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/125865
It 's bee n a w h ile since J oel Robert, Gaston Rah ier, a nd Sylva in Geboers Suzuk i-smothered the victory podium. Joel who?ยท Gaston wins his first GP in the rain - J im drops out again By Martin Christ ie BIEl.STEI:",II'. GER.\IA:"Y,jU:"E 9 The 250 World Motocross Championship is producing unexpected sensations. In seven Grands Prix so far, eight different riders have won at least one of the two pointsco unting races at each round. Th ey are, in case you don't know th em by heart : Ray mon d Boven , Gunnady ~ Ioisseie", .Jaroslav Falta, jiri Churuvv. Torlief l lansen, Ha rr v Everts. Gaston ' Rahier , and now. finally .Joel Robert. Thai 's also six separa te marques taking the checkered !'lag first. In the lead, ir's st ill Russian Gu nnady ~loisseiev ( KT~ I) wit h 20 po in ts over Czech J aros lav Fa lla (CZ) . T hese two have been swappi ng pla ces li ke m us ical c hairs through o ut the season. Nei ther finished both m o to s in Germany beca use of engine tro uble. but both finished second in at least one rnoto-keeping their distuncc . After showing good form. Jim l'o m er o y , dro pped out of both m o tos in Germany , In the first, his gea rbox broke up while he was ch allenging for the lead. In the second , he cr ash ed on the first lap, injuring a knee and had to be carri ed away by stretcher. Fortunately, the damage to jim is no t th ought t o b e to o serio us , m ainl y cu ts and bru ises . Il l' was no l th e o n ly s ta r to co m e to grief on th e n ast y . wet Bielstein tr ack. Sensa t ion of t he last- two Grands Prix, Torlief llan sen (Kaw) fe ll ba d ly in both races, and failed to restart. Be lgian Harry Everts was severely de runed by similar incidents. The sensation in Germany was the Suzuki t r io of Gaston Rahier, Joel R o bert, and Sylvian Geboers. They've bee n so e rratic this season that the fa ctory must have been looking intu the fine print of their lucrative three-year contracts. Now Suzuki rnav have to think again. . Bielstein is one of the oldest motocross tracks in Europe. wi th the ruts to prove it. \Vh en it gets wet, it's not just damp, it's awash, with broad , waterlogged t urn s and a slippery h ill section crossing a paved road goi ng bo th up an d down, Saturday practice was ru n wh ile it was still just damp, and Ha rry Everts wa s ti med , fastest. When t hey ran another session on Sunday, it took many riders by surprise, First mota Gaston Rahicr led the pack th roug h the first watersplash, wi th Jim Po meroy clos ing o n h im in the open ing lap s. Meanwh ile, a hi!: pile-up had drow ned many hopefuls, including Vie Allan and Harry Everts. As they struggled Oil, jim crep t up on the Suzuk i's lail, harrassing him uphill, drawing alongside him down the drop and attempting to cu t underneath Rahier to the exit, But as they were racing ne ck and ne ck, jim's gearbox broke up , and he had to pull out with only 13 minutes elapsed . ~1 0 isseiev look Over seocnd, but German hope llans ~Iaisch ( ~ I ai) fell and dropped out to the disappointment of local fan s. Falta was content to follow for two-third s of the ra ce. It was too ris ky fOT a n y do-or-die overtaking, but after 30 minutes he went out with a water-soaked engine. That left the rest of Team Suzuki , Geboers and Robert, 10 take third and fourth, followed by fellow Belgian Boven on the very quick Mon tesa. Good rides were turned in by some of th e younger racers, includ ing 20 year-old Belgian Jean-Claude Laquaye (Yam) and co n te m p o rar y , Swede l Ia ka n Carlqvisl (Oss), taking the place of more famous namesake, IIakan Andersssun still too badly injured to return to GP co m pe tition . Second mota Even before the ga le fell , ,\ lo isse ie v was bo unc ing tip and dow n on the star t line and indicating to his KTl\l mec hanics t hai the latest prototype sprinzless suspension units h a ve n ' t got an y damping, either. But there's nothing they can do, and within a few laps from the start : he pulls out . jim got a bad start, then carne off trying to make up l{Tound