Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ e .. ". '-"'- " ~ ~. : L./j 00 O"l ~ 0 ;>.. ;:j ~ (Above) St art of the first 500cc mota. with Thorpe (3) f ifth . (Below) Jobe (2) laps Ljungqvist in 500cc. Malherbe (1) and Thorpe (3) fought a c lassic. back-and-forth battle in the f irst mota. with Malherbe winning. 500cc MX World Championship Series: Round 7 T horpe wins Dutch GP By Alex Hodgkinson VALK ENSWAARD, HOLLAND , J UN E 16 D avid Thorpe, the man they sa id co u ld n' t ride sa nd, la id the painfu l m emories of N org in 1982 to res t o n Sun day wi th a resounding win in the Du tch G P at the torturous Valkensw aard track . It was a jubilant 22-vea r-o ld Brit who flew to Am erica th e followin g morn ing to p repa re for th e U .S. GP 20 a t Carlsbad with a five-po int lead over a rc h r iva l Andre Ma h le rbe in th e rit le c hase. Narrow ly bea ten by rirle ho ld er Ma lher be in mo ta o ne, T horpe thumped h is ha ndl eba rs in frustra tion as he crossed th e line. " And re spen t mo st o f t he race stud ying m y lin es a nd used a co m bina tio n o f th e best o f min e a nd th e best o f h is w hen he g ot pas t wit h two la p s 10 go. Once he was in fro nt I co u ld see hi s lin es; o ne m o re lap a nd I' d h a ve had him ba ck." sai d Thorpe a fter th e o peni ng m ot o. T here wa s never a n y d o u bt a bo ut th e winn er o f m ot o two as H ond am ounted T horpe led a ll th e wa y a nd Ma lh erbe. a lso H onda -m ounted, had to p u t in a d em oni ac ri d e to m ak e it u p to fourt h a frer go in g do wn in t he first r igh t-han d er a nd aga in halfwa y rou nd the first la p . T horpe a pa rt. th e G P was dorn ina red bv Ben el u x r ide rs o n w ha t wa s to th em' fam il iar terra in , but a no the r p o in t scori ng hero from Brit a in was Ku rt N ico ll , w ho su rrende re d fo u rt h in the p oi nt sta n d ings 10 G eorges J obe bu t went home wit h th e sa risfac ti o n th at th e II p oints he sco red o n Su nda y, wh il e less tha n he is used 10 a re still I I m ore tha n he has ever sco red before in H ollan d. T h e fir st m o ro had 10 rat e as a ca ndidate for " R ace o f th e Cent ury" as H o n da 's two ti tle CO lli end ers fou ght a bi ll er, a t tim es bruta l, duel with sa nd kin g Andre Vroma ns ri g ht ther e wi th th em for m ost o f th e ra ce. Ini tia l leader Dav id Wat son was a lready d own to seven th by the e nd o f th e fir st la p ; th e Bri t was not en joying the racing o ne bit a fter su ffering from food p oisoni ng since Spa in , a n d it wa s T o on Ka rsm ak ers w h o led th e world 10 th e d eli g h t o f th e home crowd . Hi s g lo ry was short lived as ig n itio n fai lur e o n la p tw o elim ina ted th e Du tch cha m p whil e j o be was una ble 10 sta y o n the pa ce, tho ug h sec u re in fo urt h . O n the third lap th e H on d a rider s demoted Vro rn ans at th e front. Kno wing th at th e titl e will go to o ne of th em , T h o rpe a n d Malh erbe fough t a sa vage baul e for ha lf th e ra ce. T im e a fter tim e the Bel g ian got alo ngside Th o rpe, but o n ly o n th e six th of 19 la p s was he o fficially in fro nt. Even then Th orpe cu t h is wa y past aga in tw o co rne rs la ter. After 25 minu tes it was Vroma n 's turn 10 ta ke u p th e c ha llen ge a nd for a time Mal h erbe seeme d 10 be losing co ntact, but th e wilv Wo rl d C hampi on was j us t circ u lating fa r enoug h back to a void th e dirt from h is rival s' rear w heel s whi le st udyi ng th e lin es o f bot h . With but five m inutes 10 go until th e two- la p board wou ld bedi spla yed , Vroman s h ad u sed up a ll o f his tea roffs a n d drop ped ba ck with impaired visio n . T h e timi ng was p erfect for Ma lh erb e, who was sta rt i ng 10 charge aga in . Two la p s from th e en d Ma lh erb