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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126918
World Champion Pekka Vehkonen was beaten by teammate Davey Strijbos in the Irish GP; one point now separates the two in the title chase. Frenchman Jacky Vimond dominated the Swiss Grand Prix with his 1-1 moto tally; he leads the World Championship series by 53 points. World Championship 150Ce Motocross: Round 9 Vimond dominates Swiss GP By Alex Hodgkinson ROTHENTHURM, SWITZERLAND, JUNE 29 Yamaha's Jacky Vimond left no one at Rothenthurm in Switzerland any doubt that nerves will not lose him the 250cc World Championship this year. After the personal disaster of Angeau two weeks ago, Vimond destroyed the opposition twice to score his sixth and Yamaha's eighth win out of nine 250cc GPs this season. The Frenchman was the only dean rider on the track as he had the lead within half a lap in both motos on a track which had 60,000 gallons of waste water pumped onto it in an attempt to combat the dust. Vimond now leads Michele Rinaldi by 53 points and Gert-Jan Van Doorn, theonlyotherriderwitha mathematical chance of winning the crown, is already effectively out - a dislocated left shoulder which eliminated him from the Swiss GP will also make him a non starter in Germany. Indeed the Dutchman is in iminent danger of losing his third in the title chase to England's Jeremy Whatley who, despite falling victim to one of the mud patches caused by over zealous. watering before the first moto, finis ed second overall while the orne ------------------.. _-- . bronze medal candidates saw their hopes fade. The superbly fast, but erratic Peter Hansson was pointless after a big crash while Michele Fanton wilted badly in the heat fo the track 3000 feet up in the Alps. England's David Watson was restricted to three points after a crash in training and countryman Andy Nicholls got wiped out at the first turn of race two after a battling fifth in the first moto. Whatley must have shocked even himself when he eventually led a GP moto off the line, but an even bigger surprise was in store after half a lap. The heavy watering had turned one corner of the dust bowl into a swamp and the Cagiva star was the first to unwittingly hit it. Down he went to be quickly joined by Rinaldi. Thirdplaced Vimond turned trials rider to slog his way around his stricken rivals for a dear lead which he never looked in danger of losing. Whatley was quickly back on his ••ike.. !>;It.:~nt a f u~tl'lg}O rpiQ _ utes in company with Nicholls and Anders Eriksson trying to find a way around Fanton for second. Eventually the Italian struck a post and .dropped to a distant sixth, but Vimond was long gone by then and Rinaldi had fought through from ninth to get the trio in his sights. With a lap and a half to go, the Suzuki ridernjpped by Nicholls, who at one time had even demoted Whatley in the chase after Fanton, when the Englishman got balked on the inside by Eriksson. Approaching the scene of the first lap debacle, the Swede tried an all-ornothing pass on Whatley. Both men went down and Rinaldi coasted to second, thankful that he had only dropped three points to Vimond. "I was getting tired towards the end and backed righ t off when Rinaldi went past," Nicholls said. "And I'm kicking myself for that now. I could have had third." Erickson got up first to leave a fist-shaking Whatley over the line. Nicholls appeared to have the start in race two, but he was put into the bank by an unidentified rival who never made the turn and a dozen others ind uding Rinaldi joined them on the ground. While Vimond led, the Italian got back up to complete the first lap in 28th place. Nicholls' race was over, however, as his exhaust had been ripped from the motor in the collision. For 20 minutes Marc Velkeneers kept Virnond in sight, but then the' Frenchman's lead just grew and grew while the Belgian's second place was always secure. Fanton faded rapidly in this race and dropped back from third to seventh without ever falling, and Whatley made sure that Eriksson never got close enough for a repeat of race one. After ·an impressive display in the opener when he raced from 18th to eighth, Andrei Ledovskoi was taking full advantage of a better start in this one. Tenth on lap one, he was not far behind Eriksson at the finish having ruggedly battled on while others faded. For Rinaldi it was a hard race after his second first lap misfortune of the day. For a third of the race he was picking off rivals regularly to move into the points. His progression was halted as he met riders of a higher caliber, but in the final third of the race his stamina was the deciding factor in rising to eighth. After Christian Vimond, the younger brother of Jacky, took the final point in the opener it was Rinaldi's younger brother, Carlo's, turn in the second moto with his 15th. • World Championship 125cc knee and ankle in timed practice on Saturday morning. He started the first race, but was forced to pull out after aggravating the injury landing from a jump. Then, amazingly, he charged to the front of race two for four laps before slowing and slipping back to third at the £lag. However, Kawasaki-mounted Rob Herring was the man the 5000 spectators came to see after his stay in Ireland earlier in the year, and he didn't disappoint them. The crowd erupted with delight as the hottest property in the spon shot past Vehkonen and took charge of the first moto_ By twothirds distance, however, Herring's lack of experience began to tell and Vehkonen made his move. "I took it easy for the first half of the race, riding safely and trying to make no mistakes," Vehkonen said. "Three times I tried to pass him, but three times he came back. Still I'm used to these long hot races and I knew I was in better condition than Rob who was trying to win his firstever GP." Behind the e two, John Van. de!l •. Motocross Series: Round 7 It's Strijbos in Irish GP By Mike Sweeney KlLLINCHY, IRELAND, JU E 28 Just one point separated Cagiva teammates Davey Strijbos and Pekka Vehkonen when they arrived at Killinchy for the Irish 125cc Motocross Grand Prix and just one point was it when they left after an action-packed feast of motocross. Both claimed 30 world champions'hip points from the Killinchy cI.ub's first-ever GP, but Strijbos won the overall when Vehkonen crashed in a big way early in the second moLO and never really recovered his rhythm. Massimo Contini, the Italian dealersupported Cagiva rider previously lying third in the world just five points behind trijbos, saw his title h2[>!U~ ahe,r b~eJ.ly twis.1~n hi Results OVERALL: 1. Jacky Vimond (Yam) 20+20=40; 2. Jeremy Whatley (Cag) 13+15~28; 3. Anders Eriksson (Yam) 1 5+13~28; 4. Michele Rinaldi (Su.) 17+8~25; 5. Andrei Ledovskoi (KTM) 8+' 1~19; 6. Michele Fanton (Yam) 9+9;18; 7. Marc Velkeneers (Yam) 0+17~17; 8. Roland Diepold (Kaw) 4+10=14; 9. Jo Mertens (Husl 10+4:14; 10. Jorgen Nilsson (Su.) 6+6~12; 11. Andy Nicholls (Yam) 11+0=11; 12. Soren Mortensen (Yam) 5+5:10; , 3. Arno Ore· chel (Hon) 0+7~7; 14. Kurt Ljungqvist (Yam) 1+0=7; 15. Franco Rossi (Hon) 0+3~3; 16. Dave Watson (Han) 3+0=3; 17. Peter Johansson (Hon) 0+2;2; 18. Olivier Perrin (Hon) 2+O~2; 19. Carlo Rinaldi (KTM) 0+1~1; 20. Christian Vimond (Hon) 1+0=1. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. Jacky Vimond(264); 2. Michele Rinaldi (211); 3. Gert-Jan Van Doorn (148); 4. JeremyWhatley (135); 5. Peter Hannson (129); 6. Michele Fanton (116); 7. Jo Mertens (1 , I); 8. Jorgen Nilsson (1 (0); 9. Anders Eriksson (92); 10. Kurt Ljungqvist (88).