Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS e Nilsson edges closer to Martens with Slovakian GP win .~ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ o rl_dC W_ _h_ampionship me MX Series: Round 11 By Alex Hodgkinson SVEREPEC, SLOVAKIA, AUG. 21 weden's Jorgen Nilsson inched two p oints closer to Belgium' s Jacky Martens in th e 500cc G P p a in ts chase with an ove rall victory in front of a crowd excee d ing 30,000 in Sve repec. With just 12 points sep a ratin g series lead er Martens from runner-up Nilsson, the cham p ions hi p titl e will be decided at th e final ro u n d of th e series in Switzerland on August 29. In 90 degree-plus heat, the two title rivals each scored a mota win in the first two le gs, while Austrian Siggi Bauer s tormed past N ilsson on the penultimate lap to earn the win in th e third mota. Italian Franco Rossi, last yea r's w inner h ere, failed to score a s ingle po int. The o p e n in g moto saw Ho nda CR500- mou nted Nilsson extend his holesho t streak to four, but the Swede en ded up losing nine points to Martens in the race. For 12 minu tes, Nilsson led wi th the fou r-s tro ke- m o u nt e d H usqvarna Martens on his rear wheel after he had passed Baue r a nd Belgian Johan Boonen on the first lap, then the Swede los t it. "The fro n t w heel wen t away and ripped the ba rs out of my hand s," said Nilsson . "Nothing was damaged but I had lost my rhy thm." Nilsson remounted in four th but co uld no t hold off Sweden's Marcuss Hansson or Great Britain's Joel Smets ridin g a four-stro ke Husaberg - and almost fell into the clutches of Austrian Karl Sulzer as we ll. Ha nsson was the nex t man to ch allenge Boon en , but had to settle for th ird . " I tried to pace myself in the heat b ut I still got tired in the last few m in utes," said Hanss on . "I ha ve not been ab le to train all week after hu rting my shoulde r last week." Smets finished a close fourth after a bad start, while Sulzer caine from near ly as far back to almost catch Nilsson, wh o was run ning fifth . Former champ Dave Thorpe had his best ride of the year for eig h th behind New Zealand 's Darryll King . o Las t year's winner Rossi ha d go ne d own in tu rn one. " So m ebo d y went straig ht and too k us all out," said Rossi. " I tried to come back but it was so d usty in the pack." The man who had gone strai gh t was Swiss rid er Jean-Charles Ton us, but he was not to blam e. Ton us w as left w ith no where else to go, as the rid ers on the outside were push ed ou t in a chai n reaction , wh ich had sta rted after N ilsson, ga tin g a u t in fr on t from th e insi d e, moved across the pa ck to lin e himself up for the first turn. Twenty se con ds later, t h ere wa s another pil e of bik es and bodies w hen Belg ian Gerald Delepine w ent d own a nd took ou t many riders. Martens wa s confident after his firstmoto win . " I wa s riding ea sy behind him (Nilsson) and I would've been able to pass before the end anyway. It is too hot today to push an y harder than necessary." Boonen took ov er seco nd but was soon relegated - tempora rily - to third by Bauer . "I wa s kicking myself, " sa id Boonen . "I thought I had no chance to stay with the leaders, so I let Martens pass me on the first lap . I don't want to inte rfere with the battle for the title. Then I suddenly real ized that I was more than holding my own." S Swede Jorgen N ilsson scored the overall win and gained two points on series leader Jacky Martens at the Slovakian GP. But soo n a fte r taking second, Bauer buried the fron t wheel in a soft berm and then dropped back to an even tua l 14th . It wa s, onc e a ga in , N ils son w h o ho lesh ot race two and this time he held it to th e fini sh , but th e major to p ic o f conversation w as the cond itio n of the track, wh ich h ad dri ed o u t and had becom e d ust y. But in between the first and second rnot os, the first tum and the bottom o f the fi rst d ownhill wa s w ate red do wn . Un fortunate ly, the watered secti ons became slick and many riders went do wn, incl ud ing Smit h . "I d on ' t kn ow w hat happened ," sa id th e Brit. "I got (my goggles) filled up w ith mud and never saw an ything unt il they picked me up off the track." Smith's teammate Brian Wheeler saw the wh ole thin g. "Smets just nev er sh ut off and sent Jared (Smith ) flying." Nil sson was soo n sp rinti ng clear, but Hansson moved quickly past Delep ine to give chase. He e xerted tr emendous pressure, but at 20 m inutes, his challen ge for the lead was over a fter tirin g out. Nilss on rode a s tea d y race . "I felt con fi d e n t even wh en Marcus s (Han ss on) was beh ind me , " s ai d Nilsson . "I didn 't know if he would tire, but I felt sa fe anyway." Entering the last lap, Delepine and a cha rging Smets were on Hansson's rear wheel. But Hansson reemerged alone fr om the ' trees a t the top o f the first climb after Delepine and Smets had tangled. . "If he had shown a little patience, we would'ye bo~ passed Hansson," said Delepine. "Bu t no, Smets had to tak e us o ut." De lep ine immedia te ly raced off to register an official comp lai nt to th e Ju ry about Smets' ro ugh riding . Smets actu all y lost a p lace d ue to his last-lap exu beran ce, handing two po ints to a gra teful Ma rten s . Until th en it loo ked as th o ugh Nil sson wou ld p u ll ba ck all o f his fir st mo ta p oin ts los s while Martens ran in fifth. After finishing fourth, Martens sa id, "I felt as tho ugh I was going to vom it all through the ra ce. I cou ld n ' t ris k go ing any faster." For the first time in five mo tes, it was no t Nilsson who led from the gate in the third and final mo ta. Hansson ap peared to ha ve th e jump on the re st, but h is app roach to the first turn was too tight. " I had to back o ff and I en d ed up arou nd l Orh," sa id Ha nsson. "I s oo n reali zed that it was poi n tless to continue because I was d rain ed physically." Boonen had a lso gated well to come from outside .Nilsson to lead the Swede for half the race until he was forced to p it w ith his fro nt br ake caliper h anging off h is bike. Nil sson n ow se e med sa fe in fron t, but Bauer had other ideas. The Austrian quickly reali zed that th is was h is chance of a first-ever GP mota win and passed Nilsson on the penultimate lap. " It w a s a fair pa ss," admitted Nilsson . "Sigg i went all the way around the outside of me at the far end of the track . I h ad no answer, but a t least I have ga ined two p oints on Martens today." Bauer was ecstatic of his win . "I won 't be letti ng anyone pass me in the fu ture, " said Bauer . " I kn o w now 1 can win." Mar tens wa s again s t r ug g li ng but kept go ing fo r fourth . " I wa s u p a-ll nigh t o n the to il et; I'm abso lu te ly d ra ined . A t least I s t ill le ad b y 12 points." Belgian Mervyn Anstie moved up to fi fth at th e fin ish after a steady ri d e, while Wh eeler lost seven th to Delepine late in the race . I:N Results MOTO 1: 1. Jacky Mar tens (Hus); 2. [c ha n Boone n (Kaw); 3. Mar cuss Ha nsson (Hon); 4. joel Sme ts (H bg); 5. jorge n N ilsso n (Hon); 6. Karl Sulzer (K1M); 7. DarrylJ King (Kaw ); 8. Dav id Th orpe (Ha n); 9. Soren Mortensen (Kaw) ; 10. Brian Wheeler (£

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