Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

EVENTS EDfTEDBY KEITH BUSH (Left) American Mike Brown took the overall win at the Beaucaire Classic in France. (Above) Brown's Rinaldl Yamaha teammate Tallon Vohland won the third moto but only managed fifth overall. in warmup By Alex Hodgkinson BEAUCAIRE, FRANCE, FEB. 23 rench riders won two motos out of three to the delight of a crowd of 15,000 at the Beaucaire Oassic, but it was 24-year-old American newcomer Mike Brown who clinched the overall victory in Europe's most prestigious warmup race. The Rinaldi Yamaha teamster led on the opening lap of each race, but was content not to ride beyond his limits so early in the season and benefited from the mistakes of others. '1 got a little tense and my forearms pumped up in the first race when (Sebastien) Tortelli was hounding me and the crowd was going wild for him," Brown said. "Then in race two, the front brake hooked me off. It must have taken a rock because the disc was bent. I was happy to chase Tallon (VohIand) home in the )ast one because I knew the French guys were back in the pack." The Johnson, Tennessee, resident went 2-3-2 for the win. VohIand, the other half of the Rinaldi American double act, had lost his chances in the opener. '1 banged bars with Joel Smets out of the gate," Vohland said. "He went down and I must've been around 30th. Those guys at the back were going so slow on the first lap and I hit one going into a tum and flew over the bars." After that the world number three went 2-1, each time advancing from lower leaderboard starts, to place fifth total. F Even though last year's Beaucaire winner Yves Demaria was already complaining, first about rear suspension problems (the Martin team he rides for later claimed a flat tire) and then a sticking rear brake, the home crowd had plenty to cheer about as Tortelli won the opening 10-lap moto, but a fall in race two and oil on the front disc from a leaking fork leg in the finale cost him further success. Kawasaki teammate Frederic Bolley took up the challenge to win race two and the overall, lead, but he was cannoned off the track by the effervescent Andrea Bartolini in the final 25-minute moto. The Italian made a dramatic impact as he debuted the four-stroke Yamaha. "I made a good start in race one but tangled bars halfway up the straight with someone," Bartolini said. "I was happy to come back to seventh." The Errezeta teamster soon moved into the top six of race two, but suddenly was downfield and forced to pull out. "I don't know why, but the motor just stopped in a tum and I lost a lot of places," Bartolini said. "Then I was able to restart it, and before I had ridden much further the silencer fell off. I was not aware of any impact." Then came tha t ferocious third race and a magnificent fourth place, the best by a 500cc GP contender all day, but not quite enough to enable the Italian to score more points on the day than Brit Kurt Nicoll, having his first race since breaking his leg at the British GP last June aboard the latest 368cc KTM. Eight of the last 15 winners wore a World crown at some time in their career, however, and Goat Breker, the first American winner of the race in 1988, is one of only two who never won a medal. Swede Peter Johansson, the· other' Yamaha 400cc teamster, crashed out for the day in the first moto, but fortunately initial fears of a broken leg and shoulder were not confirmed. "I clipped the rear tire of (Jaimy) Scevenels' Honda when he slewed sideways on the approach to a jump," Johansson said. '1 landed front wheel first on the hay bales and flew over the bars. I feared the worst at first, but I only have heavy bruising to the left thigh and right shoulder." Stefan Everts rode immaculately all day on his factory Honda but was clearIy not keen on getting involved in collisions at this stage of the season. '1 also had a little arm pump in the first race," Everts said. "It's the first time' I have ridden on hard trac1

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