Preview - Grand Prix of Bulgaria.

The fifth round of the 2003 FIM Motocross World Championships occurs this weekend at the Sevlievo circuit in Bulgaria, a mere seven days after the 12 race win-streak of double World Champion Mickael Pichon come to an end and another double title holder Stefan Everts made history by becoming the first rider to take two GP wins on the same day.

After a subdued start by Everts to the new MX GP class, the multi-record holding Belgian roared back in fine style last week in Italy by triumphing in the 125cc moto onboard a 250cc four-stroke and repeating the feat an hour later in the MXGP event, earning the first World Championship winners trophy for each respective works machine.

The off-road paddock now moves to the town of Sevlievo, two hours east of the capital of Sofia, for the second Bulgarian round at the venue and the third GP to be held in the country in the last 20 years.

During 2002 Sevlievo hosted its inaugural World Championship event and proved to be very popular with the riders and teams thanks to the sprawling layout of the course on a hillside affording 100% views of the racetrack and some decent facilities within the circuit.

The weather was an important factor 12 months ago and the sweltering heat meant that Bulgaria was one of the physically toughest races of the season. Temperatures will be high again this weekend but the uninterrupted blue skies of 2002 are predicted to be making way for more cloudy conditions at the end of this week.

In the Motocross GP class Mickael Pichon will be looking to re-assert some control on the series that he dominated for the first three rounds onboard his factory 250cc two-stroke Suzuki; to-date the only quarter-litre machine to have stood on top of the MXGP podium.

Pichon suffered from fatigue at the last race in Italy as well as a collision with Italian Claudio Federici that caused both riders to hit the ground. The Frenchman's subsequent fourth position was only the third time in three years that the 27 year old Frenchman had finished outside of the top three and severed a phenomenal run of 12 consecutive GP victories.

Joel Smets guided the KTM 450 to his third runner-up spot of the year and his fourth podium result of 2003 last week. The Belgian now stands only 7 points away from Pichon in the World Championship standings and had taken his haul of top three results to a highly impressive eight in total, including four wins in the 650 class; he enjoys a 100% record going into the Eastern European event which he won in 2002

Everts has reduced the points deficit of his third place Championship standing from 18 to 25 but his feat in Italy will be just as much beneficial for the 30 year old's confidence as it will for his scorecard.
Pit Beirer scored the best result of the campaign for the KTM 250 with fifth place in Italy as the German, along with his team-mate and former World Champion Jamie Dobb, continue to develop the Austrian factory machine.

A number of riders such as Patrick Caps, Yoshi Atsuta, Johnny Aubert and Claudio Federici posted their highest positions so far at the Italian round and will carry the positive end of last Sunday into the upcoming event.

Josh Coppins will be making only his second start of the year riding the 250cc factory Honda and gained a very creditable 15th place with his comeback ride at Montevarchi after sustaining serious back and leg injuries during the off-season. Pichon defeated Fred Bolley and Coppins in the 250cc race at Sevlievo 2002.

Gordon Crockard is unlikely to make the journey to Bulgaria after a broken finger prevented the Irishman from being able to complete the race in Montevarchi and extends an unfortunate spate of injuries that begun last December with damaged ankle ligaments encompassing a separated shoulder and now the broken little finger on his right hand restricting his control on the Honda 450.

Everts is set to decide this weekend, weather conditions permitting, if he is to contest two motos once again, the disadvantage remaining that the tight raceday timetable leaves little room for effective preparation.

The Yamaha rider's intervention at the 125cc Grand Prix of Italy allowed KTM's Steve Ramon to take second place in the race and top the Championship standings ahead of team-mate Marc De Reuver, who had crashed while making a charge through the order into the runner-up position and finally crossed the line in fifth.

De Reuver is currently the in-form and most confident rider in the class having taken his first ever GP win at Germany for round three.

Former 500cc World Champion Andrea Bartolini was ousted of a podium result at his home GP last week by Mickael Maschio but his fourth place continues his consistent high scoring ratio riding the 250cc Yamaha four-stroke.

Reigning World Champion Maschio does not carry pleasant memories of the Bulgarian GP as a crash and DNF last season almost de-railed his title quest. Recently retired Alex Puzar was the winner in 2002, with teenage sensation Ben Townley also a podium finisher.

Joel Smets is hoping to carry on his positive and frankly unstoppable momentum thanks to four consecutive wins in the 650 class.

The Belgian has been all-dominant so far with his KTM and boasts a perfect 100 point haul leading the standings ahead of team-mate Javier Garcia Vico. The Spaniard has collected four runner-up positions behind the four times 500cc World Champion.

Cedric Melotte missed out on the podium in Italy for the first time in two Grand Prix. Slovenian Roman Jelen gained his first ever podium last week and will be expecting to threaten the leading trio once again.