on the first lap . lie spectated from the first -aid tent after his crash . Rahier was quickest out of the gate After J im 's gea rbo x went t o lunch, Gaston led the first moto start to f inish and won his first Gra nd Pr ix. Continu ed on pag e 3 6 Roger grabs a classic in sid e h of esho t, Mikkola sweeps arou nd on the outsid e. DeCoster closes the gap in Czecho; Brad picks up points;. DiStefano ninth Overall By Marti n Christie Photos by Lori Hagman PREROV, CZECHOSLOVAKIA,jU:"E 9 Two men completely dominate 500cc mo tocross Grand Prix. Heikki Mikkola still holds a 46point lead in th is year's World Championship battle, but reigning champion R oge r DeCoster is doi ng everyt hing he can to close the gap. creeping up on points. and p utt ing press ure on the Flying Finn. ,\ 1ik kola has often, in the past, looked good in t he firs t hal f of t he series, b ut deteriora ted w he n real pressure is turned on, getting ragged unde r st rain. Bu t, judging fro m last S u nday 's Czech rou n d, he 's n ot going 10 be shaken easily fro m a sh ot a t his firs t world t it le, T he t r a ck at Prerov h ad been specially widened Cor th e even t but, like all East European circuits, was o n th e tight and tri cky side. An unusually co ld spell struck on race weekend, brin!(ing o m ino u s rain clouds. On Sunday, the heavens opened and turned the ground into a quagmire. ~ Iikkola had all the style and speed in timing, followed by DeCoster , an d the Dutch Suzuki team mate. Gerrit Wolsink. Brad never really settled down on the track and was some way back. It was a real disappointment after his ex cellent rides in th e last few Grands Prix , but it pointed out the toughness of the World Cham pionship ci rcuit having to adapt. week after week, 10 totally different condi tions an d types of trac ks, Brad has excelled w hen the goi ng has been hard an d fast , as in It al y , and in Denmark, w he re some of t he bikes wer e geared to do 90 ~ ( P II down th e f in i s h i ng . s t r a ig h t s . BUI th e Eas t Europeans tend to have motocross tracks which would suit a n en duro be trer than a m oto cr o ss, Thoug h Brad failed to finish in the poin ts in th e first mOIO, so me how h e m an aged to s tr ugg le thro ug h tor ren t ia l ra in a nd fini sh e igh th in t he secon d leg, T o n y D iS tefan o gOI a CZ fac t o ry bike , so me training a t th e facto ry an d fin ish ed I I th an d 12 th in the tw o motos wh ic h n etted h im n inth Overall in h is first Grand Pri x and h is fi rst ride in Europe, lie ma y no t be a privateer anymore . The cz factory was pleased wi th his performan ce. First mota Just as in timed pract icc, il was De-Coster a nd Wolsink, wh o set the pace . Mik kola took the lead on lap three, and held onto it with both Suzukis in his wak e. As h as happened in so m an y GPs , o nce out front , ~I i k k o l . ~Iikkola, rode like a man possessed, sure of h is w i n, and never making a m is take. DeCoster began to close in the later stages, bUI the Finn put on a spurt in the last laps, crossing the line wi th a comfortable 10 second margin , An unlucky \I'olsink lost third, whic h he had held all race on the very last lap. The man who sneaked in to take h is Brad (27) p u rsu es Husqvarna teammate Arne Kr in g over a dropoff . p lace was crafty Adolf Weil [Mai] who spent the whole 45 minutes rel e ntlessly cutting into th e Dutch man's advantage. Second mota B" the tim e th e. second moto started, d riv in g r a i n was se nd ing 15,000 spectato rs huddlin g fo r m eager sh elter, Conditions on t he trac k were loo king very unpleas ant. T he pa ck got o ff t o a b ad , slip pe ry start wi th ~li kko l a searc hi ng fran tic a lly for grip , balking, and gelling off the lin e right in the m iddle of traffic. DeCos le r, of course, master of ali c o nd i tio ns, was out in front. By riding like a de mon, l\Iikkola caught him within three laps and look the lead in a remarkable display of speed and talent. Yet, somehow, he lost his grip, For more Ihan half the rnoto, ~Iikkola fought against blinding Con tinued on page 36 13