and had to struggle through to fifth at
the flag . He failed to find grip in the
mud of the later stages of moto two
after taking the lead in the dry . He
dropped back rapidly to finish sixth.
Last year's world number two Gerrit
Wolsink, who has split with his English
mechanic Steve Butler after a
succession of disagreements , was again
pointless, pulling out of both motos
after failing to sta y with the leaders
despite.fitting a new reed-valve motor.
Maico 's misery was complete when
Herbert Schmitz, eighth in the first
moto, went out of the second when
brought down by th e Noyce -Piron
incident.
o
00
O'l
~
Results
1. Andre Molh«be (Honl 2·1; 2. Roger Deeost...
...
(Han) 1-3; 3. Andre Vromans (Yam) 3-2; 4 . Ger d Rond
ISuzl 64; 5. Brlld l.acliaink
1171.
World Championship
250cc MX Series:
Round five
VanderVen
scores in Poland
quarter· litre GPs, Jim Pomeroy has
had
pointless
outings
in
Czechoslovakia and Belgium. He was
refused an entry in Germany despite
FIM approval when the promoter
contacted Rene Brunell and the
president of the MX commission was
unable to confirm the change.
The Beta factory. disenchanted by
the hassle over entries and a lack of
results, refused to send Pomeroy to
Poland and the American was
expected to return to the States after
visiting the factory .
Results
1. K... Van d... Ven (Mail 14; 2. Georges Jobe ISuzl
4-3; 3 . Jean Claude Laquaye (SWMI 5-2; 4 . Dimitllr
Rangolov (Hus! 3-5; 5. Rolf Diaffanbach (Han) ' ·1; 8.
Jean Paul Mingel8 {YamI2--; 7. Matti Tarkkonen {Yam}
~ ; 8. Reymond Boven (HUll 8-7; 9. Sor"" Mortenaan
(Kral 9-9; 10. Erkki.Sundatrom (HUll 7-'; 11. Michele
Margarotto (Mool '-ll; 12 . Patr ick Fura IHUlI ' ·10.
, Denotee placing outside the lOp 10 .
World Chempionlhip Poinl Standings: 1. Jobe (941;
2. Rangelov 163) 3. Boven (521 4. Jaroolav Falta (591; 5.
;
;
;
Fritz Kobele 1481; 8. Diaffanbach (44); 7. Laquaye (391
8. Noll Hudson (31); 9 . Van dar Van and Mingols 1301.
World Championship
125cc MX Series:
Round six
West German
round to
Geboers
By Alex Hodgkinson
By Alex Hodgkinson
SAARBRUCKEN, WEST
GERMANY, JUNE S
SZCZECIN, POLAND,JUNES
Such is the domination of the
rounds they have contested that
Harry
Everts
and
Marc
Velkeneers are still more than
After scoring just seven points in
the previous four rounds, Dutch
Maico rider Kees Van der Ven
swept to overall victory in the
Roger DeCoster won the opening moto in Italy; his third in the second moto
gave him second overall. Unset) Bad Brad didn't feel well; rode to a 5-6.
World Championship
500cc MX Series:
Round six
Malherbe,
DeCoster on
top in Italy
By Alex Hodgkinson
Photos by Bob Gould
FERMO,ITALY ,JUNES
Defending World Champion
Graham Noyce saw his last
chance of retaining the title
disappear in the sixth round of
18
th is year's championship when he was
taken to hospital with both bones in
his lower left leg broken after being
centerpunched by Italian Villa ride r
Paolo Piron in the Italian GP .
Noyce immediately said that he
would not race again this season in an
effort to rega in full fitness . So far th is
year he has sustained ligament
damage when he dislocated his
collarbone on Easter Monday. broken
a toe and now his leg. He underwent
an operation on his leg when the
swelling went down and will go ba ck
on the ope rating table in the near
future for repairs to the ligament
damage in his shoulder.
.
There is every chance of th e crown
staying in the Honda cam p, however .
Belgian teammate Andre Malherbe
returned
to t he top
of the
cham pionship tab le in Italy with
another overall win , his onl y defeat
coming in the first rac e at the hands of
veteran teammate Roger DeCoster
who mounted the rostrum in second
place at the end of the day .
Malherbe had ridden through the
field from eighth place to second in
the first moto and came from another
moderate start in the second moto to
take the lead in the second half of the
race when the rains came.
All of the Honda team had new
470cc motors installed for the first
time and DeCoster led both races,
ending the day with a 1·3 score while
Noyce had placed fourth after gating
second to Gerard Rond in the first
moto,
Rond was aga in riding the 1979
works Suzuki , complete with spare
chain in the airbox to meet the weight
restrictions, but could only register
sixth and fourth places despite getting
the holeshot in both motos .
