Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

-------------------- ~ --'--------------------------,---,----------------------- By Alex Hodgkinson PAYERNE, SWITZERLAND, APR. 14 ngland 's Kurt Nicoll go t his 1991 500cc MX World Ch ampionship cam paign off to a winning start with hi s second Swis s GP victory in the last four years. At last year' s o pe ner here at Payerne, KTM's Ni coll was beat en on the last lap by American Billy Liles, wh o finished th ird overall this year, before going o n to fin ish th e series second behind Eric Geboer s. Mervyn Anstie made it a British I2 sweep wh en he co mbined 6-2 moto finishes for seco nd overa ll, while Liles' , third overall cam e via 5-3 moto finishes. Three-time 500cc MX World Champion Dave Thorpe's bid to add another crown to hi s collectio n got off 10 a di sastrous sta r t. T he En gl ishman encountered mechanical trouble in the first moto whi ch locked up the rear whe el of his factor y Kawasak i and he crashed, ch ip ping a bon e in hi s upper arm and disl ocating the sho u lder. After bein g treat ed back hom e in Eng land, Thorpe indicated that he wo uld be sidelined for approximatel y six weeks. Renowned for his fast starts in his Belgian homeland, Ro n ny Weus tenraed, whose career to dat e has been regularly interrupted with inj uries. got the 500cc G P seaso n going when he swep t to the front at the start of the first 40-minute plus two-lap moto. England 's Paul Mal in was in hi s wak e and Swede Stefan La rsson held down third ahead of the rest of the pack. With Luxembourg-licen se holder J acky Martens and Den mark's Soren Mortensen on th e ground in the first corner and Lil es just o u tside the top 10. there were four En gl ish men in the top six at the end of th e first lap, as Anstie held down fourt h , over Nicoll and Thorpe, and they were in line ahead of Belgians J o han Boonen and Geo rges j obe.: On the third lap Ma lin sprinted past Weu stenraed 10 lead th e race and Nicoll moved in to third behind the Belgian and was confident of winning. " I thought it was going to be too easy, and 1 made the mistake of settling into a rhythm to wait for the two guys ahead of me 10 get tired, " said Nicoll. " But it never happened, the track was just too simp le toda y. Normally it gets so bumpy here that we are kn ock ing down the tapes to form new lines, bu t not this year ." Fo ur laps from the end, 19-year-o ld Malin hit trouble wh en the damping in hi s rear shock went. Mal in bravel y rode on to fini sh 11th and earn five points. That put Weustenraed back in front and Nicoll could do nothing io redu ce his deficit. Desp ite throwing away his goggles early in th e race wh en his RollOffs broke, Thorpe was grimly follow ing Nicoll at a respectful distance for most of the race. Bu t within a lap of Malin 's demise. Thorpe crashed in the back section of the track. He was treated for five minutes before being taken away wi th a broken arm and a mi ld concussio n. 