Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

And so the 500cc GP competitors head for Finland with Persson still not far behind the leading Honda duo of Malherbe and Thorpe and van der Yen confident of more good result on another sand track. "If I can get decem starts again, then I hope I can win again. But I can"t win the championship. Once we get on !.he hard tra k Thorpe and Malherbe will be too fast for me," said van der Yen. But let us salute the amiable Dutchman who has proven throughout the '80s in deeds, not words, that he is probabl y the best rider never to have won a World Championship crown. KTM's Kees van der Ven, from Holland, captured the 500cc GP win in Sweden, via a 3-1 tally. He's now fourth in the series. World Championship 500cc MX Series: Round 3 Van der Ven sets record with Swedish GPwin VIMMERBY, SWEDE, MAY 4 Dutchman Kees van der Ven wrote his name into the history books when, by winning the Swedish 500cc MX GP, he became the first rider ever to have won World Champion. classes. , . Honda sAndre Malherbe 1S still at the head of the point standing, but Honda's defending World Champion David Thorpe is just three points behind. However, in addition LO being beaten in the second moLO and overall by KTM rider van der Yen, Honda also suffered defeat at the hands of Leif Persson in moto one' the Swede thus scored Yamaha's firs; 500cc MX GP win since 1983. Missing from the day's action was George Jobe who had suffered a broken arm in Saturday practice. Van der Yen and Stuart Coyle had bo!.h noticed tbat !.he man operating the start gate lever was not hidden fromviewandu ed this to good effect to lead the first start under the "radiant" skies which blessed the wedish venue all weekend. KTM-mounted Coyle was soon swallowed up by Persson and Thorpe before falling one by one LO !.he other big names. "After such a good start I didn't want to spoil such a good opportunity LO score my first ever World Championship points," the Britisher said after crossing the Line in l2!.h place. For five laps van der Yen led without undue pressure before a SLOne lodged in his KTM's rear brake mechanism. "The brake was stuck on for three laps and both Leif and David came past. I was also coming under pressure from Carla (Hakan Carlqvist), but then it freed. I tried to brake once more and, although not perfect, it still worked and I was able to make sure of third," said van der Yen. Thorpe was patiently waiting for Persson LO make a mistake on a track where passing was difficult. "But he didn't make any," said Persson. "I tried a couple of times, almost dropping back LO Kees on one occasion when an auempt at an inside pass didn't come off. In the end, 17 points Results GE K. BELGIUM, MAY 4 1ST MOTO: 1. Leif Persson (Yem): 2. David Thorpe (Hon): 3. Kees van der Ven (KTM); 4. Hakan Carlqvist (Yam); 5. Erik Geboers (Hon); 6. Andre Malherbe (Hon); 7. Heinl Kinigadner (KTM); 8. Rob Andrews (Kaw); 9. Phil Larson (Mai); 10. Jared Smith (Kaw): 11. Willie Simpson (Mai); 12. Stuart Coyle (KTMI; 13. Erwin Gabriel (KTM); 14. Werner Siegle (KTM); 15. Johnny Ponjee (Kaw). 2ND MOTa: 1. Van der Ven; 2. Malherbe; 3. Thorpe; 4. Carlqvist; 5. Geboers; 6. Persson; 7. Kinigodner; 8. Ponjee; 9. Kenneth Engstrand (Han); 10. Simpson; 11. Kurt Nicoll (Kawl; 12. Tapio Kokkonen (Hon); 13. Smith; 14. Gabriel; ~5. Coyle. POINT STANDINGS: 1. Malherbe (92): 2. Thorpe 189); 3. Persson (78); 4. Von der Ven (69); 5. Geboers (59); 6. Carlqvist (53); 7. Jobe (42); 8. Andrews (36); 9. Kinigadner 133); 10. Siegle (23); 11. (TIE) Larson/Spence (21); 13. Nicoll (20); 14. Simpson (19); 15. (TIE) Kokkonen/Smith/Herlings (~5). World ChampIonshIp 