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/127724
-------- - .MOTOCROSS ยท .. ..WorldChampionship 500cc Molocross Series series . (Above) Trampas Parker , fo rmer 125cc and 250cc World Champion, is hoping to pull off a hat trick in the 500cc series , and he's off to a good start with a second overa ll placing at the Portuguese GP. ARGANIL, PORTUGAL, APR. 2 oel Smets roas ted the o p positio n with a perfect ope ning to th is ye ar's W orl d C ham pio ns hi p 50 0cc MX Series in blistering 90-degree heat at the unforgiving Circuitoda Peneda Tal hada at Arganil in the Po rtuguese hills. It was the first-ever GP win for the Husaberg factory team and th eir boom ing lon gstroke model, as th e 25-year-o ld Belgian's previous ' successes for th e m arq ue in 1993 h a v in g been o n the Vertemati bro thers' high- revving special. A n a r ro w winne r of th e openi ng mo to after a classic racelong d uel with Jacky Martens, Smets ran away with the second- moto wi n after his arch rival fell early o n. "That ra ce w as actu ally m ore difficult for me," said Smet s, " I always felt I h ad so me thing in hand in the op ener, so I wasn' t worried th at Jacky (Martens) was so close, bu t h is presenc e kept me on m y toes . I was o u t on m y ow n from th e first lap of race two and 47 minutes is a long tim e to kee p your concentration in th is heat on th is tra ck; J - -c-- - - - - Round 1: Circuitoda Peneda Talhada (Left) Belgian Joel Smets, aboard a Husaberg fourstroke, won both motos of the opening round of the 500cc MX GP By Alex Hod g kinson - - the surface is so slick that yo u coul d n't afford a single mistake." As M a rten s found out. Th e excham pio n needed the whole d istan ce. of the moto to get back to eig hth after slit hering along the track at the end of the first lap. "I should've gone for the pass earlier in the first race. I made the m istake of letting Joel (Smets) settle," g rimaced the Husqvarna ace as he bathed cuts and grazes to his right s hou lder and left forearm and thi gh . Desper ate not to let Smets get away after taking the holesh o t, Ma rtens had th ro w n caution to the wind as he tried to fend off the impudent firs t-lap challen ge of Mikke l Ca prani, as the Dane made a sensationa l GP debut. " I thought he (Caprani) clipped my rea r w heel as I broads lided into the turn," exp lained Ma rtens. " He (M artens) lost it on hi s own," clarified the Kawasaki new comer. " I could n' t m iss ru nning over h im , but I never touched his bike at all." Onlookers coul d confirm Ca prani's story. Ma rtens still ea rne d 25 val uab le points on th e d ay. "At lea st th a t' s 10 more than I go t at the opening GP last year," sa id Ma rtens w ho gra bbe d th ird on the d ay. C lass n e w co m er Pe te r Jo hansson aboard ano the r H usky had completed a 1-2-3 for the thumpers ahead of Ca prani in the opening rno to, w h ile A me rican Mike You ng, Sme ts ' rep lacement at Vertemati, equa lled the Swede's 22 po ints for the day from imp ressive 7-4 mo tos. Trampas Pa rker gave the latest 360cc KTM a sensational GP debut to end the day second overall in his firs t ride in the class since 1987. The first race was a nig htmare for the 27-year-old who is tr yin g to em ulate Eric Geboers' unique hat trick of world titles in all th ree displacement catego ries. "First o f a ll , so me g uy on a Ho nda cu t across me straight out of the gate," said Parker. "I managed to sneak through on the insid e of the first turn, b ut th en anothe r Hon d a went d ow n right in fro nt of me at the nextjump and I d ragged his b ike 30 ya rds al ong the track as it hooked up wi th mine." Twel fth at the end of th e lap after a do-or-di e effort, the rest of the mot o was hard work to reach fourth. " I h ad n o fron t b rake, " sai d Pa rk er . "The disc mus t' ve go tten b ent w hen I d r agge d tha t Honda - and then a ro ck smashed the m e ch a n is m o n m y Rol l-Offs." Una ble to discard th e goggles, as a thin du st h aze hung in the ai r a rou nd the . entire track, and unab le to w in d on a clean film, Par ke r w as racing almost blin d for much of th e m oto , "The se cond race we nt better," adde d Parker. " I didn't start too good, but I go t throu gh q ui ck er . I trie d to p ull b ack Sme ts and go t it d own t o nine seconds at one point, but I w asn 't going to catch him and the tra ck w as too slick to take risks. I'm h appy w ith seco nd." Newcom er You ng was equally proud of his ride. "The tires we re go ne after 15 mi nu tes in the first m o to, but I g uess everybody else's were as w ell ," said Yo ung . " Th is is o ne tough tra ck . My shock faded as w ell, and I have to ad mi t that I d id too after half an hou r; I never raced th is lon g before." . A better s ta rt in race tw o sa w th e Ca lifornian hold second for half the race before Par ker and New Zealan der Darryll King push ed him down to fou rth. The-Kiwi tied Ma rtens on th e day wi th a score of 25, but lost third on the day w he n Parker-slam me d insid e him in the final turn of race one to sna tch fifth. King wa s joine d by Caprani, the 1993 Euro pean 125cc cham p who is racing GPs for th e first tim e, in pu tt in g tw o Kawasakis in the top five. With a quarte t of four-strokes and th e " overs iz e 250" KTM of Pa rker's co m p leting the top seve n, Honda too k a beating. Only a la s t- lap crash, for t u nately w it hou t inju ry , fo r Ronn y W eu s tenr a ed o n . a nother of the li ttle KTM s, eve n let a Hond a motorcycle to take a sing le topsix moto placing via Van Leeuwen in race two. That seco nd-moto sixth place seemed to be jinxed. H usky factory n umber- two Joha n Boonen could not better 11th in the opener but was the firs t of the men on th e move to hit sixth in race tw o, hold ing it u ntil a rock sp rung a foun ta in .in the radi at or. Johansson, who ha d ous ted Ca prani fro m the le a d in race o ne b u t w as pu sh ed ba ck to th ird w hen th e fro n t wheel washed ou t as h e ca me u nder pressure fro m Smets, was next. But h e fell as he set his sig hts on the Dane aga in an d tour ed in for ninth as the combination of tir edness and th e heat bo th hit hi m together w he n it was tim e to kick the mighty four-stroke back to life. Weustenraed inheri ted th at seemingly unwa nted sixth p lace, but he could n' t __