Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

World Champion Eddy Lejeune's first w in of the season in his home country of Belgium marked the sixth straight w in there by Lejeune. Wol'ld Championship 06serYed Trials Series: Round 2 Belgian string continues for Lejeune By Mike Rapley VE R VIE RS . BEL G IUM . MA R . 10 . Eddy Lej eun e 'co nt in ued h is do mi na tion of his h o m e co u n tr y ro und by ta ki n g his six th co n sec u tive wi n in Belg iu m . . 30 Thi erry Micha ud . jhe o pe n ing ro u nd winner, pl aced second to H on d a 's Leje u ne wh ich ga ve t he Fan ric ace a tw o poi nt lead in j he poi n t sta nd ings. O ne face mi ssin g fro m th e action was Am eri can Bern ie Sch reiber . the 1979 Wor ld C h a m p io n . . Sc h re i ber p u lle d o u t o f the seri es fo llowin g hi s disas tro us showi ng in th e first rou nd. U n ha p py wi th the per form ance of hi s new Ga re lli, Sch re i ber part ed co mpa ny wit h hi s I ta lia n spo nsor by mu tual agreeme n t. Enga ged to Yan ni ck Bu rgat , sister o f 1981 Wo rld Champ io n Gi lles Burga t, Sch reibe r is to be marr'ied in th e ea rly s um m er a nd wi ll co nt i n ue to live in th e.so u th o f Fr ance. H e has sa id he wo uld co ntinue to a ssist G arell i wit h develo p ment sho u ld the y so wi sh . Sta ged o ver a three-lap . IS-sect io n co u rse a t Vervi ers, Lej eun e's ho m etown , th er e was n o do ubt th at Eddy wo uld aga in be the winner. In deed . so fami liar with th e a rea is th e famil y 't h:it -Ior -"- f", .ti-nl@.ioo obi; r.o.'~"~" tri a ls hi story, th ree brothers from.th e sa m e Ia rni ly a ll scored Wo rl d C ha m p ionship po ints. Youngest brother Er ic wa s ninth a n d j ea n Marie, in h is 20th yea r o f world action, wa s 11th. St eve Sau nder s kep t Br itish ho pes a live with a nother gr eat ride . taki ng thi rd p lace. onl y tw o m a r ks behi nd Mi chaud a nd mil es a hea d o f fourth p la ce Eddi e Moerm a n o f H o lland. Sa u nders , sin ce m ovin g to the H o nda factory ri de , has qui ckl y esta blis he d h im self as a top th ree ca n d id a te, rid in g with sty le. verve a nd co n fide nce. Mich aud a nd L ejeun e were even a t 30 m ark s lost a t th e co ncl usio n o f the o pen ing la p . . bu t th en Lejeune got in to a no ther gea r. as he so of ten does , parti cu la rl y a t home. a nd put in the best lap of the tri a l a t 18. Mich aud, o n 3 1, was as stead v as he had been o n lap o ne . Wi th ' a cl ear ad va n tage. Lej eu ne co u ld a flo rdro slac ke n h is pace slig h tly ' o n the last la p . whi le ~ I i c h a u d ' s rapi d ci rcula tion o f th e fin al la p a lmos t ca used hi s dow n fa ll fo r he i ncreased hi s loss co nsi de ra blv. Sa u nders wa s wait ing to pou nce. but fin ished two mar ks down o n Mi ch a ud . H uge crowds wa tched Sau nders soar up the fou r-foot s'tep a t th e d readed 17th section before co m p leti ng h is o peni ng la p in fiflh pl ace. eigh t m arks do w n o n M ic han d a nd Lejeune. Moer m a n , best of the twi n shock br igade. was the-n third w h ilea successio n of bo rderline fives dropped T o nv Scar le u back to 15th . behind j ohu Lam pk in wh o was giv ing the new sing le-s hock Arm str ong it s wor ld d ebu t, but Scar le tt was to co me g ood o n la p two . H e go t hi s ac t toge the r and p ic ked u p 10 p lac es o n lap tw o with a score o n ly bea te n by Lejeu ne. In the Iin al ra llv, Scarleu beat Fren ch man P h il ippe Berl at ier by two cl ea ns w h i le Bu rgat was seventh o n hi s new Yama ha 350. ~ '-L.6jd M . .. .I .iJlOo ~ _ i> rg ~~ Thierry M ichaud picked up his second lNin of the season in the British round to