250cc MX SerIes: Round 3 By Alex Hodgkinson ship MX GPs in all three World ChampIonshIp 125cc MX SerIes: Round 4 wasbeller!.hantherisk?fnone." Malherbe was strugghng from the start when the clasp on hi goggles broke on the line and a fall after a few laps left him happy with six!.h at the finish behind Erik Geboers, w.ho was slow <;>ff the start, am,! Carlqvlsl. After his Markelo dlsast~r, 25~cc !"IX. World ChampIOn HeinZ. KInIgadner was sausfled with the ftrst of two seven!.hs in sand. "I underestimated the amount of extra strength needed for 500cc GPs, and was really tired after 25 minutes in ach moLO." American Phil Larson, who hails from the state of ~ashin~LOn, pi<;:ked up seven GP POlOtS with a ntnth place finish in !.he opening moLO. By the time the second moLO was ready LO get underway, Th~rpe also knew about !.he start technique but wa caught sleeping when the gate wem and it was another KTM onetwo at the first turn. Van der Yen and teammate Kinigadner disappeared into the distance ~or a time and even when t~~ Austrl~ started to fall back, giVing way ftrst LO Malherbe and then the rest, van der Yen was left an immaculate and unchallenged leader. . It took Thorpe 20 minutes to estabLish himself in third from an ab~smal start and then a fall at the 30-mlnute mark ended all chance of further i~provement for the W?rld ChampIOn, but he never lost hiS place. First moLO winner Persson was always gOing LO suffer In thiS race after his earlier exertions and his task was made all the more dlfftcult when he took a stone on the chest early on. "I could hardly breathe by the end," he said. Amazingly it was Carlqvist ",;ho got the beller of Geboers, snatching fourth in the closing laps to end a fine day which he bad started, not even expecting LO see the checkered flag. Larson was out on lap one when his Maico's mainshaft went. Vimond wins French GP By Jack Buniicle VILLARS, FRA CE, MAY 4 Fine weather finally caught up with the 250cc GP circuit at Villars sous Ecot, down near the Swiss border, where the French 125cc MX GP was staged. And while the sunshine made no difference LD the winning ways of fervently worshipped national hero Jacky Vimond, who was the winner aboard his SonauLD Yamaha, or runner-up Gert-Jan van Doorn, it brought out the be t in Britain's Mark Banks. The burly teenager scored his first 250cc GP points with a 10th in the first moLO before storming his Honda LD founh in race two. Dutchman van Doorn broke his Venko Honda' special 'Iightweight rear wheel spindle in race one while running fourth behind Swede Peter Hans on. Out front Vimond led italian Yamaha rider Michele Fanton away from the howling pack. The order at the finish was Vimond, FanLDn and then Hansson. Van Doorn returned in mOLD two and he and Italian Michele Rinaldi charged after early leader Vimond. Rinaldi swept past the Frenchman only to endo horribly soon after. As Vimond narrowly avoided Rinaldi's cartwheeling Suzuki, van Doorn snatched the lead, fell 20 seconds later, then remounted to find Vimond bouncing brakeless into a steep downhill hairpin a lap later. Slipping gracefully through on the inside, van Doorn surged ahead. Vimond had LO sellie for second ahead of Italian Romano Franco. Banks finished fourth. Results 1ST MOTO: 1. Jecky Vimond (Yam); 2. Michele Fanton (Yam); 3. Peter Hannon (Husl; 4. Michele Rinaldi (Suz); 5. Anders Eriksson (Yam); 6. Jeremy Whetley (Cag); 7. Marc Velkeneers (Yam); 8. Franco Rossi (Hon); 9. Jorgen Nilsson (SUl); 1D. Marlt Banks (Han); 11. Dave Watson (Hon); 12. Romano Nannini (KTM); 13. Monfred Schjouble (Suz); 14. Jurger Schachinger (yam); 15. Alois Niedermayer (Suz). 