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/127150
A lSI ~ John Van den Berk rode aggressively in Sweden and locked up the 250cc World Championship, his second consecutive world title, in the first moto. American Rodney Smith rode conservatively and had 6- 11 moto scores, but it was enough to ma intain third in the final standings. World Championship 2S0cc MX Series: Final Round Van 'Doorn gets win, Van den Berk title at Swedish GP By Alex Hodgkinson File photos by Hodgkinson and Kinney Jones TIBRO, SWEDEN, AUG. 28 Cagiva's Gert-Jan Van Doorn won both motos to take the overall victory at the Swedish 250cc GP finale, but all the glory went to 21-year-old Dutch Yamaha rider John Van de n Ber k as he 20 clinched his second successive I sandy TChampionshin central World ip at the ibro track Gert-Jan Van Doorn won both motos to take the overall victory at the Swedish GP and ended the season fourth in the po int standings. Sweden. Van den Berk added this year's 25Occcrown to the I 25cc World ti tle he won last year. After nervous performances in South Am erica in the previous two rounds of the series, Van den Berk need ed II points in Sw eden if Cagiva's Pekka Vehkonen, his only rival for the title, won both mOlOS. But after both riders e merg ed unscathed from the first tum near th e front of the pack in moto one, th e Dutchman never looked in danger o f wasting his 30-point advantage. American Ricky Ryan had taken the start, but his lead lasted less than half a lap before Vehkonen put him over a berm and Van den Berk was right with Vehkonen after quickly getting around Jocke Hansson. Van den Berk 's Yamaha teammate Rob Herring had been the prominent victim of the tight first turn. " So meo ne hit me from behind and the front wheel washed out in the soft sand," Herring said. He was joined by Jacky Westdorp and Frank Lach. None of Vehkonen's fellow Finns were ever going to be fast enough to help him out, and the other two Cagivas had both started badly. Jorgen Nilsson was in the second half of the pack, while the rugged Van Doorn was only eighth after the initial sort-out. Van den Berk showed why he has earned the nickname Rambo for his aggressive riding, for even on a track where passing was terribly difficult he was quickly through to third and pushing the leaders. Van den Berk also showed no indication that he was riding for safety as he pushed Vehkonen all the way, but as Van Doorn moved in for the kill the champion-to-be made an awful mess of one bumpy turn and was relegated to third. With American Rodney Smith a quarter of a minute down in fourth after d isp la cing J ocke Hansson before the Swede was missing for good when the packing blocked his silencer, Van den Berk was in no danger from beh ind and his supporters brea thed a sigh of relief. Van Doorn had made it clear in the Dutch press during the week that he would be out to hel p his Cagiva teammate rather than his compatriot and an accidental collision was possible if Van Doom had been forced to push Van den Berk out of the way. But with Van den Berk closing again after regaining his composure, Van Doorn moved past Vehkonen for the lead at half distance and the first three positions remained unchanged to the finish. Incredibly Van den Berk made several attempts to pass Vehkonen before responding to orders to ease his pa ce in the final two laps with the fourth man some 30 seconds behind. That man in fourth was now Soren Mortensen, whose 13 points brought him to within one point of Ro land Diepold for sixth in the table and first Kawasaki in the standings. The German champion Diepold had cra shed out before half distance and was unable to continue with bent bars. An inspired Nilsson had also demoted Smith by the finish to be the best home rider in moto one, while Peter Dirkx and Peter Johansson completed the five-man train. H err ing had once again shown his speed by scything through LO ninth from last before being forced to defend the place in the closing stages as the clutch started to slip badl y. Ryan had held ninth after reentering the track following the Vehkonen shunt before severe handling problems forced him to quit before he hurt himself. Canadian Ross Pederso n had battled hard from a first-lap crash which left him outside the top 30 on lap one to cross the line 14th. American Tyson Vohland never recovered from his bad start and was lapped before he pulled out after bending the bike in a fall . It was the same three riders who dominated the second moto with Van Doorn leading from the start and Vehkonen quickly past two locals for second. Van den Berk was in his wheel-tracks, cutting under Swede Peter Eklind and inadverten tly causing chaos in his wake as Eklind lost control and was hit by Marcus Hansson. Both riders fell and their bi kes all but block ed the track. As in race one Van Doorn looked dominant, but on the half hour Vehkonen and Van den Berk p ulled him back. Desperate to end the season on a winning no te, Veh konen dived for the inside line two laps from the end but went down and finished _a distant third, but well