Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

DeWit and the ot hers and was never head ed . The Yamaha sta r, starting his fi rst majo r outdoor race in the 250cc class, led Dow d , Demaria, Bervoets, Everts and Chesterfield Yamaha's Andrea Bartolini. Within a few laps he had stretched his lead on Dowd to five seconds, the same distance he would eve ntually win by. "Start to finish - that' s how their supposed to be," said Emig after his popular win. "I really didn't have a plan, but getting out fron t is the eas iest way on any track. I thought I might get tired but at one po int in the race I tho ugh t, 'Hey, this is no different than a 125: I was riding the bike right and it wasn't taking too much energy. I was far enough out front to think about all of the things to do right, like breathing and letting my arms rest and holding on with my knees . I felt really good at the end of the race but I didn't want to waste any of my energy by going fast all the way to (Right) Belgian Stefan Everts (2) Ignored the pain of a recent broken collarbone injury and was rewarded with 4-3 moto finishes , which was good enough for second overall. He earned enough points at Budds . Creek to put him back Into the titie hunt with just two rounds remaining In the series. Here, he's being chased down by winner Demaria. (Below) Series points leader Greg Albertyn failed to score any points in the second moto with bike problems. He now leads Everts by only eight points in the se ries sta ndings. the finish . There's still another moto to go and a lot of these Eu ropeans are p robably pissed right abo ut now." Bervoe ts ra n on Dowd's rear wheel for the first 30 minu tes before fina lly making a pass on the semi-privateer for th e ru n ne r- u p slo t. An exha usted Everts almost caugh t Dowd as we ll afte r picking up so me late-race p ressure of his own fro m a charging Dem a r ia, but the Belgian was never close enough to try a pass on the third-ranked U.S. 250cc ride r. "A s tart is so important here and I got it tha t tim e," said Oowd. "There's so many fast guys that you can't make a comeback. I was follow ing Emig's line and that worked ou t well until I started to get tired . I did n' t know how much time was left but I wish I had, because 1 might've been able to hold that guy off for those last three laps :' "1 was following John Oowd the whole time but it was easy, maybe too easy," said Bervoets. "I was watching Emig get away a n d I knew 1 had to pass but it was too difficult. When the other riders came up behind us I knew I had to go (by Dowd):' Team Honda/1-800-COLLECT's Steve Lamson finished sixth a fte r los ing a race -long ba ttle to Demaria. "I was getti ng a little bit tired because he was on me for so long," said Lamson. "The las t couple of laps I started making mistak es trying to cover my lines an d 1 was losing a lot of time. I wish 1 could've stayed ahead of him and pushed harder. I have a hard time when so meone is chasing me like that, especially when I don't know who they are . I just get too tense." Albertyn and British star Kurt Nicoll each suffered miserable starts and could no t make up much ground on the narrow lines tha t formed around the Budds Cree k track. "The poor sta rt I blam e on myself," sai d Ni co ll. "My se tu p w as w ro ng because it was so sticky on the starting line tha t 1 couldn't get the gearing right. First gear was too sho rt and second was really too long . It the end we com prom ised for second gear and I just couldn't get off the start. After th at it was ha rd wo rk to even get in to th e points. I was outside the top 20 for a long ti me just tryin g to ge t past the slower g uys. It just goes to show yo u that this track is one-line:' "1 got a rot ten start and passing was really difficult," said Albertyn. "1 jus t felt terrible out there. I've got no energy at all. The heat is making me feel even wo rse than I did last year at this race . Maybe I can get myself going in the second race. All these off-eambers create one line so I'm going to have to get a better start." At the start of race two, Edwin Evertsen crashed through the backwardsfalling starting gate before it dropped and caused a red flag after less than one lap of racing. The bosses of Team Pepsi were annoyed with the decision because Tallon Vohland had the ho leshot with Demaria not too far behind. But on the (J:. restart - for which Evertsen was given no 0\ penalty - American ex-pa trio t Vohla nd ..... again p ulled th e s ta rt over Albertyn, Stanton, Eve rts and DeWit. Firs t-mo to stars Emig, Bervoets an d Oowd all had lousy starts an d would not be factors in the second moto battle for the lead. Albertyn passed Vohlan d for the lead and appeared ready to disappear with the win. However, the Su zuki pil o t dropped his bike in a co rner and fell

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