Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127128
The Citadel race course in Namur. Belg ium. is one of the most famous rac ing facilities on the GP circuit. h is c~o w n . Thorpe's teammate fr~m Bel gium, Geober s, has a specia l reason to want th e 500cc Ch ampionsh ip . Last year Geboers added th e 250cc titl e to hi s bra ce of 125cc cro wns (1982-83) a nd a victo ry in th e 500cc class would make him the first rider ever to hav e held Wor ld Ch am pi onsh ip MX titles in all three classes (125, 250 and 500cc). Ka wasak i does, how ever , hav e more irons in th e fire. Despite hi s 34 years of age, Sweden's form er 250 a nd 500cc World Ch ampion H ak an Carlqvist ca n still beat th em all on his im po rte r- p rov ided s ta n dard Kawasaki, whi le ot he rs from last year's to p 15 o n Ka wasak is are Ital ia n Cla udio De Carl i, and Belgia ns j o Ma rten s a nd Dirk Geuken s. Yamaha will field 1986 250cc World Ch ampion j acky Vim ond, from Fran ce, who is well o n the roa d of recovery afte r a freak acci dent sho rt ly followi ng his clinc h ing of th e World Ch ampionship. The only European factory team whi ch is still very much com pe titive with th e j apanese factori es is KTM of Austria , a nd th ey, o nce again, offer a large co ntinge n t of potential GP winners through direct su p port a nd on modified production bikes, th ey are 1987 bronze medalist Kees Van der Ven , 30, from Holland; Leif Persson, 24, from Sweden; jack y Martens , 24, from Belgium , and two 22-year-olds, Italian Romano Nannin i ' a n d Eng l is h ma n Mervyn Anstie. Davey Strijbos (12 5ccl - Holland. Georges Jobe (12 5 ccl- Belgium. Rodney Smith (250ccl - USA. HRC's major opposition co mes from Kawasaki. Of Kawasaki 's officia l rid ers, Britain's Kurt Nicoll is th e biggest threa t. Currently second in th e world in th e 500cc class, Nicoll, 23, has claim to the only 500cc works Kawasaki in th e world , and has already proven his speed by thrashing arch-rival Thorpe in their British Championship clashes in recent weeks. In recent years Honda has tended to rely on its official .riders at HRC to co n tes t th e 500 cc series , but importers are, once again , being en couraged to enter rid er s and several potential top 10 rid ers on Hondas, including top German rid er Di etmar Lacher , Britain 's Andy Ni cholls, Mark Banks and jared Smith, plus Finland's Ismo Vehkonen , the 19-year-old cousin of 1985 riders with a chance of good placing, but not of th e title, are Mark Smits (Holland) and Peter Di rkx (Belgium), whi le a hos t of riders come into the same category on other ma chines including Dutchma n Leo Combee, German riders Ro land Diepold and Dane Soren Mortensen (all riding Kawasakis), Italian Michele Fanton and Swedes Anders Eriksson and P e te r Joha nsson Preview: 1988 12S/2S0/S00cc World Champ-ionship- MX Series 'Gearing Up for the Grand Prix season By A lex Hodgkins~ n The month of April means big h ap pen ings in European motocross - it's the start of another World Cham pionship G P season. It all kicked off April 3 with the 125cc Italian GP (see th e In The Wind section for results of that race) · Ii h ten. t h e b Ig ~uns open Ire.on April 17 with th e operurig ro u nds of the 250 and 500cc Gra nd Prix Seri es in France and Austria. Mot ocross GPs generally at tra ct m uch la rger crowds th an AMA o u tdoo r National eve n ts in th e Uni ted Sta tes, a nd the most importa nt a nd watc hed of all G P MX racing is th e premi er 500cc class. T he 500cc GPs a re th e most popular motocross events in Europe, a nd lure a ll the big fa ctor ies a nd wo rk s machi nery . The team to bea t in Europe as well as in the Ameri can ro und since 1984 has been HR C (H o n da Racin g Corporation). In theory , HRC lost ou t to three-tim e World Ch ampion Georges j obe, fro m Belgium, last yea r, but j ob e received hi s H onda bik es throug h th e officia l H onda team, a nd hi s mechanic had worksho p facil iti es a t th eir Belgian base. j ob e went o n to win th e 1987 500cc World Champ ionship titl e for Honda and will co n tend the 125cc ser ies in 1988. For 1988 HRC will, once again, put together a two-man team of two, tim e 500cc World Champion (1985'86) Dave Thorpe and three-time World Champion Erik Geboers. HRC team manager Steve Whitelock has in this pair th e winningest riders on th e cir cui t. The 25-year-o ld Engli shman, Thorpe, was leading th e 1987 500cc GP battle until he got injured, but 32 Thorpe is now determined to regain 125cc World Cham pion Pekka Vehkonen. Two American riders are planning to compete in the 500cc GPs: Georgi an Billy Liles and Californian Goat Breker. Liles had a fru strating series last year a nd placed a disapo inting 15th overa ll, whil e Breker is going to mak e his first attemp t a t the titl e. Breker 's European debut thi s seaso n got off to a grea t sta rt whe n he wo n the big race at Beauca ire, Fran ce. Liles will ride Kawasa kis fro m the Ital ian dis tri butor aga in for his ow n pri vateer team , whi le Brek ers p la ns a re s ti ll un certain. Tradi tio na lly the most co mpetitive class has been th e 250cc division, but the inclus ion of non-European GPs on the sched ule ha s sent many po ten tia l competi tors to th e 500s wh ere a top 10 pl acing against th e works bik es can bring more publicit y than thi rd pl ace in th e 250s. Honda has withdrawn officially from this co ntes t a fte r just o ne success ful a ttem p t wi th Geboers, a nd Kawasaki has not been particularly interested in th e class since Torleif Han sen rod e for them in th e ·70s. But th e two co mpa nies are rep laced by Cagiva a nd Suzuki. The Italian team (Cagiva) puts three potential champ ions into the battle with a trio of 23-year- olds: Finland's Pekka Vehko ne n (second in 1987), Sweden 's j orgen Nilsson (th ird last year) and Holland's Gert jan Van Doorn. Suzuki will field Bri tain 's j erem y Wh atl ey and American Rodney Smith, 24, from California. In 1987, Sm ith wo n three of th e four GP rnotos in Sou th Ameri ca last year and will ride in th e place of Italian a nd 1985 125cc World Ch ampion Mich ele Rinaldi, who recentl y reti red. As with the 500cc class, KTM has the largest interest num erically on facto ry bikes as a result of th eir policy of providing modified bikes to rid ers signed up mainl y th rough importers , and they too have a n America n on th e team in Trampas (be tter known in th e U.S. as Chad) Parker. The 19-year- old is from Shreveport, Louisiana. KTM 's main riders: however, are Swede Peter H an sson and former 250cc World Champion Heinz Kinigadner. The 28-year-old from Aus tria, Kini gadner, is being su pp lied with full works machinery. Ameri can Ri cky Ryan will rid e an alum in um- fra med Honda from a German importer. Other H onda