Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GMOTOCROSS World Championship500cc MX Series: Final round ~ Jacky Martens sewed up the title with consis tent second-place finishes in all three motos . Martens thumps to glory By Alex Hodgkinson GENEVA, SWITZERLAND, AUG. 29 o u r-s tr o k e fa ns fo ll ow ed Ja ck y Ma rt ens to the End of the World, which is the lit e ral translation o f Bout du Mende, the track in the suburbs of Ge neva w here the se ries finale, the Swiss Grand Prix, w as he ld . An d th e Husqv ama ace came through w ith flying colo rs, beco ming the first fou r-stro ke rider to wi n a MX World Championship title since Jeff Smith d id so on a works BSA in 1965. Belgian Martens, 30, ru nner-up to Geo rges [obe two years ago on a KTM before signing to lea d the fo u r-s troke re naissance, defea ted arch -riv al Jorgen Nilsso n by just three poi nts in the final s ta n dings a ft e r th e Hon d a- mou n ted Swede wo n all thr ee moto s in Genev a. "I always kn ew I w as go ing to w in the title this year," sai d Martens as he sat engulfed by family and fans . "I said after I lost in 1991 tha t I would never be second again, and we have worked nonstop s in ce la st w inter to achieve this. Four-strokes are the future of motocross and the Japanese must now come back. The 500 GPs ar e alive and well." Nilsson, jus t four months Martens' junior, was noble in defeat: "I always knew this could happen. I came here to win all three motos and hope that someone el se could also beat Jacky, but it didn't happen. Now I know how Kurt Nicoll felt last year. But I'll be back next year to win the title." It was in~eed a carbon copy of the F 26 • 1992 final e in Sw itzerland, as Martens, lik e Jobe the year before, clinched the cro wn with a trio of ru nn er-up finishes. Whil e th e fast-gating Nilsso n led all th ree rn otos n e arly from th e get-go, Martens was also throu gh to a comfortab le second wit hin a couple of laps in the second and thi rd mot os; his main adversary was th e n ervou s tensio n which always builds up in these circu mstances. The new champion had truly earned his title in the opening rnoto, however, when he cha rge d through the pack from a first- la p fa ll to cr o ss the line in Nilsson's wheeltra cks, surviving a scuffle wi th Honda-mounted Jobe along the way. [ob e, 32, who retired after earning th e title last yea r, had come back fo r "jus t one more GP." "I have been toying with the idea of racing here for some time because it will be the last chance for me to ride wi th my numbe r-one plate," said [ ob e . " I' m using the HRC bike whi ch Honda gave to me for winning the Wo rld title in 1991 and 1992, but I d on 't have any spares, s o I'm keep in g m y fin gers crossed that we do not have a break." Much credit for the title must also go to Martens' mechanic Graham Ken t. The Husqvarnas prepped by the Cockney character, who won the 250cc title with John Van den Berk in 1988, did not register a single mechanical DNF in the entire series as Martens had just fou r z ero scores, tw ice crashi ng o u t and twice pulling off after roc ks b ro ke h is nose. Husaberg -moun te d Joel Smet s, th e other half of the four-stroke challenge, clinched the bronze medal to make the thumper joy co mplete, however, a ll of the day's at ten tion was on th e number 11 H usky of Martens and the number seven Honda of Nil sson . Before the race, Nilsson worked dilige ntly to prepa re his insid e gate while th e Ma rten s lounged cas ua lly aga inst the fence . Nilsson 's "gardening" seemed to pay dividen ds, as he holeshot the first mo to with Je remy Whatley, taking a gamble by wa tching the rickety starter' s box, broa dsliding around the ou tside for second and Iobe emerging from the first tu m in third. Martens seemed content in seventh, for the track was w ide with p lenty of open space to utili ze the awesome power of the Husk y to advance. But s uddenly, the Bel gian contingent was numbed in sile nce when Martens hit the turf. "(Darryl) Kin g locked up, I h it his rea r wheel and we n t down," explained Martens after the race. Kiwi King remembered n ot hing of th e incid en t: "Yo u don' t re membe r if someo ne touches you on the first lap. I was struggling all afternoon:' Mar tens was left down in 12th, wit h Nilsson racin g clear. Th e four-s troke ace 's 12-poin t series advantage suddenly looked aw fully sma ll, b u t w hat followed was a ride tha t was truly worthy of a cha mp ion . After 10 minutes, Martens was seventh. A lap later he took Dave Thorpe, and on the following circuit he d isposed of both Brian Wheeler and Jobe . Ma rten s' pass on [obe was far fro m easy, accord in g to Th o rp e, w ho witnessed th e maneuve r. "Georges went for him (Ma rtens ). If I'd had a camera on like those Formula One cars, I could make a fort u ne with th e video. Jacky passed him on that steep downhill out of sight of the p ublic and Geo rges just we nt down the inside and straight on at the tum: ' The Husqv arn a rider then had a lon g way to go to ca tc h up to Whatl ey, demoted by a cha rging Hansson on the same lap, bu t he pulled it back wi thin two laps and the KTM man offered no resistance: "I'm not going to get in anyone's way. I kn ow I wouldn't like it if