Stefan Everts and Tyla Rattray, winners at the season-opening Grand Prix of Flanders two weeks ago, repeated their success in Sunday's Grand Prix of Spain, at Bellpuig.
The victory marked Stefan's 89th GP win and came after 3-1 heat finishes - the Belgian falling while under pressure from Kawasaki pole sitter Tanel Leok in race one, then delivering a dominate display in race two to take both the heat and overall victory.
"I never found a good rhythm in the first race, and Leok put some pressure on me when I was leading. I made a stupid mistake and then it took me a few laps to recover when I was fifth, with Ramon right behind me," explained the Yamaha star. "I got a better rhythm at the end and was able to pass Barragan for third position. I wasn’t really happy, last year I also made silly mistakes here. In the second race I was more relaxed and consistent, I had a really great feeling on my bike and posted fast laps. I’m happy to succeed here in Spain where our new sponsor is based."
But while Everts had his race one troubles, Sebastien Tortelli - the Belgian's only rival at round one - was unable to capitalise after mistakes of his own. The KTM rider fell several times, leaving Leok and Suzuki's Kevin Strijbos to fight for the race one win.
With Everts falling down the order it looked like the Estonian would take victory, but he too made a mistake and Strijbos instead took a much needed heat win. However, Kevin's hopes of an overall victory ended with an early accident in heat two, but Leok went on to take a solid second - in both the race and overall standings.
"This weekend I was able to battle with Stefan during the first fifteen minutes, but then he was stronger. When he crashed in the first race I got the lead, but I also made a mistake and finally got two second positions," analysed the Estonian, who is now second in the world championship standings.
