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/126610
...... ..... lo-< 0. < Marc Velkeneers (14). Harry Everts (1) and Jo Martens (13) funneled into the loamy first turn. Sand specialist Andre Vromans was unstoppable. American Danny laPorte (leading) and Martens fought in moto two, Mike Guerra. another American GP contender. was on the scene. 6th Annual Trop.hY.. des .argues Vromans leads Suzuki to victory By Henny Ray Abrams VORSELAAR, BELGIUM, MAR . 21 Andre Vromans, the newest addition to Team Suzuki, ran away with both motos to take individual honors and lead his Suzuki team to victory in the 6th Annual Trophy des Marques, for 500cc machines. Vromans a resident of nearby , Antwerp a nd Yamaha tea m ster last year, was unstoppable on 22 the half-mud, half-sand track in th e north of Belgium. Yamaha 's Jo Martens took credi ta ble seconds in both motos, but was never a serio us challenge. Third overall wenttoEddie Sterckx on a Maico. Vroman s wa s supported by teammates Eric Geboers, Harry Evens and G eo rges J obe in taking the team win. The secon d place Yamaha-mounted team wa s led by Martens, with Danny LaPorte, Raymond Heerens and Marc Velkeneers also on board. Team Maico's Sterckx, hometown favorite Yvan Van den Broeck, Hans Maisch and Benny Wilk en fin ished third. American s Marty Moates and Mike Guerra also entered , but both ra n in to p roblem s and neither showed up in th e top ten . Moates, on the Motocross Marketing CR480 Honda, wa s teamed with World Cha~pion Andre Mal her.~ , G aston Rah ier a nd G uy Van G ijsegem on th e Honda tea m . H e ra n in to visi bi li ty problems in the first moto after losi ng his visor an d go ggles on th e slo p py , hea vily-ru ued tra ck. Guerra wa s on T eam Husq varna with Pierre Lassaut, Jean-Marie Milis. sen and Finland's Simo Taimi. H e was in a first turn pile-up in the first moto and couldn 't recover. H e dropped out of th e second moto, First Moto T en teams representing seven br ands lined up for th e start of th e fir st moto according to their qual ifyin g times. Wh en th e 40 rider s hit th e fir st turn Yamaha 's Velk en eers was leading Suzuki tea mmates Everts, Marten s, Geboers a nd Vromans, an d World Champion Malherbe. Guerra go t tangled up in th e co rner a nd was away last whi le LaPorte sta rted a bo u t 15th. Moates wa s cl o se beh ind La Porte . Velk en eers rel inquished hi s lead 10 Vromans o n the fir st lap , the n ca rtw heeled o n th e seco nd la p after re-starting. Suzu ki 's chances were hurt whe n form er 250cc World Champion Jobe wen t down in th e first turn. " It wa s im possi ble to sta rt th e motor," he said, but event ua lly wor ked his wa y up 10 13th at the rnoto's end behi n d Van den Broeck. Guerra was u p 10 abou t 22nd p lace, but was down on power to th e field. ''I' m ridi ng my 250, " he sai d . " My 430 won 't be read y for a few weeks so I h ad to ride this. " By th e h alf wa y p oint Vro mans h ad stre tched hi s lead o n Marten s, who had h is h ands full wi th G eboers. Behind th em ca me Everts, Sterckx a nd Malherbe. " I think I crashed twice in th e first moto," said Malherbe. "If I didn 't crash I could m aybe hav e finish ed third." Aft er h is first crash he was in ninth place, but finished fifth . LaPorte was in 12th , with a handful of problems. "The clutch began slip p in g and fin ally stopped. You had to hold the throttle wide open and zig zag through the riders a n d mud," th e 250cc Yamaha factory rider ex p la ined . " My side panels started to co me o ff a nd I had to sto p a nd br eak th em off ." LaPorte DNF th e first moto. Moates sto pped a t a bo ut halfway to get a new pa ir of goggl es, si nce he was getting sp ray ed constantly by ro oster tai ls fro m th e bikes in front of