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sufficient fuel still in the tank, but Malin
was glad he had pla yed safe.
"I would rather sacrifice a couple of
points rather than ri sk losing eve rything." Malin said . .
M e anwhil e, Viall e and Maschio
seemed to go down every lap as they
desperately tried to cut their losses after
fir st-lap collisions. Vialle got to 12th
while Maschio took the fina l point, but
his confidence must ha ve taken a hammering as, a lap d own, h e watched
Tortelli take the win.
Nothing could h av e m atched the
ferocity of th e opening battle, and the
second moto onl y reall y came to life in
the closing stages.
Eggens and Tragter led from the outset, the 1994 title ho lder getting past and
m aking his escape when the 18-year-old
National champion started mak ing mistakes rnid ra ce. Tortelli had gated badly
bu t d id n't panic and was fifth by h alf
distance despite slipp ing off once. He
would later run out of fuel. but he settled for a net points gain on the da y over
Vialle rather than risking all to chase his
title rival, who had started well and ridden coolly this time.
Tragter' s pace on th e ever-bumpier
track was such that he crossed th e line
six seconds before th e completio n of the
40-minute cu toff to force the race to go
th e sa me distance as th e o pe ne r, and it
was the Dutchman him self who was
receiving frantic ges ticu lations from his
pit cre w as the two-lap board fina lly
went out.
The race suddenly came to life. With
the flagman gett ing ready to switch to
the " plus one" board it was Eggens wh o
appeared first, w ith Tragter spluttering
in to si ght in his wake. Tragter pulled
into his pit for more fue l and rejoined
the race third behind Vialle, but it was 10
minutes later before the true story began
to u nravel (see sidebar). The positional
loss gave the overall to Tortelli, and anxious tea m membe rs waited for their men
to appear. Ma lin didn't stop this time.
"Th e y a ll expec ted m e to, but 1
changed tactics m id race. " Malin sai d .
"Tragter came across me out of the gate
so 1 w as way ba ck (29th) on lap o ne.
Wh en I got past Bob (Moore) it was a
long way to the next man, so I started
riding less aggressively. It p a id off. I
actually got Jorgensen for sixth when he
stopped to take on fuel."
Moore, struggling with his hand from
early on, was a brave eighth, while Maschic's sad day ended when he stopped
in 16th with a dry tank 20 yar ds - as the
crow flies - from the finish line but with
the quarter-mile final loop still to race.
A spirited day 's racing which was a
wonderful advertisement for th e sport
may have been spoiled by Tragter's
infraction, even if it ne ver actu ally happened - officially, that is.
Dutch 125cc GP
L1chtenvoorde, Holland
Results: May12, 1996 (Round 4 of 12)
M O T O 1: 1. Se bastien Tortelli (Kaw); 2. Pe d ro
Tragter (Suz); 3. Paul Mal in (yam); 4. Bob Moo re (Yam);
5. Andi Kans tinger (Ho n); 6. Alex 8elometti (Hon); 7.
Step hane Ron cada (Hon); 8. Marcel Van Orunen (H on);
9. Mauro Doll Lago (Hon); 10. Ca rl Nun n (Hon); 11.
Mich ele Fant on (Kaw); 12. Fred ert c Vialle (Kaw); 13.
RochE:Mezenberg (Hon); 14. Brian Kjaer Jor gen
sen (Suz);
15. M ickael Ma schi o (Hon ).
MOTO 2: 1. Erik Eggens (Ho n); 2. Fre deric Via lle
(Ya m); 3. Ped ro Tr eg ter (Suz); 4. Se b asti en To rte lli
(Ka w ); 5. Marcel V.lO D ru ne n (Han ); 6. Pa u l Malin
(Yam ); 7. Brian Kjaer Jor gen se n (Suz); 8. Bob Moore
(Yam ); 9. Michele Fanton (K.1w); 10. Collin Dug mo re
(Hon); 11. Andi Kenstinger (H on) ; 12. Mar co Stallma n"
(Kaw); 13. A lex Belometn (Han); 14. Ma rcus H.:lO
sSQn
(yam); IS. Ton y Marsh all (Yam).
O/A: 1. Sebas tien To rte-Hi (Kaw); 2. Ped ro Tra gter
(Suz); 3. Paul Malin (Yam); 4. Fred eri c Vial le (Yam); 5.
Bob Moore (Yam ); 6. Erik Egg ens (Hon); 7. Marcel Van
D ru ne n (Ho n); 8. Andi Kan st tn ger (Hon); 9. Alex
Belom etn (Hon); 10. Miche le Fanton (Kaw).
WO RLD C HAMPIONSHIP USee MX SERIES
POINTS STANDINCS (Aft er 4 of 12 rounds): 1.
Sebastien Tortelli (118/3 wins); 2. Fred eric Vialle (97); 3.
Paul Malin (80); 4. Mickael Mas chio (77); 5. Mich e le
Fanton (53); 6. Bri an Kjae r Jo rgensen (49); 7. Colin
13. Bernd Eckenbach (Kaw); 14. Danny Tbeybers (Hon);
15. Dirk Ceukens lHblo)
MOTa 2: f . Sharn~ King (KTM); 2. Bernd
Ecken ba ch (Kaw); 3. Joe Smets (Hbg); 4. Johan Boonen
(Hus); 5. Peter Johansson (Hus); 6. Dietmar Lacher
(Hon); 7. Rupert Walkner ("'IM); 8. Trampas Parker
(Hon); 9. Darryl! King (Hon); 10. Attilio l'ignotti (Hon);
11. James Marsh (KTM:); 12. Leonardo Leoni (Hon); 13.
Danny Tbeybers (Hon); 14. Cert Jan Van Doom (Hon);
15. Dirk Geukens (Hbg).
Olk I. Shayne King (KTMt 2. Darryll King (Hont
3. Peter Johansson (Hus); 4. Bernd E