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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126613
Z50ee World XX Championship Series: Round one Jolle on top in S w itze rla nd By Nei.1Webster PA YERNE , SWITZERLAND, APR. 18 For~er World Champion Georges Jobe took the. first ~ tep to wards regain ing his title by ta~I n g h IS works Suzuki to a pair of moto WlI~S a t the 250cc MXGP opener in Payerne, SWItzerland. " I thought the rear of the bike was In taking both motos Jobe . h sc~re d tw~ce t e n ~m ber o~ pomts of hISnearest rival, MattI Tarkkonen of Finland. (Above) Dave Watson (8) leads winner Georges Jobe (2) at the start of moto one. (Below) Watson and Danny laPorte battled in the second moto. (Botto m ) laPorte left Switzerland tied for t hird. From the start of th e first race Brirai n's Da ve Wa tson (Yam) was th e ma.n to watch . Whil e lobe ca refu lly wei ghed up th e oppostion in a steady fourth p lace, Watson got the holeshot and blasted to the front of the pack. Followed by on-form Belgian johan Martens and dynamic Italian Mauri zio Do lce (Mai), Watson q u ickly settied into a steady rh yth m n a nd looked every inch a winner when a missed gear on a downhi ll jump sent him flying over the handlebars. Although he escaped serious injury, Watson fell heavily, taking a hard knock on his face , and was unable to go on as blood poured from his nose. "I had a really good start and was going so easily until then ," h e said. ''I'm sure I could have gotten at least a good p lace but for the fall." With Watson out Mertens took over the running , b~t in his excitement tackled a downhill section too qui~klY' ."I could not stop and went straight mto the crowd," said the 20yea r-old Belgian who rides o n a Luxembourgh license. T he mistake dropped Martens to 15t h .bu t he q uickly worked bac k up the field, cha llenging Kees Van der Ven for fifth pl ace in the last fo ur laps. As th e two men came into th e chicane for the last time, with the flag o n ly 20 yards away, Martens literall y launch ed h im self for the o nly line. H e hit Van der Ven with a broadside, bringing both riders d o wn and a fra ntic struggle saw the Du tchma n re mount first to hold fifth , Martens settling for sixth. Bu t it was always lobe. He held the lead for all bu t the first four laps and was so smooth he looked decedptively slow. Seco n d time out Watson again looked set for a win as he stole the lead from jobe at half distance, bu t W:llSOn 'S nose started to bleed only 10 mmutes into the race, making breathing difficult and he could not hold on as jobe a nd Yamaha's Da n n y LaPo rte relegated him to third in the closi ng stages. j o be came around fourth on lap one, behind Martens, Watson and Puch -mo u nted Austrian Willie Wa llinger, and picked up one place on each of the next three laps to move into place for his second win of the day . Bu t Watson was in no mood to gi~e up after his first race disappomtrnent and forged past ea rly leader Martens as th e Bel gian ran wide on a bend o n lap seven . With j obe slo wing with su spected rear- end tro u ble three laps later • , \\ ~ tso n mo ved to the fro nt a nd st rugg h ng for br eath through a g hastly . m l,,:tu re of bl ood a nd d us t cl u ng on unttl jobe was reassured a bo u t his I ' d his I d.' . - r. - - d UZU,,1 n rec aime IS ea · br~ke!l,"saidj?be ,whocamearound pomttng angn ly to the rear of h is bike after Watson had sli pped by. "It felt as if the wheel or the swing a rm was broken and the bi ke would ~ot p u ll away smoothly. T he n I lo st mr, b~ck bra ke fo~ the .last four laps. Stt.ll , .everr th m g IS goo~ now . The ~I!,e IS gomg well, I feel 10 good co ndition and I a m very ha ppy with my start to the season. " With top challengers Watson and LaPorte dropp~ng out of race one LaPorte co llectt n g a rear wheel puncture .wh i l~ holding fifth - it was u p t~ high ,fIrst ra~e scorers Do Ice and Finland s Mattt Tarkkone n to keep the p~essure on jobe.. Neither cou ld senously threaten jobe, ho wever, and after Do Ice was put out of the second leg by a terrible start and an e~rly crash as he fought through the field, the Belgian had a grea~ chance t~ set up a commanding !ead 10 the senes and he did not waste It. . He now has double the points of second man Tarkkonen who co uld only man~ge si?{1h place in race two after bash 109 h is foot on a rock early on. . . . . LaPorte joms Do Ice 10 third overall after wi nning a tita n ic battle for second p lace with Watson in race two. . Way d o wn 1!l lOth o n the opening la p , the Amenca n slowly closed up on t he lea ders , p ick ing off third man Marten s o n la p 10 before closing in on the leadi ng p air of Wa tson and jobe as th ey fo ught o ut their own battle. . As jobe took the lea d fro m Wa tso n five la p s from ho me, LaPorte was righ ~ with }hem and going faster all the tt~e. \\ atson almos t managed to h ol d hi m ~ff but La Porte h ad the bit between his teeth a nd blasted th ro ugh to take the points on the last lap. " I had a lot of trouble getting past Da ve," said La Porte. " I left it a bit late and then saw th ere was only one la p to go and thought ' Hell , I've got to get past here." Once I wasthrough ther~ was no problem and I co ul d possibly. hav~,caughtjobe had I given m yself ttme. La Porte's fellow American, Mike G uer:a, had an equa lly strong ride o n his Husqvarna. Forced out of the first leg with a broken rear shock absorber bo l t, Guerra desperately needed poin ts from the second race and fo rged t~rough the field from 17th o n the firs t lap to fourth at the flag. With his main riva ls hit by fa lls a nd mech anical problems i t was j o be's d~ y . H e a lread y l oo~s li ke .a red-ho t ttp to ta ke back th e title Nell Hudson sna tche d from him last year. Results • MOTO ONE : 1. Georges Jo be (Suz); 2. Meruizio Oolce (M elr, 3 . MOlll Tarkkonen (Yem); 4 . Han s MaIsch IMal); 5. Kees Van Dar Van (KTM) ; 6 . Johan Menens (Yem l; 7 . He inz Kinigodnor (Yom); 8. Jean Claud Lacq uay e (Han): 9 . Pol Oecendre (Su z): 10 . Jaroslav Faits (Cll. MOTO TWO: 1. Jobe: 2. Dann y LaPone (Yam ): 3 . Dave Watson (Yam): 4 . Mike Guerra (Hus); 5 . Manens: 6 . Torkkonen; 7. Von Der Ven ' 8 LacQuave; 9. Decenwe; 10. Raben Groisch (Ho';).