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/127679
',: E D R . . .. Final Round: Hungary N U O':.. World Championship Endu{o Series.. ontro • versia corona Ion By Geoff Meyer KAPOSVAR, HUNGARY, JULY23-24 ajor disappointment hit the El Campero Husqvarna team when 125cc-mounted Petteri Silvan and 350cc four-stroke -m ounted Svenerik Jonsson were exclud ed from the op ening day of the final round - Silvan for missing his starting tim e and Jon sson for missin g one of the checks. The entire fin al round wa s, in fact , fraught w ith contro vers y, as it was discovered that th e H us qva rn a and KTM riders had M been practicing on the course all week , a . forbid den practice in internation al en d u ro competit ion. "It's alwa ys th e same, and they always get awa y with it," said Englishman Paul Edmondson. The El Campero H usqva rn a team manager threatened to p ull the plu g on the team format for 1995, though it may ha ve been a heat-of-the-m om ent com men t. Jonsson cla im ed tha t hi s timecheck error was the fault of the org anizers, saying, "They had posit ion ed the flags in the w rong position. They made the mistake, and I pa id for it." Swede Svenerlk Jonsson finished second In the Lightweight Four-Stroke class on Sunday , but the man of the hour was Italy's Mario Rinaldi who earned the class title. (Left)ltalian Giovanni Sala used a fourth-place finish on Saturday to clinch the Heavyweight title. On Sunday, he scored th e day 's class win. H usqva rna tea m-m e m be r Kari Tiainen became invo lved in the uproar when his cham pionship celebration got a little out of hand. The Finn's ela tion was apparent as he laughed and gave bea r hugs all around, but t hi ngs go t ugly when he was confron ted by Hungarian officials. In a fit of anger Tiainen slammed his fist through a press-ro om copy machin e and left the cou rse. He was fined $2000 for his actions. Edmondson was one of the rid ers to fin d co mfo rt in the exclusions, as he overto ok Silva n to take the title in the Lightweight division . The Gas Gasmo un ted Edmondson was able to ride conservatively, finishing thi rd on both days. KTM-mounted Mario Rinaldi also benefitted, capi talizing on Jonsson's exclusion to win the Lightweight FourStroke class on the firs t d ay. Rinal d i comfortably won the championship in the div ision. Giovanni Sala's championship in the Heavyweight class was also less d ram atic, as the Italian need ed only two points in Hungary. His fou rth-pla ce finish on Saturd ay was enough to clinch his seco nd World crown. Tia inen also ' entered the final round wit h his Heavyweight Four-Stroke title nearly wra pped up. Defending Champion Fabio Farioli wo n both d a ys, b ut his early-season sl u m p p roh ibit ed th e Italian from a chance at the title. Tiainen sat out day two, w hich m ad e the po in ts cha se ap pea r closer than it actually was. When the news was revealed that the two biggest teams had been practicing