Pichon, Everts clash in Sun City finale.

Tiscali Honda rider Mickael Pichon weathered second moto controversy in Sunday's Grand Prix of South Africa, the sixteenth and final round of the FIM MX1 Motocross World Championship, to claim his sixth triumph of the 2004 season.

Pichon recorded 1st and 2nd moto finishes to take the overall at the brand new grandstand-surrounded Sun City facility, but the results hid a more complicated tale...

The Supercross nature of the track also had a hard packed and slippery terrain creating a very tough test for the riders, suited the Frenchman and he showed his speed from the moment the gate dropped for the first MX1 moto of 35 minute and 2 laps duration.

The 28-year-old led from the line to the flag while chasing World Champion Stefan Everts could not reduce a deficit of several seconds. The positions were widely split making for a slightly staid slice of action. CAS rider Josh Coppins was able to pass the chequered flag in 3rd place.

The second MX1 moto provided far better entertainment and some surprising scenes - which started when Pichon and Everts collided in the third corner of the opening lap as the former tried to move past the Yamaha man.

Everts lost control in the coming-together and hit the ground. Incensed, he then walked off the track to the adjacent turn to throw his goggles at Pichon as the pack filtered back around. The eight-times world number one then remounted and slowly cruised around the track until the leaders came to lap him, Pichon holding third at this stage.

Clearly still upset Everts blocked the line of the Honda rider and almost caused the chasing Coppins to crash. Everts retired for the first time in over a year and Pichon was sufficiently undeterred to sweep past special guest Greg Albertyn into the lead on lap three.

Four laps later however and the most successful Frenchman in GP history had a big crash in the sandy section and was relegated to sixth place by the time he returned to the track.

Coppins inherited the lead and held the advantage until the finish line. Pichon knew that he needed 2nd spot to secure overall success and sliced through four positions in six laps to mount the top step. Coppins was able to celebrate 2nd ahead of KTM's Steve Ramon.

Everts left the circuit early while Pichon later admitted that his move was aggressive but not unfair:

"The second moto did not really go as I would have expected!" began Mickael with more than a little understatement. "It started well except for that little incident I had with Stefan. He was aggressive in the first lap, like he has been many times this year, and I understand this because he wants to win, like I do.

"I came to the inside and he went far outside and to the middle, I had already jumped out in the middle also and we touched and I took his front wheel. I know it was perhaps not a nice move but he did the same to me last year in Austria and I was lucky to stay on the bike. I just wanted to make the move and there was nothing else involved.

"Afterwards his reaction was not so nice, he was probably very mad and again I can understand this because I would have been the same!" confessed the Frenchman. "He tried to push me on the corner by the finish line and when he was on the bike again the next lap he almost put me on the ground and I nearly crashed. This might not be a good end to the Championship but I just wanted to win really badly.

"My crash was not a result of all this. I was riding pretty good but I don't know what I did there in the sand. I was trying to avoid the big bumps and went too much to the left. The rear wheel locked because I went wide near the fence and I was thrown over the bars, it was a big crash and a stupid one because I had a big lead and felt great.

"From that I knew I had to restart as quick as possible and looking around I saw that Josh was in front and I needed second for the win so I pushed really hard to come back, which was not so easy. All the guys were riding about the same speed and it was hard to make up the difference on that track. When I got to second Josh was too far away but I knew the GP was mine," Pichon concluded.

Everts may now face disciplinary action from the FIM, the sports governing body, for his behaviour.

Meanwhile, in the MX2 class, the races were even closer - if less controversial - with double winner Ben Townley never able to build a safe gap over his pursuers in either moto.

The New Zealander came under intense pressure from home hero Tyla Rattray and Kawasaki's Stephen Sword in the first heat, but the British rider would suffer gearbox problems and retire in the ninth lap, losing any chance to take third spot in the championship.

World champion Townley would go on to hold off Rattray by just one-second at the chequered flag, then had to control Cairoli in the second heat as the Italian young gun got off to a great start and went on to finish ahead of Rattray.

"It was a really good day for me, I end the season with 21 wins and I got exactly what I was expecting; two days with a double win," began BT. "Tyla was really motivated for this GP and in the first race he put a lot of pressure on me; we had some problems with the lappers, but I was able to keep the pace with him.

