Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

after la st year, wh en I fini sh ed seco nd in the world, al l I gOI from th em was a t el egr am o f co n g r a t u la t i o n .. Sonauto, how ever , has been good to me; in addi tio n 10 m v sa larv, th ere a re . bonuses for winn in g. " Vimon d spe n t a ll o f th e 1984 GP seaso n chasing Kin igad ner. T he two Spli t mot o w ins ill th e firsl race of th e season. but from tha t poi nt o n Kin igadner 's co nsistency was so meth in g Vimo nd co u ld n' t match. " T he Iir st race o f th e year is a lwa ys d iffi cu lt because yo u don 't kn ow who th e Ia stest ride rs will be, so yo u are not su re how fast 10 go. I d id well th ere, but aft er th at I had ph ysical problem s an d trouble with my mech an ic a nd co u ld never put together two good ' mot o fini sh es. " It wa s not until a fter th e trip to Am eri ca for th e U na d illa race (whe re he ed ged OUI Kin igadner for eig h th overall) thai I felt, som ehow, stronger. I went back to Europe a nd won four rnotos through th e la st four races, But I did not go fast eno ug h 10 be World Champion." The ti tie fell to KTM' s Kin igadn er over Vimond, 247 points to 217. Before th e start of th e '85 G P sea - Vim ond prefer s n atura l terrain co urses, a nd th e track a t th e Itali an GP was n ot hi s cu p o f tea. " It was very much like a su pe rcross track. It wa s very tigh t - there was o n ly one lin e in most p la ces - a nd it ha d man y j umps. I crashed th ree times in th e fir st rnoro. I had the lead , th en cra shed after th ree laps. I co u ld n ' t get back 10 m y bike because th e o the r ride rs were com ing . I got back up in 28t h a nd tried to co me back , bu t I cras hed again . Five minu tes from th e en d I went down aga in a nd stop ped. th en j us t la id o n the side of the tr ack ." Swede Anders Eriksson won both motos. " T he next race in Belg ium wa s a lso very ba d for me. I had a good sta rt in th e fir st mot o , bUI didn 't have a good feelin g and rode very bad. I went so slo w. an d if I tri ed to go fast , I crashed. But I managed to fini sh fourth . . " In th e seco n d moto it wa s raining terribl y hard. I ga l a good start aga in a nd was running second. but cra shed on th e fir st la p. I carried on . and passed many riders. Two la ps from th e fin ish I was in eigh th, and there was a very steep uphi ll. I saw van Doorn, R inaldi a nd many other rid ers stuck. but (Arno) Drech sel and Kinigadner had a lrea dy made it up, The rid er a hea d of me m ad e it , and I sa w my cha nce 10 go up.Ltried m an y times. but I co u ld n' t get up. I ended up with a broken cl u tch, and did not mak e th e fin ish ." Wesl German Drech sel was th e top p oint score r o f th e da y with a 1-2 Jacky Vimond Grand Prix tour de force By Tom Ko lnowski Jacky Vimond, the Current point leader in the World Championship 250cc MX Series, had a dream when he was a young boy grow- ' ing up on the shores of Normandy in France, 20. a dre am h e k ept a l ive w h i le h e b ecame m ore and more profi. d . . fi d' C1.en t ~ t han Iing hi s irst ITt bike . I wanted so mu ch to b e th e Frenc h National Ch am pi on whe n I was a small bo y," recalled Vim ond w he n we talked with h im in h is rental va n a t th e U nadi lla 250cc U ni ted Slates G rand Prix . " I wo u ld th ink a bout il all th e lime while I was p lay ridi ng." Wh en Vimond was just 16, hi s dream ca me true; h e wa s crowned . Fren ch National Champion - a feat he has duplicated every year si nce . " W he n I First became Fre n ch Champion." sa id Vimond, wh o has just celebra ted his 24th birthday, " I thought of riding th e World Championsh ip, and began to dream o f o ne day being th e World Ch ampion. Now , ir is no longer a dream ; it is nearl y reality." For th e man who Cu i hi s teeth in th e sp ort of motocross by raci ng in th e Schoolboy divisions of Great Brita in, and went o n 10 fin ish runner-up 10 Austrian Heinz Kinigadner in the 1984 250cc 'World Champion ship, 1985 ha s been a n ex tre mely good yea r. Vimond served notice in the very firs t 250cc GP of '85 th at h e.' would be a powerf u l force o nce aga in ; h is 1-2 