2ND MOTa: 1. Gert-Jon von Doorn (Han); 2. Vimond; 3. Nannini; 4. Banks; 5. Eriksson; 6. Jo Manens (Hus); 7. Rossi; 8. Schauble; 9. Monen..n; 10. Dirlt Geukens (Han); 11. Robert Groioch (SUl); 12. Niedermoyer; 13. Kun Ljungqvist (Yom); 14. Fanton; 15. Ledovskoi. POINT STANDINGS: 1. Vimond (106); 2. Van Doorn (70); 3. Hansson (66); 4. Rinaldi (56); 5. Watson (40); 6. Manens (31); 7. Combee (28); 8. (TIE) Johansson/Drechsel (27); 10. Ljungqvist (26); 11. Geukens (25); 12. Tioinen (22); 13. (TIE)8anks/Nannini/F8n!On (19). Sfrijbos fops in Belgian GP By Dave Smith After a relatively straightforward opening maLO in Sunday's Belgian 125cc MX GP, the second mota turned out to be a real high drama affair which finished with Cagiva's Dave Strijbos as a surprise overall victor on the day and heading the point standings for the first time this year. Dutch compatriot John van de Berk looked to be well set LO win his first ever GP after taking the first moLO win a comfortable 14 second ahead of Strijbos, who had closed after going rightLO the ragged edge LO overtake teammate Pekka Vehkonen but then fell. uijbos had to settle for second in the opening moLO and headed. home a Cagiva 2-3-4. Yamaha's van de Berk headed the pack at the start of moLD two but after nine minutes a sequence of dramatic events started which turned the race upside down. Behind him at that stage were the three Cagiva men, Strijbos, Massimo Coantini and Vehkonen. World Champion Vehkonen crashed while trying to overtake Contini and he was forced into the work area for drasdtic remodeling of his handlebars. He rejoined the action early, though a lap down, and could do no better than 28!.h at !.he flag. Just when van de Berk thought that the pressure was easing, with one of his main challengers out of the way, he himself struck trouble sustaining a rear tire puncture on the sandy, flinty surface. Van de Berk pitted for a rapid two-minute tire change and returned LO climb back through the pack, cheered on by the 7000 strong crowd. Try as he might he could only get through LO seventh at the flag. A minute after van de Berk struck trouble, Mika Kouki, who had quietly slipped into second ahead of Contini, suffered a derailed and then jammed chain, writing DNF on his day. MOlD two ended with Strijbos crossing the finish line first, followed by Contini and Ano Panttila, who had suffered an engine seizure in the first mOLD. American teenager Bobby Moore, who is backed by Roberto Gallina's Italian Suzuki HB team, finally made an appearance, coming back from a broken leg. Moore came through from 16th on lap of the first moLO LO collect six points for a 10th place finish, but missed out on points in the second moLO when he finished 16th. Results 1ST MOTO: 1. John van do Berk (Yam); 2. 0..... Strijbos (Cag); 3. Pekka Vehkonen (Cag); 4. Masimo Coantini (Cag); 5. tsmo Vehkonen (Hon); 6. Alwin Van Asten (Kaw); 7. Mikl Kouki (Ylm); 11. Alberto 8aroui (Ben); 9. Giu..ppe Andreoni (Ben); 10. Bobby Moore (SUl); 11. Antoon Pruijmboom (Hon); 12. Peter Iven (SUl); 13. Pedro Tragter (Hon); 14. Pasi Hagstrom (KawI; 15. Jopio Rijkers (Kaw). 2ND MOTO: 1. Strijbos; 2. Comini; 3. ponnilo; 4. Mernicq Bervoets (Yam); 5. Baroni; 6. lyen; 7. Van de Berk; 8. Hagstrom; 9. Van Asten; 10. Aloin Lejeune (Suz); 11. Pruijmboom; 12. Andrean,; 13. Stig Thinggaard (Suz); 14. Ale.sandro Puzar (KTM); 15. Tragter. POINT STANDINGS: 1. Strijbos (111); 2. Pokka Vehkonen (107); 3. Von de Berk (981; 4. ponnila (92); 5. Contini (81 I; 6. Kouki (74); 7.lsmoVehkonen (65); 8. 8aroui (41); 9. Von Alten (401; 10. Lejeuno (32); 11. Lecher (301; 12. Pruijmboom (28).

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