Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

It was a battle between World Champions in the final moto as newly-crowned 125cc champ Trampas Parker (281. riding for the Italian team. passed 500cc champ David Thorpe (5 81 for the 500cc class win. Billy Liles (2 0 1 passes Pekka Vehkonen in the second m ot o. Liles led Luxem bourg to a close fourth w ith 2 -3 f in ishes in the 250cc class. 8 tired I began feeling ' better," said Parker. "I sh ould've passed Jobe and Martens. I just don 't have th e bigbike expe rience; I d idn 't hav e the con fidence to throw the bi ke in front of j obe." . Bu ried back in th e pack for th e early part of the race was Kiedro wski, who is no stranger to worki ng h is way up as he o ften ge ts poor starts. France's Dem aria pu lled o u t a fa irl y co m forta ble lead on h is 125cc class co m pe titors, but at th e halfwa y point h e wa s slo wi ng w ith r ep orted m echani cal prob le ms a n d Kiedro wski soon took co m ma nd o n h is Sh ane Nalley/Cliff Wh ite-p repared C R 125. Du tch rider Ge rt -Jan van Doorn a nd Belgian Marnicq Bervoe ts gave Kiedrowski th e toughest ti me as he moved u p , but o n ly Van Doorn wou ld also p a ss Dem a ri a before th e finish. "At first it was tough ou t there," said Kied ro wski. "T here ar e a lot 01 riders and I h aven ' t watched any of them before. Once we spread out I cou ld p ush har der a nd just read my pit board." Puzar ch arged up from way ba ck in th e pack to take fifth in the 125cc class a t th e fin ish lin e. The seco nd 250/ 125cc moto was agai n dominated by a n Amer ica n , o n ly this time it was Stanton . After briefly following G ermany's Rol and Diepold a t th e start, Sta nton a nd hi s Dan Bet ley-tuned Honda were in ' co ntrol for th e entire race. " It was fun , easy ," Sta nton sa id. "The trac k is smoo th so yo u don 't ge t tired. " Whi le Sta nton was just tryi ng to be smooth o u t fro nt, havin g fu n, Kiedro wski was o nce agai n maki ng up for a seco nd-row start. Ita ly's P uza r sta rte d a head o f teammate Mi c he le Fan ton a n d was n e ver threatened as he led th e 125cc clas s from start to fini sh , passing severa l 250cc class ri ders a lo n g th e way . H e even passed Fan ton, but lat e in th e race moved aside so his teammate co u ld move up to cha lle n ge Dutch ri der J ohn van den Berk . Severa l tough battles ra ged for th e 250cc class positions behind Sta nton, and Bill y Liles eventua lly came o u t o n top af ter Finland 's Pekka Vehkonen crashed hard an d went o u t for th e da y. Li les wa s ch arg in g the whole distance and was six seco nds beh ind at th e fin ish. "I was a little slow on th e start ," said Liles, wh o began th e m oto from seventh. " If I would've been th ere a t th e sta rt I would've been up th ere . Once I got seco n d I wa s just trying to keep a smooth p ace a nd if I cou ld ' close on Stanton the n I would've p ush ed it." Van den Berk would finish th ird with Fanton br eathing down his neck as th e pair was ab le to break from Swe de n's P et er J ohan sson, Australia's Craig Dack and Diepo ld , w hose ea rly cha rge slowed due to a possib le brok en hand h e su ffered in . Sa turday's practi ce. Pu zar helped br eak up th at fiverider ba ttl e as he cru ised across th e fin ish line fifth, fou r p ositions an d 20 seconds a head o f Kiedro wski . It was a ha rd -earned seco nd for Kiedrowski , as he twice had to ge t by German Hara ld O tt after falli ng. "In th e back sectio n I went wide in a co rner. a nd a rider fell over in front of me," Kiedrowski sai d. " I was trying to catch Pu zar , bu t our lap times were abou t the same." Kiedrowski's charge allowed hi m to pass Geboers, who ea rlier had been involved in th e tight battle for a topfive posi tion u nti l he fell wit h two la ps to go. T he second-ro w sta rte rs are usua lly left with a to ugh bat tle to ge t near th e fro nt, but Sta nton , wh o chose th e seco nd ro w-so that teammate Ward co u ld ge t away with th e other 500cc co ntende rs sta