Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

though he rides facto ry Suzukis suppl ied through Sylva in GeboerS. 1995 125cc title holder 'Sandre Puzar reverts to the 250s again this year, and at 27 he is still young eno ug h to be considered a threat. The best rider ever to h ail fro m Italy arose like the Phoenix from the ashes last year after his career, wracked by an ill-operated knee injury and a downturn in confidence, seemed to have en ded at the end of '94. The sympathetic tea m man agemen t of Corrado Maddii was of invaluable assistance to Puzar, and his off-season signatu re on a contract with the Pepsi team m ay bring h im mo re short-te rm cash rewards but little else. Pu z ar was a lready complaining about his bike at th e Beau caire season opener, an d it is d ifficult to see him winning much in his new team. _ Bader Manneh, the second Amer ican in th e series, will race Honda in a priv ate te am togeth er w ith It al ia n Max G azzara ta th is ye ar after see in g his w orld ranking sink dramaticall y w ith the Pepsi team last summer. Bader will score poin ts. Th er e is mu ch m ore op ti mis m at Swiss private team Pamo with their German hotsh ot Pit Beirer. The 23-year-old who ran rin gs ro u n d everyone at th e MX d es Nations last September has had a qu iet wi n ter completing his p ro fessional training in marketing. but he has m ain t ain ed phy sical fitness a n d, just .two weeks back on a bike, was as close to the pace as he need ed to be in Beau caire. For m a n y yea rs a close frie nd of Albertyn, Pit, like Bervoets, has h ad an insight in to th e a tt itu de w hich wins titles in Europe, and his team is run professiona lly whil e retai ning a relaxed offtrack atmosp here. The re a re n o overpri ce d HRC k it parts for Beir er. He has his ow n pri vate tuner Werner Schwarzel, the 1982 sidecar road race world champion, and h is 1995 bike w as as fast as anyone's. As number-one rider in th e series using White Power s us pens ion, h e also h as first call on their services. One week after the 250s start the season in Spain, the SO s face the starter at D Gallara te in northern Ita ly. Two Americans h eld out hop es of a m ed al 'g oing in to the 500cc GP series, until two- time World Cha mp Tram pas Parker recentl y injured his back an d wil l m iss at least h alf the seaso n. Tha t leaves Mike Healey as Am erica' s only hope in the big-bore class . Wh en Pa rker returns to ac tion,.h is efforts will be m an a ged by Co rrado M ad d ii, th e soft-sp oken Italia n who guided Puzar's return from obscurity to the 125 title last year. After three years away from the GP circui t, Healey, 27, will be on the updated 368cc KTM which Par ker has discarded for a Hond a CRSOO. What is basically an "oversize 250" is undoubtedl y a better cho ice for th e extrovert H ealey, bu t th e long absence fro m top-leve l co mpetition wi ll be difficult to overcom e. The European defence of th e cro w n , whi ch they have only lost once - to Brad Lackey in 1982 - is form idable. Defending title holder Joel Srnets , thi rd the two previous years o n shor t-stro ke fou rstrokes prep ared by th e Verte ma t i b rothe rs, took hi s cro w n on a 600 cc lo ng -st ro ke factory Hu sab e r g and showed few tra ces of his prev ious erratic form right from his do ub le win in the opening race of the cam pa ign. But it was in the decisive final month tha t the Belgian (who will turn 27 soo n) lifte d hi s pe rform an ces to the level of Roger DeCoster an d Andre Malherbe. (Right) Bob Moore (left) returns to the 125cc class for '96 but willride a Kawasaki Instead of a Yamaha on which he won the 1993 125cc title. Join ing Moore In Europe Is friend Ted Campbell (right), who is the Arizona State MX Champ. Campbell will ride a Yamaha. (Below) Look for German Pit Belrer to be the su rprise rider of the year. Some are predicting that Hondamounted Belrer will take the 250cc GP title, desp ite riding on a private team. Smets' teammate for 1996 will be the veteran Dirk Geukens, who put on some im pressive la te-season ri des on an im porter-backed product ion b ike last year. The rediscovered enthus iasm for raci ng in the 1990-'91 series is unl ikely to get him into the top three of the final stand ings, but he is there to ensure a hea lthy score in the manufacturers' contest on the few