Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

.. ~ e r- oo Q") ........ "' ........ C'I .... v ..0 0 .... u 0 • Ricky Ryan (26) ended up fourth overall in Holland; Ryan was the defending champi on in the Dutch event after dominating in 1986. Erik Geboers only mustered a sixth place finish in Italy after finishing second in Nijmegen, Holland; Geboers recovered from a crash in Holland. WORLD SERIES PT STANDINGS: 1. R. Johnson (108); 2. E. Geboers (B8); 3. D. Strijbos (76); 4 . M . Dymond (74); 5. P. Dirkx (68); 6. K. Bowen (66); 7. Tyson Vohland (46); 8. (TIE) R. Peterson /Ricky Ryan (42); 10 . M . Rinaldi (40). MFG STANDINGS: 1. Honda (18); 2. Yamaha (8); 3. Kawasaki (7); 4 . (TIE) Suzuki/Cagi.a (6); 6. (TIE) KTM/Ma ico (2). World Series of Motocross: Round J Johnson wins in Holland By Alex Hodgkinson N Ij MEGE N, H O L LAN D,SEPT. 20 Having wooed the European public in Italy and France in recent years , American Champi on Ricky Johnson foll owed John Van den Berk rode his Yamaha to a seventh place finish in Holland after becoming the first ,:,on-American to win a heat race. 26 internal damage a nd Fisher was forced to pull out twice more as it sta rted to tighten. Carson had been provided with a n '88 model KTM for the. race and finished all three motos but was down o n power all da y when he di scovered th a t th e specia l pipe he had brought ' down from midweek testing in Holland on an '87 model of the type he expected to be loaned did not fit next year's model. After two 25,000 strong crowds, th e . series continues o n October II in front of a quarter of a million spectators and many more waching th e ac tionin three hours of live TV fr om the Dutch Bea ch ra ce a t Sche veningen . Geboers has th e cha nce th ere to tak e over th e series lead ership - Rj will be ra cing th e GP in japan that da y. • Results 1. Ricky Johnson. USA (Hon) 1-1-1 ; 2. Da.e Stri jbos. Hoi (Cag) 7-4 ·2 ; 3. Micky Dymond. USA (Hon) 3-3-9; 4. Ross Pederson Can (Yam) 5-6 -4; 5. Michele Rinaldi. ita (Suz) 6-9 -3 ; 6;Erik Geboers. Bel (Hon) 2-2-18; 7. Ronnie Tichenor. USA (Suz) 9-7-7; 8. Andrea Bartolln], Ita (Suz) 15-8 -8; 9. cerredc Maddii. Ita (HonI16·11 ·6 ; 10. Peter Dirk. Bel (Hon) 14·12·10; 11. Georges Jobe, Bel (Hon) 8-DNF·5; 12. Keith Bowen. USA (Yam) DNF·5 ·11 ; 13. Jeff Stanton. USA (Yam) 4·DNF ·13; 14 . Jacky Martens, Bel (KTM) DNF-12 -12 ; 15 . Massimo Manzo. Ita (KTM) 10-DNF·16. up his in ternatio nal wi n a t Arsago Sep rio in Ital y two weeks ea rl ier wi th hi s fir st .victory in H olland when he swept from a first turn co llis ion wi th a Dutch no-hoper to win th e sevent h ed i tion of th e Dutch Su pe rcross organized by Gerrit Wol sink. j ohn- . so n jo in s Mike Bell (tw ice), Bill y Lil es, j eff Ward a nd Ri cky Ryan in wi nni ng the event . This year 's race saw th e best entry ever as it was also th e first ro und of th e " Wo rld Ser ies of Mot ocro ss" wh ich is du e to end in either Cal i- : fornia or Florida in late j anuary. T he seven-rider vs. co n tingent had domina ted the heats, wh ich were run on th e U.S. format of dir ect . q ua lifica tion ra the r than th e more nor mal Europea n Supercro ss format of qualification for th e stars a t bo th th e heats a nd sem i stages. Micky Dymond led the fir st heat all the way, but Ryan had to go to th e second series of heats after fir st lap problems left him unable to reach hi gh er th an fourth wi th three to q ua lify. j ohnson repeated the sho w in heat two to ens ure that both HRC riders cou ld enjoy a two-hour break from racing before th e fin al. After spendi ng a co u ple of laps d ispl acing local rider Alwin van Asten from th e lead , Keith Bowen go t th e better of Tyson' Vohland as the y ran a way with heat th ree. Erik Geboers had fallen on the fir st lap im media tely after taking th e lead and had to put in a forceful ride to d ive under j ohn Van den Berk for th e fin al transfer spot. Like Ryan , Van den Berk obliged in th e second series of heats with a win and hi s sixth heat victory was the fir st non-Ameri can win of th e . aftern oon as Mike Fish er had co mpl eted the five heat win sequen ce of th e Ameri cans in heat five. Soft dirt and a fairly narrow track added tension to the start of the long 22-minute final with a good start certain to be a major advantage. And a good s ta rt was exactly what Geboers got, rounding the first turn clear of the pack with Dymond soon on his rear wheel after displacing Peter Dirkx, wh o also fell quickly to Leif Niklasson and Ryan. johnson wa s picking himself up after tangling in the first turn with Buddy Van Harsel; after a lap johnson was still 19th. He was soon joined a t th e back of th e pack by Strijbos, Bowen and Fisher, who a ll fell o n lap o ne. Ryan swooped pa st Niklasson for third over th e whoops but a ny cha nce of a rep eat win following his '1986 success ended seconds later when he went down. Vohland a nd Van den Berk wer e th e next pair past Niklasso n a nd Dirkx bu t Geb oers a nd Dymond were pulling further and fur th er a way. Not until th e eig h th lap, havin g spe nt three laps trying to find a way past Ryan, could johnson break in to th e first six, but th e top four had a big lead . And it was soo n a one-two for th e Euros as Van den Berk di splaced Vohland a n d Dymond wen t down on the tabl e top jump. The scene -was set for johnson's charge and Van den Berk clipped a bale a nd fell under pressure after being ca ugh t on th e 14th of 19 laps. Still Geboers had a big lead , but with no blue flag s Dymond, who had rejoined th e ra ce nearly a lap down, was making life d ifficult for Geb oers. Desp erate to get past, the Belgian made a mistak e and the lead was halved a nd from then on it was only a matter of time before johnson wore down his ri val. Once demoted a tired Geboers sensibly settled for second as just seven rid ers co mp leted the full di stance. The World Series contin ues in Maggiora, Italy, th en goes to th e Holland beach race. The Bologna, Ital y, stad ium event com pletes the European sch edule. The race was also the second ro und of the FIM's Rodil Seri es. just 12 riders (n ine Dutchmen and three Swedes) have contested both rounds to date a nd Niklasson leads the table ' after sixth and ninth placingsl • Results FINAL: 1. Ricky Johnson. USA (Hon); 2. Erik Geboers. Bel (Hon); 3. Tyson Vohland. USA (Kaw) ; 4. Ricky Ryan. USA (Hon); 5. Keith Bowen . USA (Yam); 6. Peter Dirkx. Bel (Hon); 7. John Van den Berk. Hoi (Yam); 8. Leo Combee. Hoi (Kaw); 9. Leil Niklasson. Swe (Ma i); 10. Mike Fisher. USA (Kaw); 11. Micky Dymond . USA (Hon); 12 . Deve Str ijbos ; Hoi (Cag); 13 . Gen J an Van Doorn. Hoi (Cag) 14. ; Pedro Tra91er. Hoi (Hon); 15. ChaffOn Sweebe. Hoi (Kew) .

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