vault eight points ahead of Lejeune in the point standings. H o nd a 360 a re sti ll th e o nes the wor ld has to bea t. T here a re th ose wh o thi n k the n ew bik e isn ' t as good as th e tw in shock m o del o n w hi ch Eddy won three World Championships, bu t based o n Belgian form. th ey would' be wrong . Results The British fans wer e treat ed to so me tremendous di spla ys w ith their o w n h ome g rown h er oes St eve Sa u nders a nd Ton y Scarlet t fin ishi ng third a n d founh to co nsolida te th eir position s in th e p oint sta nd ings. Scarlett sta r ted o ff br i ll ia ntl y. turn in g in a selec tio n o f cl eans wh ich thrust h im int o th e lead at the en d o f the o pe n ing la p o f 22-sec tion s. Tony had 42.m arks o n his punch ca rd wh ile Eddy Lejeu ne had 45 a nd Mich aud 46. Sa u n ders. o n th e o th er h and, was in ninth pl ace a nd desper a te to recover so m e so n of for m a n d prove to th e eage r cro wds he was the best Brit ish rid er th ere. As Lej eu ne was co m p leting the fi na l few sec tio ns o f t he ope ning la p in a inactive q uarry. it became appa rent the re wa s a p rob lem with his works H ond a . Wo rr ied look s fro m h is j a pa n ese m echa ni cs in d eep d iscussio ns with An d re S iem ens , Lej eu n e's m en to r, indi cat ed th e H ond a had gear select io n pro blem s. T hi s was co n fir me d when he had t!> b u mpstart it in seco nd gear a nd ride back to the fini sh where th e p rob lem took nea rl v a n hou r 10 sort O U L Th is de la v put Le jeu ne well down o n his seco nd la p a nd he had to rush to co mple te th e co urse wit hin th e sched u led time li mit. M ichaud . wi th m o re ti m e to han d. was a ble to ca pita li ze o n hi s ad va ntag e a nd had a seco nd la p tha t was th e best o f the tr ia l. Sau nder s finally fo u n d th e k nack th a i sec u re d so me su pe r cl eans. a nd wi th a seco nd lap sco re j us t th ree m ore tha n Mich aud , • m oved fro m n inth to th ird . Resul ts 1. EddV Leje une (Han) 74 ; 2 . Thierry Mi chaud IFan) 10 2; 3. St eve Sau nder s (Han) 104; 4 . eddy M oer ma n (Man) 123; 5. Ton y Scar lett (Yam) 126 - 15 clea ns; 6 . Philippe Berlatier (1 261 ·1 3 clea ns; 7 . Gilles Burgat (Yam ) 13 1; 8. Bernard Cardonnier (JC M) 136 ; 9 . er ic Lejeune (Han) 143 ; 10 . Fred M ichaud (Fa n) 145. World Championship Observed Trials Series: Round 3 Michaud the master in Britain By Mike Rap ley ~I ER TH\'R TY D FIL, WAL ES. E:'\'GL A:'\'D. MAR . 17 Wa tch ed by o ne o f the la rgest crowds ever to a tte n d a Wo rl d Ch ampio nsh ip round in Bri t a in, Fren c h m a n Thierr y Mi chaud incr eased h is lead in th e series by wi n n ing th e th ird ro u nd by eig h t m a r ks o ver Ed d y Lej e une. T he British ro u nd co m p rised so me of the most spec tacu lar sec tio ns ever used with a m arvelo us vari etv o f h a za rd s th a t a llo we d r iders e very . cha nce to usc their ta len ts to th e fu ll, whe ther it be co n vent io na l gr ip fin di ng or tr ick rid ing so .o fte n requ ir ed .a; ,,~(il'lI; . ..a .. '. ... :,,' :'"~ " '".a J , 1. Thierr v M ichaud (Fa n) 80 ; 2. Eddy Lejeune (Ha nl BS: 3 . Steve Sau nde rs (HonI92; 4 . Tony Scar lett (Yam ) 97; 5 , GIll es Burg at (Yam l 99 ; 6 . Pascal Coutur ier (Bet) 101 : 7 . Jonny Andersson (Yam) , 07; 8 . J ordi Ta rre s (Bet) 1 13 ; 9 . Luis Gallach (M er) 11 9: 10. Rena ta Chiabeno (Fan) 120 . W ORLD CHAM PIONSHI P POINT STA NDING S: 1. : Mi chaud (57 1 2 . Lejeu ne (52 ); 3 . Sa unders (4 7): 4 . ; Scarlett (33 ); 5. Bur gat(2 8): 6. Gallach (23 1 7 . Ber· lalier (21); B. Cout urIer (2 1Ii 9. :Sosis (151£ ,( H 'l.'1

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