Everts, Smets clinch Championships at Loket.

Stefan Everts completed a second season of record-breaking achievement this afternoon when he repeated scenes of his 2002 500cc title-winning celebrations at Loket by taking his eighth consecutive MX GP victory; in doing so clinching the first ever Motocross GP World Championship and accumulating seven world titles.

Together with the Belgian's phenomenal tally of 69 GP wins in all classes Everts is now officially the most successful rider ever to have graced the sport.

The Grand Prix of the Czech Republic taking place at the circuit in Loket, the penultimate round of the 2003 series, dawned very cold and windy and the conditions hardly improved during the day. The stiff breeze blowing occasional sunshine mixed with dark clouds and infrequent rain.

Over 12,500 spectators braved the chilly temperatures in expectation of seeing World Champions crowned at the lofty hillside venue.

Everts hit the front on the first lap of the MXGP moto and never looked back. He wasn't even challenged for the lead and quickly pulled out a margin of several seconds within the formative stages of the race to clearly signal his intentions of victory.

The 450cc Yamaha rider was surprised to see that his domination was in fact leading to a World Championship on the last lap when his pit crew gave him information that closest rival Joel Smets was languishing down in tenth and the lucrative prize was less than 2 minutes away and within reach. Everts has more than deserved the acclaim and status for this season but his party was instigated thanks to a race crash by Smets; the subsequent points difference confirming the end of the '03 competition.

The GP was an entertaining affair of broken parts. A dramatic opening saw numerous riders in the middle of the pack hit the dirt on the first turn. Smets was caught in the melee and despairingly found himself down in 25th position ending the first lap as Everts book-ended the rest of the 30 rider entry.

The Belgian, who needed to finish in the top nine to prolong the Championship until the final race at Ernee in France, cut his way through the pack with efficiency. He reached fifth position by lap 10 and was incredibly was looking a decent bet for a top three finish until a big crash on the same lap dropped him to 11th.

Josh Coppins and Gordon Crockard had been stealing some attention with their tussle for sixth but as the pair encountered the recovering Smets, Crockard tangled with the KTM. The collision terminated the interesting duel between the Honda team-mates and left Coppins free to escape to a lonely fourth. Despite stalling the 450 on the last lap Crockard went on to take fifth place.

Elsewhere Brian Jorgensen tried to hold off a charging Marnicq Bervoets but Everts' Yamaha compatriot was in no mood for games and swiftly relegated the Honda rider to third. Bervoets would go on to claim his best result of the season in his penultimate race for the Rinaldi team, giving the Italian squad a pleasing and fitting sight of both of their riders filling the top two steps on the podium. Jorgensen duly earned his third top three finish of the season and second in a row.

After chasing Everts in second place for seven laps Andrew McFarlance will be a little disappointed with his sixth position after fading in the middle of the moto. Claudio Federici, Kenneth Gundersen, Patrick Caps all finished ahead of Smets who almost seemed to limp home in tenth and later revealed that he used the rest of the moto to keep loose and prepared for his title shot in the 650 event.

Everts' Championship was confirmed with a 29 point advantage and only 25 up for grabs at the final race. Smets will not be caught for the number two plate as the absent Mickael Pichon holds third, 33 points adrift. Brian Jorgensen is fourth and 17 points in front of Kenneth Gundersen.

"I have been dreaming of the seventh world title for some years and to finally do it is unbelievable," the 30 year old 'number one' admitted. "It has been a long road to this point and the record will take some days to sink in. This achievement is wonderful for my family and friends; this is a great day."

Belgium celebrated two World Champions by the end of the afternoon after Joel Smets shrugged off pain in his arm due to his MXGP prang to score his tenth 650 GP win of the season and finally lock away the title on which he has been engraving his name all year.

At 34 years of age Smets became the oldest World Champion in MX history but marked the occasion in style and his fifth career title by passing hole-shotter Cedric Melotte and the early leader Javier Garcia Vico to pass the chequered flag over eleven seconds ahead of his Spanish team-mate. It is the 8th time this year that the KTM duo have scored a podium one-two.

Vico now has a collection of eleven trophies, nine of which are runner-up honours. Melotte banished the memory of two consecutive DNFs to record his seventh top three result of 2003.

As in Gaildorf seven days ago Michal Kadlecek and Fabrizio Dini filled the top five as James Noble collected his highest finish of the season in sixth.
Vico is now assured of second position in the Championship thanks to a 53 point cushion over Melotte.

Steve Ramon was unable to join his countryman in World Championship celebrations. The standings leader could only end the day with 8th position and thanks to title rival Andrea Bartolini taking fourth place, the series must be decided for the second consecutive year at the final GP.

Stefan Everts, on the Yamaha 250cc four-stroke was once more the winner and needed eight more circulations at the start to assume control and give everybody a taste of what they were to expect in the MXGP race (it was World Champ's sixth consecutive 125cc win and sixth 'double').

The 125 moto was the closest fought contest of the day and Ben Townley went on to make sure of second position in the final few laps ahead of Mickael Maschio and Bartolini. Maschio easily won the 'Best start of the season award' after blasting from the 28th slot in the gate and acing the hole-shot. The Frenchman and still the current number one ended up on the podium for the first time since his win in Bulgaria, several months ago.

Erik Eggens, Alessio Chiodi, Luigi Seguy, Ramon, Stephen Sword and Tyla Rattray were the next six fastest riders around Loket.

Ramon may have to sweat for two weeks until Ernee but he goes into the GP (ominously he finished 16th the last time the GP circus visited the track back in 2001) with a fairly comfortable lead of 22 points. Bartolini now has Everts breathing down his neck and only two points behind.

If Ramon and Bartolini both fail to score in France and Everts continues his run of form on the 250 then the Belgian could have another sensational milestone to add to his bulging CV.