Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125860
The lIsa-called" Belgian 250 GP There are places to ride... ...and places not to. This is a GP? " " '0 - "".' ' \" \ ' - . By Lori Hagman ".' VO RSELAA R , BELGl Ul\.I, A P RI L 28 Ty pical grey Belgian skies c o rn ed the in ternational Grand Prix riders t o what advertised as the Belgium IA TRAIL RIDERIS GUIDE TO THE ENVIRONMENTI World Champion G.l' .• near the small town o f Vorselaar just o utside o f Antwerp in Northern Belgium. A strong field o f riders shows you how to tell the difference Lotsa neat cartoons ___ , . C l IP ~ D SE N D coP ies of "A Trail A lder' s Guide To T he Environment' @ $1.00 plu s 25 cen ts tax & handling . ($ 1 2 5 10lall . .. t otal Name Address ~ _ _ __ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ Zip _ _ _ Allo w tw o to I h" "i' uieck s Jor o ur someti mes past office. Send check o r mOlley ord er to : CYCLE NEWS STUFF, P.O. BOX 498 , LONG BEACH, CA 90801 L . Please print clearly . I I I I I I I I I . . .I . showed up for the Vorsel aar Club 's firs t attempt at a non -points paying Grand Prix, much like Hang Ten and Trippe-Co x promoted at Car lsbad prior to las t year's actual Grand Prix. The G.P. co u rse itself was more lik e a long Daytona or Talladega MX track . It was about on e and a half miles long allan a flat co w field with lots o f fresh fer tilizer to mix with the san d making goo d traction all day. After practice was over, there was a rumor going around the pits that th e promoters had invited Gary Bailey to fly over to design the track, but I guess it Was only a rumor because Mr. Bailey was no t o n hand fo r th e race. Tim ing The seco nd practice of th e d ay wa s tim ed to determine rid ers' starting positions to beg in th e first mota in th e Grand Prix. The results of tim ing went l i k e this: 1) Harry Everts (Puc), 2) Heikki Mikkol a (H us), 3)Joel Robert ( S uz). 4) Raym ond Boven (Ma n), 5) Willy Van Loon (Yam), 6 ) Brad Lack ey (H us), 7) Roger DeCoster (Suz), 8) Sylvain Geb oers (Suz ), 9) Jaak Van Velthoven (Yam) , 10) Adolf Weil (Mai). Getting a good start in both m o tos was very importan t because of the narrowness of the track. And as usual, the ol e man himself, Adolf Weil was o ut in front at the first t urn, with Harr y Everts, Sylvain Geboers and Heikki Mik kola right behind. Fra ns Sigrnans , Joel Robert and Ray mond Boven tangled into fen ce and spectators at the first tum. As a result of this crash Brad Lackey was the very last rider to get away, after stalling his motor trying to avoid the mess. After two laps , Mikkola and Geboers passed Weil put tin g Heikki into the lead fo r the res t of the mota. Sylvain Geobers was rid ing b etter than he has in a long ti me an d see m ed very confi den t about the even tual overall win . The main ac ti o n was happening back in fifth and sixth place w ith Jaak Van Velthoven an d Ro ger DeCoster battling it out . Roger wa s definitely th e more sk i lle d ri der, co n tinually making Sylvain Geboers rode better than he had in a lon g t ime to win the no n -poi nt s paying Belgian 250 GP on a sand track at Vorselaar. Heikki Mikkola (Husl was fastest , won the first mota but sp ra ined his ankle and d idn't start the second. ORANGE COUNTY SUZUKI-BULTACO (John's Racing Cy cles) 2 2 55 Harbor Bl vd ., Co sta M esa, CA (Co r ner o f Harbor & Wil son ) 14 7 14<546 ·2428 or (;4'54655 weland was 250