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/126787
was difficult to pass on this track because it was so fas!' but I had to try in the early stages. There wa no tension. I knew he had to win and I had to crash or break down. But Thorpe is faster than Jobe at the moment so I knew he wouldn't win and I wasn't going to crash." Malherbe' confidence in the preparation of his Honda was al 0 built on firm ground. Prepared by Finnish mechanic Heikki Pentilla, Malherbe·. Honda's have now taken him to 48 consecutive top 10 GP finishes. That means no DNFs 'for two seasons. The action on the track was dominated by British champ Thorpe. He rrniled Yamaha's Hakan Carlq\'is!' making a conll'back from injul). for two laps at the start of the first leg before taki ng the lead and pulling a way. "The only !.>Ioblc:m I had wa, Ihal wilh Ihe fasr downhills Illy rear brakt' faded after twenty minutes and I had to use the front brake so hard the back end of the bike was skipping into the air," said Thorpe. "Then it started to rain and I had to wipe my goggles with my sleeve to save some tear-offs in case the rain got worse. I panicked a bil and put in two quick laps when the rain started in case the track got slippery, but it was only a shower." Those two quick laps were enough to gi ve Thorpe a 10 second advantage that he increased to the flag. Behind him a tough three-way scrap between Carlqvist, Jobe and for a time Malherbe was brewing, but the World Champion elect finally chose to drop off the pace, leaving Jobe to overpower Carlqvist in the final laps. The second leg was much more subdued. Jobe knew he had virtually no chance of winning the crown and Malherbe knew he only had to finish in the points. Taking no chances in the first chi-. cane, Malherbe slipped through cleanly in seventh, with Jobe fifth and barring disasters that was thaI. There were no disasters. Thorpe again cleared 0(( at the front with Jobe improving to second and Malherbe sauntering home in fifth. The only other drama came lower down the field where young Brit Kurt Nicoll and his KTM were fighting for eighth place in the series with fellow 19-year-old Leif Perrson, a Swedish Husqvarna rider, Eighth is the last place giving automaticqualification for next year's GP series, and with all the big factories watching these two youngsters it was an allimportant struggle. Nicoll got the better of Persson in moto one, fifth to the Swede's ninth, cutting the gap to one point. And after a worse start than Persson in the second moto, Nicoll produced all his growing reputation for determination to fight from 26th to fourth. Persson dropped out when his goggles were smashed by stones while Nicoll earned third overall on the day and the eighth place in the final point standings that was his goal going into the day's racing. Young American Eric Eaton surprised everyone with two strong, if hairy rides for fifth overall, building on a good start for a moto one seventh, and proving he can fight by turning a terrible second motostart Andre Malherbe did what he had to do in Italy - his 4-6 finishes earned him the 600cc title. World Championship SOOcc MX Series: Final round Malherbe wins third title with 4-5 in Italy By Neil Webster ESANATOGLIA, ITALY, AUG. 26 Britain's David Thorpe won his fifth and sixth motos in a row to sweep the racing in · t h e I ta IIan GP. But the 21-year-old Honda rider's achievement was overshadowed by 22 ~~~~I~~th. • OVERALL: 1. David Thorpe (Hon); 2. Georges JobeIKaw);3.KurtNicoIlIKTM);4.AndreMarherbe (Hon); 5. Eric Eaton (Honl; 6. Andre Vromans(Honl; 7.(T1E)FrancoPicco(Vam)/HakanCarlqvisIIVamil Claudio de Carli (Yam); 10. Eno Carducci IYam). 1ST MOTa, 1. Thorpe; 2. Jobe; 3. Carlqvist; 4. Marherbe; 5. Nicoll; 6. Vromans; 7. Eaton; 6. Picco; 9. lei' Persson (Hus); 10. Laurence Spence (Kaw). 2ND MOTa: 1. Thorpe; 2. Jobe; 3. De Carli; 4. Nicoll; 5. Malherbe; 6. Eaton; 7. Carducci; 8. Vromans; 9. Picco; 10. Michele Megarono (Kawl· 500cc MX FINAL POINT STANDINGS: 1. Andre Melherbe (3101; 2. Georv-.lobe (3691; 3. Dmd n-pe (349~ 4. Andr. Vromen. (2611; 6. &ik ~1246~e.Laur..... Spence(ln~7.Jukka Simonen(ln~8.KurtNicoll(147);9.LaifParuon . . h t eamma t e A n d re M a Ih er be W O o be su'11 h ad an outSIde chance 0 f J won his ·third World Chamsnatching the crow,:!, but he had to beat Malherbe well 10 each leg. The _ . .. . plonshlp tlt 1e with two stea d Y Honda man would have nothing of it, however, and a.£ter early efforts to rl'des good for fourth and fl' fth. bl d pass Jobe settled 10 comfortably be'l Th Wh I e orpe aste away at the hind him, making no mistakes and front of each moto, to win by over Iisking no disasters. half a minute each time, the crowd's Jobe took two seconds, but Maliillerest centered on the leading pair herbe's fourth and fifth were ample. . . . ' ad every thin/!! under control," I h lOt h esenes, Bel' glans Ma Ih er be an d Kawasaki-mou.nted Georges Jobe, said the'new World Champion.::I,t. .. • (146~.10.~~(97). , • • •• t .. Voices (Colllilllit'd frolll pagl' -I) My recent visit brought back fond memories of Cal' talent. Just before his tragic death in New Zealand before the 1972 racing season started in the USA, Cal won Lagurra ca and wa the high point rider in tbe 1971 Trans Atlantic Match Races, leading the USA to a team victory. Dick Mann said that there are a Lot of talented riders in the world, but only one Mr. Rayborn. PAT OWENS Temple City, CA Great world I just want you to know that you are doing a fantastic job at Cycle News, and I love all the articles you put in regarding safety. Keep up the great workl GALE "Motocross Mom" WEBB Sunnymead, CA Thunderstorms and racing I noted in' reading about tbe Ponca City, Oklahoma race (Cycle News, August 29), that a severe thunderstorm hit the race course during one of the races. One picture showed lightning striking as one of tbe races just got underway. In my opinion tbis race should have been delayed until the storm was over. This kind of storm is one thing you don't mess around with. Other than the rain. wind, thunder and lightning, you also have large hail to contend with. With the combined force of the hail, the speed of the wind and the speed of the racen, someone could easily be seriously injured or worse. Someone should have had a weather radio along with them. MICHAEL MUELLER Camas, WA More G.K. Scott I don't look for errors in point standings (Cycle News, Seplember 5). I just follow Ihem, likea baseball fan follows baseball standings. It's not my fault you can'taddand I canl G.K.SCOTT Newbury Park, CA A shameful indictment of the school system if ~eT we saw one... EditoT. Write about Moore Your write-up of the NMA Grand National Championship gave heavy press to the duels of mini-eycle heros Eddie Hicks and Mike Healy with almost incidental mention of mini expert Bobby Moore. It was sad that Bobby Moore wasn't able 10 have Hicks or Healy in any of his qualifying heats so that his skills mighLhave ·been better seen. In Southern California, Bobby raced againsl Hicks and Healy in the six-race NMA National qualifier and nelted more moto wins and overall wins than Hicks and Healy combined. In Ponca City, he won as many qualifiers as Hicks and Healy combined. On Sunday, after winning the '83 stock class final, Bobby recouped [rom a poor start in the Modified main and reeled in nine positions to finish second overall. In amateur racing, one of the few rewards is good publicity. The only way to insure good publicity, as I am told, is to win a lot of races. Eddie Hicks and Mike Healy are fine riders that ride very competitive machinery. However, lO~ether they haven't won