Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ~ MOTOCROSS World Championship 500(( MX Series: Round 2 -- - - - repassed P er sson , a n d th e Sw ed e explained, "I kn ew Eric co uld on ly pass me a t o ne p lace and I rod e tight to stop him , but I drifted out on th e exit a nd he was th rough in a flash ." An sti e had slid down a position a nd claimed fifth a t th e fini sh o ver Jo Mart en s a nd Geukens. C~ Resul ts Q UALI FYING: I. Da vid Thorpe (2 mi o. 31.84 j -rr Leisk ( 2:~2. 68) ; .3 . Fra nco R n ~ !'l i (2:33.28); -I. Dirk Gl·u ~:.t·n s (2:33.32); 5. Kur t Nicoll (2:3.3.54); 6. Arto Paru illa (2:33.60); 7. J acky Martens (2:33.85); 8. Bill y Liles (2:3·1.25); 9. Giau-Marc o Fau sson e (2:M. 94); 10. Eri c C cboers (2:35.7-1); 11. Geor ges Jog c' (2:35.90); 12. Mervyn Ansrie (2:35.95); 13. Jo Ma rtens ( 2 :~ 5. 99 ): H . Leif Persson (2:36.2 1); IS. Mark East wood (2:3655); 16. Johan Boonen (2:36.73); 17. Mar k Ban ks (2:37.05); Itt Mar c Velk enee rs (2:37.14); 19. Bria n w hee ler (2:37. 15); 20. Kurt Lj u ngqv ist (2:37. 17); 21. Ma uro Mor ett o (2:37.2 1); 22. Stefan La rsso n (2:37.30); 23. Siegfried Ba UCT (2:37.19); 24. Ro ber! SCOI( (2:37.60); 25. Giuseppe Gaspardcne (2:37.62): 26. j ared Sm ith (2:37.74): 27. Leo Combee (2:37.98): 28. Auilio Pig n o n i (2:38.26); 29. j ea nCharl es T o nu s (2:38.38); 30. Paul Mal in (2:38..18); 3 1. Giova n n i Cava rona (2:38.1.') ; 32. Rob And rews (2:38.87): 33. Ga ude n z G isler (2:38.92): 34. Adrian o Ferr ar ini (2:39.22); 34. Adr ian o Ferrarin i (2;39.22); 3S. Kecs Va n der Ven (2:39.27); .36. Jean -Michel M idey (2:39.27): 37. Ch ristia n Vimood (2:39.70): 38. Rom an o Nann ini (2:39.8 8 ); 39 . S mar t Coyle (2:-l().83): ,\0. Wern er Siegel (2:4 1.76): 41. Marco Cerini (2:4 1.89): 42. Frank Palinckx (2:43.73). MOTO 1: 1. Jeff Leisk (Ho n ); 2. David Thorpe (Kaw ): 3. Mervyn Ans lie (Han ); 4. Bill y Lil es (Ka w) ; 5. Eric G eboers (Ho n ): 6. Kurt N icoll (KT M); 7. Ma rc Velk en eer s ( K.1W); 8. Jo Martens ( Ka w ): 9. Mar k .. Ban ks (Kaw ); 10. Dirk Gcu kens (H a n ); 11. J acky Marten s (KT M); 12. Leif Persson (Han ); 13, Brian Wheeler (KT M); 14. Geo rges j ob e (Ya m); 15. Mar k Eas twood (Ha ll); 16. Paul Malin (Ka w); 17. G iovann i Cavatona (H u n) ; 18. Ano Pannil a (H e n ): 19. Ro ma no Nan n ini (H on ]: 20. Siegfried Bau er (Ka w ): 21. Aui lio Pignoui (Han ); 22. Mau ro Mor etto (B o n); 23. Marco Cerini (Ho n ): 24. Wern er Siegel ( Ka w ): 25. Ro bert ScOIl (Hon) ; 26. Gian-Mar co Fau sso ue ( Ka w ): 27. Rob Andrews (Ho n ); 28. Ste fan Lar sso n (Ka w ): 29. Ga ude nz Gisler (Ya m) ; 30. Ch rist ia n Vimond (Hon) . MOTO 2:._I. Bill y Li les. ( Ka w) : 2. Kur t t'icoll ( KT l\I ); 3. Eric Gcbo('rs (H on ); 1. Lcif Persso n (Ha n ); 5. Mervyn An st le (H o n): 6. J o Ma rtens (Kaw): 7. Dirk Oe uk ens (Ho n ); 8. David Thorpe {K aw) : 9. Jeff Lei sk (H un ); 10. Ja cky Ma rtens ( KT M ); 11. Kurt Ljungqvist (Ha n) ; 12. Ma rc Vel keneers ( Kaw]: 13. Pa u l Mal in (Ka w]: 14. j ared Sm ith (H u n); 15. Brian Wheel er (KT M); 16. 5,e~£ri t-d Bauer (Ka w) : 17. Mar k Eastwood (Hon }; 18. Leo Combee (H oo) : 19. Rob And rews (H on ); 20. Arto Paruula (H on ); 21. Cia nMar co Fausso ne ( Ka w) : 22. G iuse ppe Gaspa rdone ( Ka w) ; 23. Aui lio Pign o u i (H o n) ; 24. Mau ro Morett o (Ho n ): 25. J ean -Ch arl es Ton us (Hon): 26. Robert Scou t Hon) ; 27. Christ ia n Vim ond (He n): 28. G auden z Gi sler ( Ya m) . \ POINT STANDINGS: I. Bill y Liles (73): 2. Dirk Oeukens (49): 3. Eric Gcb oers (48): 4. Kurt Nicoll (36): 5. (TIE) Dav id T ho rpe/ Jacky Mart ens (34): 7. J o Martens (32); 8. Mer vyn An nie (30); 9. Jeff Leis k (27): 10. Le il Persson (25); II. K= Vao der ven (25); 12. Mar c Velkeneers (25): 13. Georges