Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

RMmOCW~~d~~_W_~_M_xs_m_ '~_:R_OU_~_3__~ _ ~ Marcus Hansson '(93) holeshot the second moto, but crashed and handed the lead to Ku rt Nicoll (9). Ge orges lobe (1) passed them both and notched the moto win. Rossi strikes again By Alex Hodgkinson SITTENDORF, A USTRIA, MAY 1 0 fter scoring his first-ever 500cc MX Grand Prix overal l victory one week earlier at the Czechoslovakiari GP, Italian Fran co Rossi made it two in a row by edgi ng ou t Am erican Billy Li les in the last, tie-breaking mo to at the Austrian GP at Sittendorf, Rossi, who is the first Italian to ever score a 500cc MX GP overall victory, nipped H ondamounted Lil es by three seconds in the th ird and deciding moto to clinch the Austrian GP victory. The factory-backed KTM rider recorded 3-2-1 moto finishes , while runner-up Liles carded a 1-3-2 score. Third overa ll via 2-4-3 moto fi n ish es was Great Bri tain 's KTM hopeful Kurt Nicoll, who narrowly beat fourth-place Georges jobe's 4-1-4 moto tally. . Liles moved up to second place in the series point standings and is now just 14 po ints behind the series leader Jobe, 132-118. One point behind L iles is Nicoll, while back-to-back winner Rossi is fourth with 113 points. All three 25-minute plus two- lap motos featured extremely close racing, the first of wh ich will live in the memory of those who witnessed it for many years to come. The race was a titanic struggle among Lil es, defending cha mp Jobe, Nicoll and Rossi. When the gate dropped for the start of the first rnoto, it was Liles and Great Britain's J eremy Wh atley leadi ng the way. But Liles soon fou nd himself all alone out in front, as Whatley dropped back, riding with the two smal lest fingers of hi s left hand strapped together after breaking a fin ger the week before in Czechoslova kia. Jobe and Nicoll q ui ckly moved into the second - and third-place posi tions. "The broken fin ger wasn't causing me so mu ch trouble, but I've been con tinuall y losing the front wheel al l weekend, an d having stu bbed my foot on th e gro und I don't know how many times, the big toe on my left foot is now black and blue," said Whatley . Aft er th e second la p , Li les had dropped back to second pl ace. "Georges came inside me," said Lil es. " It was a good pass." A 16 J obe immedia tely sp rinted clear, as Nicoll began pressu ring Liles, wh ile Rossi charged from 10th to fourth by th e third lap . As rain began fallin g, Rossi dived under Nicoll for third, a nd Nicoll momentarily lo st contact w ith th e Italian. " It was ge tting so slippery and tw ice Franco made mistakes after he passed me , and I had to br ak e to avo id a coll isio n . H e go t back on Billy q uicker th an I did," said Ni coll. As Rossi do gged second-place Li les, th e two pi cked up th e pace and soo n found themselves kn ocking on j obe's back doo r. With four a nd a half laps to go, Liles stor me d past H ondamounted J obe for the lea d, as did Rossi for second. J obe' s probl em s co n tin ued , as Nicoll relegated the cham p to fourth . " It (the battle) was too hectic for m e," said j obe. As th e leading tri o - Liles, Rossi and Nicoll - crested the skyline for th e final time, Liles had confirmed hi s posi tio n in fro nt, albeit only by inch es, as Ni coll put in one last despera te bid on Rossi for second. . J With th e checkered flag in sigh t, L i les m o to red o n a n d sco red th e narrow win, while Nicoll had his nose in front o f Rossi th ro ugh th e final corner a nd cl inched seco nd place by -a wh isk er , as Ro ssi tr ied a .final desperate co mebac k pass but fail ed. T he following two motos were held in drier condi tio ns and the same four riders dominat ed again. Ni coll took over on th e secon d lap of race two when Sw ed e Ma rcu s H a nsso n threw a wa y the adv an tage of th e hol esh ot, as he tri ed a different line u p the main hill. "T he back w hee l ste pped out a nd it spa t m e o ff, " H a nsson explained. Rossi was on th e move again, as he swept passed second-place L iles by the halfw ay point. H owever , Rossi la ter dropped back to fou r th aft er mi ssing a shift on ·an o ff-camber sectio n of the track, ma king the top four Ni coll, Liles, l ob e a nd Rossi. Shortly thereafter, Nicoll began dropping back wh en the Dunlop intermedia te rear tire began breaking up. By the end of the race; there was hardly a knob left on the tire, an d the tire company's race technician wrapped it up to be sent back to headq uarters for tests; a compound erro r in m an uf acture was suspected. Ni coll was left to concentrate on keeping clear of Belgia n j ohan Boonen fo r fourth, while Jobe m otored into the lead after passing Liles, as did Rossi for second. ''They both went past me at the same place, " said Lil es. "Georges and Franco went inside at the bottom of the long downhill. They just had better lines tha n me." jobe wen t on to win the second moto ahea d o f Rossi, Liles, Nicoll and Boonen , respectively. j obe said, "I was always in con trol of the situa tion and knew that I could pass wh en I wanted to now that it is dry." The third race was run in terribly dusty condi tions. Rossi led throughout, but the strain of his earlier efforts were starting to show in the last cou ple of laps. Only inches separated the top three finishers as they took the checkered flag, with Rossi leading the way ahead of Liles and Nicoll, while jobe finally got around Husq varna fo u r -stro ke rider Jacky Martens late in the race for fourth. CN Resul ts TIMED PRACTICE: 1. Billy Li les (one minute, 55.77 seconds); 2. Kurt Nicoll (1:55.85); 3. Jo Marten , (1:57.17); 4. Franco Rossi (1:57.63); 5. Ronny Weu stenraed (1:57.87); 6. Karl Sulzer (1:58.56); 7. Joel Smets (1:58 .60):8. Marcus Hansson (1:58.99); 9. J ohan Bocnen (1:59.07); 10. Ma uro Moret to (1:59. 14); II. Aui lio Pignoni (1:59.16): 12. Rudi Va n Leeu wen (1:59.29); 13. Georges J o be (1:59.30); 14. Brian Wheeler (1:59.43); 15. Lauren t Brevers (1:59.55); 16. J erem y Whatley (1:59.67); 17. Kurt Bicher (1:59.74); 18. J ack y Martens (1:59.85); 19. Mervyn Anstie (1:59.97); 20. Da vid Tho,\", (2:00.29); 21. Siegfried Ba uer (2:00.39); 22. Oaueie Viesturs (2:00.43); 23. G iorgio Antoniazzi (2:00.54): 24. Gian Marro Faussone (2:00.64); 25. Dirk Geukens (2:00.71); 26. j orgen N ilsso n (2:00.95); 'no Marc Velkeneers (2:0 1.11); 28. Roland Schier (2:0 1.52); 29. j orgen G us talsso n (2:0 1.72); 30. J ames Marsh (2:0 1.90); 31. j ason Sm yth (2:02.09); 32. Jared Snti th (2:02.58); 33. Soren Mortensen (2:02.80); !

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