Everts wins on final Hawkstone appearance.

Rinaldi Yamaha's nine-times Motocross world champion, Stefan Everts, claimed his third victory in four weeks after winning both MX1 heats during his final appearance at the Hawkstone Park International, in Shropshire, England on Sunday.

For the third time since the motocross pre-season schedule began to crank into life during February, Everts beat the likes of the factory backed Honda team and the works Suzuki and KTM efforts, all housing his main rivals for the 2006 MX1 World Championship.

Venue for their latest battle was the famous former grand prix circuit of Hawkstone - which first hosted a motocross event some 60-years ago. The circuit consists of deep sand and is dwarfed by the large hill section that sees the riders climb a near-vertical, and twisting, 100m slope which caught out a number of top riders.

But not Everts, who escaped the clutches of fellow Belgian Kevin Strijbos in the opening MX1 heat and was just as masterful in the second heat as he glided past Strijbos and his Suzuki team-mate Steve Ramon. A mistake on the last lap gave Strijbos more impetus to close the gap but the race was already won.

However, a 'hatrick' could not be taken later in the afternoon after a rare fall in the 'Grand Final' - which mixed the best finishers from the MX1 and MX2 classes - left Everts a close second to Strijbos.

"I will miss this place. It is the sixth year in a row I have come to Hawkstone. I've had some great moments here and unfortunately I never got the chance to ride in the grand prix (here)," said an emotional Stefan, who completed a lap of honour with Joel Smets at the end of the day. "I think it is a great track with a lot of potential. I enjoyed the races today and it was difficult to make the lap of honour for the last time."

Meanwhile, Strijbos netted second overall with his two runner-up heat race finishes, while former world champion Mickael Pichon - who had qualified on pole - claimed third overall. Pichon's factory KTM team-mate Sebastien Tortelli again experienced bad luck as falls, stalls and bad luck - but no lack of speed - left him down the order.

Nevertheless, Tortelli's performance will be remembered by many of the Hawkstone fans watching practice in the famous 'bombhole' section as the Frenchman - after just one citing lap - tried to clear the opening table top (which now features a 2m high 'lip' at the far end, making it a table top with a ski jump attached).

The fearless Tortelli landed right on the 'lip', but just kept control of his 450, before becoming the first and only rider to clear the jump completely the next time around - to the sound of cheers from the delighted crowd.

Another rider who perhaps underperformed in terms of results, but for good reason, was 2005 MX1 runner-up Josh Coppins, who finished fifth and sixth in his heat races, before being the third 450 rider in the Grand Final.

However, it was touch and go whether Coppins would even be at Hawkstone Park after the CAS Honda rider pulled a muscle in his back while training in Dunkurque three days prior to the event. Coppins's doctor and physio did enough to have the Kiwi on the start gate for Sunday's event.

"I kept thinking about my back and not really concentrating on my riding," admitted the Kiwi. "I'm quite happy with the results considering the pain I was in but I am also happy to get the day over with. I am still better off now than last year! Last year I left here with an injury (a dislocated shoulder) so that was in the back of mind as well. My original plan was to stay and test this week in the UK, however I'll be driving back to Belgium tonight to see my specialist and see what the best course of action is for the next few days because I don't want to lose too much training time."

In the Hawkstone MX2 class, factory KTM's Carl Nunn took the race one win - ahead of rising star Tommy Searle - while Nunn's arch rival Billy MacKenzie collected third after suffering arm-pump.

Mackenzie bounced back with a 12sec victory over Nunn and Searle in race two, then built a lead of over 10secs - from Strijbos and Everts - in the Grand Final. The Southampton-resident had the bountiful home crowd cheering and set the quickest lap of the race, but lost time cutting through some back markers three laps before the flag and was swallowed up by Strijbos and Everts, eventually having to accept third position but top ranking in the MX2 class.

"I feel like I have an overall win because I managed to produce that good last race. That heat was awesome; it was such a buzz to be leading those guys. With two laps to go I was thinking about what celebration I could do over the finish line, but it never comes that easy when you are racing against the best!" smiled Billy. "Just to be in front of them for that length of time felt good. I also set the fastest lap. This meeting will keep me going for a few weeks.

"The first race was pretty muddy and I got some arm-pump, but it was the first one of the year so that was expected. I got a top three though and I know I need to work on my consistency so I am pleased. We tweaked the bike and got rid of some of the niggly problems we would have had at Lyng for the British Championship next week," he added.

MX1 Race 1:
1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Ken de Dycker 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Josh Coppins 6. Tanel Leok 7. Steve Ramon 8. C?dric Melotte 9. James Noble 10. Mark Hucklebridge

MX1 Race 2:
1. Stefan Everts 2. Kevin Strijbos 3. Steve Ramon 4. Mickael Pichon 5. C?dric Melotte 6. Josh Coppins 7. Tanel Leok 8. James Noble 9. Ken de Dycker 10. Gordon Crockard

MX1 Grand Final:
1. Kevin Strijbos 2. Stefan Everts 3. Josh Coppins 4. Mickael Pichon 5. Tanel Leok 6. Steve Ramon 7. Sebastien Tortelli 8. Mark Jones 9. Yoshitaka Atsuta 10. Gordon Crockard

MX2 Race 1:
1. Carl Nunn 2. Tommy Searle 3. Billy Mackenzie 4. Brad Anderson 5. Steven Clarke 6. Lewis Gregory 7. Jason Dougan 8. Wayne Smith 9. Oliver Sandiford Smith 10. Alex Snow

MX2 Race 2:
1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Carl Nunn 3. Tommy Searle 4. Wayne Smith 5. Brad Anderson 6. Shaun Simpson 7. Jim Murro 8. Jamie Law 9. Ray Rowson 10. Alex Snow

MX2 Grand Final:
1. Billy Mackenzie 2. Lewis Gregory 3. Tommy Searle 4. Oliver Sandiford Smith 5. David Willet 6. Ben Saunders 7. Alex Snow 8. Carl Nunn 9. Ashley Greedy 10. Dan Johnson