occasions when Sme ts falters . Unfo rtunately, th e Vertema ti brothers look unl ikely to be fieldi ng a team after failing to find the bu dget or suitable rider, but H u sqva rn a offers four po tential top-10 men. Th e factory Husk y team will, once again, be head ed by Jacky Martens, the 32-ye ar-old who became the firs t fourstro ke- mo u nte d Worl d MX Ch ampion for 28 years when he clinche d the title in 1993. Th ree years on, Martens could st ill win a race, bu t his age rules him ou t for a seco nd title. Fellow Belgian [ohan Boonen, 27, is th e right age an d w on tw o lat e-season motos in 1995, bu t there is no reason to believe that there is an end in sig ht for the inab ility to maintain a challenge throughout an en ti re ca m paign w hich has b lighted his career to date. Swede Peter Johansson, 30, and Dan e Mikkel Ca prani, 24, w ill rid e for German importer. Josef Zupin. The former p roved again in 1995, as h e n arr owly missed the bronze med al, that he is the mod el of consistency bu t lacks the pace to be a winner, plus, the Dane will need a season to adjust fully to racing a fou rstroke at this level. Darryll King finished third last year on an obso lete KX500 Kawasaki, bu t the retirement of his mechanic [ohan Luyten has encouraged the New Zea lander to seek new pastures. Neither of his possibilities - a H on d a in a p riva te Hond a team or a Maico from the new factory in Holland - seems like the vehicle for the 27-year -o!d to suc cessfu lly d efend th e p late. Younger bro the r Shayne, 25, is seen by KTM as the ir best bet for the title followi ng Par ker' s d e fection, a n d th ere seems no reaso n to dispute this if he can avoid th e nagging inju ries which h ave ham pered h is last tw o campaigns. A host of other riders place their faith in the lightweight model from Au stria, bu t only He ale y and po ssibly the Au stria n Rupe rt Wa lkne r, or th e "Cr azy . Swe d e" Fredrik Hedman seem to have the crede ntials to challenge for top 10. Th e remain d e r of th e favor ites all ride Hondas. Belgian Gerald Delepine, w hose previous cla im to fame was as "h it m an " for Georges [ob e, w on tw o succ essive GPs last summer but faded bad ly wh en rumo rs of im minent fuel tes ts in the class b e cam e rife, w h ile Ronny Weustenraed returns to the mar qu e as he tries to revive his career after a terri ble season on a KTM. The German Sa rholz Honda team will field three top runners with: Dutchman Gert Jan Van Doom (who won h is m aiden 500cc GP in 1994, but has not won a moto since), d iminutive German Dietmar Lacher (a GP wi n ner as long ago as 1988 bu t Smets' closest rival in last yea r's fi na l ro un d ) a n d Bel gian Danny Theybers, making a return to the class where he had finished seventh in 1994 after a year in the 250s. The 125s don't start until the weekend after Easter in Italy, and Ll.S, hopes are h igh in th e class . Bob Moore, 28, Ameri ca' s m o st recent W orl d MX Cha m p ion, retu rn s to th e sce ne of his gre atest triumph afte r a one-year stint in the 250s. In 1994 the resident of Arizona faced his toug hest opposition from "C hicco" Ch iodi, the m an w ho re places h im alongs ide Yves Dem aria on the Yamaha 250 squa d; Moo re's title win was eve ntu ally very clear-cu t d espite th e pain fro m an ankle badly smashed off-track the previou s su mmer. Bob still cannot ph ysically ru n, bu t a five-month bre ak from th e damp European clima te ha s d on e hi m a w orld of goo d, and first impressions are that both th e ri d er and th e bike are p otentially stronger tha n they we re two years ago. The problem could be, however, th at the op position is also stronger. Sebastie n Tortelli, wh o w ill turn 18 late in the series, is th e hot tip for th e crown after a sparkling late-season run last su mm er clinched h im th e b ronze med al in the class at the first attempt (in 1994 h e could o nly con test th e fina l round, but had been in sensa tiona l form there, too). Ha vin g b een put in tou ch with Kawasa k i Fr ance b y D utch ch ampmaker Jan De Groo t tw o w inters ago, it see med al most a forego ne concl usion th a t To rtelli wo ul d join th e offi ci a l squad this year; indeed, De Groot already has the French teenager's sign atu re on an option to move to the 250s in

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