'Anstie theIi ra n thiid until he was pa ssed by Boohan, who held offa lat e ch allenge by Jobe 10 fini sh ' third behind Weust en raed and Ni coll. Jobe and Lil es, wh o had quickly mo ved up onto th e rear wh eel of J obe's works Ho nda , too k far too long to get past La rsson. After four laps in which the Swedish Cham pi on cont i n ua lly moved J ob e o ut to wards the ropes as he tried to pass. J o be finall y got th rough. Uns uccessfu l in unseat in g Boohen, he was forced to settle for fourth. Lil es had encou ntered proble ms of E z o z '" ~ .' , •• o " • -, .. ." .' American Bill y Liles fin ished th ird overall in his first GP outing since he broke his leg last year. Nicoll nails win at Swiss GP h is o wn when a rock cracked the lens of hi s goggles. " Every time 1 got too close to J obe my goggles go t filled wi th dirt." sai d Li les. " It was probab ly justas well tha t [ had to stay back a little since J obe near ly went down several tim es with Larsson and if I'd been closer we wo u ld' ve surely colli ded." After quickl y following J obe by Larsson, Liles settled for fifth after ma king a late pass o n Ans tie. Soo n after La rsso n lost his pos itio n, he fell alo ne and , after thro wing awa y his gogg les, slip ped back to 22nd at the fin ish. Several Belgians were on the move toward the en d. Dirk Geukens recovered from a poor start to work up LO seventh at the finish. while seventhplace J o Martens sandwiched Finn Kurt Lj ungqvist between him and Jack y Martens. wh o had charged through the pack following his first turn fall . Fellow first-tu rn casua lty Mort en sen never made it to the fi nish, as he quit ear ly when he crashed over a berm. England's J eremy Whatley, who has been winn in g several of the English National Championship races, also q u it early in great pain from hi s right wris t which he had injured in a cra sh durin g timed practice. Holl and's Kees Van der Ven was ano ther casualty, as he bru ised hi s , spleen aft er cras hing over a fallen rider. A depleted lineup for race two was led away by La rsso n. but the Swede had been sufferi ng from-the flu during the week. The wea kened rider slipped slow ly do wn the Ieaderboard for 15 minutes befor e pulling out. Anstie had pa ssed Larsson on the second lap, bu t An stie had to make way for Nicoll aro u nd the 15-minu te mark. " Mervyn was riding well, but wasn 't going to make the same mistake as in the first race," said Nico ll. " I a lso had my last- lap defeat by Bill y Liles in my mi nd and wh en my brother told me th at Bill y was comi ng through, [ knew th at it was ti me for me LO ma ke my escape." As a ligh t rain bega n to fall. Nicoll ran to the fin ish and scored the wi n wit h two seconds to spare o n Anstie, Anstie was forced to pi ck up hi s pace wh en he saw Liles and J obe coming in the closing laps. The Amer ican a nd Belgian had to come through the pack from moderate starts, which had seen them ninth and seventh , respectively, o n the ope ni ng lap, to fini sh 3-4. Ljungqvist had disp uted third early in the race, bu t began to tir e and had to settle for fifth at the fini sh . just o ut of. sixth-place finis her Siegfried Bauer's reach. Ma lin, who ha d a poor start, ca ug ht up LO Bauer at half distance bu t lacked the sta mina to stay with the Austrian an d fin ished sevent h. Scandi navians Arto Pan till a and Morten sen finished eig hth and ninth with Austrian Karl Sulzer co m p leti ng the LOp 10. Bad sta rts ha mpered the Belgian s in the mo to and excep t for J a be t heir best man was Geu kens, wh o had raced from midpack to'finis h 11th. J acky Marten s finish ed 12th :Uter early troubles left him str uggling near the back of the pa ck and h is charge through the field saw the end of Weu sten raed when the two ri ders colli ded near the halfwa y point and Weustenraed was forced to p ull o u t. Boonen (inis hed 13th. CN Results T IMED PRACIlCE : I. Georges j o be (2 minutes. 