Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GMOTOCROSS WorldChampionship 500(( MX Series:Round 7 e Ame rican Bob Moore backed up his second place finish in the muddy Bri tish G P with the overall win in the Iris h G P, held in si mi lar con ditio ns a week la ter. Geboers surges ahead at Hawkstone Park By Alex Hodgkinson Photo by Matt Hilgenberg HAWKSTONE PARK, ENGLAND,JULY 8 o nd a ' s Er ic Geb oer s mo ved further a hea d in the 500cc MX World Ch ampionship stand ings as he led a Belgi an sweep of the to p three posi tion s at the Brit ish G P in Hawksron e Park. Ge boe rs took the points lead wh en American Bill y Lil es bro ke hi s leg a t th e pr eviou s G P a nd extended hi s adva n tage to 61 poi nts by winning both mo tos. Dirk Ge ukens moved to second in the sta nd ings wi th a 3-2 performance th at ga ve him seco nd overa ll, wh ile KTM's J acky Martens co m p leted th e top three with hi s 2-3 H 24 sco re. Kurt N ico ll was the best of th e hom e rid ers wi th a 6-4 score despite shoc k problems o n th e ro ug h , demand in g track. Defendin g 500cc World cha mp Da vid T horpe slu mped badl y as he enco un tered si milar probl ems o n hi s factor y Kawasaki. After a fifth in the first mot o, T horpe was a lo wly 11th in mot o two a nd dropped to fifth in t he sta nd i ngs, 77 po i n ts behind Ge boers. The first race started in ex hi lera ting fashi on for the hom e crowd whe n Paul Malin strea ked into th e lead and quickl y pull ed o ut a co u p le of seconds over the chas ing Hondas of J eff Leis k a n d Geb oer s. But th e IS-year-old English ma n, wh o had already proved h is speed by topping tim ed practi ce, was go ing too fast when he hit th e whoops a nd down he went. T ha t left the Hondas o f Leisk an d Geboers in front , b ut o nce Ma rc Velk eneers quick ly dropped back off the leaderb oard, all o f their maj or riva ls wer e in th eir wh eel tracks . Marten s passed Thorpe as well as Velk eneers o n la p two to tak e th ird, and Ni coll co m p le ted a fiv e-m an breakawa y as G euken s h ad co me through the hard way . Geukens had been six th , but fell on lap three in the whoops a nd had to rep ass Velkeneers a nd J oh an Boonen befor e sett ing off aft er th e lead er s again. By lap four Thor pe was back past Marten s, a nd it wasn't lo ng before Geboers responded 10 the threat from Thorpe a nd passed hi s teammat e Leisk to esta blish a defend ab le lead . Nicoll was a lready los ing ground as his rea r shoc k began to fade, a nd he did well to maintain sixth to the fin ish after he lost further ground wh en he went do wn in a coll isio n with Ge ukens after half a n hour. Not un expectedly , Leisk had also been forced to ease his pace a t halfd istance du e 10 hi s lack of cond itio ni ng after bein g o ut of act io n with a brok en finger. T horpe a nd Mart en s batt led o n for second with Ge boers j us t o u t o f reach . On the sa me lap tha t N icoll coll ided with Ge ukens, T horpe a lso had to gi ve way to re lent less p ress ure fro m Mart ens. T ho rpe 's shoc k, set u p for a n attacking ride over the normally ver y fast Shrops h ire san d, was n' t wor king at all as he wo u ld 've liked o n a surface th at was mu ch ro ugher than normal. T horpe had no a nswe r to the challenges o f Mart en s, Geukens o r Leisk. Ge ukens had to pass him twice after fallin g a t the top of the hill th e first tim e. Marten s was also in tro u ble. Hi s shoc k had lasted a littl e lo nger th an Nicoll 's and from the halfway po int it was g ivi ng him tro ub le. But Mart ens was determ in ed to try for the wi n. Losi ng o il every tim e he used the full dam pin g. a nd thu s redu cin g th e suspens io n travel befor e it bottom ed each tim e, Martens was eigh t seco nds d own o n G eboer s wh en h e took second. He cu t that gap 10 two seconds in j ust over a lap before a recovery by Geboers and th e worsening shock for ced him to sett le for second