Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ 00 00 O"l ......... ~ t- c-r ...... ..... $-< 0. < ;., .I I ~ 1 f . - Pedro Tragter shadowed Strijbos and Bayle in the first mota. then came back after falling in the first tum in round two to score third overall. Dave Strijbos led on the first lap in moto one and stormed to the win. but in moto two he could get no further than second . Jean~Michel 'Bayle scored the overall victory in Belgium w it" a 2 -1 score and moved ou t to a 1O-po int lead in the point standings. World Championship 125cc MX Series: Round 2 . . Bayle'wins Belgian Grand' Prix By Alex Hodgkjnson GENK, BELGIUM, APR. 10 After the muddy track of Italy, the 125cc MX GP con tenders moved north to the stony sand of n orth ern Belgium and p rovided spectators wi th one of the most thrilling 24 . battles of recent times in the first moto of the second round I of the championship as Dutchman Dave Strijbos gained , re- venge for Italy by defeating Frenchman jean-Michel Bayle with Pedro Tragter right in their wheel tracks. But then came frustration for the Dutch and delight for the French as Bayle clea red off to win the second moto and score the overa ll victory to maintain h is 10-point lead in the point standings . Favoring the grassland tracks to come la ter in the 12-round series, Californian Bob Moore was more than happy to maintain his thi rd place in the standi ngs after earning a hard-fought fifth overall at Genk. Honda rider Bayle stormed into t he lead of the first moto, but Cagiva's Strijbos was dete rmined to start playing catch-up in the points race and before' the first 'Ia p was completed Strijbos was out in front. But he could not move away as expected, and indeed the two major title candidates were soon coming under pressure from Tragter who had turned in the fastest 'lap in practice and has been regu larly beating fellow Dutchman Stri jbos at Na tional races in sand this spring. . , T ime and time again the Hondas of Bayle and Tragter raced alongside each other, but in the next turn it was always the Frenchman who held the line as he tracked the lead ing Strijbos. Only in the final minutes could Str ijbos gain .the few yards cushion which made the win safe barri ng errors. After the initial sort-out KTMmounted Moore raced to a lonely fourth: " T h is race an d next week's in Holland are the two I have to get through. Deep sand is not my favor ite sort of track. I just have to mak e sure that I don' t lose many poin ts." Further back, Georges J obe was showing much better form than in Italy though he was still prone to rolling off the throttle after his man y years of rid ing 500s. By mid-race the Honda rider had ' go t the better of Massimo Con tini, Cagiva's n umber two rider, to secure fifth place a long way behind Moore. Jobe m ust have been grateful that th e race was not one lap lo nger, however, as Allessa ndro Puzar, kn own for his hot-headed spurts and inevitab le fa lls , was charging hard on the unfamiliar sandy surface. Ha lfway ro und the final lap he pounced on Contini and crossed the finish line in J o be's wh eel tracks. Jobe's Johnson Honda teammate Alain Lej eune threw away his fourth in th e standings whe n he got a flat front tire, and Mika Ko uki had a hard ~ race from the back to ninth after being knocked off on the first lap . Bayle again led from the gate in the second moto and this time Strijbos needed four laps to annex second place. By that tim e the Frenchman had six ' seconds advantage, but to the amazement of the on lookers Str ijbos could not close the gap. Instead, Bayle moved steadily further away, and the Dutchman gave tip all hope in the' final laps to finish half a minute down at the checkered flag . . First race challenger Tragter had washed out in the first turn and ta ken down the hapless Kouki . Tragter got away first and finished fourth after a series of dramatic changes on the leaderboard, while the Finnish Yamaha rider had to be satisfied with 13th. He was hot after Moore for sixth as the two-lap board was displayed , but in addition to losing the rear brake' in the first corner collision, his Yamaha's filler cap had been damaged and Kouki ran out of fuel with just over a lap. to go ; he pushed across the line for 13th, one lap down on Bayle. Puzar was initially second but went out with mechanical failure on the same lap Strijbos passed Moore. The American's exhaust was al ready starting to blow a nd he was q uickly pushed to fourth by Massimo Manzo, another wi ld-riding Italian who was causing a stir. .. I Then Manzo pulled out with motor problems , and Jobe moved past Moore for fourth with Tragter closing fast. Entering the final lap J obe still led thi s persona l battle bu t he was ha ving gearbox problems and his face was covered with blood from a n in jury caused by the flying sto nes. Tragter took full advantage to finish fourth behind loca l Yamaha ri der Marnicq Bervoets, who had ridden .steadily to take ad vantage of .the drama all around him. Mike H eal ey had been narrowly eliminated in q ualifying on Satu rday as fractions of a second separated the entire field on a cold, rainy day which didn't Help the Ca lifornian as he also tried to come to grips with the usual sandy surface. • Results OVERALL: 1. J ean-Mich el Bayle (Hon) 2-1 ; 2. Dave Str ijbos (Cag) 1-2; 3. Pedro Tragl er (Hon) 3 4; 4 . M arn icq Bervoet s (Yam) B-3; 5. Bob Moore (KTM) 4 -6; 6. Georges Jobe (Hon) 5-5 ; 7. M assim o Cont in i (Cag) 7 -7; B. Rudy van Leeuwen (Yam) 1110; 9. M ika Kouki (Yam ) 9- I 3; 10. Alle sandr o Puzar (KTM) 6-D NF. POINT STANDINGS: 1. Bayle (77); 2. Str ijobs (67): 3. Moore (53); 4. Tragler (37); 5. J obe (33); 6. (TIE) Bervcetsz'Kouki (26); B. Puzar (25 ); 9. Ano Panti lla (20): 10. Alai n Lejeun e (19).

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