With Hakan Carlqvist still slowed by
the throat infection which forced him
out of the Finnish Grand Pr ix and
championship leader Brad Lackey
suffering with a liver compla int and
laryngitis, Andre Vromans was the
only man to beat the Hondas all da y as
he completed a Belgian 1·2·3 sweep
with th ird and second places.
To add to Lackey's problems, he
could only gate II th in the first moto
Polish
round
of
the
World
Championship 250cc MX Series with a
first race win backed up by a second
moto fourth .
Riders from the low countries
reveled in the sandy going at Szczecin
in the north of the east European
country and Georges Jobe, the Belgian
Suzuk i rider, opened up a 31 point
lead in the championship by virtue of
a 4·3 da y.
Jobe has now scored in every race
bar one and has never received the
checkered flag in lower than fourth
place. His large points lead comes
despite the fact t hat his only race wins
have come in his native Belgium .
Compatriot Raymond Boven has
moved into third place in the series
despite a relatively disappointing
Claude
Laquaye
display. Jean
equalled jobe's score on the day while
Jean Paul Mingels, riding on a
Luxembourg license because he can't
get on the Belgian grading list, took a
first race second.
It was a disastrous day for the east
Bulgarian
Europeans.
Although
Dimitar Rangelov again placed well in
both races to move past Husqvarna
teammate Boven into second place in
the series, not one of the CZ mounted
stars of Czechoslovakia and Russia
scored a point.
Jaroslav Falra, so en igmatic in
recent years , appears to have gone
back to his old habits after a hot run in
the early GPs and the dominant force
of the seventies, Moiseev and Kavinov,
were never in contention.
The up and down life of the
German Honda duo continued. Fritz
Kobele, with 24 points in Spain and 22
in Germany. had his third double
DNF of the season. But Rolf
Dieffenbach, completely out of touch
since his win in the Spanish opener,
roosted his way to a second moto win
in Poland.
American interest in the series seems
to be at an end. Hav ing changed in
mid -season from the 500 to the
30 points in front of their rivals despite
failing to score in the sixth round of
the 125cc World MX Championship
in West Germany.
Reigning champion Everts , who
broke his arm in a track crash in May ,
is back in physical training, but still
awaits word from the doctor to return
to action.
Everts seemed certain to lose his
slender one point championship lead
to his young compatriot Velkeneers,
but the IS ·year.old crashed in the first
moto and had to have seven fragments
of bone removed from his foot by a
Belgian specialist the da y after th e
event .
With fellow countryman and three
times champion Gaston Rahier third
in the table at the start of the day and
experiencing problems with his works
Gilera , it was left to a fourth rider
from the land of all the talents, 17·
year-old Eric Ceboers, to share the top
spot on the day with Japanese
champion Tetsumi Mitsuyasu and
move into third place in the
championship.
Each scored a win and a second
though they are split in the race for
championship honors by Italian
Michele Rinaldi who again had an
excellent day on the Hiro-engined
TGM .
With a fifth and a third, he led the
Italian squad from whom Franco
Perfini, Dario Nani and Corrado
Maddii also scored points. Italian joy
was completed by a first race third for
Torao Suzuki on yet another Hiroengined machine. the Aprilia.
•
Results
1, Eric Geboers (Yaml 1·2; 2. Tatoumi MitBuyaau
(Yaml 2·1; 3. Micl1ale Rinaldi ITGMI 5-3; 4. Jecky
Vimond (Yam); 74; 5. Torso Suzuki (Apr13-'; 6. Franco
Perlini (Gill4-' ; 7. Pat ... Groaneveld IHanI ' -5; 8. Derio
Ntni (Gill ~' ; 9. Ole Svendaan (KTMI '-6; 10 . Hank
Seppanwoolde(Honl ' ·7; 11. Craig Coleman ISuzI8-';
12. Corrado MlIddii (Aprl'-6; 13. Metti Autio (Hool9-' ;
14. Dinant Zijlatra (Yaml ' ·9; 15. Yuri Khudiakov ICZl
10-'; 16. Volari Korneev ICZl ' -10.
• Denotes placing outside the top ten.
World Chempionohip Point Standings: 1, Harry
Everts 1981; 2. Marc Volk_ 1971; 3. Geboers 184); 4 .
;
Rinaldi 152} 5. MitouyalU (801 8. Gaston Rahier (511 7.
;
;
Groeneveld (421; 8. Autio 140); 9. Suzuki 134); 10. Nani
(321.
