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/127672
.... '. ", . . . . ," Round 7: Belgian GP (Left) Winner Stefan Everts (2) chases run ner-up Werner DeWit (7) early In moto one. Throughout the day , this was the only t ime when Everts wasn't leaving the pack far behind . (Abo ve) Defend ing cha mpion Greg Albertyn failed to fin ish eithe r moto. Both times, his bike ran out of fu el In the deep sand. (Below) Mam lcq Bervaets charges through the deep Belgian sand on his way to third place . Home riders took the top three pos llfons, in each moto and overa ll . By Alex Hod gkin son LOMMEL, BELGIUM, JUNE 12 tefan Everts' strategy, of maintaining his pace even when unchallenged for the win, paid double div idends in the deep unrelentin g sand of Lommel in his Belgian homeland. Not only did the JHK Kawasaki teamster's speed bring him a 4O-point maximum, it also helped him regain the lead ership in the point stand ings after 7 of 15 rounds, as the challenge of defending champion and previous points leader Greg Albertyn quite literally ran dry. Everts' outrageous pace - with lap times four seconds faster than last year ensured that the 3O-minute-plus-two-Iap races would run a lap longer than anticipated. South African Albertyn stopped on the final circuit of each moto, his Suzuki out of fuel! • Second a nd third on the day for Werner DeWit and Marnicq Bervoets was scant consolation for the Johnsonsponsored team of Sylvain Geboers. The U.S, challenge suffered a number of cruel blows. Donny Schmit dropped to third in the standings, but sti ll only trails the pace by 29 points, d espite dislocating his righ t shoulder on the previous day. Tallon Vohland did not attend after s uffering midweek back injuries, while Trampas Parker put together his strong est-ever 250cc sa nd GP perform ance, a n d d eserved more th a n an even t u al 10 points, which weren 't enough to prevent him from slipping back to eighth in the points table. S MOT01 A home win was always expected, and the first moto was clearly between DeWit and Everts, as Bervoets got pushed out at the start and was down in 11th at the end of the first lap. The two leaders were quickly out of sight of thirdplaced Ton Van Grinsven. For just over 10 minutes the ebullient DeWit ma intained his advantage, but then the elegant Everts stopped playing cat and swept past to march majestically clear at the rate of threeseconds a lap. Bervoets matched Everts' pace after he got to third a lap later, but he was already half a minute back by then. his eyes filled with sand from his battle through the pack. Other top riders were in trouble. Albertyn had been seventh after a lap , but within a few minutes had dropped to 13th after going down in a deep tum. Donny Schmit's plight was even worse. "My right shoulder popped ou t yesterday in qualification," he said. "I was giving it my best shot in that first race despite a bad start, until the front wheel dug in and dragged me down . I've tweaked my shoulder again, so I won't start race two. I might get a 10th, but the damage I migh t do will lose me more in the end. I need to get fit for England and pull back the points there: ' Frenchman Yves Demaria had als o gone out of the top 10 in a crash, while from lower down in the pack, Brit Rob H erring and Belgian Edwin Eve rt se n exited likewise. Alber tyn was making hard work of his attempts to move forward, and was using up a lot of energy and fuel in his energetic attempts to haul in Everts' JHK teammates [oakim Karlsson and [a imy Scevenels . He eventually passed the Swede, and was still chasing the Belgian teenager on the last lap when the Suzuki coughed as he lan d ed off a table top, and he flew over the bars . The cham pio n desperately tried to kick the moto r back to life, but the special large- volum e alumini um fuel tank had proven to be too small, and the fuel line was d ry. When they realized their team leader had not come aroun d, the mechanics of Werner DeWit and Marnicq Bervoets stopped their ri ders and s hook their bikes; neithe r bike had enough fuel left for another lap.