Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dietmar Lacher (10) holeshots the f irst moto. American Bobby Moore (41) rode an all -white Mugen Honda. 12Scc Motocross World Championship Series: Round 7 Van den Berk takes Irish GP By Davey Coombs BELFAST, NO RTHE RN IR ELAN D, J ULY 4 Holland's John Van den Berk roared to a pair of moto wins at the J uly Four th 125cc World Championship Grand Prix of Northern Ireland. Van den -Berk overtook rival cou ntryma n a nd defending ' ld Ch . D S·· .' W or. amp lOn av~y mjbos m . th e title standings b y one point, 28 The Yam aha-mounted runner-up from last seaso n was flawless on th e rolling Irish circ uit, go ing flag-toflag for the mo to o ne win, then com ma ndi ng th e seco nd moto from lap three on . Strijbos, mounted o n th e factory Cagiva, was never in conte nt ion in th e first leg, ga ting 10th and fini shing a controversia l th ird, then fai led to mat ch th e pace of Van den Berk on his way to a second moto second. Upstart Frenchman j ean Michel Bayle, th e latest rage o n th e international tou r, was an impressive 2-3 th ird overa ll. T he titl e chase this seaso n to date has becom e so mewhat of a privat e war betw een th e two Dutch wunderkind a t the top of th e heap as push has go ne to sho ve th en back again . ' ; . Since the eventful open ing rou~~ in th e Netherlands. In th at race Strijbos and yan de!! Berk ended a 45-mIn ute dogfight With a las.t-lap, last-corner, hockey-style scra p I~ front of 20:000 shoc ked fans.. The ~Ivalry has Since tak en on th e Inte~slly of th e infarn ous Cz~cho-~u sslan 250cc Wo~ld ~hamplOnshlp str~ggles of the mid70s, com plet~ with kn.ock-do.wndra~ out racmg a n d In credibl y ob vIOUS team tactics. An d n o w, having.left.th e rest of t.he co.n~enders far behind In th e standin gs, illS ~I.ear that one of th e .two IS on a collision course for th e titl e as well. Am er!c a 's so le. ch a m I;> io n sh,ip hope th is seaso n IS one tim e rmnicycle champ Bobb y Moore. Pilo ting a one-off Mugen Honda (in the all wh ite design th at johnny O 'Mara once made famous) that is thought to be the mo st exo tic works bike in the world, Moore star ted slowly this season before coming into h is own ",:ith a third in. th e .Italian. rou nd . Since then the Michel'in/Ca linaa/S f) Racin g-backed ex-patriot has finished cons istently towards the fro nt, th ou gh that elusive firs t GP victory is still JUSt a goal. Moor e came into Belfast eig ht h i n the standings, bu t a third lap crash in the ope ning sta nza put t~e Yan k C?n the bench for. th e day WIth a possibl y fractured wnst., ' ,' . . Sunday s mormng ~ tim e? tra ll~ I!!g sessio n to determine gnd pOSInons prod uced an up set of sorts. as Ba yl~ pos ted th e fastest lap of th e nde o n hi s pr oduction H onda. Strijbos , Van den Berk , and Moor e were a ll o n th e sa ~e 2:2.? ma,rk as the ~ren~hman ,.while Strllb? S Cagiva slde~lck Massim o .Con tini led off th e ~ : 28 ra n ks as fifth fastest. When the !pte dro pped fo r the start ~f t~e first rno to West Cerman y s DI~tmar. Lacher leaped into ~he. sweep I!1g first turn off of an Inside uphill ledge and pushed o ut th e first wave of Van den Berk, Bayle, a n d C ontini down th e leadin g straigh t, Strij bos was barely wi th in th e top 10, one spot beh ind th e brilliant white bik e of Moo re. Even further do wn were th e Itali an Benellis of Albert o Barozzi a nd And rea Bartolini, as well as Finnish KTM rider Arto Pantill a, who has had an incredi ble stri ng of poor lu ck after posting a top 10 score in last year's chase .It t~ok Van den Berk less th an half a lap to gather th e lead from Lacher, and soo n the Cab ellero Cigarettebacked Yamaha pilo t was getting awa y from new number two Bayle. The lead er clocked in 12 seconds q uicker th an Bayle after j ust three laps. On that same go-around Moore took hi s fall after dropping into a chop py woods section moments after Lacher threw away hi s Honda on one ' of th e treacherous high-speed hills. At the halfway point the leader board read Van de n Berk , Bayle, and Contini, wit h Strijbos fina lly pl acin g th e number o ne bike ahead of a fifth throug h l Oth freig h t-tra in inv olv ing Ita lia n H on da rider Cor rado Maddii , Barozzi , Czechoslova kian fast g uy Petr Kovr, Lac her, and Belgi an hard track sp ecia lis t Jfeter Dirkx. Str ijbos had by th is point lost h is surge. H e seemed conte nt to flank Conti ni by the same five seconds all the way to th e checkers, but as th e riders rou nded the paddock for th e bell la p th e Ca gi va high er-ups ' somehow go t word to Contini to let th eir top g un by. This was no t the firs t time th at