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/127728
.MOTOCROSS 'ยท .,W orldC hampionship250cc M otocross Series Round 4:Italian GP TO GET PUS Everts was able to continue, but went down aga in on lap two and finally exited a lap late r with a d am aged rad iator after la n d in g on top o f V an Wesse l' s stranded Suz uk i. Up fro n t, m e an w hil e, Moore h ad gra bbed the h olesh ot ahead of Bartolini. Voh lands ea rly mistake meant tha t on ly th e Su zukis of Bervoets and Dewit stood in the way of a Yama ha sweep, as Demaria was next in front of N icoll. "I wasn't gaining, but 1 wasn' t losing gro und to the leader s eithe r once 1 got p ast Dewit," decl ared Ni co ll aft er the race. "Only Dem ari a was faster." Bu t ev e n th e Fr enchman need ed most of the race to pull back the earl y lost seconds on the leadi ng trio. Early on the final lap, Demaria finally leapt past Bervoets as they launched off the hill s ide, .b u t that w as th e firs t a n d only (left) Tall on Vohland took over the World Championsh ip 250cc MX Series po int lead after winning the seco nd mot o in convincing fashion. (Below) 125cc Wor ld Champ io n Bob by Moore won the first moto , makin g it an American sweep in Italy. By Alex Hodgkinson MAGGIORA, ITALY, APR. 30 oy and despair was in abundance in the Kawasaki and Yamaha pits by th e e n d of th e d ay at th e fourth round of the World Champi on ship 250cc MX Series, held a t Mag giora in northern Italy. Kawasaki Japan race boss Pete Tsutsu mi sa w Ste fan Everts cas t away his. cham p io ns hi p lead on th e firs t lap of racing, but by the end of the d ay, Everts' JHK te amm ate T all on Voh land h ad leap t to the he ad of the stand ings with a stunn ing secon d-mote wi n. Bob Mo o re h ad led a 1-2-3 fo r the Chesterfield Yamaha team in the opening mot o, but even the overa ll w in on the day for Andrea Bartolini cou ld not reta i n the b road grin on team b o ss Mich ele Rinald i' s face after race tw o hi s h otsh ot, Yves Dem aria , th e ne w le ad er in the sta ndi ngs at the interval, had alr eady been taken to the hospi tal with his right tibia and fibula leg bones broken just above the right ankle. Vohland and 'Moore joined Bartolini on the rostrum at the en d of th e d ay, while a sticking throttle eliminated the J third American, Bader Manneh, on the first lap of both motos aft er the Pepsi Hond a rider had been fastest qua lifier. The Crossodromo Mott acio d el Balmone was in its most fearsome condition all weekend a fter heavy rainfall each even ing brought ou t the bumps. Though the action took place in pleasant su nsh ine, the track was brutally rou gh because of the rain s. . The weather accentuated the sing legr oove nature of the dram atic, undulating freew ay, an d passing was going to be a risky affair. Vohland, th e on ly m an to advance mo re than thr ee places in the,op ener as h e ca me b ac k to seve nth fro m a fall whi ch had left him 15th, ad mit ted bluntly, " I had to pu sh most of th e guys I passed, bu t what else can you do here?" Teammate Everts was alread y on his w ay bac k to th e pi ts as Voh la n d lost fifth wi th his third-lap get-off. The prerace cha m p ions hi p leader was alrea dy on the gro und at the tabl etop after the first turn. " Ev e r ts coll id ed w it h Giesbe rs, " ex p la ined th e cl ose -f oll o w in g Mark Eastwood. " I piled in to Ev er ts and ano the r 10 rid ers land ed on me." cha n ge on the lea d erboard for 30 minute s, and ironically, probably sa ved Moore's win. "I was losing water in the fina l lap s an d I don 't know how much longer it would h ave .la s te d , " expl ained th e Ame rican o n hi s w a y to th e v icto ry ros tru m. "Prob ably not another lap ," admitted team boss Rinal di later. "It was running so lean at the end th at it couldn't eve n make the revs for the noise test." But, now .h arassed by Dem aria, Bartolin i h ad to conc en trate on defend ing se con d and cou ld no t risk a cha llenge for the win . The second race was more dramatic . Again a Yamaha holesh ot, but Vohlan d wasted no time in pushing Bartolin i to on e side a nd th at was how they finished . Moore had been in itially third, but h e was struggling to hold the pace fro m the very start. ''I'm s till re cov erin g fr om th a t December inju ry," sa id Moore. "The ankle d oesn't affect m y ridin g and 1 proved in race one tha t I now have the pace of the lead ers again , but my train in g program ha s been badly affected and I just got tired." The 125 cc world Champion had slu mped to eighth at the checkered flag, .bu t the race was 25 minu tes old before he relinquished third. By then, the leading duo wer e long gone. All eye s w ere on Demari a . The Frenchman had not ga ted well and was eighth on lap one. By half-distance, he was on Moor e's rear wheel, but proved to be ov er an xious to make a p as s .