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World Championship 500cc MX Series: Round 1 . -: - . - -- - - Thorpe wins muddy Spanish ~Grand Prix By Alex Hodgkinson YUNQUERA, SP AI N , APR. 5 . In a Grand Prix which he believed should never have been run, Honda's David Thorpe made the perfect start to his 50o.cc MX World Championship defense by scoring a maximum victory in Spain. "I still say it should never have been run in these conditions," said Thorpe after winning two motos which were run in bog-like mud and which produced topsy-tu rvy results with Yamahamounted Hakan Carlqvist heading Ismo Vehkonen and Kurt Ljungvist in a Scandinavian two-three-four pe rformance. T he problems in .Spain sta rted with th e ra in which began 10 fall on Thursday evening. With tempera tu res below freezing overnight, it even turned 10 snow, and with no earth moving equipment on hand, the track deteriorated more and mor e up to th e first moto on Sunday. Intermittent su nshine on race da y afternoon saw a slight improvement for th e second moto. It was Kurt Ni coll who hit th e front as the pack surged towards the downhill turn one at the start of the first moto, but th e works Kawa sak i failed to make th e turn and it was the Honda duo of Mark Banks and Thorpe who powered away into th e lead. Only Holland's Kees Van der Yen headed Rob Andrews and Mervyn Anstie, and by th e end of the second lap even Van der Yen was behind th em. A Bri tish one-two-three-four. But mud master Heinz Kinigadner, th e former 250cc World Champion had other ideas and the KTM pilot quickl y came from out of the chasing pack 10 demote Andrews who had KTM-mounted Van der Yen in tow for most of th e moto. At the front Thorpe took over on lap two but one ro u nd later Banks was ba ck in front and moving clear. " I felt Mark was taking a few risks and that it was better 10 settle for 17 points (for second place)," said Thorpe af ter the moto, Bu t Banks was riding with great verve and pulled further and further clear. Nicoll had been through 10 n inth after 15 minutes when his Kawasaki seized on a bank, but fellow first turn fall er Georges Jobe was strugglin g and was actually lapped by Banks before the decisive trip to earth two laps from home. " I just got a bit cross-threaded and it spat me off on landing, said a grinning Banks later, but it took him a long time 10 restart in sixth place and he improved that by just one position on the final tour 'and that due to the fact that Kinigadner's KTM ran out of fuel while running third. Anstie had crashed twice but was showing his grit as he closed to within 100 yards of-winner Thrope a t the finish whil e Andrews settled for safety and 13 points (for fourth ) wh en Van der Yen put on a late charge to tak e third. Nicoll again pulled the holeshot as moto two ~ot underway and th is time he made It through th e first turn o nly to be passed by Carlqvist a nd Thorpe on th e openin g la p. A lap later Ni coll pulled in 10 have his handlebars tigh tened a nd he had a hard mo to-Iong chase back to eventu ally snatch fifth from Lj u ngqvis t o n the final lap. By lap five Thorpe had take n over the lead from Carlqvist o nly to crash on a downhill a few laps later a nd once again be relegated to second. Fo rtunatel y, Thorpe mana ged to pull the clu tch in and with th ree laps to go Thorpe passed Carlqvist to take the lead and then the win for maximum points on the da y. Jobe, Vehkon en and N icoll rounded out the top five behind winn er Thorpe a n d runn er-up Carlqvist. Van der Yen looked a likely second overall when he held fourth behind Vehkonen a t half di st ance but he had to stop to straighten his bike's bars a fter a fall and only passed American Billy Liles for a single point (15th