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/127205
By winning both motes. David Thorpe wrapped up his third 500cc World Championship t itle, as well as giving Honda its sixth in a row. Great Britain 's Kurt Nicoll went 3 -2 at the Luxembourg GP for second overall. He is currently in fourth place in the series point standings. World Championship SOOcc MX Series: Round 11 Thorpe takes.·t it le with Luxembourg Grand Prix win By Alex Hodgkinson File photos by Kinney Jones and Hodgkinson KOHLENBERG , L UXEMBO U RG , AUG. 13 David Thorpe clinched h is th ird 500cc World crown , and Honda 's sixth in a row, with a devas tati n g double w in in the Luxembourg GP at Kohlenberg. W h i le T horpe d id everyth ing perfectl y to win bo th · H d m oto s , Ili S o n a tea m ma tes, and closest p ursue rs for the titl e, Eri c G eboers a nd J eff Leisk made mi st a kes which co st them va luab le poi n ts and en su red th at th e 26-year-old Englishma n clinched the title with th e final G P still 10 be run. Onl y needing 10 finish in the top three ~n th e second moto a fter ~efendtng ch a m !? Gebo~rs ret ired Just aft er half-di stance tn th e 40 mi nut e p lus two -la p moto , Thorpe went fo r the win wi th a la te pa ss on Ku rt Ni co ll , w ho fini sh ed th e da y second overall with 3-2 mot a sco res. Am eri ca n Billy Li les rounded o u t th e top th ree wit h a 2-7 perf orma n ce. '" didn't know Eri c wa s out until , went arou nd th e final co rn er a nd m y fa th er signalled 10 m e that , was th e 1989 champio n," sa id T horpe. J u st tw o points n ow se para te G eboers a nd Leisk as they head for the final -rou nd. Official s a t th e start lin e sudde n ly burst into a frenzy as th e riders we nt to th e ga te for the first m ot a when a bu lldozer driver at the to p o f the mai n h ill had sudden ly decided to undertake so me track repairs at the same time. As the last rider ca me from th e pre-pare, th e a ttention of th e d riv er was finall y attracted a nd relieved officials co u ld co ntin ue with th e start procedure. After a series o f long start straights in recen t G Ps , th e relativel y short distance 10 th e first co mer ca used problems . There was a lrea dy much bash in g of bars incl u di ng L iles a nd Leisk even befo re th e pack reached th e turn as th ey m aneuvered fo r p o si tio n , the n in the fi rs t turn Georges J a be went do wn, ta king firs t Dirk G eukens a nd th en a h ost of o the rs do wn with h im. Many o thers, in cluding Tho rpe , j ust managed to esca pe. " I had 10 turn o n a sixpe nce to ge t a way as bikes kept fa ll ing o ver," Thorpe sa id. At the back o f th e track th ere was more chaos. Franco Rossi went do wn o n th e seco n d m aj or d o wnh ill , ta ki n g L ei s k w ith h im. L e is k , already well down in th e fie ld before the incident, saw his champions h ip h opes for '89 disappear. U p front Ludovic Lucqu in , the 1987 French 500cc ch a m p a nd li ttl e known on the G P scene, proved th at his third-plac e trai ning time was no flu ke as he grabbed the lead and even Geboers needed three lap s 10 ca tch hi m . And by th at ti me T horpe had forced his wa y up th e leader board past Ni coll , Li les a nd J acky Ma rte ns. On th e fourth lap Geboers went to th e fro nt w h ile Tho rpe forced in side L ucq u in in the second turn of lap five. As the two title con ten ders reappeared at th e end o f th e lap T horpe was leadin g. " I co u ld n' t bel ieve it, " sai d T horpe. " At the back o f th e track Eric loo ked behind, sa w me a n d just mo ved o ver a nd wav ed me past. H e obvious ly th ought th at he co u ld put th e press ure o n me, but h is p lan backfi red. " And ho w ! At half dis ta nce , with L iles ma inta ining co ntact with th e two H ondas unti l he got o u t o f shape badly, Gebo er s sta rt ed hi s major a ssa u lt o n the Eng lis hma n . But wi thi n a lap Geb oers, tr ying despera tely 10 mak e a decisive cha rge but ta king risks in doing so, was o n the ground. H e lost hi s works H onda through a series o f j u m ps a nd by th e time h e go t a way . n o t o n ly was T horpe long gone but th e Kawasak is o f Liles a nd Ni coll were a lso past . Even worse, wh il e Geboers was regaining hi s rhythm , Merv yn An sti e sneaked past him a lso while Martens threatene d to foll ow su it. T he first three places were secure, Nico ll h a vi n g again ridden to o carefu lly in th e openi ng stages which mea n t h e had lost any chance of ca tching L iles. But fou rth was still there for Ge boers. After fig hti ng o ff Marte ns , Geboers quickly retook Anstie, but th ere was no way he co u ld esca pe a nd a fu rt he r slip after 35 m inutes put him behind th e Eng lishman o nce agai n. On th e n ext attack, Geb oers co llided wi th Ans tie as he barged hi s way past on the pe n u ltima te lap, o n ly to g ive An stie fourth pl ace when he sp u n o u t ex iti ng a turn o n th e last lap. Martens went th ro ugh fo r fifth , and Geboers had lost another 10 points 10 Thorpe , making th e ga p 25. Le isk rode trem en do u sly from the very back to snatch n inth from Kenneth Johansson two laps . from th e end, bu t he had no chance of ca tchi ng Lucquin, who had faded qu ickl y a fter losing th e lead, or Di etm a r L a ch er, w ho h ad b een b attlin g w i t h M artens unt il h e crashed on th e ha lf h our a nd lost contact. In th e seco nd moto Leo Com bee to ok the h ol eshot but J obe got a ro u nd in the first co rner to snatch th e lead as th ey do ve for the second tum. This time an even m ore promin en t Belgian hi t the ground in the fi rst turn - Geb oers. " I think I co uld've got a ro u nd on m y o wn even th o ugh' wem in to th e tu rn too fast, bu t I was locked together wi th a nother rider a nd we bo th we n t down," said Geboers. T horpe was arou nd 20t h u p th e ma in hill with Leisk a lso well do wn a fter a poor start , b u t th e destiny o f th e ti tle was a lready p rog rammed as th e English man made h is u sual early surge through the p ack. Nicoll, show i ng m o re u rgency th an in th e fir st race, had a lrea dy taken th e lead from J obe o n la p two, a n d by th e fourth circu it Thorpe had made it a n Eng li sh 1-2. J ob e had n o a nswer a t a ll 10 th eir pace a nd had 10 be co nten t with defend in g a d istan t th ird pl ace to th e fi n ish . Leisk was mo vin g fast up the leaderbo ard , well a ware that h e needed points to stay clear o f Ni coll in th e p oints sta nd ings a nd was sixth a fter 15 minutes.