Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ MOTOCROSS World Championship 125/250(( MX Series: Final rounds e z -< ~ Trampas Parker wrapped up the 250cc World Championship with 3-6 moto finishes. Pr e,Everts clinch akr World titles in apan By Eric Gorr and Davey Coombs NA A, JAPAN, AUG. 17-18 GAY lthough Americans Jeff Stanton and Mike Kiedrowski were the overall winners at the Japanese 250 and 125ccGrand Prix, it was fellow American Trampas Parker and Belgium's Stefan Everts who brought home the biggest prizes from the Orient, Parker became th e first American ever to win two World Championship MX titles when he clinched this year's 250cc title by three po ints over yet an o th er American , Team Farioli KTM's Mike Healey. And Everts, of the Bieffe Suzuki team , became the youngest World Champion ever at 17 years of age , as well as the first ever second generation World champ. Evert's father, Harry, won four World titles in the late 1970s. The ' 24-year-old Parker came into the final event of the 250cc title chase with a 13-point edge on Healey. The two Americans had fough t with defending 250cc World Champion Alex Puzar for the better part of the A 22 series for th e points lead, but Puzar went down with an inj ury at th e penultim at e Swedish G P and was listed as doubtful for the final event of the seri es. Wh ile Heale y battled with Stanton throughout the weekend for overa ll honors, Parker recorded 3-6 moto fini shes to take the titl e by three po ints. Everts, on the other hand, was way ou t front in the l25cc sta ndings going into the final round and needed just six points to seal the titl e from hi s last ' ch a lle n ger, KTM 's Bob Moore of California. Everts gathered more than en ough points on Saturday when he finished sixth in the first moto. The Japanese Grand Prix was a rare event in that two World Championship classes were represented at the same venue. The famed Suzuka circuit, built by Sochiro Honda in 1962 as a test ground for Honda motorcycles, featured practice and qualifying sessions on Friday, the first motos for each class on Sa turda y, and the fina l heats on Sunday. The top 15 riders in th e sta ndings for each class received air fare, meal s and hotel accommodations courtesy of the promoters, the Suj aht a Cor poration , p lus a significant start mo ney bo n us. The promoters also footed the bill for the presen ce of H onda 's Stan to n a n d Kawa sa ki 's Kiedrowski. Stanton 's appearance in Japa n did not go over well wi th th e KT M camp, who felt that he wou ld be taking valua ble points away from their man, H ea ley. Al so , there was friction between Stanton and the American riders contesti ng the entire World Championship 250cc MX Series over some things Stanton had said in a newspaper interview before the U.S. 250cc GP in July. With noth ing to lose as far as the World titl e went, many of th e riders also felt that Stanton ha d an unfair adva ntage. The trac k certai nly favored th e Ameri can sta r. T he quasi-stadium layout measured abo ut one and liS m iles an d was fil led with cro wdpl easin g jumps that were pla ced in fro n t of huge grandstand sections. Three lar ge diamond-vision television screens allowed the spectators to foll ow th e rid ers all over the circu it. The hardpacked ground also created some problems after the organizers tried to soften it up by adding four inches of silt to the surface. " I don't lik e the track a t all ," said Parker befor e the fir st moto. " It's not a good GP track - it 's not even a good stadiu m track. It reminds me of so m e thi n g fr om so u t h er n California. " 125cc GP The fastest 125cc qualifer was lame duck l25cc World Champion Donny Schmit, who was making only his second appearance on a race track since breaking his thumb and collarbone at the May 25 Hungarian GP. Schmit guided his Bieffe Suzuki to a twominute, 16.536-second lap before what would be his last GP with the number one plate. Italian Andrea Bartolini was next fastest at a half-second deficit, Moore was ninth fastest with a 2:lS.5 lap while Kiedrowski, unfamiliar with timed training procedures, was only 14th fastest, three full seconds slower than Schmit. Everts bolted into the first righthand corner wi th the lead at the start of the first 40-minute plus two-lap I25cc GP moto. The soon-to-be World Champion led for five laps before South African native Greg Albertijn