e po unced again a nd, a lthough T h orpe ca ug h t h im aga in half a lap fro m th e end , victory was hi s. Beh ind t he big four, j obe hav in g ta ken adva ntage o f Vrorn ans' proble ms to sn a tch third , o n ly Ni coll a nd Kurt Ljun gqvis t co u ld split th e Ben elu x riders. -M o to tw o was a d i fferen t sto ry wit h Ma lh erbe losin g the fro nt wheel in th e fir st turn, a nd co m p le tin g the lap 28th aft er g oi n g do wn agai n w hen he was a lr eady d ow n to 14th halfwa y ro u nd . With Malh er be's mi sfo rtun e, T horpe's seco nd G P victory o f th e yea r wa s in th e bag fro m the word go. G er ard Ran d initia ll y led the rest and eve n when he got tired a n d dropped back, it too k j o be half th e race 10 d em o te Leif Persson from secon d. The Swede wa s ridin g hi s bes t race of th e yea r a fte r goi ng o u t o f the fir st rn oto w hen h is Yamaha 's silencer was d am aged in h is seco n d cr ash . H e a lso sho wed a new-found stre n g th in th e closi ng la p s 10 d eny Mal h er be th ird place. Vro ma n 's h opes of a no the r good score en d ed a fter 15 m inu tes with a bro ken rear w heel o n h is KTM wh en in th ird p lace, but J o Marten s repeated h is ea rl ier exce ll en t r id e a n d J o h n n y Ponj ee loo ked se t to o nce agai n be best H o ll ander until h e cr ashed nea r th e e n d a n d g av e th e h on or ro Ka rsmakers. . Am er ica n Dann y C ha nd ler to ok a few practi ce la p s o n hi s KT M o n Sa tu rd a y, bu t foun d h is still a iling ba ck p revented h im from rid in g a t a n ywh er e nea r a co m pet itive pace. H e left H oll an d Sa t u rday eveni n g for Great Br ita in , a nd word had it th at he was head ed home 10 Californ ia 10 recuperate. Also m issin g from Su nda y's race wa s Erik G e boers w ho still holds thi rd in th e p oint sta nd ings . C e boers had a broken fibi a and da mage d ten don s o pera ted o n th e week prior 10 th e Dut ch G P. C eb oers savs h e'll co m pete in th e U.S. a t th e end of th e month . a lth ough h is d oct ors woul d l ike to see h im spen d a bi t m ore time recu pera tin g . Wi th o n ly th e J u ne 30 U. S. 500cc GP bet ween to day 's Dutch G P a nd a return to h is native so il in th e Ju ly 14 British G P, point sta ndi ngs leader Th orpe co u ld n ' t have been happier. H e cele bra ted by soa king th e hun dred s of Briti sh fans w ho s u rrou nde d h im af ter th e ra ce with cha m p ag ne - a n d th e bubb ly ca n n ev er h av e tasted sweet er ] _ Results 1ST MO TO: 1. Andre Malher be (Hon) ; 2. Dav id Thor pe (Han); 3. Georges J obe (Kaw); 4 . Andre Vro man s (KTM) ; 5 . J ohn n v Ponj ee (Kaw ); 6 . J o M art en s (Hu s); 7. Gera rd Rond (KTM); 8 . Ett ienne Jaem er s (Vam ); 9 . Kurt Nicoll (KTM ); 10 . Gi eljo Va n Zogg le (Hon); 11. Peter Herl in gs (Hon ); 12 . Kurt l j ungqvist (Vam); 13 . Jaa k Verwa aye n (Hon); 14 . Jaak Va n Velth ov en (KTM ); 15 . Dina nt Zij lst ra (Han). 2 ND MOTO, 1. Th orpe; 2. J obe; 3 . Lei! Per sson (Va m); 4 . M alherbe; 5. M arten s; 6 . Toon Kars mak ers (Ha n); 7 . Rond; 8 . Pon j ee; 9 . Jae m ers; 10. W illi e Simpson (Hus); 11. Her lings; 12. Nicoll ; 13 . Jan Lemmen s (KTM); 14 . Dave Wa tson (Kaw ); 15 . Van 2ogg le. POINT STANDINGS , 1. Thorpe (2 17 ); 2 . M al h erb e (2 12 1 3 . Geboers (16 5); 4 . Jobe (140) ; 5. Nicoll ; ( 12 5); 6 . Cha ndler (89); 7. Vromans(78); 8 . Manens (7 3); 9 . Wh at ley (71) ; 10. M agarolto (6 3); 1 1. Spence (50 ); 12. DeCarl i (46); 13 . Watson (4 5); 14 . Carlqvisl (39); 15 . (TIE) Ponjee / Ro nd (38). 250cc MX World ChamQionshiQ Series: Round 7 Vimond 1-1 in France; Lackey DNF · By Jack Burnicle G IMO NT, FR AN C E, J UN E 16 O n Su n day the 250cc MX G P circui t reach ed Fr a n ce, ho m e

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