on the final lap. . C euken s was third after hi s two fall s, wh ile Leisk su rprised even himself with fourth over Thorpe a nd Nicoll. J o Marten s quit from a su perb battle with Kurt Ljungqvist for seven th after pickin g up a puncture in his front ti re. Kees Van der Yen. so oft en a front ru nner a t this track, go t a bad sta rt when his foam -fill ed tires slip ped a nd he was further delayed wh en Rob Andrews fell in front of hirn in the second co rner. Van der Yen eventua lly came back for eig hth after a late pass on Mervyn Anstie, . With new shocks th e En glish ri ders ho ped for bett er lu ck in mot o two, a nd for a tim e it looked lik e they would get it. Van der Yen took the hol esh ot from Ljungqvist, wh o was soon passed by the same gro u p of rid ers th at had dominated the first mot o, Mart ens was o ut to make up for hi s first-race troubl es a nd stormed past Leisk and Geboers, then too k the lead from Van der Ven on lap two. Van der Yen dropped behind Leisk, C eboers, Nicoll a nd Geukens by the halfw ay poin t whil e Thorpe, aft er a no ther promi sin g start, was again struggling. After enco unt ering tro u ble with hi s shock once again, Thorpe stayed on the lead erboard for half the race. But then Ljungqvist repassed him a nd was quickly followed by Jared Smith arid Ansrie. Befor e the end Jo Martens a nd Mark Banks had also demoted the cha m p, who fin ished near ly a lap behi nd in l Ith, Leisk ca me back a t Martens to regain the lead aft er 15 mi nutes, but five ' minutes lat er his race was over. After his long layoff and hard first race. the 'effort was too much for hi s body and he retired to the pits feeling vio lentl y ill. That left just Nicoll to battle aga inst the Belgi ans, and he did it in style. Nicoll chased C ebo ers onto the rear wheel of Martens as the lead er tir ed during the seco nd half of th e race. But Nicoll was also tiri ng sligh tly a nd h is shock began to fade aga in . Bottoming o u t over the incessant bumps, N ico ll . had to gi ve wa y to C eukens, who was the fastest man on the track: Marten s o ffered no cha llenge a nd sett led for third, Geboers having taken the lead from h im a co u ple of laps earlier. C eukens chasedhard but co u ld n 't catch him. Van der Yen fell just over a lap from the end to give fifth to Ljungqvist, while Anst ie event ua lly got by Smi th a nd the two Englishmen also passed the fall en Van der Yen . ex Results MOTO I: I. Eric Ceboe rs t l-lon ]: 2. J acky Mar ten s (1\.1'1\ ); 3. Dirk Gc uk ens (H on ): 4. J I·£f Lei sk (lio n ); 1 5. Da vid Thorpe (Kaw): 6. Kurt Nin )1I (KT M); 7. Ku rt Ljungqv ist (Ho u ): H. Ke s Va n der Ven (K'T'M): e 9. Mervyn An su e (Ho n ); 10. Marc Velke neer s (KiIW) ; 11. Ca r!o Hul scn (Ho n ): 12. Stefan Larsson ( I\.:IW); 13. Pa ul Mal in (Ka w): 14. j erdau Roi jak kers (H o n); IS. j uako Ecker t {Ka w}; 16. Robert Sco tt (Hen): 17. Will it' Simpson ( Hem) ; 18. j ean -Ch arl es Ton us (Ho n ): 19. Peu-r H erfin gs (Hon): 20. G iovanni Ca vurorta (Ho n): 21. Eri c Delann oy (H e n ): 22. J u lia n C la rk {Ho n]: 23. Yvan Gmbbt-n (KT M); 24. J ea nMich l'! Midey (Ka w). MOTO 2: I. Eric Gt ·bo(·rs {Ho u ]: 2. Dirk C euk en s (Ho n); 3. J;Kky Mart ens (KT :\I); .1. Kurt N ico.1t ( KT M); .~ . Kurt Lj un gq vist (Ho n): 6. Mt"rvyn Ansti e (Ho n ): 7. j ured Smith ( Hem) ; ~ . Kees Van der Ven (KT M); 9. J o Mart ens ( Kaw): 10. Mark Ba nks (Hon ]: I I. Da vid T horpe (Kaw ): 12. Ca rlo H ul sen (H un ]: 13. Stua rt Co yle (Ho n]: 14. Stefa n La rsso n (Kaw): I.::'. Fred " an Loo n (KT M); 16. Pau l Ma lin (Ka w) : 17. \\'illi t'S impso n (Ho n ]: 18. Pet er Herli ngs t f -lon): 19. Giova n n i Cava to rta (He n ): 20. Mathias O lsson ( K;lw); 21. Ro b And rews {H o n]: 22. Ru ss J arman (KT M); 23. Eric Delunno v (Ho n ): 2·1. Ma u ro Mor ello (He n]: 25. Ju lia n Cla rk (Hem ): 26. Peter Rei n hol dsso n (Ka w): 27. Jean-Michel Mid ey (Ka w): 28. j aak o Eckert (Ka w ): 29. Rob ert Sco tt ( H o u) . . SOO WOR LD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STAS DINGS: I. Eric Ge bo(''U(229); 2. Dirk C euke n s (168); 3. KUfI Nicoll (158); 'I. Bill y Li lt'> ( 156); 5. David T ho rpe ( 152); 6. j ack y Mart en s (133): 7. j orf Lei sk (90); 8. Kees Va n der Ven (86): 9. Fran co R()~ ~I (77): 10. Merv yn Ansue (67); I J. J o Martens (64): 12. G("()rges j ob e (54): 13. Kurt Lj un gqvi st (52); H . ~1arc Velkenee rs (37); 15. Stefa n La rsson (31); 16. Leo Co m bee (28); 17. Pau l Ma lin (27); 18. jared Sm ith (26): 19. Le-i£ Persso n (25); 20. Karl Sulzer (24). World Championship 125(( Motocross Series: Rou nd 6 Morrison on top in British GP By Matt H ilgenberg NA1\'TWICH, E1\'GLA1\'D. JUNE24 t was celebra tio n tim e in England wh en count ryma n Alan Morrison became the first Brit on to ea rn a n overa ll victory in the World Champi onship 125cc Mo to cross Series, Morrison slogged his Honda to 1-6 fin ish es a t" th e muddy H ath erton circu it near Nantwich . Ameri cans Bob Moore and seri es point leader Donny Sch m it ro unded ou t the top three o n th e day. The co urs e was long and cha lle n ging , co nsis ting mostly of n atural terrain laid o u t in a grassy valley; a few cro wd-p leasing, man-made obstacles were thrown in for excitement. Schmit was the class of qualifying on the Bieffe Suzuki, his quickest lap more than 2.5 seconds ahead of the field. Natura lly, he was the favorite to win. How ever, during the fina l timed practice session, rain began to fall, and it came down steadily for nearly t!iree hours, letting up just befo re the sta rt ) of th e opening race. Frenchman J erome Belval darted.to the front of the pack as they rounded turn on e. with Schm it hot on his t.:iil. Halfway aro und the course, Schmi t slithered into the lead and loo ked Jio be in command. Then Schmit fell , a nd fell again , and again. all before the seco nd la p was over. He was a little detuned a nd dropped to m idpack. , Belval was back on the point, wit Moore and KTM teammate Mik Healey in close pursuit. Italy's Andre Bart olini and Fren chman Yves Derna ria fill ed o ut the top five. Healey was on the move, jetting1b Moore, then sliding under Belval t tak e the lead . That lasted only o n stra ig h ta way, t h o u g h, as he f,;l1 Hea ley quickly remounted, th en ha hi s bik e seize which .pu t him on t,h DNF list. r Meanwhi le, Morrison was a ls putting on a heroi c cha rge, and Moor had lost so me positions. Before Io!-.g Morrison was firm ly in co m ma nd, a n a ll spectat ors ' fingers were cro ssed a he rod e smoothly thro ugh the sti ck mud a nd deep ruts. . 1 With j ust a co u p le of laps to go , n'ea di saster struc k wh en Morrison lost firs gea r in the Honda 's transmission, bu it kept shifting th rough the remainin cogs a nd he was able to a buse th clutch all the way home. Demari brought his Yama ha across the lin~ close seco nd, followed by Belval H oll and 's Cha rrel Sweebe, Moor e an Kaw asak i rider Edwin Evertsen . Air horns were go ing off around th e cir cui for Morri son a nd fell ow Brit Ryil Hunt, wh o fini shed sevent h ; Sch uh was 11th. Brisk wind, no mor e rain and ' number of su p po rt -class events dri th e tra ck for race two, a nd Sch m it wa back in famili ar form and o u t in fron He com ma nd ing ly led from the star initiall y chased by H unt a nd Morrison th en Healey, Moore -a nd Rick Rya The Heal ey/Moore show went slick l past Morrison , then Hunt. to mak e i a 1-2-3 sweep for the Am ericans. Hun held on for fourth over Bartolini, wit Morrison six th. I Resul ts MO T O I: l. Alan Morrison (H on); 2. ¥v Dem ari a (Ya m ): 3. J erome Belva! (S Ul ); 4. C ham: Sweebe (Ya m ); 5, Bob Moore (KT M): 6. Edwi Even sen (Ka w ): 7. Ryan Hum (Ha n); 8. Andre Bart ol ini (Hon): g. Stefan Evens (S UI ); 10. I Macluli nger (Ha n); II. Donn y Schmit (Suz); I

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