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/126833
minutes (over Drechsel ). In th e seco nd,
I won by a minut e a nd five secon ds
(over Kinigadn er ).
" Every bod y was beh ind m e the re,
an d I felt so very stro ng. It wa s th e
first ti me a Fren ch rid er h ad won a
GP in hi s home co u ntry."
Kinigadner , who had go n e DN F-2
in Fran ce, m o ved a few po ints closer
10 Vi rnond by going 1-2 o n th e day in
the Spa in , bu t th e difference was still
35 po ints. " I was goi ng mo re for just
a good pl acin g a n d n o t the win , a nd I
fin ished seco n d behi nd Kin iga d ner
in th efirst m ot a a nd got a thi rd in th e
final m or o . Th e o u tco me was not so
bad ."
Virnond's circle of support at th e
next race, Unad illa, was quite sma ll.
Hi s racin g effo rt co ns is ted of a sma ll
pa ssen ger va n a n d two bi kes, whi le
Bridgeue a nd j ean P ierre fo rm ed h is
s ke le to n s up po rt crew . V im ond
in sisted o n pa rkin g as far away as ,
possibl e fro m the Yama ha factory
team 's tru cks in th e pits. T he ex pa nsi ve Yamaha effo rt p rovided su p p ort
for Am er ican rider s Ri ck j ohnson
a nd Keith Bow en , as well as Swed e
Anders Eri ckss on, but Vimond said
he " p referr ed to be off by h imself. "
Yamaha team m anager Larry Griffis
did offer to help Vim ond o u t with
anythin g he needed, but Vimond
didn't ava il himself o f th e services.
Th e ra ce didn 't go as well a s
Vimond would hav e liked; Kin igadner
was the top Eu ropean fini sher with a
6-6 day , whil e Vimond cou ld onl y
muster a ninth in the first rnoto and a
DNF in th e seco nd . Ironicall y, Vimond cras hed together with th e man
he had " a lways co nsidered as a hero, "
H on da 's Bo b Hannah, in th e first lap
of the second moto, " I tri ed to come
back after th e cra sh with Hannah and
I got up 10 15th. Bu t I started making
more mi stakes - my head was not in
the right p lace - and I sto p ped ."
Kinigadner's performance at Unadilla moved him closer yet 10 point
leader Vimond, bu t Vimond is far
fro m ready to yield to the Austrian. " I
have two riders beh in d me - Kin igad n er and Drechsel - a nd it is
closer th an I like. I don't want 10 be
th e hero at each race, I j ust wa nt th e
ti tl e in the en d - even if it is just by
one point. I wi ll keep trying very,
very h ard. "
Vimond admits his periods o f free '
time ar e few and far betw een, but he
does find ti me for brief stints of
recreation. You mi ght ca tch him listenin g to so me j azz, o r takin g in a
m ovi e sta rring h is favori te ac to r, Sylvester Sta llone .
" I a lso lik e to go o ff by myself an d
go fishing, which I fi n d very rel ax ing. I will ride m y Bian chi bicycle,
for training as well as rec rea tion , a n d
•
in winter I will ski."
Vim ond must a lso spen d a t lea st a
portion o f hi s free tim e sh oppin g for
items colo red his fav orite hue: pink.
In addit ion 10 h is pred ominantly
pink riding outfit (wh ich comes from
jT Ra cin g ), Virnond we ars p ink
socks, p ink T-shirts a nd wr aps h imself in pinkbath towels. H e's easy 10
5 pot, on o r off th e track.
But as th e seaso n winds down,
Vimond co nten ds th e spar e mom ents
will become even more rare. And
wh en its a ll over , he's hoping to be
rowned World Champion. "If I make
it , th e first thin g I will do is go ba ck
to my home and kis s my mother an d
my fath er, because if it was not for
them I would 1I0t be he re. I wi ll be a big hero in Fra nce; I was th e fir st
rom m y co untry to fin ish seco nd in
he World Ch ampi on ship, I was the
first from m y co untry 10 wi n the
Fren ch GP , a nd I would be th e fir st
Vorld Ch ampion of mot oc ro ss from
Fran ce. First, first , firs t - th ey will
emember the name Vim ond in France
or a lon g tim e."
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