wen t by. Albertijn in turn, surrendered the lead five laps later when he stepped off his Honda while airborne about 25 feet above a plateau jump. Albertijn had to be helped from the track and didn ' t finish the moto. Everts moved back into the lead with Bartolini a close second. Schmit and Kiedrowski both suffered midpack starts but began 10 assert themselves near the halfway mark. With temperatures hovering near the 100 degree mark, Everts and Bartolini both began to fade in the late stages. With three laps to go, Kiedrowski moved past both of the front-runners and began a sprint to the finish. Frenchman Yves DeMaria , who was battling near the top five with Moore throughout the moto, went a lo n g with Kiedrowski and finished second, just five seconds behind the American leader. Moore also moved up and scored third, 20 seconds behind Kiedrowski. Schmit was having obvious trouble with his stamina after his long layoff, but the Minnesota native still managed to displace both Bartolini and Everts at the very end for fourth place points. Bartolini finished fifth , while Everts cruised across the finish line with both fists in the air, knowing that the 10 points he earned for sixth place were m ore than enou gh to clinch his historic title . Sunday's second moto was another hot one an d Albertijn aga in rocketed into th e ear ly lead. This time the teenager stayed ou t front all the way past th e 40-minu te mark before surrendering the lead to a pair of battling Californians, Moore and Kiedrowski. T he two riders had both star ted in the top 10, along with Schmit, Du tch favorite Pedro Tragter, and ris ing German star Pit Beirer. Everts was also towards the front, but the new cha mp pulled out after 10 laps for unspecified reasons. Throughout the race Kiedro wski stayed close to Moor e, but the 'S9 l 25cc MX Nati on al Champ ion couldn 't get a wheel pa st the Germ an -based MotoFahrz KTM pi lo t, With the two lap sign showing on the 17th lap, Moo re moved past th e fading Albertijn and like Kiedrowski in the first moto, made a bee line for th e finish. Kiedrowski also displaced the South African, but Moore was already too far ahead to 'make a run for the lead. Moore crossed the line with both arms in the air, triumphant in having beaten one of America's fastest domestic 125 pilots. Albertijn finished third II seconds later, while Schmit, was a distant fourth. Tragter was fifth at the checkered flag. 250cc GP Micky Dymond was the fastest 250cc qualifier by more than two seconds. The former two-time 125cc National .Champ ion , now based in Italy, posted a 2:14.31 lap with the aid of a hot line across one of the steep anthill jumps. Dymond was cutting off to the side of the jump but no banners were present to void his actions. However, before the first moto got underway course marshalls fortified the embankment with banners and posts. Healey was second fastest with a .200 advantage over Stanton and Dutchman Dave Strijbos. Defending 250cc World Champion Alex Puzar was a surprise participant in the Japanese event after being carried off the track on a stretcher in Sweden with a damaged knee. Puzar hadn't scored a single GP point since late June after pointless rides in both America and Sweden. But Puzar was just 13 points shy of Parker and tied for second with Healey in the standings going into the final race despite his slump. Puzar had arthroscopic surgery on his knee 12 days before the Japanese GP and was still able to qualify a credible fifth fastest, nearly one second faster than eighth-quickest Parker. The first tum saw the end of both Dymon and Strijbos. The two riders collided in th e dusty , orn er and failed to complete the first lap. Out front Healey led with Dutchman Edwin Evertsen, Stanton, England'svRob Herring and Japan 's Tomoyuki Kawasaki following . Parker gated well but had some early difficulties with other riders; he was ninth after one lap. Puzar had similar problems and was down in 17th after the first loop. Within five laps Puzar was up to Parker's position and the two began to slice through the top 10 together. After nine laps Puzar led Parker past Herring and into the top five. Stanton shadowed Healey for the first half of the 19-1ap rnoto and then pulled the trigger on the leader just past the start-finish area. Healey tried to pace himself with Stanton, but his

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