Everts, Mackenzie big in Japan.

The first Japanese Motocross Grand Prix for ten-years proved to be a great success with a superb track layout and organisation allowing the GP stars to offer a healthy crowd some great racing - especially during the second MX1 moto.

The first MX1 race was pretty straightforward with most of the leading positions stabilised within the opening laps: World champion Stefan Everts took the holeshot while pole sitter Mickael Pichon started several places back, but the Frenchman rallied promptly and passed Everts before the end of the first circulations.

Stefan reacted, but Pichon responded and went on to capture his third consecutive win while New Zealanders Townley and Josh Coppins completed the top four.

However the second moto kept everyone on their toes as the top five championship rivals battled together for the entire thirty-five minute duration!

Pichon grabbed the holeshot but couldn't forge a margin as Everts, Coppins, Joel Smets and Townley were charging hard behind him. By now the track was pretty rough and technical, but still offered many lines and produced a great show - and after twenty-minutes the first five riders were still separated by little more than three seconds!

The positions also changed several times and Everts got the lead on the seventh lap when Mickael made a small mistake; Townley also passed Pichon later to challenge Everts but he unfortunately broke his engine just when he started to look like he could find a way around the race leader. A frustrated BT immediately dumped his silent KTM and walked back to the pits.

The battle for victory may have been over, but the race was intense until the last metres, with Smets capturing second place to deny Coppins third overall. Meanwhile, Everts won his 83rd GP in Sugo, increasing his leadership in the series by two points.

"In the first race I was really trying hard to turn things around inside the race but I couldn't do that, Mickael was riding strong and I had to be satisfied with my second place. Sometimes you win sometimes you lose, that was the case in the first moto," explained Stefan.

"In both races I tried to be pretty aggressive at the beginning but I couldn't do it more for than two laps and that was it. I think also that Mickael had good lines on the track and was relaxed and comfortable going around in the first heat. In the second race I knew where I had to go and from the first lap I put pressure on Mickael and at one point I managed to pass him.

"I won my first World Title in Japan, I won the last Japanese Grand Prix in 1995 and I won today, I'm so happy for Yamaha as it's one of the most important races of the year for them, this event was successful thanks to the promoter who did an amazing job.

"I won this GP in a spectacular way and I think that all the fans will not forget this day especially after the exciting second MX1 moto. Now I want to go back home as soon as possible, I'm missing my son Liam!" he concluded.

Five different riders have now won the first six MX2 GPs of the season after young Brit Billy Mackenzie won the Japanese event to complete a perfect event for Yamaha.

Leading both races, the Scot was passed by championship leader Antonio Cairoli late in the opening heat, but took his revenge in the following outing with a dominating performance.

"I'm so happy to win in Japan, where the bikes are made. It's the manufacturers' country, and to win in Sugo, which is owned by Yamaha, is a great feeling," admitted Billy. "We had a lot of Japanese mechanics helping the team this weekend and I was glad to win overall.

"Maschio got the holeshot in the first moto but I made a quick pass on him, tried to do some real quick laps and pulled away. I had a six second lead after four or five laps and everything was going really good, but then I was struggling with my rhythm, I was a little bit tense and made a mistake in a corner. I restarted still in the lead but Cairoli was right behind me, put on the pressure and I lost my rhythm so he passed me.

"I knew from the first race that my speed was good, I fixed the quickest lap and I got the holeshot in the second race. I tried to put some fast laps in to pull a distance. I got the pit-board after three laps telling me that Sword was in second and I knew that he would be consistent but I was sure to be faster. It was an awesome race, I won one moto in Bellpuig and now got my first GP; I'm looking for more victories now," he declared.

Mackenzie's next chance for victory will come at his home GP, at Matchams Park, next weekend - and with Kawasaki backed countryman Stephen Sword claiming second in moto two at Sugo the British GP looks sure to be a lively event.

Sword was the only non-Yamaha rider in the top eight riders at the GP and finished fourth overall behind Mackenzie, Cairoli and Cedric Melotte who had to recover twice from bad starts.

