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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127142
The second mota featu red a good battle for th e lead between Van den Berk and Vehkonen after they both passed early leaders Smith and Ryan . After exchan gi ng the point severa l tim es Van den Berk took over for good with two laps rem aining. Once again Vehkonen was second. Wh a tley crashed in th e first mota and finished 12th , th en took thi rd in ro und two, w hile Smi th had tro ubles in both rnotos and fin ished ninth overall. At the fourth round in Czech oslov akia Diepold was th e overall winner wi th a 3-1 tally. Smith bounced back and scored 32 points for second overall. Van den Berk scored his seco nd overa ll win of th e series and extended his points lead ' when round five mo ved to Gr eat Britain. Van den Berk quickl y worked hi s way to the front in the rai n -soak ed, sloppy first mota, whi le -Smith Cruised to th e finish a lo ne in secon d, well ahead of Whatley. Wh atley bri efly battle d with Rya n before taki ng comma nd of the seco nd moto, Van den Berk also got by Ryan , but by th e tim e he did Wh atl ey Several riders w ill be m ounted o n f u ll-works factory bikes like Smith's Chesterfield-backed RH250 S uzuki, w hich features a case-reed motor, 'gets 15 points, fourth 13, fifth II , sixth 10 and th en o ne point less for each po sition down to 15th. At the o pening round of th e series, held o n th e French Ri viera in Sa lidres, J erem y Wha tley surprised everyone by grabbing th e overall win an d points lead . Wh atley had been abse nt in all but one of the p re-season internatio nal ra ces, but whe n the ga te dropped -for the first moto he showed everybody that hi s lack of pre -season raci ng hadn' t hurt, as he led from start to finish. French man Yannig Kervella charged up from wh ere Sm ith would have won based o n moto finishes, but lost th e overall to Itali an Michele ' Fanton on GP points scored. Smith was th e fastest qualifier and led most of the first moto before being passed by Fanton with two la ps to go. Whatley was third, just a few seconds beh ind Smith, and Van den Berk could only manage a n inth. In th e second rnoto Rick Ryan grabbed th e lead but was slowed when his rear tire went flat. Smith and Fant on then ba ttled for the lead until Van den Berk dro ve to the front. England's Rob Herring has come . off a wrist injury and won motos in the last three GPs, was go ne. Veh konen worked up to th ird a nd Smith took fifth. Van den Berk 's score moved him 19 points ahea d of Whatley, Smith _ moved into th ird in the sta ndings 16 points be hin d , and Veh ko n en Cagiva's Pekka Vehkonen is on a ro ll afte r winning the last two GPs; he's fourth in points. ente red th e top five beh in d Diepold. Belgium was th e si te of ro und six of the series and Herring too k hi s ' first win of the year with a 1-3 score, but Van den Berk came away from this round with a 46-point lead in th e standi ngs aft er go ing 3-2. Whatley was left on th e sidelines wh en he failed to qualify d ue to a cras h during officia l timed practice, and by the time he got his bi ke straig h tened o ut it had started to rai n and he co uld n 't make th e field in th e bad tra ck con ditions. Smith took adva ntage of the situation and moved into seco nd in the points table with 4-8 finishes. In th e second mo to Smith was leading, but twis ted his knee twice during th e race and dropped back. Vehkonen charged to fourth in the sta ndings at th e seventh ro und in West Germany wh en he was essentia ll y handed th e overall win wh en Diepold and H erring cras hed with in a lap of eac h o ther whi le lead in g the second mota . Diepol d had wo n th e first moto and still man aged to get second overall and move into a tie for fourth th e sta ndings with Veh konen . The top three titl e candida tes, Van 'den Berk , Smith and Whatley, all encountered problems durin g the day. Van den Berk was still feeling th e in (Con tinued to page 21) The fan s at Unadilla a re voca l, show their patrio tism a nd ca n g et as w ild as the race actio n . No alcohol at the t ra ck m ay kee p them ta mer. fifth to finis h second ahead of Va n den Berk , while Vehko nen cras hed on the -first lap and eventually had to pit to free a sticking throttle and fin ished ou t of th e points. Whatl ey co u ldn't match his firstrno to performan ce and too k four th in the seco nd ro und. Sm ith , who was ru n ning seventh in the first mo ta unt il he crashed, passed Van den Berk halfway into the moto, but th ey were both passed by Italian Gisuseppe Andreanni wh o went on to claim the win. Whatley left France with a threepoint lead over Van den Berk, Smith was tied for fifth in points and Vehkonen wasn 't even in the top 10. Round two moved to Ibiza, Spain, Once in the lead Van den Berk stretched his lead to five seconds a t the fin ish over Smith, who was eight seco nds ahead of Fanton. . Wi th Fanton collecting 20 poi nts for his firs t-mote win and 15 for th ird in the second ro und, hi s to tal of 35 was just enough to edge Smith's . score of 34 for h is pair of seconds . Van den Berk 's momentum carried him through the next round in Italy wh ere he swep t both motos and too k th e poin ts lead. _ Kervella led ear ly in the first moto until Van den Berk got by th en motored away to th e win. Vehkonen mo ved up from sixth to capture second at the finish, wh ile Roland Diepold claimed third ahead of Ryan. 17