Fresh from last weekend’s Grand Prix of Spain, the teams and riders of the 2005 FIM Motocross World Championship have headed straight to Portugal for this weekend’s third round of the season, at Agueda.
Runner-up at the first two MX1 GPs, Mickael Pichon will nevertheless start the event with the red plate (for leading the world championship) on his Honda, marking the first time the Frenchman has led the title chase in over fifteen months.
And Pichon will be wearing the plate at on one of his favourite tracks; the former world champion won the 250cc GP in 2000 and also took victory last season.
"For sure I’m happy to lead the championship, but the season is really long and that means nothing at the moment. I just expect this weekend to have less problems with my arms, we’ve worked and tested this week with the team to set up the suspensions," said Pichon who just leads Joel Smets by four points.
Smets, now 36 years old, surprised many contenders in the first two GPs, claiming two motos wins to put his factory Suzuki in title contention.
"Everyone bet on Stefan and Mickael, and for sure both are really strong and competitive. But I’m always convinced that I can claim another world title, and at the moment I’m more than happy with my results," said Joel.
Third in the standings after a difficult GP of Spain, Stefan Everts has spent a few days at his Monaco home to prepare for this weekends event.
"Last weekend Stefan crashed twice, more than during the previous season. That’s really unusual," said his team manager Michele Rinaldi. The reigning world champion didn’t train this week due to rib and thumb injuries sustained in those falls, but is still optimistic for the weekend.
And while Stefan, Joel and Mickael were happy to welcome Ben Townley into the "MX1 GP winners club" after Bellpuig, they won’t want him to re[peat his success too soon!