w in in So ut h Africa earned h im the ini tia l series point lead , and with j us t IWO ro u nds left in th e 12- ra c~ series, h e still has a stea dy grip on I~ . . . _ Vi mo nd, who stands five feet. rune inc h es ta ll, weighs 165 po u nds a nd has brown hair a nd brown eyes. lives with h is girlfriend of th ree years, Bridgett e Du ch areau, j ust o u tside of Paris in th e town of Cergy Pontoise. Vim ond cou ld be co nsidered a " Iactory rid er " of so rts si nce he is co ntra cted to and is sala ried by th e Frenc h Ya m aha im p orter. Sonauto Yamaha. BUI h e is far from the ste reotype o f th e Am erican fac tory ride r; th ere are no expens ive sports ca rs o r spra wling cha tea us in th e Vimond doma in. " L ike (Broc) Gl over or (Bob) H an nah, I a m a full-tim e racer an d do n OI hav e lime for a ny extra jobs. I live just a few m il es fro m Sonauto, which makes it very ea sy for me 10 get th ere for resting a nd p ra ctice. Part o f m y o ne- year co n tra ct with th em incl udes th e u se of a n autom obile (a Mitsubish i compact ), a nd th at is th e o n ly ca r l awn ." Wh en asked about th e house he lives in , Vimond repli ed, "Bridgeue a n d I live in a sma ll a pa rt me nt - so sma ll it is o n ly one ro om ." Vimond ge ts very lill ie support from Yama ha MOlOr Co . in j a pan , a Iact wh ich di stresses him . " I get a lmost no help from j a p an - no wo rks parts or Donuses. T he o n ly part I gOI all season was an exha us t pipe. And so n , Vim ond mad e a trip 10 Cali for ni a to co m pere in th e CMC G olden Sta te MX Series, " I stay ed wi th Danny La Po rte whi le I was in Am er ica . We became frien ds wh en he was co mpetin g in th e 250cc GPs for Yamah a , a nd arc st ill ver y good fri en d s. Dann y a nd I trai ned ha rd togeth er, a nd I felt stro n ger th an ever wh en I left. " I had a very good time and enjoyed Ca lifo rn ia very. much , bUI I d id not lik e th e wa y th e Am er ican rid ers ign ored me." Vimond rode o n ly a few ro unds o f th e ser ies (i n th e 250cc Pro class). a nd hi s best rnoto fin ish was a fifth . Things . however . went much bel ter for th e Fr en chman a t the first GP. " I a lways go very good in th e mud• and th e track in South Africa was very muddy in so me spots.J wo n. bUI I wa s n OI su re how I would do on th e hard-packed tracks whi ch would come lat er ." Th e next ra ce in Switzerland wa s also much 10 his liking: the rains ca me and Vimond wa s aga in in his elem ent. The fin al result was another win , th is lime in 2· 1 fashion . A week lat er in Au stria, Vimond h ad his share o f problem s. Whil e he fini sh ed third in rnoto one behind Du tchman C ert -jan van Doorn and 1984 I25cc World Cha m p io n Michele R inaldi o f Ital y. mot o two wa s a d isaster. " I had a bi g cra sh. I hit a fen ce an d m y head look th e worst o f it. I co lla psed th en managed 10 start aga in , bu t co u ld n' t go o n." Va n Doorn p osted a no ther wi n i n th e fina l mo ta . ta lly, bUI Vimond sti ll held o nio hi s . series po int lead , " Before th e ra ce in Czechoslovakia . I changed m y trai ni ng progra m . I ro de a lilli e less. but worked on m y . co nd itio ni ng by doing more exercises a nd wei ght li ftin g . I a lso had m y me ch an ic. j ean Pi erre. cha nge th e rear shock i n my bike. I was no longer co n fide n t i n th e su sp en si o n . and cha ngin g the shock made it much better , I had it se t up when I wa s in California . a nd th e tracks there ar e much harder than th e ones in Europe. Bu t I made th e mistake of not chan ging it wh en I went. back to France. " I had a good feeling in my head and won th e first moto (o ver Kin igadner ). In the seco nd mota, th e track was very slippery d ue to ra in , and I was following (leader ) Kinigadner. I tho ugh t, well , I will finish seco n d a n d that will be OK . So I did." As he head ed ba ck home for th e rain-plagu ed Fren ch GP. Vim ond h ad a 17-p oil1l lead over Kinigadn er in th e sta nd ings. "Fra nce was ver y good fo r me a nd not so good for th e o the r ride rs goi ng for th e cha m pionship. I won th e firs t m oto by over two

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