33.0 1 seconds); 2. Paul Malin (2:33. 18); 3. David T ho rpe (2;33.29); 4. Marc Velken eer s (2 ;33.97); 5. Dirk Geuken s (2:34.0 1); 6. Ronny Weu stenraed (2;34. 15); 7. Sielr ied Bauer (2;34 .20); 8. Kurt Nicoll (2;34.22) ; 9. Bill y Li les (2:31.22); 10. Arto Pan tilla (2;34.80); I I. Johan Boonen (2:34.8 1); 12. So ren Mort en sen (2:34.88 ); 13. Mar k Eas twood (2;35.04); 14. Karl Su lzer (2:35. 14); 15. Mervyn Ans ti e (2:35.29 ); 16. G ianmarco Fauss on e (2:35.36); 17. Olivier Perr in (2:35.43) ; 18. J ared Smi th (2:35.45) ; 19. J acky Martens (2:35.6 1); 20. Darryll Kin g (2:35.63): 2 1. Jo Marten s (2:36,05); 22. Jean -Ma rc Blanchy (2:36.21); 23. Kurt Ljungqvisr (2:36.50); 24. j c rgen Custafsson (2:36.96); 25. Wa lter Bartolin i (2:37. 13); 26. Ken Van der Yen (2:37. 14); 27; G iorgio Antoniazzi (2:37.18); 28 . Roman o Nanni ni (2:37.78); 29. Mauro Morella (2:37.95) ; 30. Joel .SmelS (2:38.24); 31. Giovanni Cavatorta (2:38.26); 32. Brian Wheeler (2:38.27); 33. Mark Banks (2:38.29); 34. Ro ber to Cos ta (2:38.42 ); 35. St uart Coyle (2:38:12); 36. Stefan Larsso n (2:38. 45); 37. Jean -Charles Tonus (2:38.59); 38. Carlo Hu lsen (2:39.27); 39. Pa ul-Philippe Vandesompele (2:40_70 ); 40. Eric Dela nnoy (2:44. 16). MOTO I: I. Ronny w eusrenraed (Ka w ]: 2. Kurt Nicoll (KT M): 3. J ohan Ba rm en (KT M); 4. George> jobe (H o n); 5. Bill y Li les (Kaw); 6. Mervyn Anstie (H a n); 7. D ir k Gt-ukens (Ha n); 8. Jo Ma rtens (Ha n); 9. Kurt Ljun~ vist (H on); 10. Jacky Martens (KT M); I L Pau l MaIm (Kaw); 12. Jared Smith (Ho n); 13. Stu art Coyle (Hon); 14. Brian Wheeler (KT M); 15. Siegfried Ba uer (Kaw) : 16. Gianmarco Fau ssone (Kaw); 17. Mar k East wood (Ho n); 18. j ean -Ch ar les Ton us (Hon): 19. Karl Sulzer (KTM); 20. O livi er Perrin (Ka w); 21. Romano Na nnini (Ho n); 22. Stefa n La fS50n (Ka w) ; 23. Gi org io Antoniazzi (H a n ); 21. Darry ll King (Kaw) 25. Giovan i Cava torta (Hon); 26. Carlo H ul sen (Hon ); 27. Paul -Ph ilip pe Vandesompe le (Ka w) ; 28. J oel Sme ts (H a n); 29. Roberto Costa (Hon). MOTO 2: I. Kurt Nico ll ; 2. Mervyn Anstie; 3. BiUy Lil es; 1. Geo rges j cbe: 5. Kurt Lju ngqvist: 6. Siegfried Baue r; 7. Pau l Malin ; 8. Ana PantiHa (Hon); 9. So ren Mo rten sen Kaw) ; 10. Karl S u be r; II. Dir k Oeu kens r 12. J acky Marten s: 13. j o ba n Boo nen: H . Mar k Ea stwood; 15. j ea n-C harles Tonus : 16. Olivier Perr in; 17. Gi orgio Anto n iazzi; 18. Stuart Coy le; 19.- Carl o H ulse"; 20. Roman a Nann ini: 21. Mauro Morett o (Han); 22. Jared Smith: 23. Roberto Costa; 24. j o rgen Gu stafsso n (Kaw ); 25. j oel Sme LS; 26. Paul-Philippe vandesompe le. WOItLD CHAMPIONSHIP 500c c MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS: L Kurt Nicoll (37); 2. Mervyn Anstie (27); 3. (TIE) Bill y Li tes/Georges jobe (26); 5. Ro nny Weusle nraed (20 ); 6. Kurt L u n~'l ' vistlJohan Boonen (18); 8. m E) Paul Mal in/Dirk Ceukens (14); 9. Siegfried Bauer (II ); 10. Jacky Martens (10); I I. (T IE) J o Manens/Arto Pa ntilla (8); 13. So ren Mortensen (7); I i . Karl Sulztt (6); 15. J ared Smi th (4); 16. rrtz) St uart Co yle/Brian Wh eeler (2); 17. Jean-Charles T onus ( I). rrm 33

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