Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ; MOTOCROSS WorldChampionship 250(( MX Series: Round 5 c Dav~ Strijbos ~o n the first moto and was declared the winner ofthe Czech GP despite a crash III th e second moto which knocked th e Dutch rider unco nscious. Strijbos takes knockout w inin Czechoslovakian 'G Prix rand By Alex Hodgkinson DALECIN, CZECHOSLOVAKIA, M AY27 o ll a n d ' s Da ve Stri j bos was declared th e win ner o f the Czech Grand Prix alt hough h e la y unco nscious o n th e side of th e track following a second moto cr ash . T he fifth round of the World Champi onship 250cc l\IX Seri es en ded in to ta l chaos wh en th e or ganizers di spl ayed th e red fla g a fter just n ine riders had co m p leted four laps of th e second mo to. Strijb os, who h ad beaten Ita lian Alessandro P uzar in a photo finish a t the end o f the first rno to, had crashed ha lfwa y around th e lap . Someone at the start lin e panicked an d th rew th e red .flag while yellow flags were bein g fun ou sl y wa ved even t ho ug h the unconscious Stri jbos had been d ra gged o rr th e track. Bu t FIM rules sta te th at after th e co m p letio n of th e fir st lap a race ca n 't be restarted. So Strijbos, lying in th e ho spi tal, became th e first rider to break Puzar's hold o n th e ser ies this year. . Pekka Vehkonen, wh o was celebratin g his 26th birthday, got th e holeshot in th e first mot o , but he wa s pa ssed on th e seco nd lap by Rob H erring. The British Su zu ki rid er soo n moved ou t into a bi g lead a nd as so often 'whe n Herring is on form, he was o u t of sigh t after three lap s. But th en H erring crashed on a downhill and ended up way orr th e tra ck, rejoined th e race 29th H a nd , bad ly sha ken , could o n ly recover to 16th by the finish . H erring's cr ash left Veh konen in fro nt again, but the Finn was under grea t press ure from Ro la n d Diepo ld , _Strijbos a nd P u zar as th e q ua rtet brok e a way from the pa ck. Diep ol d was th e first to lo se places as Strijbo s and Puzar pa ssed him in quick su ccession a nd the German dropped quickl y to a d istant fourth. Veh ko neri 's defenses lasted litt le longer a nd he too was a lso soo n o u tdista n ced. Diepold and Veh ko nen th en had lonesome races until they wer e ca ug h t by J ohn Van den Berk . O nce through th e pack, Van den Berk had q u ickl y ca ugh t Di epold a n d passed h im wi th ease . Vehkonen stayed just o ut o f reach to th e checkered flag b u t another lap wou ld probably have been en ou gh for Van den Berk to ge t by. U p front Strijbos wa s lookin g for hi s first win since switching to th e 250cc class. Lap after lap he co u ntered every as sa u lt b y Puzar, a nd th en suddenly he had some br eathin g room . The ch a m p io ns h ip leader had go ne down and Strijbo s h ad n ea rly 10 seco nds in hand with six la ps to rid e. ~s . th ey entered th e fina l la p th e defi cit had been cut in half, bu t th at should have been n o problem . But Strijbos had a mental la pse halfwa y a ro u nd the la p a nd Puzar wa s on h is rea r wheel in a £lash. As they nego tiated th e fin a l turn P uzar tried for a n inside pass , but Strijbos refused to back o rr a nd used his extra momentum from the o ut side berm [0 cross th e fini sh line half a machine-length a head. Co ll in Du gmore event u a lly broke th rough fro m m id field to finish sixth behi nd Diepol d. That pa ck was en livened by the yo-yo performance o f J ere my What ley. L oo king more lik e h is o ld self but clearly a t a mec ha n ica l di sadva ntage, Wh a tley was passed by a t least a dozen di fferen t riders at o ne s ta ge o f t he ra ce a lo n g t h e fa s t stra ig h ts, but Wh a tley used a ll h is ski lls over the bu m ps in the back o f the track to repa ss a nd fin ish eig h th behi nd Marniqc Bervoets, . Marcu s Han sson had been a t th e fro nt of the p ack for many laps, but from half di stance he tired fro m sixth back to l Oth. All Ha nsson 's effor ts ca me to nothing when Peter Iven , wh o ha d j u st passed h im , cras he d a n d brought th e Swede down hard. H ansso n d id n 't sta rt th e seco nd mo to. Gert-J an va n Doorn had been going we ll despite rac in g wi th a brok en toe, on ly he was forced ou t wi th no rear brake a fter ge tti ng co u rse-marker ta pe wrapped aro u n d th e di sc. Ja ck y Vimond had battled through the pack in pursu it o f Dugrn ore, but a seasonlong nagging back inj u ry for ced h im o u t for the day a fter half a n ho ur. Mich ele Fa nton al so disappeared on lap two when he received a n asty eye injury fro m a flying rock. Only 35 rid er s, includi ng a ll the reserves, went to the line for th e sta rt o f rnoto two , a n d w he n th e ga te dropped Vehkonen once again took th e holesho t, P uzar was right beh ind him and took th e lead o n the th ird la p , while ho me rid er Petr Ko var wa s desperately tr yin g to keep hi s third place a head o f Wh atley arid H erring. The British duo were in turn being furiously