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/127727
~} , MOTOCROSS " . ,'World Championship SOOcc Molocross Series , Round 2: Sittendorfer Kreuzriegel happened, bu t everything was going to plan until I crashed," said Smets. "Dar ry ll (King ) got past me when I missed a gear, bu t I knew he was fast enough for us to catch Jacky (Ma rte ns) and that he wou ld n' t h old m e up . It w a s on ly important to be in contact with 10 minut es to go, but I didn't make it that far. "I hit a pile of mark er tires wi th my fron t wheel co m ing o u t of a tu rn . I th ought at fir st the rut mu st ha ve moved since the previou s lap, bu t Ari of White Po wer tell s me Darryll hit th e stack and it swung round into my path." There wou ld still have been time for the Husaberg star to get back on in third p lace, but he kicked the kickstarter in va in . "There was mud in my silencer and I d idn't realize that wa s the problem until it was too late to have any ch ance o f points," agonized Smets. Third p la ce, a fter a pass on Rossi afte r half an ho ur, was Parker. "I got a pretty good start considering the distan ce to the first corner and my power deficiency against those big fourstrokes, bu t the forks broke on the second lap," s ai d Parker . "Th e y ju st wo uldn't go down anymore!" The six th man in th e initial breakaway had been Lach er, but he crashed out at the top of the big hill on the fifth lap. American Mike Young had ridden an aggressive fir st half to the m oto to advance from 20th to ninth before gearbox problems elim in at ed he an d the Vertemati. Dietmar Lacher holeshot the second rnoto, but fell vic ti m to a s pecta cu lar pass b y Martens . The fo rm e r World By Alex Hodgkinso n SITTENDORF, AUSTRIA, APR. 23 acky Mar tens got up out of a sick bed to register the 15th GP victory , of his distinguished career.. but the se nsa tio n of the second round of the Worl d 500cc Motocross Championship at the full-bore Kreuzriegel track ove rlooking the id yllic village of Sittendorf in the Vienna Woods was the second moto win by Trampas Parker on the 360 KTM, a result which lifted the Am erican to the head of the tab le by one point from the Belgian Husky ace, Pr e-ra ce cha m p ionsh ip pace-setter Joel Smets, a double winner at the Au strian track 12 months ago, slumped to fourth in the stand ings after a nightmare GP in which dislodged track markings dragged him to th e grou nd in both J m ot os, Kiwi Darry ll King comp leted the top three in the GP and in the championship series poin t standings, King holeshot the opener, but wi thin thr ee corne rs he was ba ck to fou rth. "It is such a polished su rfa ce her e and so s li p pe ry, " s ai d King . " Those fo u rstro kes can just find grip an ywhere!" And indeed it was a trio of booming fou r-s trokes ridden by Franco Rossi, Martens and Smets which had storme d past the Kiwi. Rossi, an ex-winner at the track, was in superb form and led for more th an 10 minutes befor e the pa ce began to take its tolL "My left shoulder that I hurt in Portugal was not a problem itself anym ore, but it has rest ricted m y train in g and I simply go t tired in the heat," ad mi tted Rossi. "It was better tha t I reduced my , pace and got to the finish." (Above) Former World Champ ion Jacky Martens scored the overall win aboard his big Husqvarna. (Right) American Trampas Parker scored a popular second moto win aboard his 350cc KTM. In the end Franco was a good fourth. Mar ten s did no t need a second invi tation to take the lead and wa s supremely confide nt after the race. "No problems ," said Ma rtens . "Now I kn ow that I can w in back m y title. I came her e wo rried that I might not eve n be able to score poin ts bu t aft er riding yesterday and th is morning my back was no problem, and I won as I pleased . King m ight h a ve looked close, bu t I could leave him when I wanted to." And th at was exactly what the 1993 cha mpion did on the half hour. Cha m pionship lead er Smets might have posed a bigger threat, but he was out of the race by half dis tance. "You can never say what wo uld have Cham pion looked to be on the wa y to a comfortable double-moto win, but Parker had differen t ideas. Alrea dy third after a lap, Parker was . . , on a mISSIon. "I ke p t tell in g myse lf th at if I kep t pushi n g it I was going to wi n," .sa id Parke r. "I cou ld at least hold my own on th e downh ill s a nd even the s traight-