Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Broc Glover e.slly won the first moto on the slippery Angreau track, but a f.1I and a reluctant-to-start motorcycle netted him a second-moto 13th. Glover won the first moto, but fell in the second one and finished 13th. "The first race was prelly good, but the second wasn't such a good race. After I fell I couldn't get the bike started and a bunch of guys got past me. And Barnell took a third in the second moto after pulling out of the first moto with a broken shock before re-entering the race. "Before coming over here to Europe I wanted to do real good, but when the shock broke it was a real bummer because I didn't finish like I wanted to. It's a tearn race and the other guys won so it turned out well." Sunday morning's weather and track conditions were not conducive "1.0 racing. Typically gray and wet Belgian weather combined with unseasonable cold made the rocky track a slick and slippery handful. It appeared to favor the Belgians, but when the gate dropped and the pack had rounded the first turn, it was America 1-2-3-4. With the shield of invincibility around the World Champion-studded Belgian team pierced, the Yanks set out in the second moto to reinforce the fact that they're the best in the world. Geboers got the holeshot followed by Bailey, Ward, Vromans and Barnett. Glover got a good start that soon weOl bad. "In the first turn the pack swept wide and I was the guy on the outside. I was out in the grass in fifth or sixth place. When we came down to make the turn, Jobe knew I was there and ran me up in the banners. The pack weOl by and I was in about 15th or 20th place," Glover explained. Bailey stuck to Geboers, taking over the lead at about the 15-minute mark. "When Geboers took the holeshot I thought he'd pull away from me and I wouldn't be able to catch him. Butl got closer when he crashed on the seventh lap and I knew I could get him. I decided to let Barnett by to catch him and put some pressure on him, which he did. I stayed with Barnell to see what kind of line he had to make our team effort stronger. We both caught back up to Geboers and I think that made him nervous because he knew he pretty much had to win and for his teammates to do really well so he was trying as hard as he could." "It was raining and the track was 1'eally slippery," Ward added, "and we knew he was gomg to crash and he did. He fell back to 16th place." Vromans was the next-best Belgian with Jobe and Malherbe trying to atone for bad starts. The top two teams were obvious from the start, It but third was still to be decided and Thorpe and Whatley were doing their best to put the Union jack on the victory stand, staying in the top 10 with their teammates just outside. Glover had moved back up into seventh when he came up on Thorpe. "Thorpe and I were going at it. I cut under him in a turn and as soon as I cut, I fell." Before taking himself out of the lead, Geboers inadvertently slowed Bailey with vision problems. "We had closed right up to Eric and he went through a berm that kicked a bunch of dirt up in my goggles and the little button that you pull on the roll-off system came off so I had no vision for a few laps. I started pulling stuff across with my hand and the whole thing came undone. I started catching up to him and he stalled in a corner and I passed him." The top six spots belonged to the Americans and Belgians with the order reading Bailey, Vromans, Ward, Barnett, Jobe and Malherbe. Coming to the finish line, Ward took the checkered flag and backed off, but the timing light was past the flag so he was nipped by Barnett for third. Either way it was Americans 1-3-4 and that was more than enough for the victory. The Belgians finished 2-5-6 with Geboers finishing 16th after the spill. It looked easy, but according to Glover it wa n't. "It·s terribly deceiving what the American public thinks. They think we come over here and walk away with it. We expected a lillie more competition. This was their be t team," he said. Bailey agreed: "I knew it would be tough because last year Jobe was strong, but he was replacing Malherbe and Malherbe was stonger than anybody else. And also last year Everts had some wrist problems and Jobe broke his foot in the second race. It was the top four riders this year." Barnett led Glover, Ward and Bailey with Malherbe the first European. But any thoughts of a cakewalk were erased by a pair of mechanical problems. The shock on Barnell' Jeff Clark-prepped Suzuki broke just past the mechanic's area, jamming the rear tire against the airbox. He had to lift up the rear end of the bike and improvise to get it back to the pits. Al about the same time Bailey was noticing trouble with the gearbox on his Cliff White-tuned Honda. "On the second lap-on the straightaway-it wouldn't stay in founh when I shifted; it would go back to third. And at first I thought it wa my fault. but then I realized it was the transmission, so I just used second and (Top) Jeff Ward put in good ride. to take the second-best score. (Above) Mark Barnett's third in the second moto helped the American effort. third and took it easy on the straigh ts," Bai ley said. Malherbe, the runner-up in this year's 500cc World Championship, wa moving forward and took the lead only to pitch itaway on the from straightaway, lelling the Americans back in front. Barnell rejoined the fray after being oudor a few laps, JUSt as his teammates were coming by. He let Glover and Ward past, and lUck behind them, frustrating Jobe who was trying to get the lead. "They should have blue-flagged him because he wa a lapped rider and they should have let me by. Actually, they should have taken him but of the race because he didn't do enough laps," said jobe. But American team manager Roger DeCostercoumered by saying," ince this is a team race and every score counts, what he did was legal. The rules say that he has to finish within three laps of the leader, which he did," Glover took the win on his Jon Rosenstiel-tuned Yamaha by five seconds over teammate Ward, who had the same margin on Jobe. Bailey was just behind in fourth with Arno Dreschel of West Germany fifth ahead of Geboers and Watson. When the scores were tallied by the Olympic method, the Americans held a 7-19 advantage, "After taking the lead and an easy win in this moto, we feel a lot better about the second one," said Bailey. The Belgians wouldn't give up, however. jobe said, "If it wasn't for Barnell coming back imo the race and slowing me down and keeping me. away from Ward and Glover, I could have won the race." Comparing last year's American effort to this year's, Bailey said, "It was easier with an all-Honda team. It was just easier for the riders to communicate and for the mechanics. This year everything had to be kept separate. It was easier to organize things last year and it was less individual stress so the spirit was a little bit higher. This year the riders are a fa ter team." DeCoster auributed the rise in the American motocross status to Supercros , where reflexes are sharpened and starts are crucial. Ward concurred aying, "They don't worry so much about the start since they have more time to move up, but we go for it." To complete the sweep as thev have the past two years, the Americans have to take the Trophee des 'ations for the 250s in Czechoslovakia next week. They don't lack confidence. "We can really smoke them on the 250s," said Ward. "Next week all of our 250s are going to be a little superior and we're more used to the 250 machines so it should be stronger," Bailey, the multi-champion, said. But after winning with hali the points of the next best team, I)ow much stronger do they need to be? • Results 1st MOTO: 1. Broc Glover (Yam); 2. Jeff Ward (Kaw); 3. Georges Jobe (Suz); 4. David Bailey(Hon); 5. Arno Oreschsel (Hon): 6. Eric Geboers (Suz); 7. Dave Watson (Yam); 8. Jeremy Whatley (Suz); 9. Johan Martens (Yam); 10. Andre Vromans (SUl). 2nd MOTO: 1. David Bailey (Hon); 2. Andre Vro· mans (Suz); 3. Mark Barnett (SUl); 4. Jeff Ward {Kawl; 5. Georges Jobe (Sull; 6. Andre Malherbe (Honl: 7. Dave Thorpe (Honl; 8. Jaak Van Velthoven (KTM); 9. Jeremy Whatley (SUl); 10. Arno Dresch· sel(Han). OVEAALL: 1. USA (15): 2. BelgIum (321; 3. Great Britain (54); 4. Luxembourg (78); 5. West Germany (97): 6. France (1 11): 7. Italy (120) 21

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