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/127268
year is a kn ee injury he suffered whi le practici ng at home in Ita ly, Pu zar began th e season by lead in g both rnot os o f th e openi ng Au strian G P from sta rt to fini sh. But th e win was shrouded in co ntroversy as Puzar's Suzuki arr ived lat e in the impound area fo r noise test in g, th en clea rly sou nded as if it had been ta mpered with to pass th e test. Parker p ulled do wn seco nd overa ll wi th a 2-3 score wh ile Fanton na iled thi rd a head of Str ijbos. P uza r's worst mot o o f th e season came in the first race at his home G P in Maggiora , Ital y. Wh ile Par ker led from start LO finish, PU1 went do wn .ar in th e first tu rn, th en crashed agai n as he made h is way 10 fo u rt h at the finish. But PU1 bou nced bac k and dom.ar ina ted th e seco nd moto, Park er sta rted poorly but 'ma naged to finish fifth whic h Wolve h im seco nd overall. Van den Berk was th ird a nd had LO be helped off the podium du e to h is sore knee su ffered in th e seaso n opener. Round three m o ved LO Swede n where Pu za r fell a t th e sta rt o f th e first mo to but ca me back to pass Van den Berk near th e end for the win. Puzar also pa ssed Van den Berk ea rly in moro two for th e sweep. Puzar add ed a not he r two moto wins a t round four o f th e series in Finland while Strij bos ca me o n stro ng for second o vera II. Strijbos handed Puzar his onl y overall lo ss so far thi s sea so n in Czechoslovaki a. Strijbos held off a lastcorn er cha rge by PU1 wh o had fall en .ar, earl ier in th e mot a whi le cha llenging the Dutchman for first, to win th e fir st mota. Strijbos jumped o u t front o f th e second rnot o a nd led unt il he crashed hard o n th e fourth lap a nd wa s kn o ck ed un con sciou s. An o ff ic ia l threw th e red flag LO SLOp th e rac e, a nd FIM rul es say that a race ca n ' t be restarted. The race was less th an 10 minut es o ld , so n o p oints we re awa rded and St rij bos was declared th e overa ll winner by virt ue o f h is firstmoto victory. After th e 12-event seri es reach ed th e halfwa y poi nt with th e Dutch GP, Pu zar had stretche d h is lead to 82 points with yet a no the r tw o-m ot o sweep . A week lat er he did it aga in in Fran ce, but th e injured kn ee slow ed h im 10 4-6 fini sh es in Belgiu m. Puzar : will hav e hi s kn ee repa ired in ea rly August. At the Sw iss GP . the las t event before Una dilla, Puzar fin ish ed fifth in rnot o o ne th en sa t o u t moto two in protest o f an irr egular sta rt. So with a 100-point lead and onl y two GPs remaining aft er Un ad ill a. Puzar sho u ld leave th e Un ited Stat es as the new World Champion. A GP moto win ea rns 20 poi nts towards th e cha m pio nsh ip. seco nd pl ace gets 17, third 15. fourth 13, fifth I I , and sixth 10, with a o ne-poin t differen ce payin g down LO 15th place. It 's not uncommon LO see many rid ers pull o u t o f th e races (Above) The Unadill a fans are known for their enthusiastic support of the GP and th e American riders, Last year's winner Rick Johnson and Unadilla legend Bob Hannah get mobbed following last yea r's event, (Righ t) Trampas Parker moved up to the 250cc class after winning the 125cc World Champion. ship last yea r, but a stomach virus and shoulder injury ruined his bid for the 250cc titie. if th ey're o u t of th e points-pa y.ing po siti on s a fte r th e h aHw a y POInt. Points a re very important to th e riders following th e entire circuit, so rather th an risk a cras h a nd injury, they pull ou t to save th em selves for the next mot a . Pract ice o n Sa tur day ca n be just as mu ch a part of th e GP as th e race itself. Unlike th e Nat ional s wh ere pract ice tak es pl ace th e morn in g before the race. GP rid ers ge t a cha nce to become fam ili ar wi th th e co urse o n Sa tu rday in a o ne- hour free practi ce session. The field is th en sp lit into two grou ps for a nothe r o ne-hour sessio n, a nd if the re a re more th an 40 entries, two 45minute qual ifyin g sessio ns are run lat er in the da y to trim th e field . Ther e is add itiona l pract ice o n Su nday morn in g, with a o ne -hou r session in which riders must complete a t least five. laps. All laps a re timed to determine sta rring ga te cho ice for the upcom ing moLOS. Pract ice at Una d illa is a treat to wat ch . Not o n ly do you see th e rid er s di aling th em selves and th eir bik es in LO the track , but yo u al so get LO see th e grassy hill sides tranformed into.th e co u rse. At first th ere is a narrow line, but it soo n wid ens into a dark brown ribbon slitheri ng th rough th e bright gree n grass. . After practi ce. a ITtI' through th e co u ntryside ca n be a ni ce break from th e race ac tio n. There a re many sma ll