Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS Motocross des Nations . " He hit me in front, he went inside and was going very fast," said Geuken s. "It's not a nice way (to pass). I kn ew I must hold him off because Puzar was OUI front. If I could get to Leisk I win and we (Belgium) win it. " Stanton didn 't realize thathis move had effectively locked up th e tide and in the closing moments he continued to charge for the front. He passed Leisk with three laps remaining and slo wly narrowed th e gap to where he was just a few seconds behind Puzar at the end. " T hat wa s by far the toughest race I've had all year ," said Stanton. . "I did n 't know we had won so I was just trying to get up front. I thought I had to pa ss Puzar and wa s doing everything I could to do it." Leisk h eld o n to third and the 500cc class win, while Bervoets had pu t on a lat e-race charge to capture fourth ' overall an d th ird in the 250cc class. Geukens was fifth across the finish line, well ahea d of Larsson. After th e race Geuken s came 10 the American team's pit area to see Stanton. " Co ngra tu la ti ons ." he said and shoo k S ta n to n 's hand . " Bu t I'll reme mber it for next year ." "I'm very happy to win the mo to overall, but I must be realistic," said Puzar through his team manager Michel e Rinaldi. " I know Stanton was faster, I started on the first row and he caugh t up quite easi ly from the second ro w." " It makes you feel good wh en yo u bust your butt for it ," said Stanton of the team victory. But he quickly added, "T he Europeans are getting better an d better each year, and 10 win we j USI have to keep working harder and harder." l:N I Bell (Hon· I25) Australia; 26. Frederic Bolley (KT M· 125) France; 27. T on i G ab erth uel (Ya m ·500) Swi tzerla nd; 28. Atsushi Okabe (Hon·125) J apan; 29. Kim Ol sen (5uz-I25) Denm ark; 30. Janez Sita r (Ho n125) Yugoslav ia; 31. Andrei P latonov (KTM·500 ) Soviet Un ion; 32. J erome Du pont (Hon -125) Switzerland; 33. Sanu Piell a (Kaw· 5OO) Spa in; 34. Sasca Sim ek (H on-5OO) Yugoslavia; 35. David Toug her (H on-500) Ireland; 36. Klau s Kuriu (H on5(0) E, Germ any; 37. Soawo mir Wilkaniec (Kaw125) Polan d; 38. Hard y Schadenberg (Ho n· I25) E. Germany; 39. Artur Monkiewics (Kaw-500) Poland; 40. Ronni Ol sen (Yam·500) Norwa y. 250/125 MOTO 2: I. Jel[ Stan Ion (Hon· 25O) USA; 2. Alessandro Pu zar (5u z-250) It al y; 3. Peter J oh an sson (Yam-250) Sweden; 4. Marmqc Bervoets (Kaw·250) Belgi um ; 5. Joc hen Jasinski (So2-25O) W. Germa ny; 6. Pekka Vehkonen (Yam-250) Finland; 7. Herring; 8. T ragter: 9. Craig Dack (Yam-250) , Australia ; 10. Karlsson ; 11. Claus Nielsen (SU1.-25 0) Denm ark ; 12. Yann Gueda rd (Kaw·250) Fran ce; 13. MachtIin ger; 14. Parker ; 15. Isma vehkonen: 16. Beiter ; 17. O lsen; 18. H ans Hj elpdahl (Yam·250) Norwa y; 19. Phillip Neill (S u,-~O) Ireland; 20. Ooeu to uwers : 21. Bell ; 22. Andrei Ledo vskoj (Yam250) Soviet Un io n ;·23. Tomeo Wolff (KT M-250) E. Germany; 24. Ok abe; 25. Ernes t Gr unzinger (Yam250) Switzerland: 26. Alexa ndr e M o TOSOY (Yam -125) Soviet Un io n; 27. Lie; 28. ] osep Alonso (Yam-I25) Spai n ; 29. Du pon t; 30. Everts; 31. Bell ey; 32. Rick Ryan (Ho n-250) Luxembou rg; 33. Wilkani ec. 500/250 MOTO 3: I. Puza r: 2. Stanton ; 3. Leisk : 4. Bervoets: 5. v ehkonen 6. Oec kens: 7. LaTSSon; 8. Mor tensen; 9. Jasinski; 10. j oh an sson ; II. Van der Yen; 12. Mart ens: 13. Malin; 14. Dack: IS. james Dobb (Ho n-250) Eng la nd; 16. Kervella; 17. Ward; 18. Siegfried Ba ue r (Kaw·S OO) Ausuia; 19. Siegle; 20. Ryan ; 21. G uedard; 22. Grunringer; 23. Hj elpdahl: 24. Oabenh uel: 25. T okofu/' i; 26. Takayu ki Miyauchi (Kaw·250) J apan; 27. Nei I; 28. Nielsen ; 29. Oscar Vall es (Kaw·250) Spain; 30. Ol sen; 31. Wolff: 32. j an ez j oh an t ( Hon ~250 ) Yug oslavia; 33. Ledovs koj: 34. Piella; 35. Rupert Walkoer (So2-25O) Austzia; 36. Pl at onov; 37. Simeic; 38. Toug her; 39. Monki ew ics. FINAL TEAM