Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

tiona l scene co u ld even co n fir m th e wi n n ing mar gin s. T ho rpe had won th e wo rld cro w n by 10 po ints! As th e field had sp ed fro m th e ga te at the start o f race o ne Geboers seemed to have th e ad va nt ag e but as th e field rea p peared o ver th e skyline it was Leif Persson in th e lead wi th T horpe . Geboe rs and Malherbe in pursuit. Perhaps th e presen ce o f Yam aha bosses sp u rred th e Swede o n. but a fter a n injury a t th e beg inning o f th e yea r h e was reall y mo toring . For 20 min ut es he held th e H onda trio a t bay with Geboers dropped back to fourth a s h e gritted hi s teeth aga ins t th e pa in from hi s leg . Georges J obe was a certa in fifth and Erik need ed all th e' poi nts he co u ld ge t in th eir battl e for th e FI:\ I bronze m edal. So. ca ll i ng o n all hi s reserves o f wi llpower he graduall y pulled back th e leaders aga in a n d swe p t past Malh erbe as th e ext i.tl ~ hold er began to stru gg le with his .- .- \' IS Io n . Brita in ' s Dav id Thorpe (Ho n ) wo n hi s first 5 0 0 cc World MX Championship ove r tea m mate and defending cha mp Andre M al her be. (Fil e ph oto.) World Championship 500cc MX Series: Final round Thorpe wins World Championship in Swiss GP By A lex Hodgkinson WOHLEN . SWITZ ERLA~D . AUG . 25 David T h or p e is the champion of the world and on Sunday in Switzerland before a crowd res tricted to 12,000 by vi le weather , h e sh owe d beyon d a ll doub t th at he is the rightful bea rer of th e cro w n . Althou h h e co u ld a ffo rd to .. . g . .. . _ nde for th e p ornts wi th a b p oint lead a t th e sta rt o f th e ... " Since 194 8" CAUFORNIA MOTORCYCLE INSURANCE AGENCY " D ON 'T PA Y THROUGH THE NOSE TO GET WIND IN YOUR FACE " (714) 956-5222 (213) 637-0751 P.O. Box 3878 • Anaheim. CA 92803 dav . Davidwa sdetermin ed todoitin sty'le a nd managed j us t th at by win n ing th e o pe n ing mot a . " It was im porta n t fo r me tod a y that ever yo ne sa w th a t I a m th e true cha m p io n. L had wo r ked O U I wh ere to pass Persso n as ea rly as th e th ird lap but I was feelin g a bit tense in the Iirst part o f th e race a nd decided to wai t unti l I sett led in to m y rhy th m. " O nce I had got rid of m y goggles I sta rted to feel good a nd from then o n I wa s a lwa vs co n fide nt. I sa w Andr e co mi ng a t ' that po int but he never th reat ened rnv wi n ," sa id T hor pe. Indeed Th o r pe mi g ht well ha ve tied up the ti tle chase in th e first mo to . ~'e ed i n g a six poi m mar gi n in the race o ver Malh er be. he go t the sig na l a fter 35 min u tes tha t Er ik Geboe rs h ~ld dem ot ed th e defendi ng cha mp io n to fourth . Just o ne a nd a half la p s from th e fla g, with ;'I lal herbe beat en as he strugg led for visio n af ter a sto ne got behind hi s go ggles a t half d ista nce. a backmarker sta lled rig h t in the pa th of Persson an d Geboers. Th e Swede got going a lm ost immed ia tel y but Er ik al so sta lle d and handed back third to Ma lh erbe, That left Th orpe an even 20 points clear and mean t th at he require.d just a singl e point fro m. ra ce t\~· o If Malherbe wo~ . th e Belgi a n having th e adva ntage m th e event o f a tie because o f hi s nin e race wi ns to T h orpe's eight. Just as a t St. Ant honi s in 1983. Ma lh erbe did wh at he had to in race two , lea ding fr.om th e word ? o to co llect the 20 pOlms a nd hop in g for a miracle . Thorpe meanwh ile set a bo u t the ta sk o f ma ki ng sure th at mi racle d idn 't happen. . " I kept o n th e pace for th e firs t ha lf of the race a nd thenj us tco ncen tra ted o n fi n ish i ng in th e po int s. I had sh o wn I co u ld w in in th e fir st race a n d co u ld n' t throw it away a t th e last moment. T h at last race j ust see med to go on for ever , though ," In fact it la sted 48 m inutes for Da vid but it wa s lik e a n ete rn ity to th e new cha m p i~ n. j.ust a s it was for the hun dr ed s o f jubilant su p porters wh o , as th e race progr essed, slowl y mad e th eir way 10 th e fini sh line. As th e tw o- lap board went o u t th ey wer e already encroachi ng o n th e sides o f the tr ack , As Malh er be crossed the line first th ey waited wi th bat ed breat h. a nd as Thorpe cro ssed th e line i n sixth spo t he stood no cha n ce. In less than 20 ya rds he had been dragged from his bik e and hoi sted in th e air. The ot her p lacings were irrelevant a nd it took severa l minutes before anyone w it nessi ng the emo- G eboer s lo ok ed ce rta i n to tak e seco n d unti l the backmarker sta lled i n hi s path and he went into th e fi n a l moto wi th a single point adva n tage over jobe, Kurt Nico ll 's hopes o f dem oti ng th e Belg ia n pair had tak en a dent o n th e second turn when h e was brought down but a n insp ired ride thro ugh the p ack took h im to seven th a t th e flag . a la st lap slip den yin g him th e o p po rt u n ity to pass Vromans who h im self was looking for points to haul in Chandler. On ly victory co u ld help Nicoll th en but Malherbe was too fast in race tw o . The KTM ride r put up a great sh ow. however. and wa s set to depriv e Persso n of second spot u ntil h e took a stone in th e eye o n the penultimate lap. Nicoll rode th e final lap in terrible pain with vision from o n ly on e eye to finish th e race a nd th e cha m p io nsh ip in fifth place. Geboers had made an appalli ng start and was still not in the top 10 a fter tw o laps, while Jobe la y fourth . By ha lfway. G eb oers was sixt h, o ne p lace behi nd J obe. and th at was en o u g h but th e Ka wasaki man was a lso fo rgetti n g h is injury p ro blem s a nd closi ng o n Persson . T horpe a nd Nico ll even wi th yet ano ther fla t rear tire. Wit h th e tit le as good as wo n . Thorpe dropped ba ck to stay o u t of troub le a nd with two la ps to go th e o the r fou r were tie d together. If J a be co u ld put a rider between himself and Geboers th e bronz e medal wa s h is. But it wa s not to be. Sta rt ing th e fin al tour the secu rity cried enoug h . Persso n swe p t ho me seco nd . Geboers just p ipped j obe, a h alf bl ind Ni coll was fifth a nd th e jubilant Th orpe wa s sixth . Ot h er rid es o f sig ni fica nce were j aak Van Velt h oven 's do uble sco re in h is fina l G P. Ha kan Ca rlqvis r's wi th dra wa l fro m racing wi th cra m p o nce more, Vrornans' ba tt le fro m a turn two fa ll for th e hand ful o f poi nts necessary to end th e year sixt h and th e G P debu t o f ho m e rider Ernest Gunzinger wh o twice sco red poi nts. But th e o n ly th in g th at ma ttered to most peo p le at th e end was th e performan ce o f a 22-year-o ld En gl ish man. David Thorpe - cha m p io n o f th e world ! • Results 1ST MO Ta : 1. David Thorpe (Ho n); 2. Leif Persson (Vaml ; 3. Andre M alher be (Hon); 4 . Erik Geboers (Hon); 5 . Geo rges Jobe (Kaw); 6. Andre Vroma ns (KTMI ; 7 . Ku n N;coll (KTMI ; 8 . Gera rd Ran d (KTM); 9 . W illi e Simpson (Hu s); 10 . Gi useppe Cro la (Kaw); 11 . Jaak Van Velth oven (KTM); 12. Dave Watson (Ka w) ; 13 . Rob Andrews (Kaw) ; 14 . Claud ia de Car li (Hon); 15 . Ernes t Gu nzinger (Honl . 2 ND M OTa: 1. M alherbe; 2. Persson; 3 . Geboers; 4 . Jobe; 5 . Nico ll ; 6. Thorpe; 7 . Rond; 8. Va n Velt hoven; 9 . W alter Gru hler (Kaw) ; 10. S imp son ; 11 . Vromans ; 12. Jo Martens (Hus) ; 13 . W atson ; 14 . Gun zi ng er; 15. Mi chael He utz (Yam). FINAL POI NT STAN DINGS; 1. Thorpe (388); 2 . Malherbe (3 78); 3 . Geboe rs (22 7); 4 . J obe (2 34); 5. Nicoll (204); 6. Vroma n s (144); 7 . Danny Chandler ; (1411; 8 . Ma n ens (1 13 ); 9 . Persson (1 10 1 10 . Watson (10 6).

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