Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.M C O S OTO R S ..World Championship 250cc Motocross Series . Round 1: Spanish GP (Above) Belgian Mamicq Bervoets swept both motos at the series opener. (Left) Tallon Vohland, Marnicq Bervoets and Yves Demaria celebrate their first-mota 2-1-3 finishes. By Alex Hodgkinson TALAVERA DE LA REINA, SPAIN, MAR. 26 Johnson Bieffe Suzuki's Marnicq Bervoets ju stif ied the fai th placed in him by his team manager, Sylvain Geb oers, by winning both m otos at the openi ng 2S0cc MX GP . Geboers promoted Bervoet s to the role of team lead er durin g th e off-season, and the Belgian didn't disappoint as the se ries go t underway in Tal avera d e la Rein a in central Spain. Kurt Nicoll and Yves Demaria als o full y justified th eir podium placings, whil e champ ion ship favorite Stefan Everts finished a courageous sixth after a tr ip to the hospital on Saturday. A IS,OOO-strong crowd flocked th e hill side s to s ee if Spani sh N ational Champion [osep Alonso could repeat his sensational Saturday form, and they were not disappointed as he gated third behind Peter Beirer and Bervoets, and even s lipped insi d e the Belgian on the third lap to put the German lead er under pressure. It could not last however, particularIv as the' exoerienced Bervoets saw Tal- 17.I~leam Ion Vohland closin g in after getting past Leon Giesbers. Within t w o laps the factory Suzuki star was back past the Spaniard, but the American was in his wake as they nibbled away at Beirer 's lead . At half distan ce Berv oets went for it. "I knew 1 had to shake off Vohland, so 1 pu t in so me rea lly fast la p s mid- . race, then 1 cou ld ride m y ow n pace," said Bervoets. Vohl and lost th at vit al contact passing Beirer, but was not sure if he cou ld ha ve kept pace wi th the new leader. "He went into warp speed for a few laps," said the likable American. "I was going hard but he had pulled a lead. 1 had to wind it up m yself in the fina l lap s when I saw Dem aria coming." The Frenchman Demaria ha d started ninth and was one of a whole pack held up badly by the obstructive Miska Aal - . tonen in the early laps of the race. Once past the Finn, Demaria was moving really fast and slipped inside Beirer for third at the end of the start straigh t with three lap s to go. Beirer was satisfied with fourth. "T didn't Q:et tired. bu t the na ce at the fro nt in t h e 250 GPs is rea lly so mething," he said . "I don' t know if 1 quite have that speed anyway, but I noticed as 1 tried to hol d the m off tha t m y who le body was tensing up and I was starting to get forea rm pu mp . That will be bett er in race two. " The fifth man home was Kurt Nicoll. "I was following Dem aria through, bu t 1 lost him when we went past Karlsso n," said Nicoll. "I go t him once but he came back at me h ard in the next turn. 1 paid him back in the end, but Demaria was gone by then. Yves was faster and l cou ld n' t ha ve pa ssed him, but 1 mi ght have got Beire r." Aft er strugglin g with wheelspin on the line like teammate Demaria, Bartoli ni rode an equ ally good race to follow N ic oll for th e en t ire mot o and al s o ' p assed Karlsson for six th. The Swede was s t rug g li ng for g r ip in th e later stages, sayin g, " We fi t te d s o ft tires and it dri ed ou t mor e quickly than '."e expected ." Al onso' s inevitable backward slide after 25 m inutes saw him go back to ninth behind Bob Moore. The American h adzot chon oed un bad lv at the sta rt . "I was up to the big group behind Aalto nen, but 1 sat b eh i n d Stefan (Eve rts) for too long and let them get away again," said Moore. The 125 titl e h ol d e r was right on Karlsson a t the flag bu t the time lost mid-race cost him at least one p lace. Everts was almost in tears after the race . "I knew I would have the pain and 1 was prepared for that," he . said. "I just didn't have any power in my shoulder after the crash yesterday so I couldn 't battle them." Rob Herring was the big victim of the first moto. Boxed in terribly at the start, he was down in 26th on lap one before putting in one of those phenomenal charges for which he is renowned . The Brit was ready to demo te Dewit from 12th as the race approached the 40 minu te stage when his rear wheel kicked on a hill top jump and Herring flew high in the air, breaking his right ankle in landing. O ne of the riders he had passed on the way was Bader Manneh. " I got a poor s ta r t and ,was goi ng nowh ere so in the end I was jus t cru ising to the flag in 13th ," said Manneh. The second race was less exciting, as the lead erboard was soon sp rea d ou t, bu t the decision to return to 40 minu te pl us tw o lap motos was fully justified as it enabled Dem ari a to put in a wonderfu l recovery ri de after two early falls h ad put h im ou ts ide th e top 15 after thr ee laps . While Bervoets h ol esh ot and completel y d ominat ed th e ra ce from the front, Demaria fell in amazing circumstances after ga ting 4th. "On the se con d lap 1 was fla t ou t down a rough stra igh t and tree branches which were lyin g in the track got en tangled in my front wheel," said Dem aria. Incredibly, exactly the same thing happened again at the same place on e lap later. Demaria eventually took control of fourth place, three laps fro m th e en d with a pass on Beirer as fourth-placed Moore fell when he spun out on a slippery corn er. In front of th em, Nicoll needed 10 minutes to demote Alonso from secon d and the Spaniard promptly exited the race in stvle a few rorners later w hen hp

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