rt ing o n the first row, was in seco nd shortl y after th e sta rt of th e final 500/ 250cc class m o to. " I wat ched the ga te a nd foll owed J eff," Sta nton la ter exp la ined . " He went into the first turn a little deep too deep." After following Martens for two la ps, Stan ton m oved in front to sta y while Marten s fell back to an even tu al 13th p lace fin ish . Wa rd began th e race fou rt h behind Leisk , but wa s out o f co n tentio n by th e th ird lap. " It was the sa me pl ace wh er e Kied rowski went down," Ward said. " I spu n ou t, h igh sided and h it my h ead ." Ward began to cha rge ba ck but fell . agai n and backed off, kn owing that th e tea m had cl in ch ed th e victory af ter th e seco nd rnoto. " I saw Thorpe up there a nd tri ed to get go ing," Ward sai d, referring to hi s first fall. " Ano th er ride r fell in fro nt of m e, I h it him an d it knocked my bike into neu tral. I fell over again. It was too slippe ry to go any faster. " T horpe came up on Leisk , the two collided in a co rner a n d Leisk went down. T he Englishma n took second, but wa s seve n seconds behind Stanton. Bu t by n ow Pa rk er was fu lly dia led in to h is 500 cc KTM a n d af te r passing Lacher he reeled Thorpe in. "After th e first mo to I was upset," Parker' sa id, " I let myself a nd Italy down. I decid ed I had to sta rt ridi ng th e 500 like a 500 and not a 125: . " I wa tched Thorpe for about 15 minutes," co ntin ued Parker, '''a n d learned more as I follow ed. I noticed h e ro de th e co rn ers slo wer, so I went inside a nd he didn 't see me. " The move put Parker in second and h e charged two seco nds clear of th e English man in search of Stanton. H e wouldn 't find him until late in th e ra ce wh en Stanton began to ta ke it easy. " I never saw Stanton until th e last two laps," said Parker. "If I saw him earlier I would've pushed harder." Frenchman Yannig Kervella was th e seco nd 250cc class rider to cross th e line a t fifth overa ll behind Lamer a n d Thorpe, whi le Liles made it up to si x th a n d third 250 after his seco nd-ro w start. " Geboers an d I tried backin g up to get a run at it (the starting gate) a n d th ey held th e ga te on us," Liles said. . Kiedrowsk i, Stanton and Wa rd wer e obvious ly a ll very happy and p ro ud of their ac h ieveme n t as they stood at the a wards ceremo ny with th e Star Spangled Banner p laying. They had shown th ey were u p to th e o ne time o f th e year th at required the m to put as ide th eir rivalries an d work together as a team. A winning team. • Results MOTO ONE: 1. J eff W ard (Kaw· 500) USA : 2. David Tho rpe (Han -SOD) England; 3 . J eff Leisk (Hon ·5 00) A ustrali a; 4 . Dietm ar Lach er (Hon-500) Germ any; 5 . J ac ky M ar t en s IKTM -500) Luxembou rg; 6. Georges J obe (Hon·500) Belgium; 7 . Tram pas Parker IKTM -5 0 0) Ita ly ; 8 . Pet er Hansson (KTM -500 ) Sw eden; 9 . M ike Kiedrowski (Han · 125 ) USA; 10 . Gert -J an van Door n (Suz- 125) Neth erl ands. MO TO TWO : 1. Jeff Stanton (Hon -250); 2. Bill y Liles (Kaw -250) Lux embourg; 3 . Joh n van den Bark (Yam- 250); 4 , Michele Fan ton (Su z-250 ) Ital y; 5. A les s andro Puzar (S uz - 12 5) It a IV; 6. Pet er Johan sson (Yam-2 50) Sw eden; 7. Craig Oack (Yam-250) Au str ali a; B. Roland Diepold (Kaw -250) Germ an y; 9 . Kiedrowski; 10. Er ic Geboers (Hon2 50 ) Belgiu m . M OTO THREE: 1. Stanton ; 2. Parker; 3 . Thorp e; 4 . Lacher; 5. Yann ig Kerve ll a (Hon· 250J France; 6. Liles; 7 . J ohan sson; 8 . Leisk; 9 . Han sson ; 10. Fanton . FINA L TEAM STAN DING S: 1. USA (4); 2. Ita ly (11); 3 . England (15); 4 . Luxembou rg (16); 5 . Germa ny 117); 6. France (191; 7 . Au st ralia (20); 8. Sw eden (20); 9 . Belg ium (25); 1D. Neth erlands (31); 1 1. Czechoslovak ia (4 2); 12. A ust ria (4 5t 13 . Canada (46); 14 . Spain (49 ); 15 . Sw itzerl and (53); 16 . Denmark (54); 17 . Jreland (55); 1B. Norway (62); 19 . Yugos lav ;a (71); 20. Greece (72 ); 21. Poland (7 3); 22 . Finland (25+DNF).

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