STANDINGS: I. USA (9); 2. Belgium (10); 3. Sweden ( 12); 4. Ital y (15); 5. The Nethe rla nds (J7 ); 6. (TIE) Gr eat Britai n/Austral ia (21); 8. W. Germany (22); 9. Denmark (23); 10. Finland (24); II. Luxembou rg (25); 12. France (37); 13. Austri a (44); 14. Norway (48); 15. J apan (49); 16. Switzerland (51); 17. Ireland (53); 18. Soviet Un ion (55); 19. Spai n (60); 20. Yugoslavia (68); 21. E. Germany (69); 22. Poland (75). Results 500/ 125 MOTO I: I. J acky Mar tens (KT M-500) t. uxembourg; 2. J eff Ward (Kaw-5OO) USA; 3. Sore n Mortensen (Kaw-500) Denm ark ; 5. Stefan Larsson (Kaw-500) Sweden ; 6. Jeff Leis k (Ho n·5OO) Australi..; 7. Stefan Everts (S02· 125) Belgi um; 8. Pedro Tragter (S02· I25) Holland; 9. J oakim Karlsson (Kaw- I25) Sweden ; 10. Paul Malin (Kaw-5OO) Eng land; II. Dam on Bradsha w (Yam- l25) USA; 12. Peter Beirer (Su, -125) W. Germa ny; 13. Kees Van der Vcn (KT M500) Holland; 14. Franco Rossi (KT M-5OO) Ital y; 15. Rob Herring (Suz· I25) Engl and; 16. T ram pas Parker (KT M· 125) Ital y; 17. !smo Veh konen (Su,· 125) Finland; 18. Yannig KerveUa (Kaw-500) France; 19. Wern er Siegle (Kaw-500) W. Germany; 20. Alan Morri son ( H o n~ l25) Ireland; 21. Erwin Maehtlinger (Hon-l 25) Austria; 22. Rudy GoelStouwCTS (Kaw125) L u xem bo u rg ; 23. Yasuo Tolc.o£uji (Hon-500) J apan; 24. T ommy Lie (Hon- I25) Norw ay; 25. Glenn Following Saturday's practice, Bradshaw (3), Stanton (2) and Ward (I) led a parade consisting of all the riders from the track toa rally in the center of Vimmerby. The Netherlands' Pedro Tragter (30) and Belgian Stefan Everts fought for the 125cc class lead in the first moto. Everts won, but fell early in moto two . . Selecting the team here will always be some degree of controversy surrounding the selection of the Motocross des Nations learn since everybody has different opinions on who should represent the U.S. The problem is there are so many talented riders to choose from. According 10 AMA Professional Mot ocross Manager Roy Janson, this year' s team was one of the easiest 10 sel ect. Data was collected on th e possibl e choices, and meetings were held with th e managers of the factory learns for more input. Then Jason met with other AMA officials and MX des Nations team manager Roger DeCos ter to discuss the options. After the discussions, a list of the candidates was sent 10 AMA Professional Racing Manager Ron Zimmermann, who makes the final decision. However, before making any recommendations to Zimmermann, Janson pUI together as much statistical data on the riders as was possible. "It's easy just to say 'one guy rode well last week, or somebody has been doing well," says Janson. . Jeff Ward and Stanton already stood out. Ward is the 500cc MX National Champion, had been riding well all . year , and had six years of experience T - .8 in the MX des Nations even t. Stanton had ridden well and had the Camel Supercross title in his hands and w as about to wrap up the 250cc National title. Jean -Michel Bayle was another standout, but since he's from France it was decided that he wouldn't be selected and instead offered to the Fren ch federation. That left one other rider who Janson "fel t had made an impact this season, Damon Bradshaw. • " Com pari ng Damon to all o ther riders, to my surprise, he had th e highest winning percentage of any rider on the National tour, " Janson said. After compiling his statistics, Janson found thai Bradshaw had won 28%of the races he entered since getting his AMA professional license in 1988. Stanton had won around 26-27%. The data was presented to Zimmermann at a meeting in St. Louis, Missouri, and the team of Bradshaw, Stanton and Ward selected. " I' m afraid some folks think it's a shoot-from-the-hip decision, and it 's always controversial," says Janson. "People always have their favorites. We probably have the best problem of all; we have the best riders."

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