him. " Roger DeCoster got m e this ride for th e Internationals ," he said. " For th e 500cc GP 's I'll be on a Honda with Whi te Power and Motocross Marketing sponso ri n g me. This is the first 40 minute moto of the year , so yo u ca n see wh o's reall y in shape for it. ,. At th e end it wa s Vro mans, Martens and Geboers with Everts fourth. Three of th e top four were Suzuki mounted an d a vict ory looked li ke a cin ch. Of th e six years that this race has been run, Suzuki h as won it three times, including last year. Second Moto Vromans and Martens took command of the second moto right from the sta rt with LaPorte, Everts, Kees Van der Yen of KTM, and Velk eneers following. Attrition soon began to take its toll with Everts go ing out on the second lap. Malherbe also dropped out on the fourth lap while a minute behind Vromans. "The track was much worse in the second moto, Everything went worse for me . I had a problem with a suspension bolt and my wrist hurt a little bit. I got a bad start too, maybe 15th," said Malherbe. He also killed rumors that Honda would have a twin-cylinder works bike. " T h is is th e bike that I will ride in the GP 's. The FI M has a rule that a ll mo tors must be one cylinder. Honda devel oped a 125cc twin a few years ago a n d just when it wa s finished th e FIM passed th e rule." Also ou t was J obe after a spill whi le ru n ning eigh th. "A lea p over th e handlebar s and I stopped cold," sai d J obe. O th ers who didn ' t finis h th e seco nd rn o to were Van den Broeck , Guerra a nd An dre Massant o f the Suzuki " 2" team. The team race wa s tighten in g up wi th Marten s a nd Velk en eers pressurin g Vroma ns a nd Geboers in second. LaPorte wa s in th e top ten a lo ng with teammat e Ra ymond H eeren . " I was seco n d in th e fir st co rner," LaPorte said, " bu t the ruts and grooves got even deeper in th e seco n d moto, You cou ldn' t see very well either. First yo u' d go th rough yo u r tear-offs, th en yo u'd have 10 just wipe your goggles with everybody roosting you . At least I put in on e good moto fin ish ." T h ing looked go od for Suzuki until two la ps fro m the end whe n G eboe rs' bike lost its chai n robbin g him o f a sure seco n d. H e put it back on a nd fin is hed eig h th. Ma rt en s a n d Velk en eers were bot h looki ng at seco nd a n d a Yamaha team victory u nti l a few hundred yards fro m the finish whe n Velkeneers ra n o u t of gas . Even wi th th e larger ta nks o n , the sa nd a n d mud still ro bbed th e bikes o f gas an d po wer. Victory went to Vromans a nd Suzuki with Martens , Van der Yen , Sterckx an d H eeren ro unding o ut the top five. La Porte finish ed seventh. For Vromans it was more of th e same. In th e last 19 motos he's entered, he's won 17 of them a nd looks unstoppable wh en th e World Championships start in April in France. • Results ARST MOTa: 1. Andre Vromans ISud; 2. Jo Manens (Yam ~ 3. Eric Geboers ISul); 4. Horry Evens (SUl); 5. Andre Malherbe IHon) ; 6. Eddy Sterckx(Mai): 7. Jook Von Velthoven(KTMI; B. Roymond Heeren {Yarnl; 9 . G••ton Rahier (Hon) ; 10. Kees Van der Ven (KTMI . SECOND MOTO : 1. Andre Vromons (Suz); 2. Jo Monens(Vaml; 3. Keo. Von der Ven (KTMI ; 4. Eddy Sterckx (Moi) ; 5. Raymond Heeren (Vaml; 6. Benny Wilken IMoi); 7. Donny laPone (Vom); 8. Eric Geboers ISuz); 9 . Jan Blancquaen (Vamt; 10 . Jean· Marie Milissen (Hus). OVERALL: 1. Vromans; 2. Martens; 3. Sterckx.; 4 . Geboers: 5. Van der Ven ; 6. Heeren: 7 . Rsh ier ; 8 . Francois W ell en s (Yam); 9 . Blancquaen; 10. M il is- sen . TEAM OVERALL: 1. SUlukiTeam " 1" (13 pointsl 2. Yomoha Teom " 1" (14 ); 3. Mo ico (281; 4. KTM Team " 1'" (34); 5. Honda (431 6. Yama ha Team"2'" ; (48 1 7. Suzuk i Tum "2"' (57 ); B. HusqvarnoI59); 9 . ; KTM Teom "2'" (75); 10. Kawosaki.