. The 25-year old rider missed his timing in the whoops, crashed unfortunately and dislocated his hip. The Tiscali-Honda team were enjoying the first and second place finishes of their riders Pichon and Jorgensen. Kevin Strijbos (Suzuki) secured the third spot, Coppins and Ramon (KTM) took fourth and fifth. Heat 2: Teenager Kevin Strijbos enjoyed the holeshot honors, but Stefan Everts was more than keen on turning things around for the second race. The living legend guided his YZ450FM skillfully around with Pichon breathing down his neck. The French star was putting the pressure on Everts but could not narrow the gap enough to plan a pass. "Yes, Michael surely was there,' smiled Everts, but I knew that I could better him. Three consecutive very fast laps near the end broke his resistance." Ramon came home third, Coppins was fourth, #24 Strijbos in 5th and the likeable Seguy was a strong sixth. Michael Pichon was the winner of the GP of Belgium. Not bad beating the Belgians on home turf although a technical hard pack track is more in the favor for the Frenchman than his Belgian competition who like the deep sand. Stefan Everts took the runner-up position at the Belgian Grand Prix in Neeroeteren, the area where he grew up. Everts finished sixth in race one and topped the class in race two. Steve Ramon placed third overall (5-3). Stefan Everts now enjoys a 102-point lead over second place Michael Pichon and Josh Coppins is third. The eleventh round of the Motocross World Championship takes place at Uddevalla, Sweden next week. Race classification MX1 Round: 10 - Grand Prix of Belgium Circuit: Neeroeteren Race: 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 M. Pichon Honda FRA 41' 8.606 2 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +6.908 3 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +8.951 4 J. Coppins Honda NZL +13.460 5 S. Ramon KTM BEL +14.673 6 S. Everts Yamaha BEL +16.365 7 T. Leok Suzuki EST +42.091 8 L. Seguy Yamaha FRA +51.539 9 S. Breugelmans KTM BEL +59.062 10 L. Freibergs Honda LVA +1' 12.185 11 C. Burnham KTM GBR +1' 27.607 12 M. Kovalainen Honda FIN +1' 30.853 13 M. Hucklebridge KTM GBR +1' 34.787 14 J. Bill KTM CHE +1' 35.822 15 J. Dobes Suzuki CZE +1' 42.877 16 D. Theybers Yamaha BEL +2' 0.621 17 F. Dini KTM ITA +2' 11.369 18 E. Oddenino TM ITA +2' 25.374 19 J. Noble Honda GBR +1 lap(s) 20 CF. Godrie Honda BEL +1 lap(s) Race 2: 18 Laps Pos. Rider Manufacturer Nat. Total Time 1 S. Everts Yamaha BEL 40' 45.185 2 M. Pichon Honda FRA +4.331 3 S. Ramon KTM BEL +21.405 4 J. Coppins Honda NZL +31.787 5 K. Strijbos Suzuki BEL +42.923 6 L. Seguy Yamaha FRA +51.208 7 T. Leok Suzuki EST +1' 6.475 8 B. Jorgensen Honda DNK +1' 18.733 9 K. De Dijcker Honda BEL +1' 22.741 10 J. Bill KTM CHE +1' 26.374 11 J. Noble Honda GBR +1' 33.737 12 J. Dobes Suzuki CZE +1' 37.974 13 S. Breugelmans KTM BEL +1' 40.015 14 L. Freibergs Honda LVA +1' 41.726 15 C. Burnham KTM GBR +2' 10.877 16 D. Theybers Yamaha BEL +2' 19.641 17 F. Dini KTM ITA +2' 23.840 18 M. Kovalainen Honda FIN +1 lap(s) 19 CF. Godrie Honda BEL +1 lap(s) 20 Y. Atsuta Honda JPN +1 lap(s) BdJ