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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127546
Alessandro Puzar (3) led Stefan Everts (59) and Edw in Evertson (8) off the line in the second 25-minute plus two -lap mota. Donny Schmit was the top American rider, finishing sixth overall with 7-9-6 scores. Everts scores in the Dutch sand By Alex Hodgkinson two 40-m inute plus two-l ap form at ) you went hard for 15 minutes, settled down for 10 and the n went hard aga in for the final q uarter of the race. Now it is full ' gas from start to finis h. I'm happy to have won my first GP in the 250 class." O f the seven American s who competed in th e event , five scored points for fin ishing in th e to p 15 points paying posi tio ns. Minneso tan Donny Schmit was the on ly one to break into the top 10 overa ll as he fin ish ed sixth wi th 7-9-6 mo to scores. The weekend was a ni gh tmare for defendi ng 250cc World Champion T ra m p a s Pa r ker. Th e Lo uis ia na native almost fai led to q ual ify in the new two-se ssion quali fication form a t, and he o nly scored po ints from one moto in whi chhe fin ish ed sixth. The first race of the 250cc G P seaso n was run at a quick pace as those riders wh o go t through th e firs t corner near the front stayed on the gas for the full 30 min utes. Th e deciding facto r, however, was go ing to be th e riders' ability to stay on their bikes in the deep sand. At the start of the first m o to , Evenson grabbed the ho leshot ahead of Everts, American Micky Dymond, Dutch man Gert-J an Van Doo rn and Berv oets, and by the end of the race the 22-year-old Evertse n was the on ly o ne of those five who had no t hi t the gr ound. Everts slipped 0(£ on the third lap and Van Doorn fell back from the lead pack as he came under pressure from th e charging Everts . Bervoets ma de h is move on Dymond near the 10-mi n u te mark but buried his front wh eel in a sa ndy turn and had to ca tch th e American again. Everts was in Bervoets' wheeltracks wh en he remou nted, but th e tw o Belgians were soo n separated again when Everts stalled the motor of his factory Suzuki. By this time th e smooth -ridi ng Evertsen was 10 seconds c1 ~r of Dymond and coasted to the WIn. VALKENSWAARD, HOLLAND, APR. 5 e lg ia n Stefan Everts led the expected Benelux sweep of the , Dutch GP held in the deep sand of Valkenswaard, site of last year 's Motocross des Nations. The 125cc World Champion fin ish ed third after falling in th e first of th e three, 25-minute plus two-la p rnotos , then came back to top the o th er two motos. Dutchman Edwin Evertsen won th e first moto which combined B 22 with fourth and second-place finishes gave him secon d overal!. Belgian Marnicq Bervoets, wh o was recovering from the flu , completed the top three on the rostrum. " I think I was better prepared for th e three-moto format than the o ther riders," said Everts . "T hey probably underest imated how hard it would be. You have to make good starts, but the races are very different, Before (in th e With four laps to go, the Belgians had reeled in and passed Dymond. Even another minor fall by Everts couldn't prevent him from finishing third, 22 seconds behind runner-up Bervoets. A couple of laps from the end, En glishman Paul Malin passed Swede Peter Johansson for fifth as the duo had forced their way out of the pack in pursu it of th e front-runners. They cl osed in on Dymond, who then cras hed hard an d toured in to fin ish a lap down wit h a badl y da maged bike. " I was still ru n n ing fourth, but I landed on the upslope of a ditch," said th e tw o-time 125cc National MX Champion from sout hern California. " I tried 10 give ita handfull (of throttle) 10 get o u t of trouble, but it threw me down hard." Malin held 0 (( J ohan sson to fin ish fo u rth, while Schmit managed to escape fro m the pack near the end to fin ish seven th behind Van Doo rn . The on ly rider to make real progress from back in the field was 1990 250cc World Ch am pi on Alessandro Puzar. The Ita lian was 17th at the end of the first lap and charged through the field wit h Ch esterf ield Yamaha teammate Bob Moore in his trac ks. Pu zar managed to snatch eig hth at the fini sh after passing Wern er DeWit on th e fin al lap, wh ile Moore's advance ended at 15th when he made late passes on Mich ele Fanton and J ames Dobb. 'Parker and compatriot Mike Healey had both quit after 20 minutes as ' neither rider could advance fro m poor starts to a points-paying position in the top 15. Race two saw Everts scorch past P uzar on the first lap, and by the halfway point the Belgian had a 17second lead. He backed 0(( near the end so that hi s winning margin over Puzar was reduced to nine seconds. Puzar ca me under pressure from Evertsen ear ly in th e race , but Ever tsen slipped 0(( on lap four and had to repass Van Doorn for third. The riders on the move were Bervoets and Schmit. The Belgian came from 11th on lap o ne to mo unt a cha lle nge o n Evertse n with one lap to go. Ever tsen couldn 't resis t the pressure and fell , bu t they were so far clear o f th e rest of th e pac k tha t h e rem ou nt ed a nd finish ed a dista nt fo urth behi nd Bervoets. Schmit was 17th o n lap one, but he kept pl uggin g away to a ninth-place fin ish . The on ly brig ht spot for Par ker came in the second moto as he maintained h is mo mentum fro m a decent sta rt to resist th e challenges of J oh an sson and Rob H err ing to fin ish sixth behind Van Doorn. ' " We didn ' t hav e the bike set up properly for the first race, but we made th e right cha nges for race two and I was a lso abl e to get away near the front," sai d Parker. Mal in , wh o h ad co lli de d wi th Dymond coming o ut of the gate , blew his ch an ces of scori ng points wh en he fell a fte r mo vin g i nto a scori ng position. " I broke 0 (£ th e rear brake pedal when a rider fell in front of me, so I had no way to con trol it when I bobbled go ing into a corner," said Mal in: The American s began falling after a couple of laps. Dymond crashed out on lap three, Moore bounced down the track after 15 minutes, and as he hobbled back to the pi ts, Healey went down hard and retired. The final moto was undoubtedly the best. Van Doorn got the holeshot and was soon leading a four-rider breakaway with Evertsen, Herring and Everts in tow . Everts looked menacing as the race approached half distance, and in one lap he jumped from fourth to fir st, "Evertsen stalled in a turn and that blocked Herring as I went around the outside," said Everts. "I had no difficulty passing Van Doorn after that." Herring got away first in the tangle with Evertsen and they both pounced on the fading Van Doorn. It wasn't