Everts soars, Pichon falls.

Stefan Everts stretched his consecutive streak of 2003 Motocross GP victories to six this afternoon after a superlative performance in the heat of Lierop, which also saw him claim his fourth 'double' in a row with his fourth 125cc GP success; amounting to a phenomenal career total of 65.

The factory Yamaha 450 rider stretched a margin over his MXGP rivals from the first few laps in what was a dramatic 35 minute and two lap moto.

Aside from Everts' headline grabbing and not altogether surprising win, the two crashes by Suzuki 250cc two-stroke rider Mickael Pichon could prove to be one of the decisive moments in the '03 Championship chase.

Heavy fog greeted the early risers in the paddock and with visibility down to less than 20 yards warm-up was delayed and the race timetable changed in the hope that the mist would soon burn off. At 11.30 the sunshine arrived just an hour before the Motocross GP riders were due to filter through into the gate for the first race of the day. The temperature was nothing short of scorching for the rest of the afternoon.

Josh Coppins grabbed the holeshot until he was swiftly passed by Everts, who went on to escape at a rapid rate of knots and was not headed for the remainder of the duration. KTM riders Joel Smets and Jamie Dobb also glided past the Honda man on the opening lap and Dobb was pushing hard until the end of the second circulation when he crashed heavily and dislocated his shoulder, requiring a visit to the hospital but luckily no need for surgery.

Pichon had overtaken Smets and the three contenders for the first ever MXGP title filled the leading positions. Everts missed his ritual of competing in the 125cc Grand Prix 'warm-up' moto but hammered the 250cc four-stroke through the 20 minute 125cc free session in the morning and the exercise helped. He seemed more or less un-catchable while Pichon and Smets fought for second and to reduce the gap to the disappearing red and blue Yamaha.

The Frenchman made an error in the whoops and smashed his chest on the bars, which knocked the wind out of him. He took almost a lap to recover and lost a lot of ground. Riding nowhere near his normal capability the 27 year old crashed again later in the GP when he departed from his bike mid-air in an accident similar to Dobb's.

He was extremely lucky not to be hit by his bike that bounced after him but the scare seemed to have worked as he finished the last part of the moto barging his way up to sixth from eighth place and for the first time this season just behind his junior team-mate Kevin Strijbos.

Meanwhile, Smets gladly inherited an isolated second and would trail his countryman to the flag by 32 seconds for his eighth podium result of the season.

The tussle for third fell to Josh Coppins and Gordon Crockard. The Honda team-mates, the former on a 250cc two-stroke and the latter on a 450, entertained the 16,000 spectators with a close struggle until Coppins crashed exiting the whoops. Crockard was alone but started to slow in the final ten minutes as a week on antibiotics for a cold began to show.

The Irishman lost his third place to Coppins and then also hit the Dutch sand. After his bike had been clattered on the ground by Joakim Eliasson, Crockard barely had enough energy to restart the machine and with two laps to go was out of the running. Afterwards he needed attention for heat-stroke and also had a wrist x-rayed that revealed some ligament damage.

Coppins earned a well-deserved third place (only Honda's second of the season) and the first podium since the GP of Russia at the tail end of 2002.

Fourth belonged to Kenneth Gundersen with Strijbos coming close to equalling his highest ever GP result of fourth by completing the top five. Pichon finished the race relatively unscathed physically but staring at the 15 points he earned for sixth knowing that his Championship aspirations were not in good shape with only three races to go. Paul Cooper produced a season best with seventh and was the last member of a four rider two-stroke group.

Yoshi Atsuta defied his 28th position in qualifying, knocking 20 places off that standing in the gate to come home 8th in front of James Noble and then Andrew McFarlane.

Everts's factory Yamaha team-mate Marnicq Bervoets had another miserable GP (in a season to forget) as he was one of the victims of 30 riders having to squeeze around the tight opening turns on the first lap. He initiated a comeback after re-starting well behind the pack but another fall led to his retirement and he joined Brian Jorgensen in the pits. The Dane had managed only three laps until a tyre problem on the Tiscali Honda meant that he could not continue.

Having taken control of the Championship at Namur two weeks ago Stefan Everts has now planted both feet at the top of the points table. He leads Joel Smets by ten points and Mickael Pichon by twelve; the race in Lierop will be a hard one to swallow for the Suzuki man, who now lies in third having topped the standings for most of the season. Jorgensen is 76 points adrift in fourth and has the Gundersen and McFarlane breathing down his neck.

The 125cc Grand Prix was put back until 4pm and rounded off the race programme. The riders were faced with the roughest track conditions of the weekend and once again it was Everts who adapted the quickest and set about racing himself on the 250cc four-stroke while the three factory KTMs of Steve Ramon, Erik Eggens and Ben Townley diced for the lower steps on the podium.

Townley and Ramon provided some of the most intense action of the day in their tussle for second but the latter soon made the runner-up position his own after Townley tired and was caught by Eggens.

Marvin Van Daele scored another impressive finish with fifth in front of Tanel Leok. The 125cc Championship turned largely into the favour of Ramon after Andrea Bartolini crashed in the whoops and could only guide the Yamaha to tenth, while defending Champion Mickael Maschio did not enjoy his time in the sand and met the chequered flag in eighth.

The Belgian now has a cushion at the top of 23 points with 75 up for grabs. Everts though, has worked his way up to fourth and boasts five wins from six races in the category.

Cedric Melotte discovered how cruel the motorsport world can be during the 650 moto. The Belgian won his first GP in Namur a fortnight ago and then signed last week to be Stefan Everts' team-mate for 2004; he then followed the best period of his career by falling twice within 20 metres on the first lap and then retiring later in the race.

The event was another Joel Smets demonstration after he had completed the usual task of dispensing with Javier Garcia Vico's attempt to break away and win the GP in the first ten minutes.

The Spaniard recorded a seventh runner-up position to Smets' eighth win from nine. Danny Theybers climbed the podium in Melotte's absence while Johan Boonen and Jocke Karlsson reached the top five.

Smets and Vico have been quite a double-act in terms of results in the 2003 campaign, which means that Smets only retains a 26 point advantage in the Championship.

The tenth round of twelve will take place in two weeks time at the circuit of Gaildorf in Germany.