Misfortune for Tortelli at Portuguese GP
4/23/2006
MX GP - Round 3 - Agueda, Portugal. Date : 23 April 2006 — Lady Luck abandoned former MX world champ, Sebastien Tortelli, when he sustained a dislocated right hip at the 3rd round of the FIM MX World championship, held in Agueda Protugal over the weekend.
Tortelli set pole position on Saturday (his first since '98) and looked the man to beat for Sunday's 2 x 35 min + 2 lap moto's.
An Everts hole-shot in moto 1 saw Tortelli quickly latch onto the Belgian legend with the Frenchman slipping past with only a few laps gone. Everts quickly counter-attacked and regained the lead in an epic duel. The Everts-Tortelli freight train stole the show with the 15,000 strong crowd on their feet waiting for the Frenchman to pounce on Everts. With one lap to go, Everts and Tortelli were running into lapped riders which made the race even more unpredictable. Tortelli tried all he could to outsmart his old rival but in the dieing moments he lost control of his KTM and crashed in a big way - he managed to restart his bike and limp over the finish line in second spot with a sprained ankle.
The second and decisive moto was just underway with Tortelli leading the pack. Everts managed to sneak past and only moments later Tortelli went down in a timing session and the worst was feared when he could not get back on the bike.
Doctors were able to manipulate the hip into place under local anaesthetic before transporting Sebastien to the local hospital for further scans. He is expected to fly to France today to consult his specialists and the exact extent of the damage and recovery time is yet to be announced.
In the MX2 class, Marc de Reuver had two strong rides from bad starts and still holds second place in the championship. The Dutchman is finally finding good consistency and is hungry to get his first GP win of the season under his belt. South African, Gareth Swanepoel posted a well deserved 9th overall on the Molson Kawasaki and Swedish youngster Johan Carlsson qualified for his first GP this year.
Teutschenthal and the 'Talkessel' circuit will host the German GP at round 4 of the FIM MX World championship on the 6-7 May.
Race Results
MX 1 Race 1
- Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
- Tortelli, Sebastien FRA KTM (THOR)
- de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
- Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
- Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
- Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
- Ramon, Steve BEL Suzuki
- Noble, James GBR Honda
- Melotte, Cedric BEL Yamaha
- Sword, Stephen GBR Kawasaki
- Garcia Vico, FranciscoSPA Honda
- Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
- Priem, Manuel BEL Yamahal
- Jorgensen, Brian DEN Honda
- Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
- Everts, Stefan BEL Yamaha
- Barragan, Jonathan SPA KTM
- Strijbos, Kevin BEL Suzuki
- Leok, Tanel EST Kawasaki
- de Dycker, Ken BEL Honda
- Priem, Manuel BEL Yamaha
- Bill, Julien SUI Yamaha
- Leuret, Pascal FRA Honda
- Avis, Wyatt RSA KTM
- Pyrhonen, Antti FIN TM
- Garcia Vico, Francisco SPA Honda
- Freibergs, Lauris LAT Suzuki
- Crockard, Gordon IRL Honda
- Theybers, Danny BEL Suzuki
- Salvini, Alex ITA Suzuki
- Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
- Pourcel, Christophe FRA Kawasaki
- Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
- de Reuver, Marc NED KTM (THOR)
- Nunn, Carl GBR KTM
- Philippaerts, David ITA KTM
- Mackenzie, Billy GBR Yamaha
- Chiodi, Alessio ITA Yamaha
- Goncalves, Rui POR KTM
- Searle, Tommy GBR Kawasaki
- Swanepoel, G. RSA Kawasaki (THOR)
- Gundersen, Kenneth NOR Yamaha
- Seistola, Matti FIN Honda
- Boissiere, Anthony FRA Yamaha
- Renet, Pierre A. FRA Honda
- Rattray, Tyla RSA KTM
- Pourcel, Christophe FRA Kawasaki
- Chiodi, Alessio ITA Yamaha
- Caps, Patrick BEL Honda
- de Reuver, Marc NED KTM (THOR)
- Mackenzie, Billy GBR Yamaha
- Searle, Tommy GBR Kawasaki
- Nunn, Carl GBR KTM
- Swanepoel, G. RSA Kawasaki (THOR)
- Cairoli, Antonio ITA Yamaha
- Seguy, Luigi FRA Yamaha
- Boissiere, Anthony FRA Yamaha
- Pourcel, Sebastien FRA Kawasaki
- Nagl, Maximilian GER KTM
- Guarneri, Davide ITA Yamaha