j obe ( 17); 18. j ared Smi th ( 15): 19. Leo Co m bee (13). M"C.) ; 2. Georgian Billy Liles followed up h is 500cc MX G P victory in Holland wit h another win in Payern e, Switzerland. Liles surges ahead at Swiss GP By Alex Hodgkinson .B 26 PAYERNE, SWITZERLAND, APR. 29 illy Lil es proved that'his win at the first GP in Holland was no fluke when he passed Kurt Ni coll on the fina l lap of the second moto at th e Swiss GP in Payerne, to clinch th e overall victory once again and move out to a 24-point lead in th e championship after only two rounds. After two hard-fought races in front of 27,000 spectators, Nicoll edged firs tmoto winner Jeff Leisk for second overall while Eri c Geboers, Mervyn Anstie and defending Wor ld Cham, pion David Thorpe all came within two points of making it to th e podium. With Lil es being the most consistent . rider on the da y with his 4-1 finishes, he moved 24 points away from Belgian Dirk C eukens, who finished 10-7, in th e standings. Geboers lies third in the standings, on e point beh ind Geukens. Nicoll's 6-2 score boosted him to fourth in th e stand ings while Thorpe is locked in a tie with Jacky Martens for fifth . ' The openin g moto saw three Belgi an stars , Georges Jobe, Geukens and Martens, a ll go down in th e middle of a first-turn pil eup. Finland's Kurt Ljungqvi st took th e ho lesh ot with Leisk and An sti e seco nd and third. A trio of Belgians, J o Martens , Geboers and Mar c Velken eers, sep arat ed th em from Ni coll, Lil es, Thorpe, Mark Banks and Mark Eastwood with Leif Perss on joining th em in br eaking away from th e main pack . Leisk dem ot ed Ljungqvist o n lap two with Anstie followin g through a lap later, yet th e Australian couldn't esta blish a com ma nd ing advantage over th e Eng lishman a s many expected. Jo Ma rtens and Velk en eers wer e unable to match the pace o f th e fa ctory rid er s in their wake and dropped back to battle with Banks, Persso n and Eastwood whi le Brian Wh eel er had broken free from the pack to chase them. Normally much would be expec ted fro m Geboers from the third position, but the Belgian, unabl e to put down his rig ht foot for fear of do ing more damage to his broken a n kle, offered little resistance as first Thorpe and th en Lil es ca me past. Geboers had flown back to Belgium th e night before to consult his sp ecialist after hi s foot had slipped off the peg during Saturday's practi ce and made the two -week o ld break in his ankle wors e. With Ljungqvist gradually slipping back and then out at half distance following a collision with Velken eers, Thorpe's next target after Geboers was Ansti e. The two Englishm en had co ll ided a t Payerne two years ago with T horpe receiving back injuries. This yea r there wer e no prob lem s but, havi ng seen Thorpe com ing, Leisk had upped hi s pace a nd o pe ne d up a dep endabl e lead by th e tim e T ho rp" took second just before half an hou r had been ridden. " I a m d isappointed with my rid e," said Thorpe after fini shing second. " I th ou ght it would be no problem bu t I didn 't really get go in g o nce I go t to seco nd pl ace. I think Jeff had ridd en ' a litt le more conse rva tively th an usu al du rin g th e middle o f th e race in a n effort to save him self for th e fin al stages. But I sh ould have ca ug h t him ." In th eir wak e An stie held off championship lead er Li les and Gebo ers to th e flag. Ni coll finished a di stant six th just ah ead o f a rejuvenated Velk en eers, ,who had ridden a lon el y race after Ljungqvisr's retirement. KTM' s Ni coll sa id, " T h e tra ck marker tape was blowing across th e track and I got some caught in m y rear brake after ab out 10 minutes. U n til th en I had stayed a head of Thorpe and Li les, but I had