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Round 8: French GP By Alex Hodgkinson BLARGIES, FRANCE, JUNE 26 ortu nes sw ung back again in favor of the two-strokes at the hillside Blargies track in the heart of Picardy, 50 miles northwest of Paris. Sw ede Marcus Hansson drilled his Honda to its second win of the campaign in a savage tussle on the treacherous polished surface, while four-s troke contenders Jacky Martens a n d Jo el Smets both lost ground in the stan dings after gelling tangled up with other riders. Hansson's 37-point haul has moved h im ba ck in to an ll-point lead over Husky rider Martens, who also had to contend with noise-control worries but fought back for second on the day. Vertemati-mounted Smets is 11 points further back. Despite finis hing both motos, a sick Billy Liles lost yet more ground in the series, while his team boss Georg es Jobe returned to a GP podium for th e first time in 22 months. Staff members of Iobe's FN team were right in the thick of tra ckside battles with gun-toting sol diers, when the law was dragged into a conflict between signa llers and officials for the second time in a month. In the same wee k that he learned that his points from the first Italian GP moto wer e d efi nitely safe (Martens ca used con troversy when he finished that race w ithou t a m uffler), Martens was in volved in yet ano the r noise-re lated drama at Blargies. g (Above) Marcus Hansson regained the series points lead with 2ยท1 moto fin ishes. (Lett) Defending champion Jacky Martens (1) was Involved In another soundtesting controversy after moto one, but stili finished second overall. Here, he Is chased by Jeremy Whatley (9), Rudl Van Leeuwen (19) and Perry Leask (78). 26 MOTOl Young Brit Ja mes Marsh holeshot and hu ng on for near ly four laps before the big names started to come past. The first man by was New Zealander Darryll King, who went on to win the mo to. "That's an important win, " he said. "I won one last year as well , but it has been a long road back from breaking my leg at the Tokyo Supe rcross in Nove mber ." Marcus Hansson closed to wi thi n four seconds with four laps to go, and looked a likely winner as he edged closer. "I could see that I wasn' t qui te going to make it, as Darryll wasn 't getting any slower, so I se ttled for sec ond with a couple of laps to go," said Hansson. Third-pla ced Joel Smets had given up the chase earlier and explained: "When I got past Marsh I started to go for them, but I seemed to get a little nervous and was making mistakes. It is very slippery ou t there now that the su rface has been polishe d . By the tim e I settled d o wn aga in they were too far ahea d." Billy Liles in itially sa t in thi rd, but dropped back to an eventual ninth, only inches ahead of his boss [obe, who had started 25th. The Ame rican was a frus- trated man, saying: "I've been sick since Friday. I slept three hours that night on the toilet, and I have been sweating really bad. I had to change three shirts last night in bed and my sheets are soaking wet. I could only ride 10 laps yesterday to learn the track and qualify. I feel better today, but I am physically drained. Of all the times for me to finally get a good start." The champion, Martens, rode a lackluster race. "It was down to me, he said. "I just never settled down. Race two will be different." MOT02 The second race was, indeed, different - but no less dramatic. Marsh again led the wa y, showing the commitment of a potential champion in the first tum. But it was Hansson behind him, and the Swede moved to the fron t after 10 minutes and was never seriously challenged for the moto and overall wins. Martens was fourth after a hard ride. "(Danny) Theybers got caught up in my wheel up at the end o f the start straight," he said. "I didn't go down, but it put me right near the back ofthe pack. " Theybers was carried off on a stretcher, but had no broken bones. Still, the bruising to hi s right th igh was too painful for him to walk again that day. Smets had been na iled 50 yards furth er down the tra ck. The inciden t also took down Perry Let . . .Marcus Hansson bounced off the tires, straight into Smets and he (Smets ) took me down," said Leask. Smets then sp un around at the top of the tra ck as he tried to recover, and a sta lled motor and ano ther fall persua ded him to pull off. King had gated 12th this time, and advan ced to seven th before ha lf d istance, when his connec ting rod broke on the downhill approach to the finish area. He was thrown hard to the gro und , and w as ca rri ed off with facial and back injuries. Fortunately, there was no sign of paralysis. Liles gated mid field and had a tough race to 15th. . C'i Frenc h GP Blargies, France Results: June 26, 1994 (Round 8 of 12) MOTO 1: 1. Da rr y ll King (Kaw); 2. Ma rcu s Han sson (Ho n); 3. Joel Sme ts (Ver ); 4. Jacky Mar tens . (H us); 5. James Marsh (Ho n); 6. Gert Jan Van Doo m (Hon ); 7. Ch ristian Burnham (Hon); 8. Miroslav Kucire k (Ka~); 9. Billy tnes (Hon); 10. Geo rges jobe (Hon); 11. Rudi Van Leeuwen (Ho n): 12. Franco Rossi (Ho n); 13. Dirk Ce u kens (H on );.14 . Greg Hanson (Ho n ); 15. Giovanni Ca vato rta (Hon). MOTO 2: 1. Ha nsson ; 2. Ro n ny W e u s~e nraed (Hon ); 3. Jobe; 4. Van Lee uwen; 5. Ma rte ns; 6. Va n Doo m; 7. Kudrek; 8. Geukcns; 9. Marsh; 10. Rossi; 11. Marian Du chon (lion); 12 Cavatorta; 13. jea n-Cla ude Mo usse (Hon); 14. Danny Tetelin (Hon); 15. Liles 0 1A: 1. Marcus Ha nsson (Han); 2. Jacky Martens (Hus) ; 3. Georges Iobe (Hon ); 4. Danyll ICing (Kaw); S. Gert Jan Van Doom (Han); 6. Rud i Van Leeuwen (Ho n); 7. James Marsh (Hon); 8. Ronny Weus tenraed (Hon); 9. MirosJav Kucire k (Kaw); 10. Joel Smets (Vcr) .