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/127274
~ ; PREVIEW Glen Helen u.s.500cc MX GP expect him to do all 12 championship races unless he was injured." T here are also two japanese riders entered, as well as two riders from Russia who will be under the guidance of th ree-time 250cc World cha m p Guenady Moisseev. With 31 non-America n en trants, only nine American riders are allowed to compete to fill the 40-rider field, and heading the list is Honda 's Rick j ohnson. johnson originally planned to com pete in the U.S. 250cc MX GP , Liles jumped to the top of the standings by winning the first two GP s. Li les stayed out front in the standi ngs until he crashed in practice at the It alian G P a nd broke his femur , ruining the best cha nce he's had a t the title in the three years he's competed in Eur ope. . The en try list for the 125cc Support class, which will run one moto on Saturda y and one Sunday, looks lik e a Nationa l lineup with th e entire Suzuki an d Yama ha learns entered as to p u rse mon ey, each GP en tra nt receives approximately $600 for tra vel expenses. DeCoster does n 't expect to pr ofit from the event. He realizes tha t it can take several years to bu ild up an event so that it produces a profit, and the U.S. 500cc MX GP is far from its glory day s wh en fans packed Carlsba d Racewa y and it received live TV coverage on Wide World of Sports. At press time, Motol ink was still negotiating to have this year' s event aired on cable TV's Prime Network. But DeCoster isn 't worried so much abo u t losin g some mon ey as he is abo ut losing his integr ity. "The rid ers will be on my case if I don 't do a good job ," says DeCoster. " Many fans have thanked m e for getting involved. I hope I don 't let them dow n and it will 'be a good race." "The riders will be on my Ease if I don't do a good job. Many fans have thanked me for getting . involved. I hope I don't let them down..." jacky Martens doesn 't steal the bro nze medal in the fina l round. But it's not just the top three positions for which some Europeans will be racing. It's important to finish the year in the top eig ht and gain Current Point Standings 1: Eric Geboers . . . • ..• . . . . . 356 2. Kurt Nicoll . . . . . . . . . . .• • . 268 3. Dave Thorpe .. . • •. . . .. .. 233 4. Dirk Geukens . .•• ... .... 194 5. J acky Martens .. •... •. . • 221 6. 8 illy Liles 156 7. Kees Van der Ven .. . • . . . 140 8. Franco Rossi . . . . . . • • ... . 120 9. Mervyn An st ie 101 9. Kurt Ljun gqvist. •• • . . . • •• 10 1 11. J eff Leisk . .... • . . ... • . • 100 11. Paul Mal in . . .. .• • • ... . 100 13. J o Martens •.... . ..• •• .. 80 14. Georges Jo be . . • . . . . . . • • 70 15. Marc Velkeneers .• . . . . .• 62 8 automatic qualification for next year' s GPs (when there are more than 40 entries at a GP , timed practice is held on Saturday with the fasttest 40 rid ers qualifyin g for Sunday's program). Holl and 's Kees Van der Ven is fairl y safe in seventh, but Ita lian Fran co Rossi sits on the bubble with Englishmen Mervyn Ansti e and Paul Mal in, Finl and 's Kurt Ljungqvist and Leisk threatening to topple him. O ne prominent European who will be missing is England 's depos e World cham p David Thorpe. T horpe has struggled throug hout the season , but recen tly said, " It was decided before the start of the season that I would only go to America if I had to win the title. I wou ldn 't have gone if I was a lready champ ion, and it is irrel evant to us if I am second, third or fifth ." "He wants to forget this year and start preparing to come on stro ng next year," says DeCoster. " It doesn't make sense. How can you begin pr eparing . to come on strong eig ht mo nt hs from now? If I were his spo nsors I would a j eff Leisk (left) an d Eric Geboers form the Chambers HRC Honda team. bu t comp lications with a broken ha nd prevented him from being ready so he switched to the 500cc GP. Former 125 and 250cc World Champion j ean-Miche l Bayle was schedu led to join j oh nson on the American Ho nda learn . bu t th e Fren chman cras hed and bro ke h is ar m at th e August 12 Washouga l Nat ion al MX. Bayle cou ld' ve been the first rid er to earn overa ll victories in all three classes in both Worl d Championship GPs and AMA Na tio nals. Kawasaki 's j ohnny O 'Mara has the chance to win U.S. G Ps in all three classes when he competes at G len Helen. j eff Mati asevich will try his hand at big-bore racing as well . whi le jeff Ward op ted to pass up the G P so that he can concentrate on the 500cc Nationa ls. KTM 's sole American factory rider. Keith j ohnson . who has been sideli ned much of the season with inj uries. is entered. as well as ATK's Greg Zitterkopf. Former G P campaigner Rodney Smi th h eads the list of several pri vateers. One American rider who will be grea tly missed at the GP is Georgia 's Bill y Lil es. At the beginnin g of the year well as th e rest of the Honda and Kawasaki teams. Several of the top privateers are also entered. Riders in the 500cc Intern a tional GP class will receive 1338 Swiss fran cs. or approximately $1006 in U.S. fun ds. of the 22,Ol8-franc ($16,936) purse for each moto win. whi le l 25cc Support riders will compete for $500 each moto from the $5000 I25cc purse. In addition Rick johnson f-- Pasadena Off 2 15 Freeway go Sout h on Instituti on Road (2.5 miles) to Verdemon t Ranch Road Costa Mesa