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/127721
PBEVIEW: 1995 MX GP Season ext week, th e 1995 mot ocross' GP season kicks off in Spain for the opening round of the World Championship 250cc MX Series and will be follow ed up a week later by the series opene rs in both the 125 and 500cc classes. This year, there will be no champions d efending th eir titles, as' 250cc World Champ Greg Alberty n has left Europe to compete in the U.5., while both 125 and 500cc champs, Am erican Bob Moo re an d S w e d e n' s Marcu s H ansso n, h a ve sw itched to the 250cc class. Du rin g the off-season, many rid e rs p layed " m us ica l chairs " an d w ill be spo rting d ifferent colors for '95 . Wh at fo llows is a preview of th e upcom ing mo tocross GP season; which will hopefully give you a better understanding as to who is doing what for '95 in all three GPclasses. N I 250cc GP CLASS The premier class is now, as in the U.5 ., the 250cc catego ry . Thi s is the showp lace for th e Ja panese wo rk s teams, or at least the sponsor-su pported teams who campaign their bikes. Wit h th e d ep a r tu re o f la st year's cha mp G reg A lberty n, Stefa n Everts fro m Belgium head s the s tart list with th e number-two p lat e as leader of the official Kawasaki team now managed by ace tuner Jan De Groot, the Du tchman who gu ide d Albertyn to the first two of his three World titles. Eve r ts, 22, b e came th e you nges t motocross World Cha mpion eve r when he won the 125cc class in 1991, and he led the. 250s in 1992 until inju ry int ervened, and has bee n second to Albertyn for the last tw o years. His classic sty le belies his u ndoubted spee d, but his big problem is nerves, as he has d isplayed a tendency to crack u n der pressu re . The unfl app abl e De Groot should help him here. His new teammate is American Tallon Vohland. The 23-year-old is now in his fourth season in Europe and must be hoping he can avoid the early-se ason injuries which h ave pl agu ed previou s campa igns. He rece ntly started his European Kaw asaki career with a win in the Beaucair e Classic warmup race for the second consecutive year, but no one has ever taken that race and the World title in the same season. Du tc h sand specialist, Re m y Van Rees, 23, mov es up fro m th e 125s to complete the Kawasaki squad as a su pport rider. Yam aha's activities are mostly taken care of by ex-champion Michele Rinald i in Ital y, thou gh Fr enchman Fred er ic Bell ey, who has been sh arpening hi s skills for the GPs by contesting the early rounds of the U.S. Supercross Series, also rides factory bike s. Joint team leaders for Rinaldi are Bob Moore and Yves Demaria. The 27-yearold Californian, Moore, returns to the quarter-liter stage after a year resharpening his talents in the 12SecGPs during 1994 when he finally won the elusive . world title after three previous numbertwo plates. Amazingl y, Moore battled an ankle injury throughout 1994, and he wa s hobbling even more at the Beaucaire seas onopener aft er rebreaking the bone in a December supercross, but still looked tremendously fast and composed. In the past , champions moving up from the 125s have been immed iate threats to the established 250cc elite for ' a decade now, SO Moore starts the sea- son as one of the h ot favorites for the title. But so too does h is teammat e, 23year-old Demaria. The Frenchman has won six of the last eight CPs in the class. But those wins came when he no longer had a chance at the title and the pressure was off. The question mark against him in the past has been temperament, and his wild ride in front of h is home Without three-ti me champ Greg Albe rtyn to worry about, Belgium's Stefan Everts has everyth ing to lose, as he is expected to win the World Champ ionship 250cc title this year. The first GP gets underway March 26 In Spa in.