the team has used such tact ic s. Eve n visitin g Ameri can teams ter Mik e H eale y was rumor ed to have put o n th e brakes for Strijbos a week prior in th e French ro und. At an y rat e, Con ti ni somewhat relu ctantly tan ked it for th e last half lap , p ull ing into the slow lane in an obs cure area where embarrassment wo uld be min imal. The final - tall y went Van den Berk , Bayle, Strij bos the n Co ntin i, with Lacher a charging fifth. The title table showed Strijbos ma intain ing a two po int le.ad as he lined up right beside Van den Berk on the grassy start ing grid for heat , two. Next Con tin i pl aced hi s Cagiva directl y agai ns t th e Yamaha 's left, To offset th is pinch Van den Berk 's Caba llero teammate Eric Stuurman posi tioned h is rid e right agains t Strij bos to ensure that if the Cai$"ivas squeezed he wou ld ba ttle, Strijb os, Lacher again bu sted th e start from his risk y inside lin e as race two go t un derway. Co ntini was next, with Van den Berk a nd Strij os running five-six beh ind Dirk x, Kovar , and Pedro Tragter, heir apparent to head up the same Venko H onda team th at p roduced Strijbos, Stu urrnan, and 250cc contender Gert j an van Doorn. Before the co mp letio n of la p o ne Contini was by Lacher for first, with th e young Dutch masters quickl y into third and fourth. Lac her tried to retake the lead with a ha irp in stuff, but Contini punished th e th ought wi th a serious brake test o n Lacher th at nearl y put Lacher dow n. A lap later and th e German was all th e way back in fifth before reti ring o n th e thi rd loo p wit h mechanicals. All eyes were focused on th e front of the pack as Strijbos dogged Van den Berk right through Contini and into th e lead. T he exuberant cro wd lining the co urse seemed to be o n Van den Berk 's side as the riders raced close r and closer to th e fen ce lines. The middle of th e trac k was now so ro ugh that th e leaders (particul arly Van den Berk ) had resorted to th e inside-out sideline riding that is th e mark of Holland's great sand riders. Holland's Van den Berk topped both motos for the overall. Each ti me th e win n ing Yamaha slowe d for a corner the approxi mat ely 10.000 fans urged him o n 1 wit h waving shirts and shr ieking air horns, ho ping to see the charismatic wi ldman overtake the rat her dry cha mp . 1 That was all but assured when the G .pressing Strij bos bounced himself off! the floor with a front-end was hou t com ing off a hill section. T he cha mp" lost 15 seco nds on th e leader and nearl y was overtaken , though it was a holl ow effort, by Contini. I Meanwhil e, Bayle was making ' waves from mid pack, having su f- , fered traffic woes in th e early going after a so-so start. By th e halfway ~ mark he had climbed int o sixth 1 behind Maddii and Tragter with Barozzi , Kovar, and Ho lland's j o pi e , R ij kers pu lling a trai n behind h im. T hree laps past th e halfway point Bayl e was all th e way into third, havin g put away a tir ed Contini after T ragt er fell and Madi i's mo to r took a wa lk. Barozzi was now fifth with : Kovar and Stuurrna n trailing. , As the race wore do wn Van den Berk did not , drivin g thi s ride hard into every corne r and matching hi s l tape measure practi ce leaps over th e i m a ssive crowd -p leasi ng jumps. T ow ard s th e end he even began re tu rn ing th e fan s' hollers with cheers of hi s o wn around th e course. H e ' finall y crossed th e fini sh lin e co mforta bly ahea d of Strijbos, hi s rig ht hand clutching hi s left ar m in a show of strength. And from here he will need every o unce of mu scle tha t he and hi s fello w Ca balleros tea m ma tes have to fight off th e notoriou s Cagiva team . Behind th e flyin g Dutchmen came Bayle, Con- tini , Barozzi , Kov ar, Stuurman , ~ T ragt er, and Rijkers, with Belgian Marnicq Bervoets 10th . ' With fi ve ro u n ds remain in g , incl udi ng th e Augus t 16th United States ro und near Pittsburgh, it is still J anybody's ga me, as long as you are from th e Neth erl ands. Beyond th e leading 232-231 du o comes Bayle (166), th e sol e defender of the TriCol ou rs after hi s co un try lost super sta r j acky Vimond to a tragic ban- ' quet fall, Maddii (150), and Contini (126). After th e race Strijbos and Van den Berk refused to shake hands for th e BBC television cameras, renew ing th eir bitterness towards on e ano ther. It is no secret th at Van den Berk wears hi s titl e hopes on his sleeve, and because of that the rivalry will no doubt grow as a possible crown draws nearer: The championship season thus far was best described in the brokenEnglish of Strijb os: " We are not such good friends anymore... •

• Cover