Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

[j 250cc Motocross World Championship ~ series: Round 1 ~ ~ Vimond wins in South Africa t:l z ::J ~fSr.i'i.iiIt~ i z ::J o u > '" en o b :I: 11. Championship contenders Vimond (left) and Nilsson (ri g ht ). Yamaha vs. Husqvarna; (below) Wosick. riding and living in Africa. (Above) The Corobrik course; (below) Second-moto start. with Redman (33). Drechsel (11). Nilsson (7 ). Everts (1 0) and Campbell (3 4) . (Below) Larry Wosick rode his Caltex Ho.n~a to 11 th in the first mote, DNF the second to finish 16th overall. Conditions were unusually wet. By Peter Clifford CO ROBRIK. SOUTH AFR ICA. MAR. 9 While Frenchman J ack ie Vimond on the Yamaha won the opening rou n d of the 250cc W orld Champion ship in South Africa , 10 Americans ] im T aran tino and Larry Wosick had a da y o f mixed fortun es with T arantino showing hi s best form in th e first leg wh ere he fini sh ed a su perb third o n h is prod uction S uzu ki. Argua bly th e most im pressive perfon na nce of th e da y tho ug h ca rne from Sweden's j o rgen Nil sson. w ho was fastest in practice and wo n th e second leg co nvi nci ngly. A perfect performa nce was spoi led by h is first kg sian when II(' was last a way on th e works Husk y. H e got too nca r th e ga te a nd th e ba r dropped o n h is fro n t wheel. R id in g like a de mon he pu lled through to fini sh fift h which pu t him second overall, For T arantino and Wo sick South Afri'~I ' s first i\lotocross G P was a heav en -sent ch ance to show th eir me ta l aga in st th e best in th e wor ld. Roth wen' well prepared for it having dom ina ted IIIl' South Afri can scene between them. Tarantino had won two South African Came] Int ernationa l Seri es and is reigning South Africa n 250cc C hamp io n . P ro o f tha t he was o n top for m carne from h is tri p bac k to th e state's wh ere he wo n th e Go lde n State Series 125cc class a nd was fourth in the 250cc class. Ta ra nt ino wa s in a co n fide nt m ood bUI offira l tim ed practice pu t a damper o n h is ent h usiasm as h ea vy rain had turned th e pu rpose-built circ u it into a mudbarh . In a co u nt ry wh ere dust is a m ore usual probl em a nd th e o rgan izers ha d imported soi l specia lly from the coast, mud was a n un expected prob lem. In th ose condi t ions th e E uropea ns dom inated practice with Nil son fas tes t a t two m inutes 23.55 seconds closely fo llowed by Vim ond a t 2:24. 19. Ital ian Mi ch ele R in a ld i o n th e new work s S uzuki a t 2:24.65 and Wor ld C ha mpion H einz Kini ga dner from Aust ria a t 2:25.67. T ara n tino was 10th fastest a t 2:29.29 wi th Wo sick 19th o n h is H onda , fou r seconds slo wer. \ Vith no more ra in a nd some work by th e orga n izers the circui t dried co nsiderablv bv the first leg and Vimond shot itito' t~le l ~ad from th e start. 1-11' was certainlv 1lIspired a nd lef t Kini gad ner to do ba tlie w ith R in al d i a nd Ma im -m ounted Swede Lid Nik lasson. By la p seve n Ri nal d i had brok en away fro m the ot hers a nd Kin igadner suffered th e first o f three cra sh es . R e i ~n in g I25cc World Champion R inal d i set our after Vimond but the Fr en chman had a 27-second ad va n ta ge wi th nearly ha lf th e race co m pleted a nd the situation was impossible. Back in th e pa ck T ara ruino had made an avera ge start and was soon up to 101h. I-Ie work ed his way through the Europeans sieadi ly, having the mos t difficu lty passi ng Germa n Arno Drechselo n o n th e KTM and Nik lasson wh o were racing fo r fo unh behi nd Swede An ders Eri ksso n . In th e last qua rt er o f th e race Ta ra nt ino dealt wi th bo th Drech sel a nd Niklasson. seem ing to ge t q u icker a s the race wore o n . As a re wa rd for h is effo rts fo rt u ne smi led o n h im a nd th ird -p lace-ma n Eriksso n cra shed. T he re wa s n o point in chasi ng the lea d ing pai r wh o we re well in front an d Vim ond won com for ta bly, eas in g off to let R in al d i close th e ga p to 20 seco nds at the fini sh. Wosick was very d isap pointed with ( Co ntin ued 10 page 18 )

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