Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127657
Gilles Lalay Classic Les Bilanges. Pidoux was riding great, putting up a time of five minutes, 30 seconds - two seconds faster than that of former Paris-Dakar and multi-time ISDE w in ner Stephane Peterhansel. Pe terhansel, another Frenchman , looked brilliant in the test, leading most observers to assume he had won it. Five seconds slower, Sala finished the test third ahead of Frenchmen Laurent Charbonnel and Thierry Charbonnier. Jonsson was sixth with Edmondson ninth, and Lewis a respecta ble 20th. The riders had another one-hour ride through the French country sid e before arriving at the second checkpoint. This check went mu ch be tter, as spectators had positioned themsel ves a long the course, leaving the riders room to do their repairs. Two hours had passed since the last specia l test yet, as the mud dy competitors arrived at La Perriere, the same riders kep t up the fast pace. Peterhansel scored the fastest time on the grass track, four seconds better than Karlsson. Pidoux (Left) Cyril Esqui rol scored a come-frombehind victory at tha Classic, marking the first t ime that a Frenchman had won t he prestig io us event. (Below) Paul Edmondson and his crew check thi ngs over at a checkpoint. Mounted on a Spanish-built Gas-Gas 125, the Brit led briefly before fi ni shin g filth. (Bottom) Leure nt Charbonnel (3) and Svenerlk Jonsson (1) approach a checkpoint. Much of the race was run In the dark. By Geoff Meyer - LIMOCES, FRANCE, FEB. 26 yriI Esquirol enters the 1994 racing year with a major price on his head, as he rode to an impressive victory at the season-opening, 3rd Annual Gilles Lalay Classic. Ab oard a 250cc Husqvarna, Esquirol became the fir st Frenchman ever to win th e Classi c, wresting the troph y from Swede Svenerik Jons son , who had won the first two even ts. Esquirol, 24, will now be the target for the rest of the competition to beat. The Gilles Lalay Classic is not a part of any se ries, and uses a fo rm a t that is un ique from any other event. Considered by many to be the toughest race in the world , it consists of two portions: a morning section and an evening section . The morning section follows a typ ical European enduro format (the same as American "qualifiers," or reliability end uros special tests are run but no timekeeping is required). The top 40 internati onal riders from that portion are ad vanced to th e evening section, while the others must go home. The ev ening sect ion featu res a mass start, and a "scratch" form at; the first one across the finish line is the winner. . "Tha t was ab so lute ly the tou gh est race I've ever ridden," said Cycle .World magazine editor Jimmy Lewis, who rode the event for the first time this year. "I used. to think I'd ridden difficult trails, bu t I'm ruined now; everything I rid e will be easy compared to that." To earn the win, Esquirol battled Husky Sweden's Jonsson and England' s Paul Edmondson throu gh out th e day, only taking the lead after the two World Champions had maj or p robl em s with two hours remaining. And if riders the caliber of Jonsson and Edmond son had difficulty, imagine the work the rest of the 238 entrants had cut out for them. In fact, only nine riders even finished the competition. Jonsson finish ed second, some 10 minutes back from the winner, while Nevada Rally winner Alain Olivier picked up a third-place finish for France. The Kawasak i pilot was 24 minutes in arrears of the Husky-moun ted Jonsson. The Classic got off to an early start, as riders left the town of Limoges at 6:30 a.m. Edmondson experienced difficulties right away; his light needed some minor ad justing just 50 feet from the sta rting . area . One hour after leaving into the darkness, the ride rs appeared at the first checkpoint, held on a small road at Le Chatenet en Dognon. The big gest p roblem here turned out to be the spectators, as thousands turned out, causing some confusion as rid ers attemp ted to mak e their repairs. Tools and parts were kicked aroun d, an d Edmondso n's temperamental headlight was nearly smas hed by a Frenchman's size 12 boot. Esquirol looked in goo d form as he eased out of the check, oblivious to the huge crowd 's applause. Italian KTM rider Giovanni Sala, the overall winner at the Australian ISDE in 1992, and French Husaberg pilot Laurent Pid ou x were both in stro ng positions as the riders left for the first special test, a terrain test at