Local hero Yoshitaka Atsuta finished eleventh overall in the MX1 series, while Kenjiro Tsuji was the best MX1 wild-card with a 16th and a 17th place. The GP was not so successful for the MX2 Japanese competitors as only two scored points, with a fourteenth place for Takeshi Katsuya the best individual result.

MX2 Moto1:
1. Cairoli, Antonio ITA 40:14.858
2. Mackenzie, Billy GBR 40:21.777
3. Melotte, Cedric BEL 40:23.070
4. McFarlane, Andrew AUS 40:28.715
5. Sword, Stephen GBR 40:36.690
6. Maschio, Mickael FRA 40:38.396
7. Chiodi, Alessio ITA 40:47.744
8. Philippaerts, David ITA 40:51.368
9. Guarneri, Davide ITA 41:03.032
10. Bonini, Matteo ITA 41:03.385
21. Nunn, Carl GBR 41:56.488

MX2 Moto2:
1. Mackenzie, Billy GBR 39:35.772
2. Sword, Stephen GBR 39:46.551
3. Melotte, Cedric BEL 39:51.155
4. Cairoli, Antonio ITA 39:57.026
5. Chiodi, Alessio ITA 39:58.745
6. Goncalves, Rui POR 40:00.427
7. Eggens, Erik NED 40:04.052
8. Leok, Aigar EST 40:06.249
9. McFarlane, Andrew AUS 40:08.853
10. Caps, Patrick BEL 40:14.680
20. Philippaerts, David ITA 40:59.696

MX2 GP classification:
1. Mackenzie, Billy 47
2. Cairoli, Antonio 43
3. Melotte, Cedric 40
4. Sword, Stephen 38
5. Chiodi, Alessio 30
6. McFarlane, Andrew 30
7. Goncalves, Rui 23
8. Guarneri, Davide 22
9. Caps, Patrick 21
10. Maschio, Mickael 21
13. Philippaerts, David 14
30. Nunn, Carl 0

MX2 World Championship standings:
1. Cairoli, A. 217
2. Chiodi, Alessio 203
3. Sword, Stephen 190
4, McFarlane, A. 185
5. Melotte, Cedric 183
6. Mackenzie, B. 144
7. Maschio, M. 119
8. Caps, Patrick 111
9. Guarneri, D. 109
10. Goncalves, Rui 108
11. Philippaerts, D. 95
12. Rattray, Tyla 90
13. Nunn, Carl 85

MX1 Moto1:
1. Pichon, Mickael FRA 40:13.957
2. Everts, Stefan BEL 40:17.330
3. Townley, Ben NZL 40:20.172
4. Coppins, Joshua NZL 40:52.240
5. Ramon, Steve BEL 40:56.760
6. Smets, Joel BEL 40:58.419
7. Jorgensen, Brian DEN 41:09.109
8. Theybers, Danny BEL 41:10.142
9. Noble, James GBR 41:11.067
10. de Dijcker, Ken BEL 41:16.425

MX1 Moto2:
1. Everts, Stefan BEL 39:12.092
2. Smets, Joel BEL 39:13.713
3. Pichon, Mickael FRA 39:14.592
4. Coppins, Joshua NZL 39:36.188
5. Noble, James GBR 39:42.491
6. Leok, Tanel EST 39:54.141
7. de Dijcker, Ken BEL 40:07.079
8. Ramon, Steve BEL 40:10.937
9. Atsuta, Yoshitaka JPN 40:18.274
10. Theybers, Danny BEL 40:19.226

MX1 GP classification:
1. Everts, Stefan 47
2. Pichon, Mickael 45
3. Smets, Joel 37
4. Coppins, Joshua 36
5. Ramon, Steve 29
6. Noble, James 28
7. de Dijcker, Ken 25
8. Theybers, Danny 24
9. Leok, Tanel 23
10. Townley, Ben 20

MX1 World Championship standings:
1. Everts, Stefan 251
2. Pichon, Mickael 240
3. Smets, Joel 204
4. Coppins, Joshua 203
5. Townley, Ben 168
6. Ramon, Steve 149
7. Noble, James 132
8. Jorgensen, B. 121
9. de Dijcker, Ken 112
10. Cooper, Paul 98