Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I ~OTOCROSS ~rldQamp~Mh~~2_~c_cMX_S_~_es_:R_oo_~_9~~~~~~~~ _ e South African Greg Albertyn raced to his fifth win of the series at FoxhiIls Moto Park, and enjoys a hea lthy 96-point lead. Albertynrolls on in Egland n I By Alex Hodgkinson FOXHlLL PARK, ENGLAND, JUNE 2iJ ou th African Greg Albertyn showed the British fans just why he is leading the 250cc MX GP points chase by scoring his fifth overall win of the season in the British GP to move into a 96 point lead over Belgian Stefan Everts in the championship. A crowd es ti m a ted at 25,000, the largest of th is year's series, lined the Foxhills Moto Park track to cheer on home country hero Kurt Nicoll, who rode well and finished second overall via 2-5-3 moto finishes. TIUrd overall went to Everts, while American Tallon Vohland and South African Collin Dugmore rounded out the top five overall . Other than Vohland's performance, though, the British GP wasn't one worth writing home about for the American contingent. Donny Schmit, the defending champ from Bloomington, Minnesota, crashed while on his way to wha t looked to be a sure-thing first-moto victory; he ended up finishing sixth overall, but more importantly, now trails Albertyn by an all-but-uncatchable 111 points. Californian Bob Moore was sidelined by a broken ankle suffered in a first-moto crash, and Georgian Billy Lile s, once again; had little in the way of good luck in England. The only American who left England with a smile on his face was Californian Vohland. He finished ninth in the first moto but came back to finish second and fifth in the other two motos for his third overall. The fast and slick Foxhills track is traditionally a difficult course to pass on , particularly in the first moto, and th is year's opening moto was no exception. Schmi t, on the ' Chesterfield-back Yamaha YZ250, led from the get-go, with Albertyn, on his Honda CR250, in his wheel tracks for the first few laps, but by the halfway point, the South African had given up all hopes of passing. "Donny was going well, so I' was more than happy to ease my pace and settle for second," said Albertyn. Schmit eventually pulled out a commanding lead, but as he looked across S 18 towards the two-lap board, the race took a dramatic turn. Th e American highsided in the long sweeping downhill lefthander and was thrown sp ectacularly down the track. Such was his lead that he might have still been able to salvage the w in , but as Albertyn approached the downed rid er, Schmit wa s desp erately trying to kick his bike to life after having unsuccessfully tried to bump start it down the slope. In the fall, Schmit's bike had pitched in to soft dirt as it bounced down the track, and the silencer became packed with dirt. Rea1izing the problem, Schmit found a stick and cleared the pipe, but by then it was far too late for him to salvage any points. A lucky Albertyn ended up scoring the win and 20 more points towards the championship title. Nicoll followed Albertyn across the finish line a distant second. "My forearms started to pump up a little ea rly on , and I figured the riders behind were not going to troub le me so I settled for what I had ," said Nicoll. "It is awfully difficult to pass here in the first moto." Italian Michele Fanton finished third . "I was finding it difficult to concentrate properly during the. first few laps and Moore passed me, " sai d Fanton. " Bu t once he had gone, I started to catch up to Nicoll. I was happy with my ride." Moore, last year's Foxhi11s Park winner, was looking impressive after having worked hi s way up to th ird after an e ighth-place start, but