Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

"I just stayed consistent, I, wanted to set a pace and stay there," said Bradshaw. " It was pretty hot, but it was hot for everyone. I made a few mistakes, but I feel that I went just as fast a t the end as at the start." Lamson con tro lled fifth, ah ead of Malin, Lil es and Lechi en, wh o had worked up from a 17th p lace start. " I got a crappy sta rt and had to righ t my way thro ugh the pack," Lech ien sai d. "T he track is hard to pass on, yo u have to get p hysical if yo u want to make your way up. I don 't th ink I've ever had so m uch dirt thrown in m y face in my life." In his charge through the field , Lechi en tangled with Englishman J eremy Whatley, ca usi ng both riders to fall momen tarily. " He took ou t my front end and made us bo th go down," said a disturbed Wh atl ey. "Yeah , I bumped h im pretty good, but he j ust [ell over o n me, I th ink he was tired," said Lechein . With his fist thrust in the air, Ward g ree ted the checkered flag wi th a co m fo rta b le fiv e-second lead o ver Bayle. j obe came home third, well ah ead of Bradshaw and a charging Lamson. " I just kept plugging away ," sa id Lamson. " I co u ld tell th at I wa s catching Bradshaw , especially towards the end." Malin crossed th e fin ish line in sixth, with Lil es and Lechien on his tail. " I' m battling with Bill y for fourth in the championship," said Malin. " I just set my pace and made sure to stay up. I like the jumps, we don 't get to jump as much in Europe." Rounding out the top I0 in the first moto were Belgian Jo Martens and Whatley, who managed to regain his composure after his encounter with Lechien. Bayle stormed back with a vengeance in the second rnoto, and led Bradshaw, Belgian Dirk Geukens, Jobe and Whatley onto th e 1.2-m ile course. Ward was mired at the start and began th e first lap in 10th place. Lamson gated well , but coas ted off the track in the third turn with a dead motor. " It just qui t when I landed off a jump, we think th e ignition went ou t," said Lamson. " I' m lucky that it didn 't quit before the j um pl" As the field began lap two , Bayle had already pulled away from Brad shaw, while Ward stormed past six riders and into fifth behind jobe, Both Jobe and Ward displ aced Geukens on lap two , and took over the th ird and fourth positions, respectively. Ward trailed jobe for nearly a lap before blasting past the Belgian , but was faced wit h a eight-second ga p between himself and Bradshaw. Meanwhile, Bayle had charged away from Bradshaw , and had a lrea dy established a IO-second lead at the 10 minute mark. " J ust like in the first rnoto, I tried to take a big lead, but this time not use so much brake," Bayle said. Ward ate away at the gap separating him from Bradshaw, closing on -the tiring Yamaha rider at a rate of two seconds per lap. On lap six , Ward pulled alongside Bradshaw in a fast left-hander and motored past on the following straightaway. Bradshaw put up lit tle resistance, and soon began to dro p off the pace set by the frontru nners. J obe was next to close in on Bradshaw, and at the 20-minute mark was breathing down Bradshaw's neck. Jobe jumped past Bradshaw in a supercrossstyled section of the track, and immediately began to pull away . "I felt much better in the second Jeff Ward (68) chased down 500cc World Champion Georges Jobe (14) for second in moto two, but he couldn't catch Bayle. o u ting," said the personable World Champion. " I wanted badl y to sta y close to Ward." Following th e exa m p le set by Jobe, Liles also began to pressure Bradshaw and stormed past later in th e same lap. "I started to tir e out and make some mistakes," was all Bradshaw would say. Up front, Bayle continued to pad h is lead, and at th e 30-m inute mark had pulled out to a 20-second lead. Ward rode in .a lonely second, 10 seconds ah ead of Jobe. Lil es dosed o n J obe in the la tte r stages of th e mot o, but crashed j us t before the white flag came o u t. Lil es held o nto fourth, remo untin g well ahea d of Brad shaw, who held fift h over Shau n Kalos and Malin , who had su ffered a ho rrendous start. " Thorpe messed me u p on the start, he took me to th e fence," said Malin. " I paced m yself mu ch better this rnoto, but it was so hotl I have blisters o n m y feet [rom the heat!" At th e fin ish , this time it was Bayle wh o thrust his fist into the air as he crosse d the fin ish line wi th the overall victory. "This is my first and las t try in a 500cc Grand Prix ," sai d Bayle, wh o pl ans to move on to roa d racing at the concl usion of the 1992 seaso n. " I am happy to be the first rid er to win everyth ing, I try my best to win every time. I rode the first co up le of laps carefu lly, then it was wide open after that. " Ward trailed Bayle across the fini sh line, 22 seconds behind and second overall, well ahead of Jobe and Lil es. " I didn 't get the start that I needed," said Ward. "Bayle got th e holeshot , and by the time I got through traffi c, he was long gone." " If you would have told me that I would finish third overall a few da ys ago, I would have laughed at yo u," said J obe, " I know that if I was not sick I could have put on a better show, but all things considered, I am happy. After winning the World Championship, I am glad to be the first European." American GP contender Billy Liles posted consistent 7-4 finishes to score fifth overall. " I was just ne ver abl e to put it all toge ther today , " said Lil es , who finished fourth in th e moto and fifth overa ll. " It 's been a long season. " Bradshaw finished fifth in rnoto two, good enough for fourth overa ll in his first 500cc Grand Prix appearance. Kalos finished the moto in sixth, but fai ling 10 finish moto one relegated him to 10th overall. Malin was very pl eased after finishing the rnoto in seventh, good enough for sixth overall. " Liles and I tied for fourth in the series ," said a pl eased Malin. "I was awarded the position because I had more overall wins. Just wait until next year." After starting the moto in third, Geukens dropped to eighth, ahead of 7 '

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