Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

people who said our team selection was wrong," said N icoll, who has been a member of the British tea m since 1984. "All those people can shove it " Th e 48th runnin g of the event fea tured teams from 31 different countries, 20 of which actually rode in the threemoto race. Three riders represented each country, one each on 125, 250 and 500cc motorcycles. The three-moto format featured two riders per country each time out, starting with 125 and 500cc ride rs. Th e best five sc o res of six coun te d towards the final tally. A crowd of 22,000 fans filled the valley course on wha t was a cool, cloudy day. "The tr ack is really good, " said Kied rowski before th e first moto. "Th e grass ma kes it really good ." Had Kiedrowski waited until after a moto to pass judgment, he no doubt would have sp oken differently of the chalky ground that lay under the grass. By the end of the day, parts of 183S-meter-long track resembled a gravel pit. The dirt w ore down to cobbly sheets of rock on the exits of several corners . Few b ra king bumps - or berms, for that matter formed on the circuit. Technically speaking, there were jus t a few sm all jumps and one larger step-up jump. And the severe elevation changes meant long, fast uphills and downhills. "It's the kind of track that you can pass people on," said LaRocco. "But you can't make up any time on it . It's too fast. " When asked which track in the United States that Roggenburg most resembled , Emig answered "Laguna Seca." (Opposite page) English fans had a lot to scream about In Roggenburg. Brit Rob Herring roosts past the exc ited crowd aboard his 250cc entry. (Above) Paul Malin was the biggest surprise of the weekend. The likable Englishman won the 125cc class. (Right) Mike laRocco was the top American - he won the 500cc division. was leading th e combined 2S0/S00cc field when he struck a deer in the middle of a 4Q·mph straight. Albertyn went cartwheeling into the ground and the pack went racing by. The deer went to heaven. While Nicoll has long been considered to be on e of Eu r ope ' s elite ra cers, it would not be an understatement to say that Herring and Malin put in the rides of their lives in Roggenburg . Between the three of them, the Brits d id not win a single moto of the 1994 250cc World Championships. In fact, while Nicoll carded fourth in the final stan dings this season, Herri ng di d n ' t ma ke th e top 10, and Malin didn't make the top IS! But in Roggenburg, it all carne together for the likable Malin, who was competing ab oa rd a 12Scc ma chine for the firs t time since 1989. In both motos he passed Emig, wi dely cons id ered to be one of the fastest 12Scc riders in the world, and both times he held on to score the class win and in effect, the MX des Nations victory. "Th is will sh ut a lot of people up - The firs t 12S/S00cc mo to holeshot belonged to the big four-stroke Husqvarna of for mer SOO World Champion cc Jacky Martens of Belgium, who emerged form the outside to out drag Frenchman Yves Demaria to the first dog-leg righthand turn. LaRocco was around 10th, while Emig was 20th overall bu t third 125, behind Germany's Pit Beire r and French rider Frederic Vialle. Malin, dressed in a red, white and blue Union Jack jersey, was right behind Emig for one lap, then slipped around the Arneri- can when traffic backed up on the inside ofacomer. Much to the delight of the partisan French crowd, Demaria quickly moved around Martens' loud bike and into the lead . Hisarrival to each section of the track was signaled by the fana tical, flagwaving, hom-blowing fans . Demaria's lead soon measured a dozen seconds, as the battle for second started to shape up between Martens, Nicoll and LaRocco. As pressure from La Rocco grew, Nicoll began hounding Martens, who was the only rider in the lead group who competed aboard a 500cc machine in '94. At the top of the long ascent across the valley, Nicoll literally leapt over the head of Martens. " Yo u can 't jump th ose old fo u rstrokes like you can a two-stroke," said Nicoll of the spectacular pa ss. "Th ere was about a half-dozen times that I got right up on top of him on the plateau. Th en I just went for it once and it wo rked." laRocco also overtook Martens and soon engaged Nicoll in a lo-minute duel before pulling into second . Unfortunately for the American, Demaria was too far gone to challenge for the lead . Even when the Frenchman banged his ankle in the closing laps, it wasn't .enough to allow La Rocco a chance at the win. Apparently in pain from the injury, Demaria was carried back to the pits by his supporters. "I twisted my ankle with about 10 minutes to go," said Demaria in the pits. "I was not thinking about it until the last three laps. I don't know how bad it is, but I will ride the next race." LaRocco finished four seconds behind Demaria's Pep si Honda, with the stillcharging Nicoll just one second behind. Marten s was fourth at a deficit of 10 more seconds, while Germany's Dietrnar Lacher rounded out the top five. "Nicoll stayed with me after I passed him" said LaRocco . " I wasn 't worried about him, though, because I had already p as sed h im once. We were catching Demaria, but no t fast enough. H e got away real quick at the beginning and we couldn't catch up ." "I was still adjusting to a 500 in the moto and all those slippery rocks don't make it any easier," ad d ed LaRocco. "You don't know if you 're going to hook up or not. The track is like Binghamton with th e hill s, and Una dilla with th e rocks - only much worse." "The beginning of the race was a bit different for me," said Nicoll. "I haven't raced a 500 in two years and in the heat of the job I was making a mess of it, missing a few gears, missing a few comers. But once I got used to the 500 again I felt comfortable, even pushing back up on LaRocco." The biggest surprise was the fact that Malin was still the lead 125. He wheelied past the checkered flag with a lead of three seconds on Emig, who was turning in much faster laps at the end of the moto than at the outset. Earlier in the race Emig had to force a pass on Germany's Beirer at the top of a long uphill. He and Malin then put 10 seconds on the Suzuki pilot before the finish. Vialle was fourth 125,30 seconds behind Malin. "The rocks weren't as bad as my visor might show," said Emig, pointing to the fragm ented remains of his visor. "Everybody sp read out real quick. The first part of the first lap was really bad, especially in the first few comers. I just kept going to the wrong place at the wrong time and everybody kept passing me." As for Malin's unexpected win, Emig said , "I never knew he was a good 125 rider. He went by me on the second lap w hen I was messing around with the 15

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