no option but to slow." As th e ra ce progressed , th e battle for the lower points-scoring ' po si tion s heat ed up. Jo Marten s eventually got back pa st and awa y from Banks, while Persson and Eastwood dropped back to th e top riders who were com ing from the first-turn co llision. Persson seemed to have th e best cha nce of keeping them a t ba y, but four laps from th e end he fell down twi ce wi th in o ne lap. T ha t let Ge u kens past, but the n he fell too wit h just over a lap to go. By th e chec kered flag Ge ukens had repassed Per sson as well as J acky Martens , while seven rid ers led by Persson cro ssed th e finish line in a close gro u p. With none of th e bi g nam es tak en down in th e second-corner co ll isio n a t th e sta rt o f moto two, th ere was every prospe ct of a fan tasti c ra ce. Leisk a nd T ho rpe both started mis erably, a nd it was Nicoll who pulled out a lead on th e opening la p with Persson and Geboers the first to demote' Italian Giuseppe Gaspardone, who was to drop co m p letely off the leaderboa rd by th e halfway point. Sen sin g th e cha nce of the overall win d espite his broken ankl e, G eb oer s passed Persson after five laps and closed right up on Ni coll. The duo left Persson behind momentaril y wi th th e o n ly poss ible challenge from behind com ing from Anstie and Lil es. th e American havin g quickl y p ulled up th e leaderboard o nto Anstie's rear wheel. T ho rpe forced hi s way pa st Leisk to hold II th p lace after 15 minutes, but neither of the top two from race one were doing very well. Facin g his first poor start for a lon g tim e, Leisk was si m p ly tryin g too hard and consequ entl y m akin g m ist akes , whi le Thorp e's slow move forward was ha lted wh en he got stuc k beh ind Geu kens. "I just started following a ll o f hi s lines a nd lost all o f my momentu m ," sai d T horpe. And by th e finish Tho rpe had to fig h t to hold back a ren ewed cha llenge by Leisk as th ey fin ished eig h th a nd ninth. Wh en Geboers fell after 30 mi nutes, Nicoll sho u ld have had th e race in the bag, but to th e desp air of his pit crew th e English ma n sla ckened his pace a nd sudden ly found Persson and Liles a t hi s rear wh eel agai n. Three laps from th e end Liles moved up to second and th en , halfway around th e final lap , he forced his wa y inside Ni coll u nder braking a t th e end o f a lo ng straight to clinch th e moto and overa ll win . Just seconds earl ier Geboers had World Championship 125cc MX Series: Round 1 Schmit aces Italian Grand Prix opener By Nicolas Sonina/Molo J ournal ~IONTE\'ARCHI. ITALY APR. 22 , mer ica n Tra m pas Pa rk er surp rised every body last year when he wo n the 125cc GP in Ita ly then went o n 10 wi n th e titl e. And no w a nother America n , Donn y Sch mit , co u ld rep eat th e sa me story as he opene d hi s first assa ult o n th e 125cc World Cha mpions h ip with a do uble mo to wi n in Ital y. Sch m it was joi ned on th e po di um by fell o w Amer ica n Mik e H ea ley, w ho fini sh ed th ird o ve ra l l behin d Ita li an And rea Bart ol ini.' " In th e U.S. I was just like nothing a ny more. I cou ldrr't ge t a ny th ing serio us desp ite my pa st results," said Sc h m it, w ho fini sh ed fou rt h as a privat eer in th e 1989 125cc Nat ion al s and was th e runner-up th e pr evious year. "Here in Europe I get a factor y bik e with whi ch I want to win the World Champi onship." Am erican KTM teammat es H ealey a nd Bob Moore fought for co ntrol early in th e first mot a until th ey collided a nd went down on th e seco nd lap. Both rid er s charged back through the pack a nd H ea ley event ually made it to ninth at th e fini sh . Moore wasn 't so lucky A

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