Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

I SUP.ERBIKERS· Supermotard Mettet Cup (Left) Frenchman Stephane Chambon won the Supermotard Mettet Cup in Belgium for the fifth time. (Right) Former World MX Champion Georges Jobe (4) couldn't come to terms with his bike and pulled out during the final. (Below) Jacky Martens was one of the top MX finishers In ninth place. -- By Geoff Meyer \0 0\ 0\ ....... o ~ l-< Cll ~ 42 METTET, BELGIUM, OCT. 13 urope at this time of the year is not the best place in the world to be, what with the motocross and road racing grand prix races over until next season and the summer just completed. It's easy to think of the cold village of Mettet in Belgium to be nothing more than a place to leave in a hurry, but every October the best Supermotard riders in the world, plus a handful of famous motocrossers, head to the central Belgium town to chase the Superbiker crown. At the Supermotard, competitors race over a track which combines road racing with dirt track - no jumps and plenty of fast turns. For the motocross racers, it was a nightmare. Past winners of the Mettet Superbikers Cup include American motocrossers Broc Glover (1989) and Billy Liles (1991), while former World Champ Georges Jobe took' the top prize.in 1987. But the greatest Mettet champion is, without doubt, the 5-foot-5-inch Frenchman Stephane Chambon, who has won the event five times. This year's Superbikers event was looking likely to be a race full of action, what with the inclusion of World 250cc MX Champion Stefan Everts - not to mention Jobe, Joel Smets, Kurt Nicoll, Marnicq Bervoets and European 600cc Supersport Champion and top-10 World Superbike rider Fabrizio Pirovano. Saturday's practice session soon put a damper on the proceedings with Everts taking a tumble and retiring for the weekend with a broken hand. With Everts out, it was looking likely to be up to Smets and Martens to keep the motocross flag. Martens was riding alongside Pirovano who, while a top-line road racer, was not so sure about this form of racing. "It is difficult to set the bike up," Pirovano said. '1'11 be happy with making the final, then I'll see what I can do." Sunday dawned bright with the quarterfinals lining up and a huge crowd of Belgian spectators waiting for a major surprise. It was not to be with Stephane Chambon blasting his factory Husky 610 into the first tum and not looking back. His win was as easy, as expected, while Thierry Godfroid kept the Belgian fans happy with a second place and another Supermotard regular, Stephane Wagner, finished third on his Husky. Quarterfinal number two saw more of the same with Rubio Williams taking his team Husky 610 to victory ahead of impressive Joel Smets (Husaberg 610) second and equally fast Kurt Nicoll (KTM 368) in third. Further down the field came Pirovano in ninth and Suzuki factory motocrosser Werner Dewit 14th. --- - Nicoll was not impressed despite his ros!rum finish. "I came to this race. with the understanding that it was half dirt, half tar," Nicoll said. "Well, I don't see too much tar, and being that I don't even have a road bike~it's bloody hard work. I'll be riding well within myself, you Can be sure of that." The third moto brought together a slightly modest-looking field with German Supermotard Champion Harald Ott (Honda 500) winning from Eric Delannoy (Husky 610) and France's ISDE veteran Laurent Pidoux (Husky 610) in third place. Martens came home fourth and was somewhat happy with his showing. The final quarter was a wild affair at least that's the opinion of one Georges Jobe. "I was doing okay, then my-front end started doing strange things," Jobe said. "Riders were passing me everywhere. I really lost a lot of places, then this guy tried to' pass me and we ran off the track. I was really pissed off and my confidence is gone." The last quarter was won by Boris Chambon (Husky 610), followed by Salvador Gilles (Honda 500) and Eric Jaquet (Husky 610). Jobe finished seventh with 1996 world 250cc motocross runner-up Bervoets (Suzuki 500) in ninth place. -~~ . "This is very different to motocross," Bervoets said. "Bike setup is everything here, and we don't have any idea how_ to get the bike gripping the turns." With the semifinals next, it was little wonder Jobe was in panic. "I got such a bad deal in the quarter that I'll start the semi well back," he complained. "It will be difficult to make any progress." The KTM motocross team manager was correct. He trailed into 11th place, just ahead of GP 500cc MX competitor Johan Boonen (Husky 610) and miles behind winner Pidoux. Second came Ott with Boris Chambon third, Martens fourth and Bervoets a non-finisher after realizing it was better to retire than be used as the Supermotard racers' traction. "It's a big word to say I was scared, but it was not worth hurting myself trying to do what the bike would not," Bervoets said. His lap times were some five miles an hour slower than that of Pidoux, yet he would get a reprieve as one of the seeded riders after the organizers (Johnson Cigarettes) wanted one of their motocross stars in the final. If Pidoux looked good, then Stephane Chambon was brilliant, clocking consistently at 90 mph; the Frenchman blitzed to another easy win. Second came Williams, followed by Godfroid, with Nicoll a very smooth fifth and Smets ninth.

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