place) on the final lap. Liles, riding a Kawasaki out of th e Italian importer's shop , failed to score in the first moto as well, whil e cou ntryman Trampas Parker p icked up three GP points for his 13th pl ace finish in th e opening moto on his • Kawa saki. Results OVERAll: 1. Dave Thorpe (Hon) 1-1; 2. Hakan Carlqvist (Kaw) B-2; 3. Ismo Vehko nen (Hon) 94; 4. Kurt Ljungqvist (Yam) 6-6; 5. Rob Andrews (Hon) 4-11 ; 6. Georges Jobe (Hon) 1444-3; 7. Jo Martens (kaw) 7 ·B; B. Mervyn Anst ie(KTM)2·NP; 9. Kees Van der Ven (KTM)3-15; 10. Mark Banks (Hon) 5-13; 11. Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) Np ·5 ; 12. Jared Sm ith (Kaw) NP-7; 13. Yves Gervaise (KTM) NP9; 14. Willie Simpson (Hon) 15-10; 15. -JeanJacques Bruno (Kaw) 1O-NP. Wor'dChampionship 500cc MX Series: Round 2 By Alex Hodgkinson PERNES-LES-FONTAINE, FRANCE, APR. 12 Two down and 10 to go. That is the situation for David Thorpe as he strives to make it three World Championship titles in a row. He moved a bit closer to his goal as he scored his second straight overall victory by finishing third in the opening m o to a nd co mi ng back to wilt th e second mot o a t th e Fren ch Grand Prix . Bu t the big gest cheer of the day from the wild ly enth usias tic crowd a t the sun-ba ked sto n y venue of Pern es-Ies-Fon tain e went up fo r th e ma n who inflicted the first mot o defeat on th e cham p this year. T hat man was Hak an Carlqvist, the 32-year-old Swede who showed more fire than ever as he strove 10 show Ya ma ha a nd th e world tha t someone in Ams terdam (Ya maha 's E uropean raci ng h eadquart ers ) ma d e a bi g mi st ake when they discarded him. Indeed with Thorpe restricted to third p lace after a fa ll in th e first mo to , Carlqvist might even ha ve sna tched the o vera ll win if he had n o t been del a yed b y the fall en Georges Jobe at the beginning of the second moto, for th e Englishmen a n d the Swede were h ead and shou lders above the rest and a second instead of a sixth by Carlqvist could have clinched the overall victory for Kawasaki's new man , ahead of the lone factory Honda star. Carlqvist's moto win wa s his fir st since the San Marino GP in 1983. The other man to head th e champion in moto one was jobe, who 'was looking much like his old self in tha t ride, but struggled with th e res t a fter his earl y fall In moto two. KTM-mounted Romano Nannini of Italy took third on the da y with a fifth in th e ope ning moto and seco nd in the final moto. G eorgia 's Bill y Lil es rod'e h is Kawasaki lo fourth overall via a 93 rnoto ta lly , and that earned the yo u ng Am erican 22 poin ts a nd placed him ninth in t he poin t standings after two rounds. America n Phil Larson fini shed ninth overall. The first moto saw Carlqvist from th e outside line a nd Thorpe and Nannini ' from the inside lead th e uphill charge of the " rock bridge " at the start, as J .J. Bruno took out Heinz Kinigadner, Mervyn Anstie, and 500cc GP debutant Julian Clark and others in the fir st turn. Only Bruno was able to make his mark with a powerful charge to 14th, as Kinigadner was soon out with a defective rear brake, Anstie fell to a front tire puncture, and Clark finished well down the field. But all eyes were on the leaders as they exchanged positions. Carlqvist dove inside Thorpe on a downhill to lead lap one, but he was ba ck to third as Nannini threw caution to the wind and set after Thorpe th e next tim e around. Thorpe was still holding a slender lead a cou ple of laps lat er wh en he went down. " There were some deep ruts in one particular corner, and I si m p ly go t th e front wh eel in one a nd th e rear wheel in another. I was lucky actually that the tra ck was downhill, so I cou ld bump start it !" said Thorpe. Restarting