Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Goergeil Jobe won both motos in the French 500cc Grand Prix at Chateau-du-Loir on his Kawasaki; the championship chase tightens. But Honda remain in total command of the 500cc title battle. The question is, however, which one? And it is no longer just Thorpe versus Malherbe. While a measly two points separate the arch rivals, they are both looking over their shoulders with three GPs remaining; slowly but surely Eric Geboers has dragged himself back to within 22 points of the pace and is by no means out of the running. Added joy for the Kawasaki team came with two battling fifths for Kurt Nicoll and they also provided the third British scorer with a second race score for Mervyn Anstie. The month-long drought in western Europe finally came to an end with a vengeance on Saturday evening in Chateau-du-Loir and the superb track, which had been so well . prepared on Saturday after a week of sensible wate.ring, was turned into a quamire for the opening moto. Right from the start Jobe stormed into the lead and, when Thorpe crashed out on the second turn, it was a Belgian 1-2-3 with Geboers and Malherbe in pursuit of their compatriot. For a few laps Kees van der Yen kept the trio in sight before riding a lonely race to fourth. No matter how hard he tried, however, Geboers couldn't get close to Jobe. After 15 minutes, Malherbe started a charge which threatened to take him past his teammate Geboers, but he slid off soon after and could never mount another serious challenge for better than third. Still that was good enough for a twO point lead in the points table as Thorpe struggled to an eventual ninth, almost a lap down on the £lying Jobe. Picking himself up last [rom the turn two indiscretion, the World Champion was 12th within two laps before going down again, bringing Hakan Carlqvist with him. With his goggles gone, Thorpe could never come back strongly again and after restarting 18th he only got Gerard Rond for ninth. Many of the privateers in prominent positions early managed to stay amongst the scorers, though losing places in the closing laps, but an unfortunate exception was Georg Reiter who was performing wonders on the four stroke un.til he lost power with ignition troubles which also reared their head in race two. With the track much drier, race two was a thrilling affair. Once again Jobe made the start and again there were two Hondas after him, but this time Geboers made a slip which lost him contact with the leaders and Thorpe stayed on in turn two to lead the chase ahead of Malherbe. Aslipon lap two didn 't lose Thorpe second place, but it did give Jobe a commanding early lead which he threw away within five laps with his only fall of the day. That let Thorpe take over at the front with Jobe in a Honda sandwich until the 25-minute stage when the cham pion, starting to have trouble with his grip after taking a rock on the knuckles of his right hand, went down. Jobe again took over at the front end and, when Malherbe started getting into difficulties once he lost his goggles, he was reasonably safe all the way to the flag. With Malherbe going down again after a spurt to catch Thorpe, the Englishman might have expected a comfortable ride to second but Geboers was having none of it. Having crept up unnoticed, Geboers took over the challenge for second and to a tremendous cheer from the French crowd, dove inside halfway around the final lap. Thorpe refused to give up, however, and in a last ditch effort which Geboers felt was a bit too strong, took back the place a cou pIe of turns from the finish and crossed the line while Geboers was still picking himself up. Puntures were playing a significant role further back with Magarott eliminated by one and the fast-starting Maddii, Rond and van der Ven all losing places because of flat tires. Nicoll again got the better of the factory Yamahas, this time led by Carlqvist even though he had lost contact with Persson halfway through when he bent the gear lever and spent a few laps kicking it straight enough for normal operations. Results OVERALL: 1. Georges Jobe (KawI20+2CF40; 2. Eric Geboers (Hool 17+15=32; 3. Andre Malherile (Hon) 15+' 3=28; 4. DavidThorpe(Hon)7+17=24; 5. Kurt Nicoll {Kawl 11 +11 =22; 6. Kees van der Ven (KTMI13+7=20; 7. Lail Persson IVamI8+9=17; 8. Hakan carlqvist (Vaml 5+10=15; 9. Corrado Madii (KawI3+8=II; 10. Gerard Rond IHon) 6+4=10; 11. Michele Magarotto (Kaw) 10+0=10; 12. Yves Gerv.ise (KTMI9+O=9; 13. Erwin Gabriel (Hon) 0+8=6; , 4. Johnny Ponjee (Kawl 0+5=6; 15. Genneth Engstrand (Hon)4+0=4; 16. Mervyn Anstie(KawI0+3=3; 17. Etienne Jaemers IHonl 0+2=2; 18. J.ean-Claude Laqquaye (Honll+l=2; 19. Claudio Decarli 1+1.=2. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 1. David Thorpe (2291; 2. Andra Malherbe (227); 3. Eric Gaboers (207); 4. Georges Jobe (1841; 5. Kees van der Ven (162); 6. Lail Parsaon 1148); 7. Hakan Carlqvist (123); 8. Kurt Nicoll (108); 9. Laurenca Spence (521; 10. Heinz Kinigadner. (49). World Championship 2SOcc Motocross: Round 10 Eric Geboers took second overall by taking two consistent third place finishes; the Belgian is gaining on the championship leaders. World Championship 500ce Motoc:toss: Round B French 500cc GP win goes to lobe Vimond wins German GP and championship By Mike Carter Photos by Alex Hodgkinson and Jack Bumicle RUDERSBERG, WEST GERMANY, JULY 6 By Alex Hodgkinson CHATEAU-DU-LOIR, FRANCE, JULY 6 Kawasaki' s Georges J obe was more than just the cat amongst the pigeons at the French Grand Prix today. As the Honda family squabble over the World Championship got closer than ever, Jobe pounced, chose his bounty of two scorching wins and flew away. In France Team Green was Team Happiness while the French- speaking world could celebrate no~ only the news of their country's first motocross title (Jacky Vimond's victory in the 250cc chase), but also the devastating double of their favorite Belgian cousin. After only showing signs of pressure on the very last lap of the second moto, Yamaha's Jacky Vimond notched up yet another double victory in the 10th round World Championship series to clinch the world title. After three years as a serious contender, Vimond became the first Frenchman to win a world motocross championship. The GP was held in near-impossible conditions while Saturday's practice and qualifying ga~{isc:tocprnplaims about the dusty, hard conditions, but no one knew what was i~ store. On Saturday night there was a thunderstorm and torrential rain which didn't cease until 4 p.m. on Sunday. This turned the track into a quagmire and the sunbaked track refused to soak up the moisture. But . - championship leader Vimond was