Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eMOTOCROSS~dC~~~~_~_~_M_X_~_~_:R_oo_~_9~~~~~~~~~_ I John Van den Berk finished second overa ll and has a remote shot at th e ti tle. sa id th e factory Yamaha rid er from Fin land. " I a m ver y slo w o n th e. do wn hi lls. I never fell off th e .entir race. " Ameri can Trampas Parker bounced back from a shoulder injury to win the Swiss GP with 3-1 m o to finishes. Parker comes back with • • WIn In Switzerland By Alex Hodgkinson • ROTHENTHURM, S WlTZERL\ND,JULY I mer ica n Trampas Pa rker marked h is return to the World Cha mpionsh ip 250cc MX Series fo llow in g a shou lder in jury in style with a victo ry in the seco nd rnoto 10 clinch the overa ll win a t the muddy Swiss G P in Rot hen th u rrn. Pa rker, origi na lly from Shre veport, Lo ui sian a, bu t now a resident o f Italy, fin ish ed th ird in th e first rriot o as th e win went to Jimmy Dobb o f Engla nd. Dobb fin ished 11th in the seco nd mo to a nd en ded up th ird o vera ll. H ard-riding J ohn Van den Berk sp li t Pa rker a nd Dobb in the overa ll resu lt with hi s 2-8 scor e a nd ens ure d th a t th e title is sti ll mathem at ica lly up for gra bs. The Dutchman bea t hi s C hes ter fie ld Su zu ki teamm at e a nd points lead er Alessa ndro Puzar in th e first mo to , th en closed a no ther eigh t po ints in mot o two whe n both title ca ndida tes were affected by an irregu la r sta rt tha t wa sn ' t re ca lle d by officials. It al ian P u za r ref u sed to co m pete in d isg us t a t th e decision not lO restart th e race. Desp ite si tting out the rnot o , Puzar sti ll left Switzerla nd wi th a 100-point lead over Van den Berk . With six mot o s A in th ree G Ps remai n ing, Yam ah a' s Pek ka Veh ko ne n is th e on ly ot her ri der with a ma th em a tical chance of the titl e and he' s 112 poi nts behind. T he tr ack , hi gh in th e Al pi ne footh ills, was a m udba th af ter heavy ra in durin g th e ni ght before the G P and pers is te nt showers th oughout Su nday morning. Puzar had been th e dominant figure in sim ila r co ndi tions two weeks ea rl ier a t the Fren ch G P , but thi s time it was .the man who had co me closes t to beating him in France wh o was in a class o f h is own in the first mot o, Six th after half a la p , Dobb was third behind Van den Ber k a nd loca l favori te Ernest Gunzin ger at the end o f lap one of the 40-m in ute ·plus- two- la p mo to, Dobb passed bo th riders to lead a fter two la ps a nd simpl y sp ri nte d a way from th e field. '" knew it was goi ng lo be my race to day," sa id th e 18-yea r -ol d fr om Derb yshire, Eng la nd . '" had no tro uble th rough out the race." Van den Berk kep t second place lo the fin ish to keep his cha mp ions hip cha nces a live. '" sta rted to ca tch Dobb after abou t 25 min u tes, bu t th en' cras hed and got mud all over my g loves," said Van den Berk. " Par ker a nd Mich ele Fanton got close b u t 1 always had the sit ua tio n u nd er co ntrol. " Ita lia n Fanton had led off the sta rt, b ut quickly went down th e lead erboard in th e ea rly la ps. But Fanton ca me to gr ips wit h co nditio ns so well th at Par ker, ine vitably ge tt ing tired as th e race went o n, had to pick u p hi s pace again in the closi ng m om ents to re tain th ird a t th e fin ish . r Pu zar mad e a good sta rt a nd was thi rd halfway a ro u nd th e o pe n ing la p , bu t a fall dropped h im to 10th. After three la ps he was back on Fanton , but Fa nton then sta rted to mo tor very q uickly while Puzar, ma kin g mi stak es, was passed by H o lland 's Dave Strijbos . St rijbos ro de stro ngly