Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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MOTOCROSS' . World Championship 250cc Motocross Series • Final Round: French GP pack. '1 tangled with Herring about 20 meters out of the gate," said Everts. As a result, Herring went down before the first tum. '1 think he got his clutch lever caught up on my shirt sleeve just below the elbow," said the hapless Brit. "We were hooked together for a long time. He was lucky he didn:t come off too:~ After only hali a lap, more than 20 places separated the Belgian title chasers, but Everts remained unrattled and used the open track to move forward quickly. Still leading, Bervoets took a heavy blow on the third lap. "I got sideways over the double jump and landed badly," said the Suzuki rider. "The bars were bent in the fall, but I hoped I could at least take fourth place when I got back on." Indeed, after remounting sixth he was quickly back to fourth. It was a long way to Vohland, Moore and Tragter, but that would at least keep Bervoets' chances alive if Everts made a slip. The Kawasaki rider wasn't making any, though, and the charging Everts was already in the top 10, countering every advance by his rival. At 20 minutes the championship was' decided. "I fell again and I knew it was over," a disappointed Bervoets said. "The bike was too bent for me to have ever got back for the points I needed, even if Stefan DNFed." When Bervoets withdrew, Everts was champion. Everts could ha ve stopped, but he didn't. And in retrospect it might have been better to start the party early because the race had died and it could have prevented the scene of confusion at the finish. After getting news via pit board that Bervoets was out, the new champion immediately slackened his pace. (left) Belgian Stefan Everts clinched the 250cc World Motocross Championship in the first moto when his main rival, Marnicq Bervoets, crashed out. (Below) Off to a good start'ln moto two, new number-two-plate holder Bervoets (4) crashed on the first lap and would finish 14th. By Alex Hodgkinson CHATEAU DU LaIR, FRANCE, SEPT. 3 22 awasaki finally won their first World Motocross Championship as 22-yearold Belgian Stefan Everts clinched the 250cc crown in the final round of the IS-race series at Chateau du Loir, 120 miles west of Paris. " Everts, the youngest champion of all time when he won the 12Sec crown for Suzuki in 1991, had been runner-up in each of the last two seasons. He confirmed before racing that he would defend his crown next year despite offers to follow his predecessor Greg Albertyn to America to contest the prestigious U.S. Supercross series. With a 29-point advantage over fellow Belgian Marnicq Bervoets entering the French finale, Everts needed just 12 points to seal matters in his favor. The first moto started promisingly, but soon developed into the anti-climax of all time - until the chaotic scenes at the finish. Bervoets had second choice of starting position, went for dead center on the gate and got the holeshot he needed. Everts, eighth to the gate, chose a lower line and got buried back in the