"I felt sick after the first race and the second moto was tough for me, it was hard to find the motivation to go on the grid," admitted the KTM star. "I'm really pleased to win the GP today, it was not a home GP but they did an amazing GP and for me it was the best event of the year, everyone there has a lot of passion."

"I'm happy to be on the podium, there was a lot of pressure on me as many people expect me to win," added second overall Rattray, riding a two-stroke factory KTM. "Second is good enough as Ben was really strong today, he was the best on the track. With the two-stroke I was loosing traction in the paddock section, but despite this disadvantage I pushed really hard in the last laps of the first moto to try to beat Ben.

"Some riders jumped too early at the second start and I missed it; I had to come back from sixth to third, but then Ben and Antonio were far away. It has been good to race in front of my home crowd, I hope we'll be back next year and see more fans cheering us to beat some New Zealand kids," he concluded.

Fifth and second placed finishes would hand Cairoli third overall, while Aigar Leok took fourth after climbing from 18th to 3rd in race one, but only managing 7th in the final outing of the season.

After injuring a thumb and shoulder on Saturday, Mickael Maschio promptly retired from the first moto, while fellow Frenchman S?bastien Pourcel crashed twice on his way to sixth, behind Patrick Caps.

Andrea Bartolini, competing in his final grand prix after 18 years of world championship racing, rounded out his career with twelfth overall.

MX1 - Moto 1:
1. Mickael Pichon FRA Honda
2. Stefan Everts BEL Yamaha
3. Joshua Coppins NZL Honda
4. Kevin Strijbos BEL Suzuki
5. Steve Ramon BEL KTM
6. Billy MacKenzie GBR Yamaha
7. C?dric Melotte BEL Yamaha
8. James Noble GBR Honda
9. Ken De Dijcker BEL Honda
10. Tanel Leok EST Suzuki

MX1 - Moto 2:
1. Joshua Coppins NZL Honda
2. Michael Pichon FRA Honda
3. Steve Ramon BEL KTM
4. Kevin Strijbos BEL Suzuki
5. Yoshitaka Atsuta JPN Honda
6. Greg Albertijn RSA Suzuki
7. Cedric Melotte BEL Yamaha
8. Marko Kovalainen FIN Honda
9. Josef Dobes CZE Suzuki
10. James Noble GBR Honda

Final MX1 World Championship classification:
1. Stefan Everts BEL Yamaha 688
2. Mickael Pichon FRA Honda 620
3. Joshua Coppins NZL Honda 564
4. Steve Ramon BEL KTM 475
5. Kevin Strijbos BEL Suzuki 457
6. Tanel Leok EST Suzuki 356
7.C?dric Melotte BEL Yamaha 345
8. Brian Jorgensen DEN Honda 294
9. Ken De Dijcker BEL Honda 259
10. Yoshi Atsuta JPN Honda 224

MX2 - Moto 1:
1. Ben Townley NZL KTM
2. Tyla Rattray RSA KTM
3. Aigar Leok EST KTM
4. Gareth Swanepoel RSA KTM
5. Antonio Cairoli ITA Yamaha
6. Patrick Caps BEL Yamaha
7. Claudio Federici ITA Yamaha
8. Alessio Chiodi ITA Yamaha
9. Andrea Bartolini ITA Yamaha
10. Carl Nunn GBR Honda
MX2 - Moto 2:
1. Ben Townley NZL KTM
2. Antonio Cairoli ITA Yamaha
3. Tyla Rattray RSA KTM
4. S?bastien Pourcel FRA Kawasaki
5. Patrick Caps BEL Yamaha
6. Stephen Sword GBR Kawasaki
7. Aigar Leok EST KTM
8. Anthony Boissiere FRA Yamaha
9. Carl Nunn GBR Honda
10. Claudio Federici ITA Yamaha

Final MX2 World Championship classification:
1. Ben Townley NZL KTM 622
2. Tyla Rattray RSA KTM 506
3. Antonio Cairoli ITA Yamaha 447
4. Stephen Sword GBR Kawasaki 397
5. Alessio Chiodi ITA Yamaha 385
6. Mickael Maschio FRA Kawasaki 343
7. Andrew McFarlane AUS Yamaha 329
8. Carl Nunn GBR Honda 298
9. Patrick Caps BEL Yamaha 295
10. Aigar Leok EST KTM 285