I was going fo r a cha m pi o ns hip and someon e held me up for a lap . I w ould do the same for Nilsson:' Marcus Hansson, a no ther Hon damounted Swed e, had p ro ven at p revious GPs tha t he was not rid ing shotgun for Nilsson, and closed to the title contender's rear wheel. "I wasn' t worried," said Nilsson. "Marcus is struggling for condition at the moment because of his injuries and I expected him to fade a t the end ." . Nilss on was right, and with two lap s to go the race see med over, but anyone who thought as much had not reckoned with Martens. H alfw ay ro u nd the last lap h e was o n Hansson, and on the steepest downhill he pounced. "Jacky kep t it wide open," Hansson said. "He was determined to pass. There was no way I could fight him off; my forearms we re like jelly by then:' Jobe faded to seventh: "I completely lost my rhythm early in the race when I was behind Whatley. If I could have followed Nilsson I think it would have been b etter . My forearms started to pump up and I dropped back quickly. I had a good battle with David (Thorpe) and that helped me to regain my confidence. I think I can be faster in the other races now." Thorpe saw the result of their personal battle differently: "I made a silly mistake in a righ t-hander which let hi m get away again:' . It had been a magnificent race, and a ga in st a ll th e od ds Ma rtens h ad restricted his losses to three point s. The gap was now nine, though it remained to be seen how much that hard first race had taken out of him physically: Neith er Nilsson nor Martens grabbed th e holeshot in moto two, bu t within two laps they were 1-2 and clear of the pack. Whatley had again swept around th e outsid e, but was already down to third before a fall dropped him into the pack and a seized fork eventually forced him ou t. [obe had cut acros s both of the title candidates in the first tum but his race wa s e ff ec t ive ly ov er in turn two . "Whatley came acro ss me and took my front wheel," sa id the Belgian. "It wa s just one of those things:' "He's living in a world of his own," Whatley ret orted. "We were never within five yard s of each other!" Jobe circulated for one lap in front of the title candidates before pulling off. "I didn't w ant to in terfe re, " s ai d [ ob e. "Those Flemish fan s always think that you will, and they would ha ve thr own things a t me if I hadn't stopped:' In fron t, Nil sson had n early 10 seconds in h and even before Mar tens reac hed second place, and his advantage rose to 12 seconds in the next tw o laps. "I lost time behin d Whatley, and then it took me a couple of laps to find all of the lines," said Marten s. "I also could not afford to push too hard too early after that ha rd first rac e:' With three laps to go, however, the gap was down to five seconds, though Martens admitted defeat wi th a lap to go in the moto, " I co u ldn ' t have ca ught him," Martens said, "I only need third in the last race." Hansson had gone down in turn one as Nilsson p ushed ou t Thorpe and started a ch a in reaction, so Sme ts was a lrea d y certain o f the br onz e m ed a l even before he finished fourth. The cha mpions hip s ituation was clear: Nilsson must win and he needed tw o other rid ers to push Martens do wn to fourth. Nil ss on g ra b bed hi s cu stomary holeshot in moto three, but Martens was fifth out of turn on e, third h a lfw ay round the lap, and afforded himself the luxu ry of tw o more laps b efor e easing his way past Brit Jaso n Higgs. On ly nerv es or a disaster could stop Martens now, and the race ra n its cou rse b e fore M a r tens was m obbed b y h is ecs ta tic fans and Nilsson was consoled by the small trou p e of Swed ish spectators. Jobe raced back to sixth from an early fall but annoyed Austria n Karl Su lzer on the way. "[obe is an asshole," sa id Sulzer. "I've been over there and told h im to h is face . He rid es one race all y ea r and h e si m p ly took me ou t. He spl u ttered some thing about his br akes. Ali i know is that he cost me the number 10 pl!lte!" t:N Results O/A : 1. Jorgen N ilsson (Hon); 2. Jacky Martens (Hus); 3. joel Sm els (Hb g); 4. Marcu s H ansson (Han ); 5. Johan Boonen (Kaw) ; 6. Geo rges lobe (Ho n); 7. Karl Sulzer (KTM); 8. Dav id Thorp e (Ho n); 9. Gera ld Delepin e (Hon ); 10. Io Martens (Hon); 11. Jason Higgs (KTM); 12. Brian Wheeler (Kaw) ; 13. Jerem y Whatley (KTM); 14. Me rvyn An st ie (Hon ); 15. Ronny Weustenraed (Kaw ); 16. Atlilio Pignotti (Hon); 17. Jared Smith (Kaw) ; 18. So ren Mortensen (Kaw) ; 19. Warren Edwa rds (Ho n); 20 . Claus N ielsen (Kaw ); 21. Darry ll IGng (Kaw ); 22. Lauren t Brev er s (Ho n); 23. Christian Chanton (Yam); 24. Jean Charles Tonus (Hon). MOTO 1: 1. Nils son; 2 Jacky Martens; 3. Hansson ; 4. Whatley; 5. Smets ; 6. Boon en; 7. Iobe; 8. Thorpe; 9. Whe eler; 10. Sulzer; 11. Edw ards; 12. Ic Martens; 13. Higgs; 14. Weustenraed ; 15. Tonus. MOTO Z: 1. Nil sson ; 2. Jacky Martens; 3. Boonen; 4. Srnets; 5. Anstie; 6. Thorpe; 7. Weustenraed; 8. Smith; 9. Sulzer; 10. Pigno tti; 11. jo Martens; 12. Delepine a 13. Mortensen. 14. Higgs ; 15. Chanton. M OTO 3: 1. Nil sson; 2. jacky Martens; 3. Hansson; 4. Delepinea5. Smets r 6. jobe; 7. Higgs; 8. jo Martens: 9.

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