Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BMmO~~~~~ ~~~~1~~1~=a~M~xs=m~'~~R~~ ~d~3 ~__ e Andrea Bartolini (5) to~k the overall win at Holice, while American Donny Schmit (65) increased his points lead with 7-4 finishes. Bob Moore (4) won th e first mota. Bartolinicruises in Czecho By Alex H odgkinson HOUGE, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, MAY 20 nd rea Bartolini, a 21- year-old Italian, ab oard a H onda tuned by Dutchman Jan De Groot, ended th e Suzuki and KTM five rnoto domination of th e 125cc GPs when he emerged as th e clear and convincing winner o f th e Czechoslovakian GP a t Holice. After two troubled rides, Am eri can points leader Donny Schmit was restricted to 7-4 moto finishes on his Bieffe Suzuki. Amazingly he actually increased his points lead as all of his major ri vals hit big trouble in one ra ce or the other. Bartolini was the only rider to get a good start in both 40-minute-plustwo-lap mOlOS and used this to good advantage. The track at Holice has only one fast line for most of its length so passing is difficult, though not impossible. Many riders were angry with American Bader Manneh as they accused him of co nsta n tly weaving in front of them and of cutting the track at the same place each and every lap. Reserve Greg Albertyn said tha t Manneh had offered to pull o ut of the race for him if he paid Manneh $1000. At the end of the day several riders may have wished they ha d co ntrib uted to a fu nd to help the So uth African pay the sum. The only American to get an allimportant good start was KTM's Bob Moore in the first mo to, He proved that the very best ri ders could pass with sufficient effort as he got by Jerome. A 26 Belval a nd Massim o Co ntini to hold th ird after one lap. Moore dem oted Au strian Erw in Machtl in ger o n th e seco nd lap a nd th en sto rmed past Yves Demar ia for th e lead on lap four. From that m oment o n ly di sa st er could prevent Moore winning, a nd M?Ore put all hi s disasters in th e pr evious rounds behind to win th e moto, Machl inger co u ld never quite close up to th e factory Yamaha of Demaria , but both of th em had to mak e wa y for a hard-charging Bartolini, who h.a~ sta rted just behind Moore. Bartolini made seco nd place his own after half anhour. The previousl y-su ccessful Bieffe Suzuki team -was not having so much su cce ss in Czechosl ov akia. Stefan Everts crashed on the first lap trying to recover from a bad sta rt and was forced to quit with a broken shift lever. Teammate Pedro Tragter was boxed in at the first tum, but recovered well in th e hectic opening laps and he ld eighth. By the time Tragter had passed the fading Contini and Belva l, he was too far behind to mount a challenge 10 the first five who were rounded out by Tyson Voh la nd . Sixth place was still good enough to bring Tragter one point closer to teammate and championship leader ' Schmit. After a terrible start and a fall Schmit carne u p beh ind Manneh in 13th and spent 30 minutes trying to ge t past. " Bader was weav in g a nd th en every la p he cu t th e track ," said Sch m it . Once past Manneh, Sch m it mad e tra cks and eventua ll y passed fell ow America n Mik e H eal ey la te in th e race for sevent h place. KTM 's H ea ley had ear lier been making good headway a nd was hot in pursuit of Tragter by half distan ce when hi s front wh eel started to break a par t. With th e wh eel almost tot all y destroyed , H eal ey was able to hang on for ninth beh ind Co rrado Maddii o n th e Husqvarna at th e fin ish. In hi s first GP, Am eri can Todd DeHoop was 10th a hea d of Contini a nd Belva\. Manneh crossed the line l Sth , but not before a no the r American had been angered by h is tactics. Rick Ryan was 14th across th e line a nd was as angry as Schmit. . " I don 't care so much ab out th e point, but Bader was chea ting," said Ryan. " H e cut out an entire loop and some bad bumps every lap. I would ca tch up to him, and he cut the tra ck again. " In the absence o f an official protest, Manneh kept 13th . Demaria was one of the rid ers to go down in the first turn at th e start of moto two and walked away a few minutes later after lying on the ground for some time," Manneh had made th e holeshot, lost the lead to Contini halfway through the first lap, but sna tched it back as they raced into lap two. With nea rl y all of the big names way back in the pack aft er getting tangled up in the first corner and opening lap , Manneh and Contini stayed in front for half the race. Then Bartolini, who had sat patiently in third, sped up and disappeared into the distance as th e two riders faded. Ba rto lini was lucky, however, as he was nearly taken out by an out-of- co ntro l Manneh as he passed. Manneh was quickly back o n hi s feet followin g th e ens u ing cras h but lost sixth to DeH oop o n th e fin al lap a fter H eal ey, Schmit a nd Machlinger had go ne pa st. H eal ey al so took Contini for second before th e race was o ver. Schmit had a he cti c rid e 10 fourth a t th e fini sh. Although Schmit go t a decent sta rt , he was tak en out on th e fir st lap a nd had 10 come th rough th e pack from 30th. Moore had been chasing H ealey th rough th e pack early in th e race, but disaster struck once aga in a nd he was forced out a t th e halfway point while still ahead of Sch mi t when th e factory KTM co n ti n ually seized. r Tragter 's ra ce was quickl y ended wh en he had to stop to have track marker tape removed from hi s r~ whee\. Hopelessl y o u t o f contention for points, Tragter quit ·alter 30 minutes. ( Vohland was al so forced out with ignition trouble while well down in the field . fl' Res ults MO TO I: I. Bob Moore (KT M); 2. Andrea Banolini (Ha n); ". YV $ Demari a (Yam ); 4. Erwin C Machtl in ger (Ho n ); 5. Tyson Voh land (S UI); 6. Pedro Tragter (S UI); 7. Donny Schm it (S UI); 8. Corrado Maddii (H os); 9. Mike Healey (KTM); 10. Todd DeH oop (Raw ); II. Massim o Co nt in i (Han); 12. Jerome Belva! (SOl ); 13. Bader Manneh (Kaw); 14. Rick Ryan (Hon ); 15. Markus Becker (S UI ). MOTO 2: I. Andrea Bartol ini (Han); 2. Mike Heal ey (KTM): 3. Massim o Cont ini (Ha n); 4. Donn y Sch mit (Suz): 5. Erwin Machtfinger (Hon ); 6. T odd DeHoop (Ka w): 7. Bader Manneh (Kaw) ; 8. Corrad o Maddii (H ue); 9. Masaimil ia nc Gauarata (Suz): 10. Stefan Everts (Suz); I I. Marro Seiler (Yam): 12. T eus Visser (Yam) ; 13. Thierry Bethy s (Ho n); 14. Pet er Beirer (S UI) ; 15. Rick Ryan (Hon). 1%5 WO R LD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: I. Do n ny Sch m it (87); 2. Pedro Tragter (69); 3. Mike H ealey (66 ); i . Andrea Bartolini (63); 5, Bob Moore (58); 6. Tyson Vohland (52); 7. Yves Demaria (i 1); 8. Stefa n Evens (37); 9. Bader Manneh (30); 10. Erw in Machtlinger (30); II. Edwin Evensen (29); 12. (T IE) Greg A1bertynlMassimo Contini/Corr ado Maddii (2 1); 15. Massimiliano Gazzar.lla (20).

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