Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GDIRT TRACK Barcelona Indoor Short Track ~ set it u p fair ly well, but I can see now that O've got a lot to lea rn abo u t slid ing u p h igh where Moreh ead is runnin g. " Most o f th e Spa n ish riders' ar e trying to motocro ss down o n the inside, but Morehead is on th e gas soo ner and har der a nd getting on to th e straights faster. " Spani sh Enduro Champion Jordi Arcarons, who led th e Paris-Dak ar at m id-dista nce before dropping back to fifth , showed up o n a lo w and fast Cagiva- H usqvarna a nd loo ked q uicker than his seventh pl ace in time tria ls (53.5 1), bu t lik e Moreh ead he was havin g trouble getting d rive down low. "T hese m o tors haven't go t eno ugh flywh eel and th ey spin th eir heads off wh en yo u gas 'em and th ey d rop revs in the co rne rs when you clos e 'em do wn," Moreh ead said while worki ng wi th a razor o n the rear Micheli n rain tir e wh ich he was runn in g with o nly eigh t pounds pressu re. " I ca n ' t go down lo w, I just spin, bu t those two strokes ca n m o to cr o ss o ut of th e corn ers do wn low rea l good. T his co uld be kin d of hard if I ca n ' t get a good sta rt . . . a nd it 's go n na be rea l hard to get a good start ca use my bik e just spi ns and th e two-strokes blast awa y from me," H eats T he first o f the four six-lap heat races th at wo u ld advance th e top two into the eig h t-lap semis got un der way a t 6:10 p.m. Former Derb i factory tester Rica rd .love, ridi ng a Spanis h Gas Gas wi th a Husky 500 mo to r, go t the ho lesho t wi th roa d racer Puig ba tt li ng reign ing Spanish mot ocross cha m pion Luis Lopez "Luisak e" on hi s Hon da C R250. Once past "Lu isake ," Puig, a former Na tiona l juni o r tr ial s ch a m p io n before turn ing road racer, pushed pas t Jove o n th e in side wi th two la ps to go to tak e the win . T he cro wd was still buzzing when Nati on al Num ber 42 brou ght his hast ily-m odified Husab erg to th e line fo r heat two sitti ng a lo ngside local hero Arcaron s, From the green ligh t the initial leader was m oro cr o s er s Ra mon Riuda lbas riding a vintage 20year -o ld Bu1taco Astro fill ed wi th a 19inc h Goodyear front tire, a gi ft fro m Mor eh ead . Mor eh ead was left sp in ni ng a t th e line, b u t brough t th e cro wd to th eir feet whe n he bac ked hi s Husab erg into -t u r n three G ra n d Nati ona l sty le. Nob od y in Barcelona had ever seen a ny thi ng like it! Moreh ead rode th e h igh line arou nd the ou tside of first Arcarons a nd th en Riudalbas to win easily by near ly two seconds. Puig wa tchi ng from th e door o f th e p its said: " T ha t's why the Americans win in 500cc (G ra nd Prix ra cing ). Tha t's what we've got to learn to do." Other heat race wi nners were J ord i El ias a nd J aim e Mart in ez de la Rosa. "Repescas" 20 "Repesca " in Spa nis h means to fish for again . , . like w hen you ca tch a fish th a t is too small to be a keeper. You th row it back and la ter fish for it aga in wh en it is big enoug h to keep . In the Sp a nis h system o f hea ts, semis a nd fin al , you m ust q uali fy for a sem i eithe r by tra nsferring d irect ly fro m yo ur heat or by being " refished" in a " repe sca." Wi th P uig, J o ve, Moreh ead, Arcarons, Elisas, Arenas , Mart inez de la Rosa and J o rd i Pu ig ass ur ed of p laces in the two semis, Riudalbas wo n hi s repesca an d a pass into th e semis along w it h ru n ner -u p " L u isa ke." Pa ri sDak ar Yam aha factory ,rider Ca rlos Mas won his " repe sca " from Dav id Domene c to com p lete th e second of th e two six -man semis. Semis T he first of the two eigh t-la p semis brough t togethe r Moreh ead, Alberto Puig, Arcarons, J ove, " L uisa ke," and Riudalbas on h is Astro . Moreh ead cho se to start o n the o u tside bu t regretted his decision when he was left spin ni ng and blocked badly in th e first cu rve. Once again h e brought th e 15,000 fans to th eir feet as he was in a class o f his o wn, th ro win g the Husaberg sideways and back in g into the co rne rs whi le Pu ig, Arcarons and Jove rod e lo wer a nd too k different lin es. Eac h tim e Moreh ead put th e bi ke over wh ile still on the 50-yard stra igh ts a la rge porti on of th e crowd sho u ted th in ki ng he had cra shed. H e won from Puig by I. 7 seco nds. On ly th e top' two from the heats tra ns fer to th e main , while th o se fin is hi ng t h ird , fo urth a n d fifth (Arcaro ns, J ove and " Luisake" ) would have to rid e the "s u pe r rep esca" or Last Cha nce Q ualifier. T he second sem i was wo n by Mar tinez de la Rosa, a co usin of Albe rto Puig and J ordi Pu ig (no relati o n to Alberto). Superbike racer Xavi Arenas (H o nd a C R ), en d u ro r ider Da vid Do menec (Yama ha YZ) a nd Ca rlos Mas , seco nd in last year 's Par is-Da kar , wo uld ba tt le for the last two spots in the six-ri der " su per repes ca". Last Chance Qualifier It was the u nkno wn 17-yea r-old Do menec wh o wo n th e Last Cha nce Qualifier from Arcarons. But Arcarons after a poor start passed " Luisa ke" and was clos ing o n Domen ec a t the fla g. Ca rlos Mas was a distant fourth a nd ha rd -ch a rg in g Ri car d J ove crashe d into th e wall o n th e exi t of tu rn two but was u n hurt. T h e prom oters exer ci sed thei r o p tio n to tra nsfer " L uisake" to th e mai n whi ch wo uld cons ist o f seven riders. Main Morehead sai d he has never seen a n ything like th e enth usiasm of the Spa n ish cro wd o r th e razzmat az Las Vegas .showma ns hip of the pr omot ers who staged a 10-m in u te indoor fir eworks demon stra tion halfwa y through the even ing. T he cro wd loved th e six -lap speedway fin a l whi ch was won by Alu n Ro ssiter, ca p ta in of th e Poo le P irat es in th e British National Lea gu e o f

• Cover