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/127411
~ SUPERCROSS Masters of Motocross Series: Round 5 ~ .... Q) ..0 a Q) u Q) o Belgian Stefan Everts won th e main event on the first day and finished second on day two to clinch th e overall victory. La rry Ward won Sunday's ma in after a close battle with Everts. He fin ished fourth on Saturday and ended up second overall. Ee Ward splitwin H n vrts, sin olla d By Ale x Hodgkinson 6 MAASTRICHT, HOLLAND, NOV 23ยท24 . hen the ea t's awa y, the mice will pla y, and that's just what Suzuki 's Stefan Everts a nd Larry W Wa rd did at the two -day Maastricht Supercross. The two riders split main event wins with l25cc World Cham- pion Everts clinching th e overall vi ctory to, once again, deny the Americans a triumph in the series. But it was , perhaps, a hollow victory as J ea n -Mich el Bayle, the ma n who had won all four previous Masters events and clinched the championship, was laid up at home in southern France after sustaining lower back and pelvis injuries in a practice crash the day before the event. Most of the top Americans had also re turned home after the previous weekend's three-day supercross extravaganza in Pa r is, France, making Everts, Ward and Suzuki's Guy Cooper the favori tes in Holland. In fact, o n Saturday Everts and Ward not only rode through their respective hea t a nd semi u nb eat en , but neith er rider had any close challe ngers. Cooper, ho wever, had a troubled evening. H is Suzuki was running too lea n in th e first of th e th ree heat races a nd he finished sixth, th e last transfer positi on to th e semi fin a l in the Eu ropean-style forma t wh ere compe titors must q ua lify th rough bot h heats a nd sem is. Cooper go t a bad start in th e first sem i, th en cras hed. " I thi n k I may ha ve fract ured a bon e in my heel," sa id Cooper, wh o was sent to th e Las t Cha nce Q ual ifier. Cooper q ui ck ly recovered from a last-pl ace start in the LCQ and was ru nni ng .fift h when he cras hed again a nd had to withdraw in great pain. H e bravely competed in the Superj u m p contest for the fans and won, which gave him a spot in the main. At the start of the fina l, Dean Ma tson got the holeshot over Donny Schmi t a nd Max G azzara ta a nd soo n opened up a massive lea d whe n Schmi t bobbled in the whoops and Gazzarata proved to be dif ficu lt for the chasers to pass. O n the th ird trip th rough the whoops, however, Everts a nd Cooper, wh o had raced side-by-side since the stan , astounded Gazzarata. Coo per flew pas t th e Ita lian on the insi de while Evert s went by on the o u tside. It was another half a lap before Everts co uld fin all y nose in front o f Cooper for good, the n it took hi m anothe r lap to ca tch up to Matson. On the sixth o f 18 laps, Evens took over th e lead usin g Cooper's line a t the end of the wh oops and was never challenged again. In pa in , Cooper co u ld n ' t ca tch Matson, a nd both riders rod e to th e finish with Ma tson ta ki ng th e runneru p spo t well ahead o f Cooper. Schmit was ha vin g his best supercross ride in some time a nd charged back from his early bobble to pass Pekka Veh kone n for fourth as the pair, p lus Ward, n ibb led a t Cooper's rear wheel. Bu t Schmit got too close in a tum at the end of the whoops and tu mbled when he clipped Cooper's rear whee l while searching for a gap that Cooper wasn't about to leave for him . On the fina l lap Ward finally ousted Vehkonen to claim fourth a t th e checkered flag. On Sunday afternoon, Everts again rod e unch all en ged th rough his qualifiers to mak e it to th e fin al. Ward had to ride aggressively in hi s heat after sta rti ng poorly a nd then cras hing after he had wo rked up to seco nd place. Ward q uickly reco vered a nd pass ed Edwin Evertsen on the last lap to earn th e win. Injuries had decimated th e field . Jeromy Buehl failed to star t either day after he in jured hi s shoulder during Saturday's practi ce. A sp rained wrist elim inate d G azzarata,while John Van den Berk a nd Dave Strijbos wi thdrew afte r their heats as th e resu lt of inj uries su ffered th e night before. Schmit's racing ended in his heat on Sunday. "The bars go t ripped out of my hands in th e whoops and struc k me on th e bone between the hip and groin," grimaced th e 1990 I25cc World