Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jean-Michel Bayle went 1-1 in France to close w ithin four po ints of 1 2 5 cc series points leader Dave Strijbos. Dave Strijbos took third in the f irst mota in France. but was knocked down by a French rider and f inished 16th. World Championship 12Scc MX Series: Round 10 Bayle claims French GP victory By Alex Hodgkinson BLAR GI ES, FRA NCE, J UL Y 3 If Holla nd 's senes poin ts leader Dave Strijbos loses ' the '125cc Worl d Championship, then h e can surely p oin t to the dirty tricks cam p aign in the second m oto of the 32 French 125cc GP , as Fren ch- 1 th e points gap on th e Du tchman to just four points after man J ean-Michel Bayle clos ed a do uble win in h is favori te muddy racing condi tio ns, whi le Strijbos was th e victim of bl atant knock-downs by Bayle's fell ow Fren chmen ! Early in race two, Strijbos was taken out on a slippery camber by Frenchman Patrick Perri er and lost almost a lap before restarting last. Desperately trying to salvage some poin ts, Strij bos th en had to have all his wits abo ut him to avoid a further . attempt at obstruction by the elder of th e Bayle br others, Christian, who o n 'p ulling ou t of th e ra ce soo n after faili ng was chas tised by th e Ho nda France chiefs for not waiting to hav e another try. The slippery conditions su ited Bayle perfectl y, and with his first good start for many races, the home hero q ui ckl y deposed Massim o Contini from th e lead and disappeared into th e di stance to win by nearl y a minute from Pedro Tragter. The Dutch H onda rider had soo n also go ne p ast Contin i, but th e Itali an, not usuall y happy in th e mud after a series of kn ee operations in recent years, only had to make way for one more rider before the en d of the race. T hat man was Cagiva teammate Strijbos, who had not started well and had already had to pass severa l riders to comp lete the first lap sixth. He was thi rd soo n after halfway, but wi th little cha nce of catching T ragter, who had mad e good his esca pe. Allessandro P uzar had been one of the riders he had to pass o n th e way, but the you ng Italian KTM rider rod e well and a lmost caught Contin i before the finish. The next two p laces we n t to Americans Mik e H ealey and Bobby Moore. Neit her is at his ha ppiest in the mud but both knuckled down to the task in han d for sixt h and sevent h pl acin gs. Hea ley rode half the race with a flat rear ·tire. T he on ly ot her rider to comp lete the full di stance was Eri c Stu urman of H olland, as J-M Bayle lap ped his elder brother on the final lap. Man y big nam es h ad a lre ad y su ffered th e indignity incl u din g Georges J obe who had faced a long hard ride th rough th e pack after being brough t down in th e first comer. Finn Pasi Hagstrom had lost co ntrol under braking but stayed o,ll while knocking off Ireland's P hd Neill. Jobe was unable to avoid a collisio n, nor was H ar old Ott; who rode over th e Suzuki of Neill and thereby knocked off the petrol cap. j obe' s Honda refu sed to run cleanly for die remainder of lap o ne, before he raced fro m 37th position to pass Yves Demari a on the fin al lap for 14th posi tio n. It took Bayle less th an half a lap to demo te Puzar from th e lead of race two, as th e first maj or victim of th e ever slipperier trac k was J obe. The 500cc World Ch ampion rejoined th e race o ne la p down , but gradually lost grou nd to Bayle as he finished 19th. Eleventh after the initia l sor t-out, Strijbos was desperately tryi ng to m ake up gro u nd as qu ickl y as possi ble before the leaderboard go t too strung ou t and was alread y past several riders, including Tragter, wh en he me t Perr ier on lap th ree. Colliding on a sharp climb, th ey los t mom entum but on ly Strijbos went down to be joined by Tragter, who was fo rced into the track marker tir es. T he track was sudden ly very narro w and rider after rider slithered into th e fallen Strijb os, who, now on th e verge of pa nic, also fell agaiji alo ne as he desperately tried to rejoin th e race. Eventuall y, he was nearly a lap down on Bayle before he got back into th e race. A furth er fall soo n after meant th at he was lapped but the Dutchman unlapped himself before th e inci dent wi th Christian Bayle when he was forced to ta ke drastic evading action. Eventually, the Du tchman slipped off aga in on the last lap to follow Bayle over th e line, but his chance of points were already gone. He was credited with 16th. . Wi th T ra gter also facing ahara ride th rough the pack to finish 10th, it was left to th e Italians to pack th e p lacing with Puzar, Contini ana Maddii coming hom e two -three-four ahead of H ealey, wh o had ridden superbly desp ite having a flat tir e from th e first lap aft er he had ridden over th e mach ine of Neill in turn two ; the Iri shman had been fifth after a superb start but Stuurman fell in . ,; his path. Moore had been well up at th e start but gradually lost pl aces as the race went o n to be credited with 18th , a lap down at th e flag after having suspensio n problem s. . Bu t th e race in Blargi es will be rem embered as th e day the 125cc World MX Ch ampionship went up for a uc tio n as th e Fren ch tri ed to kn ock down th e odds agains t th eir man Bayle by kn ocking down hi s ri val Strijob s. . • Results O/A : 1. Jean·Michel Bayle (Hon) 1-1 ; 2 . A lessandro Puzar (KTM) 5-2; 3. Massimo Conl ini (Cag) 4-3; 4 . Pedro Tragter (Hon) 2·10; 5. M ike Healey (Cag) 6-5; 6. Corrado Ma ddii (Hon) 11-4; 7. Eric Stuurman (Yam) B-7; B. Dave Str ijbos (Cag) 3- 16; 9. Alain Leje une (Hon) 12-9; 10 . Patrick Perr ier (Hon) 0-6 . POINT STANDINGS: 1. Str ijbos (330); 2. Bayle (326); 3. Tragte r (192); 4. Puzar (147); 5. Cont ini (143); 6. Jobe (132); 7. Madd ii (13 1); B. Healey (11 6); 9. Lejeune (1 13); 10. Moore (96). World Championship 125cc MX Series: Round 9 Strijbos smokes 'em all in Ireland KILLI NCH Y, NO RTHERN IRELAND, JUNE 26 Da ve Strij bos extende d h is series points lead over J eanMichel Bayle after sweeping bo th motos at the Irish GP at County Down.

• Cover