misjudged an uphill jump section that all the leading riders were pre-jumping. Landing on his front wheel, Moore was pitched over the bars and landed hea vily. After trackside treatment, he was carried off the track on a stretcher with it su spected broken ankle. Peter Iven, the stocky Belgian who had also done well here last year, gra tefully accepted fourth. "I finally got a decent start," sa id Iven. "A couple of guys fell off and I passed a couple." Fr en chman Frederic Bolley a nd Dugmore finished fifth and sixth, respectively. Liles, who had gotten off to a poor start, wo rked his wa y up to seven th at the finish. "It 's really difficult to pass out there . though," said Liles. Sweden' s Peter Johansson fini shed eigh th and Vohland and Everts rounded out the top 10. Everts had crashed on the first lap and had to ride from last. Despite an other trip to the ground on the third lap, he broke into the top 10 on the final lap . The m an he demoted was Italian Max Gazzarata , who finished 11th oFinishing in the last four points-paying pos itions were Herring, previous round winner Marnicq Bervoets, Italian Alessandro Puzar and Brit Mark Eastwood. . Be.rvoets said of his 13th-place finish, "The pain froin my left wrist just got worse as the race went on . All I can hope to do is to make a good start and hold on as best I can ." The Belgian injured his wrist in a crash at the previous race in Belgium. It was a trio of home riders who gated fastest in the second moto. Nic oll got through on the inside, but there was chaos outside him . Brit Paul Cooper, who was involved in the mayhem, said, "I was in the mid. d ie of the track and I saw the riders on the ou tside of me were go ing to come around fast and cut across me, so I started to turn. My back wheel stepped out . and someone hit me." Th at so m eone was Herring. "I hit Paul's rear wheel and got spat across the track. About six guys ran into me," said Herring of the crash. "I don't think I have broken any bones, though my left knee and right arm are bad, bu t I'm black and blue all over. I won't start race three." Liles also went down. "I was ' next ," said the Ameri can . "I hit Herring's bike as it came across and went down. A lot of gu ys ran into me . I don't think I'll be starting the third moto, I hurt all over someone ran into my kidneys." Everts was also involved in the pileup . Up front Nicoll continued to lead but wa s pushed hard by Schmit, with Albertyn watching the action in third. Shortly thereafter, Nicoll and Schmit tangled with both riders hitting the dirt. "It was only a matter of time before they touched ," sa id Albertyn. "Donny alread y hit Nicoll in the comer before he took him out. I just thou ght, 'thank you very much.'" Dugmore, who al so sa w the crash, said, "Nicoll was on the line and Schmit just went inside him and took him out." Schmit quickl y got back going again and even tually fin ished th ird behind winner Albertyn and Vohland; Nicoll ended up fifth after remounting eighth. Nicoll was still furious at the end of the race, having see n wh at was potentially hi s fir st w in in 250cc GP competition taken aw ay in such a mann er. Back at the paddock he wen t straigh t over to Schmit, and only his wife's restraining arm prevented him from d o in g m ore than rem onstra tin g with the d ef end ing champ. . A South African 1-2 finish was no t to ' be, as Dugm ore cras hed whil e ru nn ing second . "I had it (secon d pl ace) in th e bag," said a frustrated Dugmore. "Then my fron t w hee l washed ou t and I was down to fourth." . , Everts wo rked his wa y up to finish sixt h, followed by Bervoets, Holland's Edwin Eve r tse n, and