Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127406
eM OSS orOCR e Masters 01 Motocross Series: Round I Runner-up Belgian Stefan Everts traded 1-2 moto finishes with Bayle. Jean-Michel Bayle scored the win at the openinground of th e Masters of Motocross. Fonner 125cc World Champion Donny Schmit, from Min nesota, was third. Bayle triumphant in 'France By Alex Hodgkinson VILLARS-SOUS-EeOT, FRANCE, OCT. 20 ea n-Michel Bayle just keeps on winning! One week after he co mpl eted his unprecedented sweep of AMA National Championships, the 22-year-old Frenchman was a reso unding winner of th e Elf-sponsored opening round o f the Chesterfield Masters of Motocross in eastern France. J 26 r- With only a handful of other riders from the U.S. circu it cross ing the Atlantic for the seri es open er, the rest of the top 10 placings were ta ken by GP stars. Belgium ' s 125cc Wor ld Champion Stefan Everts provided the st if fes t opposition to the a llconquering Bayle and actually led hi m home in race two of th e three-mote event. Donny Schmit, th e Minnesota native wh o cap tured th e 1990 l25cc World Ch ampion ship, shot into th e lead o f th e first race chased hard by Bieffe Suzu ki teammat e Everts . Two potential lead ers were elim inate d during th e first half lap wh en Fren chman Yves Dema ria ca rtwheeled into th e fen ce halfway alo ng the start stra igh t after tou ching a rival, a nd Ameri can Mik e Fisher sli p ped orr a few hundred yards lat er a nd was effectiv ely elim ina ted for th e da y. T he KTM USA rider explained: 'The fall was nothing, but I landed on my left sho ulder, which I hurt ear lier thi s sum mer." Fisher started race two but pulled "ut after just two laps in too much discomfort to contin ue . After taking pain -killer s he com p leted th e fina l rno to 21st. Other rid ers in trouble ea rly a t a fast trac k where it was extreme ly diff icult to come from the back were Dave Strijbos a nd th e o the r Ameri cans. " I missed th e bra kes going into a turn after a downhill jump," Strijbos exp lai ned. . j eremy Buehl, feeling his way in a rare outing on a 250 and in Europe for th e first tim e, fell in a downhill turn, and Larry Ward was way back after taking 'avo iding action. Schmit a lso made a mistake halfway around the first lap and it proved costly. "That was my o n ly mistake all race, but it was all Stefan needed to pass me," said Schmit. " Bayle was j us t too fast. " . Schmit was down to third a t the end of th e first la p as Bayle carne through after exiting the first tu rn fifth . Everts was riding magnificently, but even he had no a nswer to Bayle, who charged past the Belgian on the second lap. " My compliments to jean-Michel," said the I25cc World Champ ion on the podium. " I rode well, but he was beuer. He rode so smooth ly. Bu t perhaps 1 can beat him la ter in the day ." The firs t th ree across the finish line were so dominant that even third-place Schmit led fourth man j oh n Van den Berk by 40 seconds a t th e checkered £lag. Holland's Van den Berk had spe nt more than hal f th e race desperat ely tryin g to find a wa y round Itali an Alessandro Pu zar. " Righ t from the ear ly laps it wa s dea r th at Puzar was in tro u ble, but he was rid in g suc h strange lines it was im possible to pass ," said Van den Berk. T he Italian eventua lly qu it after 20 minutes, a nd, although he started race two, he was soo n back in th e paddock J and th e Ch esterfi eld Suzuki loaded up to go home. T eam manager Mich ele Rinaldi exp lained: " Sandro was havin g prob lem s with hi s knee yesterday. . We do not kn ow what is wrong and we will go to see a specialist tomorrow . It is th e sam e kn ee whi ch was operated on (earlier this year ) and it looks as th ough he will hav e to tak e a month • off from motocross to let th e kn ee heal properly. This is a nice race, but it is not th e World Championship and we ca n no t risk further damage to th e knee." Finland's Pekka Vehkonen was a typi cally consisten t fifth after with standing a lat e challe nge from Belgian Marnicq Berv oets, while 500cc World Champion Georges jobe was mo st unfortunate after proving tha t he co uld adapt to riding a 250 aga in by holding sixth ahead of Bervoets for mo st of th e race. "My chain derailed in mid-air a t the top of the long uphi ll, just as it did on the 500 at the German G P in july," said j obe. ,T he second race saw Everts ta ke revenge. Bayle was ninth away from the start and even he cou ldn 't hope to challenge Everts from there. Schmit had gotten the holeshot, but Everts needed no . mi stakes by the American this time as he made a marvelous inside-switch pa~s on la p two before sp rinting away to th e win. After advancing two places on each of the first two laps, Bayle fou nd .stiff resistance in th e shape of Van den Berk. It took him 10 mi n utes to get pas t the determined Dutchman a nd the race was nearly 20 minutes old before he displaced Strijbos fro m third.