in sixth, Thorpe soon picked off Nicoll, who was struggling with a wrong ch oi ce of tires. " I thought it would still be a little wet in the early stages and I used the wrong compound on the fron t. Within half a lap, I real ized the err or," said Nicoll. On the quarter hour Carlqvist made his move up from. " Nan nin i was riding a little wild early on. I just waited until he settled down a bit," said Carla. jobe, in fourth after a lap, soon followed Carlqvist through but cou ld never make real co n tact as the Swede controlled affairs from the from. At the 25 minute stage Thorpe started to make his move on Ism o Vehkonen and a lap later he had Nannini as well ; but there was no chance of furth er progress. The fastest man on the fin al lap was Nicoll. " I had Nannini and Veh ko ne n in my sig hts and I jus t had to take risks because I need the poin ts. Fortunately it worked ou t," sai d Nicoll. Va n der Van was a lonel y seventh while Ljungq vist took his Yamaha to eighth af ter a lo ng ba ttl e wi th L iles a nd Doce. The second moto saw Nannini, Claudio De Carli and Thorpe lead at th e start, but severa l riders includin g Carlqvist were stuc k behind the fall en Jobe. The Belgian 's bike had ' slid o ut fr o m under him wh ile braking on th e sli ppery surface and Carla and Van der Yen were stuck right behind. N ic o ll was also delayed, but a t least he managed to sn eak away and stay in contact with th e pack. Tlmrpe was aware that he cou ld afford to play a wa iting game and he eventually moved in on Nannini at th e 35-m inute st age, ' having . disposed of De .Ca rli 15 m inutes earlier. By then the race behind had established a pattern following the ! hectic earl y laps, 'with star names surging through from the back. Carlqvist was quite remarkable. He was second last on the fir st turn, but within 15 laps he was eighth. By then, however, his ti res were finish ed. " I should have used K695, but I put K990 Dunlops on," said Carlqvist, The Swede was to progress two more pla ces, as first Ismo Vehkonen fell whe n fou rt h a nd later on Jean, Jacques Bruno ba il ed out in style when indulging in a momentous scrap for fourth wi th Ameri cans Phil Larson and L iles. On the half hour, Larson, who had fini shed 12th in the first rnoto, seemed to have th e edge, but then Liles got the message, not only demoting his compatriot but also reeling-in De Carli in a searing final lap to take third. The first two G Ps are over. Thorpe has won them both, but he has a challenge and not from some you ng pretender. Thorpe is still the king, but Carlqvist is backl • Results OVERALL: 1. Devid Thorpe (Hon) 3·1 ; 2. Hakan Carlqvist (Kaw) 1-6; 3. Romano Nannini (KTMO 52; 4. Billy Ules (Kaw) 9-3; 5. Georges Jobe (Hon) 2-12; 6 ~ Kurt Nicoll (Kaw) 4-9; 7. Ismo Vehkonen (Hon) 6-7; B. Kurt Ljungqvsit (Ylm) B-B; 9. Phil Larson (KawI12-5; 10. Claud io De Carli (Hon) NP4; 11. Kees Ven der Ven (KTM) 7-15 ; 12. Dave Watson (KTM) 13-1 1; 13 . Peter Mayer (Hon) NP10; 14 . Maurizio Dolce (Hon)lD-NP; 15 . Patrick Fura (Hon) l l -NP. _ POINT STANOINGS: 1. Thorpe (75t, 2. Carlqvist (55); 3. Vehkonen (39); 4 . Jobe (3B); 5. Ljungqvist (36 ); 6. Nicoll (3 1); 7. Nannini (2B); B. Van der Ven (26 ); 9. Ules (22); 10. (TIE) Andrews/Martens (lB). World Championship 250cc MX Series: Round 2. Belgium GP to Vehkonen By Dave Smith WUUSTWEZEL, BELGIUM, APR. 12 Finland's Pekka Vehkonen was the overall winner of the Belgium GP, the opening round of the 250cc GP season, in the loose sandy terrain of Wuustwezel, dose to the Dutch border. Vehkonen has switched to the 250cc class after having -finished third in the 125cc GP point standings last year. Third in the first moto behind

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