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/127204
America n Billy Liles , from Georgia, moved up to eighth place in the po int standings after f inishing fourth overall, v ia 4 -3 mota scores . David Thorpe extended his series' po ints lead over rival Eric Geboers with 1-2 mota finishes at the Belgian GP; Geboers went 3 -2. World Championship SOOcc MX Series: Round 10 Fantastic ride by Thorpe at the Citadel By Alex Hodgkinson File Photos By Ken Faught NAMUR, BELGIUM, AUG. 6 David Thorpe scored possibly the most fan tastic victory of h is entire career at the Ci tadel circuit in Namur, Belgiu m ,. to in crease his points lead over defending World champ Eric Ceboers to 15 points with just two CPs remaining in 'the 500cc World Championships. 28 Th 26 Id E I' sh h d . . e -year-o ng.t man a Injured his left knee In a French international race seven days earlier and after an operation by Dr. Gordon Hadfield on Monday, he was treated by Belgian physiologist Jan Spooren of Lommel all weeke nd, receiving regular laser treatments: Second to Jeff Leisk in the opening moto after passing Geboers on the last lap, Thorpe took .co mmand of the second race by passing Geboers five la s from the finish even thou h his injured knee had o nce aga in opened up. A.nd the v.ictory lifte? th e roof off the Citadel with 8000 Bnt<,ms of the 40 ,OOO-stro~g cro wd having cro ssed th e Enghsh Channel to support their hero. The Citadel . . . . . ct,rCUlt .IS built on 'l: fortress-topped hill, with the start/finish hne on the fortress ' Espanade, or p arade grounds, then dropping down into the forest and running through a cafe-lined cobblestone street before climbing back up to th e fortress. Leisk, a tired fourth in th e second moto, Geboers and American Billy Liles completed th e top four overa ll behind Tho as the uartet de- mol ished the com pe tition. A depressed Kurt Nicoll could fini sh no hi gh er ' than sixth and eigh th and saw hi s slender tit le chances disappear. Ameri can Brian Myerscough wasn 't allowed to start the GP after . m echanica l troub le o n Sunday morning p reven ted him from comp leting th e co mpulsory five laps of prac tice. The first moto was a classi c. By the end of the first l ap the four men who were to dispute th e win rig h t to the finish were holding th e first four places. Geboers had made the start but Leisk dove insi de him at th e second corn er afte r th e pack left the Esplanade to hea d into th e woods for a lead tha t th e Austral ian was never to lose. J ust a few yards behind Leisk througho ut the 45-m inute race were C eboers, Thorpe and Lil es, and for most of the race it was th e Ameri can who had th e grandstand sea t to wa tch the battle unfold in front of him . " We were trav ell ing real fast and I 'Was in third pla ce looking for a way past Geboers," said Liles taking up the story. "I tried to set him up for the pass but it didn 't work out and Thorpe got past me instead. " Aro u nd half-distance Eric got sideways in the woods and that was wh ere David got him, but Geboers shu t the door on me in the turn," Li les contin ued. " David got away from us a little, but we had closed in on him with four laps to go and Eric made a nice pass through the combi nation of turns on th e Esplanade to regain second. " Then on the last lap Eric made another mistake in the woods and David passed him as. they crested a short climb. Eric was making mistakes and he didn't jump the down- hill double on the last lap," Liles went o n. " I actually go t my wheel in front but he had th e in side in the turn and pushed me o u t. I don 't blame him, he 's fig hting for every point at the moment. I'd have done the same thi ng if I were in his position. But he's making a lo t of mistakes! " So Thorpe extended h is lead by two points to 12 over Geboers while Leisk had ad vanced to just eigh t behind th e cha m p ion and o nly 20 behind T horpe . Lil es' effor ts were rewarded as he moved into the top eigh t for th e first tim e th is seaso n. J acky Marten s had kept the leaders in sig h t for 30 m inutes befo re ge tting tired, but op pos ition was lon g gone. Mervyn An stie, second off th e start, had fail ed to hold a dr ifting bike righ t to th e end of th e long 180 degree sweep ing right-hand first turn and was forced to ride aggressively from last to ninth, pa ssing the l!aqling group of Leo Co mbee, Kurt Ljungqvis t, Mark Bank s, Jared Sm ith, Maurizio Dolce and Stuart Coyle on th e last five laps. . ' Another victim was Dirk Geukens, who slumped (rom sixth to 15th with a flat rear tir e for th e last five laps. Sixth place had been held earlier. by Georges jobe, but he got a rear flat after o nly 10 min utes and after a determined attempt to block Die tmar Lacher which succeeded for two laps, the former champion went back fast before retiring. . Lacher was left in a lone ly seventh as the leaders were long gone and ahead of him Nicoll found himself in a similar di lemma after he finally . got Geukens as the Belgian 's tire went flat. ' Nicoll's hopes of a better finish disappeared when he ma de a mistake