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;M Championship 500cc MotocroSs Series ' Round 11: Belgian GP : OO R S " T C O S, ,World jof tIwfat ImIg to Jing (Left) Marcus Hansson came one step closer to wrapping up the SOOcc World title with his fourth overall win of the series. He leads by 16 points with one round remaining. (Right) Switzerland's Christan Chanton ralls his killed Yamaha YZ250 past a cafe. The Citadel circuit Is laid out In and around a Belgian fortress. (Below) Billy Liles (99) chases defending champ Jacky Martens. Martens was second overall alter a moto-one 10th, but still has a shot_atretaining his crown. By Alex Hodgkinson NAMUR, BELGIUM, AUGUST 7 O O I Swede Marcus Hansson , moved into a decisive 16-point lead with a victory in the penultimate round of the series held at and around the ancient Citadel fortress overlooking the River Meuse. Defending champion Jacky Martens, who started the day four points adrift of the Swede, had a d isastrous first race when he collided with compatriot Gerald Delepine and could only finish 10th after remounting last. Hansson ran away with the first moto and - rather than risking a head-on encounter with the thundering four- , strokes of Martens & Joel Smets - rode to a tactical third in the second race. It was enough to clinch the GP overall. In d ee d, it was Smets - clearly the fas te s t throughout qualifying - who finally kept his head in his home GP to pass both of his rivals to win moto two. But the joy of success was tempered by th e k now ledge th at H ansson's thirdplace finish mathematically eliminated the Vertemati rid er from the title chase. "Everything was perfect," sa id a delighted Hansson after the first race . "I was clear of the pack going into the first tu rn, so I could power aro un d in th e lead. That gave me a clear track for the fir s t lap and I was able to build up a lead. I kept on the gas for a few laps and no one else was in si ght . My m echanic Bjarne signalled m e that Martens was down, so I eased my pace and just kept glancing across the tra ck e By the checkered flag, Smets was ninth and Martens 10th. Early crashes had eliminated Belgian Ronny Weustenraed , but the home nation still dominated the leaderboard behind Hansson. The only v isitor to intervene for a time was Brit Mervyn Anstie, who had advanced .to fifth before knocking off the throttle grip in a crash on the long climb. A remarkable third at the finish was Johan Boonen, riding his first race since a back operation at the end of May, while veteran Dirk Geukens had shown inspired form ahead of him. Hansson holeshot again in race tw o, but was caught by a sliding pass executed by Martens in turn two, and sensibly got out of Smets' way as the Vertemati Leeuwen on lap two. But the champion could see - or to be more accurate co u ld not see Hansson disappearing into the distance. "Delepine wa s,holding me up really badly," said Martens. " I tried to go underneath him in a turn in the woods, and he cut across me. We touched as he tried to shut the door." Delepine was knocked off, breaking an arm, but his riderless machine bounced off a tree and collected Martens. By the time he could restart, Martens was last ! Smets was only a few places ahead: "I hit (Mervyn) Anstie. It's the sort of incident that can always happen on the first lap, when everyone is so close. He made a small mistake and I hit his rear wheel." each time we came back to the Esplanade. When I saw (Dirk) Geukens, I increased my speed a little again and kept him at 10 seconds." But what had happened to Martens? The Husqvarna pilot had been fourth at the end of lap one, and followed Gerald Delepine past Rudi Van ,Jaclcy Martens already has seven , Iii irie ' , Friday ~~e~ing . Later, Marte'ns was only 27th ; event of a Martens double at the 'Ge rma n ' , inhis qualifying group after halt an hour of the, finale , Hansson needs either 4-4; 3-6 or 2·8 ' 50·minutesession; .the Husqvarnaace had ' , motofinishes. ' ,s Uffered a brokenchain on his second lap, and Although' tha :125cc World MX title seems all ' , " considerable timecan be lost at Narnur i~. 'over but the shou1ing, the rival team managerS In a"surprise rnove by'Beigian team manaqer , 'returning to the paddock: He eventually quail.. , are onlytoo aware howcruel fate can prove. A ' Johnny Strt/bos; Jacky Martens has 'been > fied 10th, with 20 transferring to the nice. ' decade 'ago; Corrado Maddil; now the man' nominatedfor the MX des Nations after,aU. It is , ager of the Team ltaliasquad of Alessio Chic- ' still not certain that Mar)ens will ride, Strijb6s : ' The ihi!l~es. who,broke into the truck'of Jacky , di, went to the final round of the 125cc class in has named a tour-man squad.:including 'Wem~ , Martens also stole two paddock bikes, thus ', , Luxe mbourg with 'a 3D-point advantage.' He, ' er .DeWit, Marnlcq Bervoets 'a nd Stefan , ) eaving tha team without any after arriving with ,was wiped out' in practice by,fellow Italian Everts. Amazingly"the man most Iikely,'lo be ', thre e , Martens' personal sponsor Jacky , Michele Fanton. theria wildteenage new-: .omittedls Everts, as itis alleged that JHK " Loomans had also ' been crashedlntcby a comer. suffered a broken leg and lost the , Kawasaki ,team.boss Alec ~rlght WIll. not let, drunken car driver on Friday alternoon, and crown to Michele Rinaldi. nowttie manager of ' , Everts fide for hiS country u~tll the Bergl~n fed- had to go to hospital for treatment to his left , ,the official Chesterfield Yamaha team ,for , eranonpays the $5000sohcnorsfees which the ' , ankle. ' ' , , whom Bob Moore rides: team incurred when they threatened ,an action ', ' , under'European law to obtain the release of, . 'Joel Smets and the'\iertemati brothersare on FrenChman Mlckael Pichon used ,the British . Everts lor an intemafional race in Holland last ttie verge of splitting up. Neither party wanted GP to return to actionfrom an injured wrlst.but " February. The Belgian federation is u'nlikely 10 io talkabout it, but each side blames the other dropped outot thii flrstrncto atter qualifying ' back d6wn6nthis ;andsee the jour-man nomi ~', ' for their failure to' improve on last year's ,18th. ' ' ,: " : " " " .': ,. nat ion ,a s a way to blame Wright for the ' bronze medal. Smets will likely ride on a priC' , absence of Everts inSwitzerland inseptember. " , vate team next year, campaigning a Husaberg . , " " '" provided by the Belgian importer. The Italian ,While Bob MoOre already has suffiCient moto winsto defeat Alessio Chlodl for the 125cc " 80th 500cc title candidates had problems on " bromers.are actively searching tor.a new rider. title in the unlikely event of a pointstie, both of. Saturday in Narnur. Marcus Hansson crashed the current points leaders in the other classes ' ' i~ thewtioops when another rider fell across " The all-Vertematiengine has been completed, need to stay at least one point in front. In the : him, and he ne~ded hea~ taping !or bruises .but. was not ready for racing,in Namur; 'it is : ,250cc class ; Greg Albertyn has sevenrnoto .and cuts on ,his nght Side, w,hlle,Jacky , 'expected to make itS public debut in October, winsto date against the nine of Stefan Everts. , ,M artens ~adthe uncornf0'1ab.leexpenence of in the- Italian Nationals. probably ridden by , The first-moto win in Belgium was,the fifth of breakl~g In new boots after thieves hadstolen Walter Bartolinl;" , , By Alex HOcJgkirison ' Marcus Hansson ,in the 500 series while' ,all. of hiS normal boots fromthe transporter .of! ; , ; , as , ' .. ; " ' " ' ' ~, ,' , , ' , ' , ,, ' ,, ' ,, ' '. ' , , ' , " " , "

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