chased by Van Doorn, Strijbos and Bervoets, Strij bos then cras hed out o f sigh t o f th e fini sh line official s and it was so me time before th e yell ow flags went ou t on th e a p proach to the dusty section of the track. Jacky Vimond's wife, an eyew itn ess to th e cras h, to ld what happened.' " Str ij bo s cra she d a n d wa s lyin g unconscious on th e track," she said. " T hen , an o fficia l ca me an d dragged him o ff the track like an an ima l. Fo rt u na tely, h is team manager, Gera rd Rand, was on th e spot quickl y, because Strijbos had swa llowed hi s to ngue ." Una ware tha t no ri de r was lying o n the track, but apparent ly feari ng th e wors t, an o fficia l at th e fin ish li ne panicked and sh owed th e red flag to IOth -place Peter Dirckx a n d th o se following hi m . T he n for a time th e £lag was wi thdrawn , bu t with chaos reigning the flag went out again before the leaders ani ved. There was no chance for a restart since FIM 's motocross rules preclude a ny resta rt a fter th e co m p letio n o f o ne lap . H ow ever , no points were awarded since th e race was less th an 10 minutes o ld. T hose ri de rs who wer e near th e front, a n d th eir team bosses, wer e furious. But nothing co u ld be done since once the red fla g is shown to even one rider, th e race is ov er. There was a long discussion at the j ury beca use it was not th e clerk of the course who held o ut the red £lag. But th e deci sion to aba ndon th e race was a foregone co ncl u sion. £N Resul ts MOTO I: I. Dave Strijbos (Kaw); 2. Alessa ndro P uzar (Sw); 3. Pekka Vehknnen (Yam ); 4. J nhn Van den Berk (SU1); 5. Rol and Diepold (Kaw); 6. Co llin Dugmore (Hon ): 7. Marnicq Bervoe ts (Ka w ): B. J erem y Wh atl ey (Ya m); 9. Yan n ig Kervella (Ka w) ; 10. Petr Ko va l" (H on) ; II. Peter Dirckx (Ho n ); 12. Pete r Iven (SU1); U . Sor en Mo rten sen ( Ka w ): 14. Ro n n y w eu sienraed (Ka w): 15. Wa lta Bartol ini (SUI); 16. Rob Herring (SUI ); 17. Ismc Vehk on en ' (SU1); 18. Simo Heljenko (Ka w) 19. Micke Fr isk (Yam): 20. Robert Bengt sson {H us]. MOTO 2: Abandoned after Iour laps. 250 WORLD c-SHI P POINT STAN DINGS: I. Alessa nd ro PULlr (170); 2. Dave Str ij bos ( 103); 3. Jo h n Van de n Berk (101); 4. Michel e Fant o n (96); 5. Tra mpas Pa rker (89); 6. Ger t-jan Va n Doorn (66); 7. Rob Herrin g (60): 8. Pekka Vehkonen (59 ); 9. Peter Joha nsso n (53): 10. Ro land Diepo ld (52); I I. Ya nnig Kerve lla (49); 12. Ma rn icq Bervoets (45); 13. jimmy Dobb (36); 14. Colli n Du gm ur e (32); 15. Peter Dirckx (29); 16. Marcus Han sson (22); 17. jacky Vimo nd (Ii ); 18. Ismo Vehko nen (15): 19. Jerem y What ley (14); 20. j oc he n j a", n ..ki (13). i World Championship 250cc MX Series: Round 4 . Puzar fast in Finland K UOPIO, FINLAND, MAY13 ta l ia n Al essand ro Pu zar a d ded a no the r two m or o win s a nd exte nded h is lead in th e 250cc World Champio nship sta n din gs at th e fourth round o f the World Championship 250cc MX Seri es in Kuopio . Puzar ha s now won a ll but one o f the eig h t motos run this season. ' Dutch m an Dave Str ijb os scored h is best finish o f th e season after moving o ut o f th e l 25cc class. Strijbos' 2-3 scores ea rned hi m secon d overa ll. whil e fellow co u n try ma n Cert-jan Van Doorn ma de the la st spot on the podium with 4-3 fi nishes . Pu zar ha d 10 pass Ches terfie ld Suzuki teammate J ohn Va n den Berk for the lead in the first rnoto, th en the two riders strea ked a way from the pack. Puzar wo n by three seco nds, wh ile Van den Berk had a 30-seco nd cush io n on Strijbos. Engla nd 's J a m es Dobb worked h is wa y to fourth fro m a 10th -p lace start, but late in th e ra ce h e began 10 tire a n d Van Doorn passed him to fini sh five seconds a head in fourth. Am eri can Trampas Park er fini sh ed way .back in 13th a fter fighting a sto mach illness a n d mechanica l problems. Parker didn't finish moto two a n d dropped to third in th e poi nt sta n din gs. Van den Berk grabbed th e lead again in moto two , but it wasn 't lo ng before Puzar was in front a n d cru isin g to a 32-seco n d win. S trij bos took ov er seco n d wh en Van den Berk dropped o u t on th e ninth lap, while England's Rob H erring wa s a lso sidelined while running a strong third. Strijbos held seco nd to th e fi n ish and crossed the lin e II seco nds a head of Van Doom. Pek ka Veh ko ne n had trou b les with th e starting ga te but ch a rge d up to fifth place and n earl y passed fourth -place fin isher Peter Dir ck x when he was ~ knocked orr by a la p ped rider. I Results 0 / A: I. Alessandro P UZ3.r (SUI): 2. Dave Strijbes {Kaw]: 3. Cen-j an Va n Doom (KT M); 4. Michd e Fanton [Su z): 5. Peter Dirck x (Ho n ); 6. john Vm den Berk (SU1); 7. Pekka v ehko nen (Ya m); 8. Colin Du ~ore (H a n): 9. Yannig Kervell a ( K.aw ); n Marnicq Bervoets {Ka w ): I I. J am es Dobb (H on ); 12. j oc hrn j as ins ki (SUI) ; 13. Marco's Hansson (Ka ; 11. Axe~Hol VO

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