Belgian Werner DeWit. The th ird race finally saw Albertyn defeated . Gating second to Nic oll, Albertyn's front wheel washed out on lap two, and he d ropped to fifth. Hopes of a home win incr eased, but Everts soon passed Nicoll, and Albertyn pa ssed Schmit for fou rth and quickly passed Vohland, who was running third. With four laps to go, Albertyn demoted Nicoll to third with a nice move through the sta rt / fini sh area, but there wa s no chance of the South African catching leader Everts, who was long gone by now. Schmit wa s the man on a charge during the last two laps. He eased past Vohland for fourth and set his sigh ts on third-pl ace Nicoll. Schmit and Nicoll diced to th e fin ish w ith the Eng lishm an holding on just enough to fend off the American as they both cros sed the line on Albertyn's rea r , wheel, mak ing the final finishing order read : Everts, Albertyn,: Nicoll, Schmit and Vohland. Rounding out the top 10 were Belley, Evertsen, Fanton, Puzar and Dugmore. CN Results MOTO 1: 1. Greg Albertyn (Ho n); 2. Ku rt Nicoll (Hon); 3. Michele Fanton (Kaw ); 4. Peter Ivan (Kaw) ; 5. Fred eric Belley (Yam); 6. Colin Dug more (Suz); 7.BilI y . tiles (Kaw ); 8. Peter Johansson (Yam); 9. Tallon Vohla nd (Suz); 10. Stefan Everts (Suz); 11. Max Gazzarata (Yam ); 12 Rob Herrin g (Hon); 13. Mamicq Bervoets (Ka w); 14. Alessandro Puzar (Yam); 15. Mark Eastwood (Hon); 16. Pa ul Coo per (Yam); 17. Tak amass Tak agi (Ho n); 18 . We rn er DeWit (Su z); 19. Cr ai g P ratley (Ho n); 20. Tatsuyuki Motoki (Han ); 21. Paul Malin (yam ); 22. Miska Aa lt one w (Han); 23. Ryan Hunt (Ya m) ; 24. Er ic van Klin ken {Kaw ): 25. Stacey Oldeman (Suz) ; 26. Neil Prince (Suz); 27. Peter Nijs (Yam); 28. F. verhers taeten (Ka w); 29. David Cambell (Han); 30. Edwin Evertsen (!Caw); 31. Mar co Felice tt i (Yam) ; 32. To n y Brob er g (Kaw); 33. Ge ra ld Koning (Hon). DN F: Do nny Schmit (Yam) ; willle Wessel (KTM ); Jaimy Scevenels (Hon); Bob Moore (Suz); Yannig Kervella (Kaw); Axel Holvoet (Yam). Tim e: 31 min ., 34.28 sec. MOTO 2: 1. A lbe r ty n; 2. Vo h la nd ; 3. Sch m it; 4. Dugmore; 5. N icoll ; 6. Everts; 7. Bervoe tsr S. Evertseru 9. DeWit; 10. Joh a n s s on ; 11. Mali n ; 12. Cooper; 13..Sce vene ls; 14. Mot oki; 15. P ri nc e; 16. Nij s; 17. Verherstaete m 18. Kon ing; 19. Wesse l; 20. Kervella ; 21. Cambell; 22. Farre lly; 23. Takagi. TIm'" 3 1,;!J.98 • MOTO 3: 1. Everts; 2. Al bertyn; 3: N icoll; 4. Schmit. 5. Vohland; 6. Bolley; 7. Evertsen; 8. Fanton; 9. Pu zar; 10. Dugmo re; 11. Ivan ; 12. Ber voets: 13. Gazza rata ; 14. C ooper; 15. Eas twood; 16. W essel ; 17. Mo toki ; 18. Pr atl ey , 19. Kervella; 20. Van Klinke" ; 21. Scevenels; 22. Koning; 23. Olde man; 24. Felicetti; 26. Prince; 27. Nijs; 28. Farrelly. Time: 31:43.16 OIA:. 1. Greg Alberlyn (Hon); 2. Kurt Nicoll (H on); 3. Stefan Everts (Suz ); 4. Tallon Voh lan d (Su z); 5. Co lin Dugmo re (Suz); 6. Donny Sch mit (Ya m ); 7. Michele Fa nton (Kaw); 8. Frederic Bolley (Yam); 9. Pete r Ivan (Kaw) ; 10. Mami cq Bervoets (Kaw) . WORLO OIAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 9 of 15 roun ds): 1. Greg Albertyn (409/5 wins); 2. Ste fan Everts (313); 3. Donny Schmit (298 /3 w ins) ; 4. Ma rn icq Bervoets (228 /1 w in ); 5. Trampas Parker (226); 6. Kurt Nicoll (220); 7. Bob Moore (194 ); 8. Rob Herring (171) ; 9. Werner DeWit (160); 10. Ta l10n Vohl and (130) ; 11. Michele Fan ton (117); 12. Ed wi n Eve rtsen (109); 13. Billy Lil es (104); 14. Peter Johansson (101); 15. Alessandro P uzar (71); 16. Gert-Ian Van Doom (69); 17. Peter lven (60); 18. Frederic Bolley (63); 19. Colin Dugmore (39).

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