for 40 minu tes, but w ith two a nd a half laps 10 go he fell wi thou t losing fifth p lace. T he n go ing u p the ma in hill he go t h is rea r wh eel tangl ed in th e track marking tapes. " T he bi ke fell o n top o f me a nd I was lyin g across th e slo pe," said Strijbos, wh o too k a long time lo get goi ng a nd finish ed 12th , th e last rider not lo be lap ped by Dobb. Meanwhile Puzar had been having a n u p-and-do wn battle wit h German R o land Di epo ld . Puzar d ropped behind Diep o ld wh en he fell for th e seco nd tim e, raced back pas t again two laps la ter o n ly to fall again and have to pass the German for th e third time . in th e race. Puzar stayed u p lo fini sh a head of Diep old in fift h after Strijbos' crash. . Belgia n Marniq c Bervo e ts rode conserva tivel y to fin ish sevent h ahea d of Pekka ' Veh ko nen , wh o was not ha ppy with hi s riding. '" just do n 't feel confi de n t tod a y," .. Ve h ko n en's co usi n Ism o h a d sp ri nted past after 30 minu tes o nly to fall a nd drop to a n eventua l 15t h , just a head o f Rob H erring. H err in g go t covered with mud before th e third co rner and stopped at the end of th e fir st la p for fresh gogg les, which h ' also had to th row o ff. American Willie Sur ra tt got st uc k o n a climb ha lfway arou nd the firs t lap wh en o ther riders cu t across h is line. Surratt bu rn ed o ut the cl utc h try ing to get to the top. There were d iffering opinions over exactly wh at ha ppen ed a t th e start of the seco nd m oto, a nd th e race p robably shou ld hav e been red -fl agged a nd resta rted beca use th e sta rt was irr egula r. A dozen riders, incl udi ng th e title ca nd ida tes, were left si tting behind upright sta rt ga tes as r ival s sp rinted away . " My ga te didn 't d rop, 1 a m su re of tha t," sai d Di epo ld . "The re were oth er s l i ke Fanton w h o si m p ly smashed th ro ugh th eir gates, wh ile 1 went aro u nd 10 chase after the pack. It did me little good as th e shifter bro ke o ff before ' co m p leted half a lap ." Van den Berk and Puzar a lso insisted that the ga te di dn ' t drop a nd th ey sa t waiting for a restart with C ert-jan van Doorn. After 20 seco nds or so, th e two Dutchmen rea lized th a t th ere was a cha nce th e organizers wouldn 't ca ll a fal se start and th ey set off afterthe pa ck, leaving Puza r as th e lone ride r on th e ga te. A band of mech an ics, team staff and off icia ls soo n jo in ed him . Pu za r ' s tea m m a n a g er Mi ch el e Rin a ldi ca lled for a resta rt, bu t th e red fl a g n ever we n t o ut. Th e leaders co mpleted the first la p a nd it was clea r th at th e race was going to be run lo its concl usio n. H olding back tears of frustra tio n , P uza r wal ked away totally di sillusion ed. A video tea m o n th e spot replayed their tape a nd it ap pea red th at Strijbos, in the middle o f the gate, tried to a n tici pa te the sta rt a nd was left sitti ng on top o f th e ga te. Other rid ers a lso dropped th eir clu tch es a nd in a cha in reacti on more and more rid ers hit th e meta l barrier. Meanwhile th e sta rter ha d dropped the ga te a nd th ose o n th e ext reme o u tside of the line, nex t to th e sta rter, had a n unhindered ge ta way with Parker a nd H erring lead ing from th e very sta rt . Others lik e Soren Mortensen, wh in sisted th at he did n 't go early, wer lef t w ith a gate th at d id n't d ro p presumabl y because they were sittin] on th e ot her side o f Strij bos . For half th e rac e H err in g chase Parker ha rd , so meti mes losing bu

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