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(Above) Brad Lackey tied Heikki Mikkola on moto finishes; lost the French GP to the Finn on aggregate time.lBelow left) ~iriner'Mikkola~ 'IBelow rig hi) DeCoster's best was a second-moto fourth. World Championship 500cc MX Series· Round three Lackey, Mikkola split wins in France ByChris Myers Photos by Nick Haskell GA ILLEFONTAIN E. FRANCE, APR . 30 , Works Honda rider Brad Lackey is the only man who can present a serious threat to the defending World 500cc Motocross Champion Heikki Mikkola in this year's contest. That is the inescapa ble conclusion the French Grand Prix where bo th rivals each scored with first and second places in the two motos. . . The French orgamzers gave Mikkola the overall result on aggregate time . Lackey is now j ust two points behind Mikkol a in the title stakes. while fivetimes World Champ ion , Roger DeCoster, now trails 27 po ints behind in third after a crash put him out of the first moto on Sunday. 14 Lackey 's British Honda teammate Graham Noyce suffered from the drive cha in problems tha t ha ve plagued him this yea r. In both motos he lost a secure th~r~ ~lace. First time out he d ropped to eighth on the last lap when his chain slipped off and he pushed home. In the second moto the chain snapped cOl:npletely . . DeCoster s works Suzuki teammate Gerrit Wolsink also failed to make a real impression on Sunday. Wolsink had a bad start in the first moto and finished sixth. but dropped out after just two laps in the second complaining that his steering head was loose. A huge crowd of almost 30.00 0 spectators packed around the tig ht. twisty co u rse just outsid e th e litt le village of Gaillefontaine for th e GP . T hey were luck y to ha ve hot su n for both motos for it had rai ned hea vily th e night before and sta rt ed up aga in .. a . during the prize ceremony afterwards. Belgian Andre Malherbe on the new works 420cc KTM led Lackey. Noyce and Mikkola at the sta rt of the first moto, but at the end of the first lap he'd slipped to third behind Lackey and Mikkola. DeCos ter retired after a crash snapped off the lug on the front fork slider that retains the brake plate. Swede Hakan Andersson . the ugly cut on his hand now full y healed after he aggravated th e inj u ry at the Austrian GP , was fifth at the start and West German Herbert Schmitz sixth. Tenth was lanky Belgian Jaak Van Velthoven rid ing last year's KTM after blowing up the new bike in practice. Mikkola pressed Lackey very ha rd for the first two laps and the lead changed hands regularly until the Flying Finn came through finall y. Both men then pulled away from Noyce who was now third after passing Malherbe. T he leader board was set for .t he next 12 laps. T he n , four lap s from th e end . Lackev seized his cha nce when Mikkola we;'t down after cr ashing int o Ad olf Wcil . Mikkola took a few valuable seconds to pick himself up and get goin g aga in . but th ere wasn' t enoug h rim e left a nd he set tled for second . At the flag. Malh erbe was a distant th ird . Schmitz who had passed Ander sso n o n lap nin e was fourth a nd Wolsink ' was sixt h a hea d of Belgian Suzuki rid er Andre Vromans. Tenth a nd last m an to avoid bein g lapped was Ab erg. . Noyce a nd Lackey bot h rushed off toge the r fro m the sta rt of th e second moto a hea d of DeCost..r. Mikkola and Malherbe. The end of th e first lap . however. saw Lackey first followed by Mikk ol a . Noyce . De-Coster and Malh erb e. Mikkola pa ssed Lackey aft er two laps and aga in th e two rivals pulled awa y from Noyce , lea vin g DeCoster and Malherbe spread ou t behind. Moving up very fast th ough was Hakan Andersson. Arter a brief russel with Malherbe he was fifth . th en one lap later . fou rth . as DeCoster su rrendered seem ingly withou t a challenge. The race began to turn into a procession with the field spread right out led by Mikkola , Lackey. Noyce. Andersson . Malherbe and DeCoster in that order, Th ings livened up a hit when Lackey slipped off and dropped back 20 seconds beh ind the leader while Br itish hopes were dashed when Noyce 's chain snapped seven laps from t he flag when he had a sure third place. Mal herbe dropped back a place to fin ish sixth wh en his KTM developed gea r selec tor problems Dutch 125cc GP winner Gerard Rond leac .Groeneveld (35) at Apled~orn. and that made DeCoster fourth and , French KTM rider Jean Jacques Bruno fifth . Van Velthoven was seventh well . ahead of Schmitz with Aberg ninthrra again the last man to avoid being lap d ped. At .th e flag Mikkola had a 3 second lead from Lackey. ib Briton John Banks rode his Merlyn 498cc Honda four-stroke in his firSt", Grand prix thisyear, but dropped out 2 of both motos when the bike refused tOli shift up from first . Results 6,,1 'U Overall : t . H. M ikkola IYaml; 2. B. Lackey IHonl; 3: H'U Andersson IHuII; 4. A . Ma lherbe fKTM 1 5. H. Schmi ~ ; IM all; 6. R. DeCost er ISuz); 7. J - J . Bruno IKTM'; 8..J . Van vetthcven IKTM I: G. Wolsink (Suz); 10. B. Abet'g IYaml ; A . Vroma ns (Suz): 12. G. Noyce {Hon l; 13. F. Kobele (M ail. First M oto : 1. Lackey: 2. Mi kkola; 3. Malherbe;14. SChmitz; 5. andersso n; 6. W olsink; 7. Vromans; 8. Noyce : 9 . Aberg ; 10. Van Velt hoven ; B. Wright te e MI. j Second Moto : 1. Mi kkola; 2. Lackey; 3. Andersso n; 4. DeCoster; 5. J :--J Bruno; 6. Malherbe; 7. Va~ Velthoven; 8. Schmi tz; 9. Aberg ; 10. Kobele. Ct-ampionship standings: 1. L. M ikkola t72 point s); 2. Lack ey 1 ; 3 . DeCoster 1 ; 4. Malherbe 1 ; 5 .f) 701 431 361 Schmi tz 133 : 6. Van v eltbcven 1 ; 7. Wolsink 1261: S. 1 261 Andersson i21l; 9. v rc mans 1 2m; 10. Noyce 1 16t; 11': '" W righ t (S). i I World Championship J25cc MX Series · Round three • P" ,rlw , 6'1 ) 0' !T I . Rond continues domination in i Holland rf ( . 1. By Jack Burnicle (1 APLEDOORN. HOLLAND. APR. 30 , ,, Dutch champion Gerard Rand devastated the opposition on his works Yamaha to score his .second GP victory in successive l weekends at Apledoorn, Holland. ' 3 Revelling in the fast , ' loose' track conditions, Rond won both motos by over a minute from Suzuki rider Akira Watanabe to take over top slot in the title chase from Gaston Rahier. the reigning champ.' u2J Rahier had a wretched d ay. con-a ceding second position to Watanal:i~:. three laps from the end of the first ? J moto as his Suzuki developed a misfire, and pulling out after only one hundred ya rds in the second with th~e same problem . a Moto one saw Rond leap into an " immediate lead. and quickly leave" Watanabe. while Rahier lost pre cious