Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

tions in the top 10. Meoni was in first place, a position he would never give up, followed by Kinigadner, Signorelli and Fasola. However, Kinigadner had los t major time on the second day due to a flat tire , Fasola had already seized his -bike once, and Surini had crashed himself out of the event after leading the first three days on his Kawasaki KX500. Hines was in fifth place, 13 minutes out of first , with fellow American Bill Berroth in eighth, 33 minutes back . The two other Americans in this yea r 's event, Fabio Gervaso and John Alkema, were both ru nning well in 22nd arid 33rd positions, respectively. As the rally headed o ut o f th e Ama zon jungle and into th e rolling green hills of cen tral Brazil , there were few cha ng es to the standings . Most special tests were short and extremely fast with the winners usu all y averaging over 70 mph. However, the standings were jumbled up somewhat whe n Ita lian Fasola had a string of seizures thai used up KTM 's entire su p p ly of spare pistons and left h im as a spectator four days from the fin ish. ctu ally, it was special test number eight th at wou ld prove to decide th is year' s ra lly. It was a short, strai gh t but extremely fast special test on dirt roa ds through the heart of Brazilian farm lan d. It was a p ivotal test, but not for who won , instead for those who lost. Signorelli was setting fast time when he went over th e bars wh ile crossing a bridge in excess of 80 mph. H e remou nt ed and fin ished the day bu t would never be a factor for the win again. He finally worked him self back up to ninth overa ll. Gancewski ran out of gas within sight of the fin ish and had to push his bike in , losing over 20 minu tes to the overall leaders, while Kinigadner and Fasola both seized their bikes, finishing th eir day wit h a truck ride to the finish. All these factor s combined to mo ve Hines up to second overall behind Meoni with Hrehor following Hines in third position. So far the rally was favoring the consistent, with Meon i and Hines combining strong daily performances. A formula th at wo uld not cha nge all th e way to the fin ish in Ri o. After a rest . day in Sao Paulo to (Left to right) Czechoslovakian Jan Hrehor, who finished third, Hi nes and winner Italian Fabrizio Meoni celebrate in Rio de Janeiro. Getting fuel to the riders was always a problem, especially in the more remote towns where gas had to be trucked in by the barrels . Exotic motorcycles are quite common at major international rallies, such as these three factory Gileras and two Yamahas. regroup, the rally pushed on through the last two days under extremely wet conditions. A hurricane brewed offshore in the Atlantic Ocean, causing strong rainfall along th e coast. These wet conditions seemed to motivate Hines, as he won his first special test on day 13 of the rally, foll owed by strong second and third place performances in the final two special tests to co ns oli da te h is secon d overa ll finishing resu lt. Berroth was al so exci ted ab o u t riding in the mud to the fini sh but was foiled by hi s brakes, both of whi ch were worn down to the metal 250 miles before the fini sh of th e 13th da y. With no spare parts at han d, he had to ride in th is condi tion to th e finish over two speci al tests, event u ally dropping to eig h th overall by the end of th e day. However, Berroth had a stro ng fin al mo tocross special test which brought hi m wi thi n seven seconds of sevent h overall in the fina l results. The final motocross specia l test was held under clearing skies at Ri o's roa d race G P I F-I race track. The course was act uall y more like a classic Californian G P than a motocross wi th long paved strai gh ts followed by a series of paved tu rns wh ich led the riders int o a grassy in field area, that after three da ys of consi stent rain, was extremely wet with some areas submerged under a foot of water. After the final special test began it became obviou s th at it would be more like a wet Eastern hare scrambles tha n a dr y West Coas t race, as the bikes ch urn ed the mud and wa ter into a soupy quagmire. These conditio ns favored th e more experienced riders, as th ey soo n jam med to the from of the pack. The real show was the battle for first place. Lap after lap Kinigadner, Hines and Ga ncewski battled for the lead , trading pl aces two-to- th ree times a lap. There was more than a little good-natured bumping go ing on as th ey battled for the moto win and th e $500 special test first' prize. T wo laps from the end Hines slow ed with a flat rear tire, fi nall y settli ng for third pl ace. Kinigadner and Gancewski, however, battled to the end with Gancewski . g etting the no d two seconds in from of Kinigad ner, follow ed by Hines, Signorelli, H reh or, Magna ldi and Berroth . The rally ende d with Meon i grab bing th e overa ll win, as well as the $5000 first place mon ey th at goes wit h th e victor y but not without some fin al drama. Meoni ha d stuck his bike in the mud du ring th e final test and was lapped two tim es befor e he cou ld get it out. Hi s lead was bi g eno ugh , however, to still give him a winning margin of more than n ine minutes over second -place Hi nes. The rally had its cerem onial finish on the Copacabana Beach in downtown R io followed by the traditional awards ceremo ny, din ner and show . The last day of th e Incas . Rall y is usua lly one of the most memorable and . this year's proved to be no exception , as th e pa rt y lasted until the ne xt mornin g. CI¥ Welcome to Rio! 11

• Cover