Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127848
MOTOCROSS WORLD C AMPIONSH H IP 500Cc M OTOC ROSS SER IES Round 7: Swedish Grand Prix lap before a collision put them too far back to have a chance a t poin ts. The tw o riders vie wed the incid ent with slightly different perspectives. . "It was just one of those racing cras hes," Parker said. "We had d ifferent lines in to the tu rn ; Jacky's bike se em ed to kick as he gassed it into the turn an d he came across me. Nobody's fault." "Tha t asshole T-boned me," Martens said . "He just w en t wide-o pen under me," Take you r pick. So Smc ts was handed th e lea d and was never challenged by Shayne King, who was second throu ghout. "1jus t had no zip in my riding," King said. "I could n' t hold him ." Die tmar Lach er was s o o n goi ng backward to an eventua l 18th. "I had blu rred vision from the second lap already," Lache r said. "I think I' ll go home and have to miss England next week." Johansson inherited third , and kept it to the finish. "At least I d idn' t ha ve a ny pain," Johan sson said. "I di d n't have a lot of strength in my shoulder, bu t I could ride alo ne and choose mv lines ; so I d id n't pUI so much pressure on it." Nicoll was the man making moves in the early laps, fro m a n initial 10th to fourt h. "The bike just wouldn't steer," Nicoll said. "It was like that from the beginning. I had to take ris ks in those early laps, but I couldn't keep it up all race." ,By Alex Hodgkinson 32 UDDEVALLA, SWEDEN, JUNE 29 t was Bel gi a n Joe l Smets who inc reased his lead in th e World SODec MX standings with a dou ble win aboard his factory Husaberg in the Swed ish GP, but it was Peter Johansson w ho was ju stifiab ly the darlin g of the crowd on his home soil at Uddevalla. Qualification was sensational on Saturdav, as the local fans had to sweat it out ~ntil the fin al 10 minutes be fore Joha nsson made it to the race. As rain' again hit the 500cc GPs, the qualification had to be halted for 10 minutes for the Yamaha factory ride r to be attended on the track after he had slammed into Thi erry Klu tz' s waywa rd bike d uring his first full lap . "1 was lining him up for the pass as he overshot a fast tum and went into the soft mud on the outside and lost control, and his bike shot back across the track," Johansson said . "I hit it full-gas and flew over the bars , and my own bike landed on my back. I have hea vy bru ising, and my right shou lder po pped ou t..I t we nt stra ight back in again, but the ligaments and muscles w ere stretched ." " He was out cold as well," ad ded Kurt Nicoll, "but I'm not going to rat on him to the Jury." If th e o fficia l d octor o r FIM Jury (Above) Belgium'SJoel Smets swep t both motos to win the Swedish 500cc GP at Uddevalla. Smets now has a 3D-point lead over KTM's Shayne King in the series standings. (Right) Defend ing World Champion King went 2~2 . for second overall. knows that a rider has sus tained a concussion, then the injured rider wou ld be barred from racing for 24 hours. With th e hour-long session goin g into its fina l quarter, Joh ansson reappea red an d immedia tely set a lap fas t enoug h to pu sh his stru ggling Yamaha team ma te Bartolini from 17th to 18th before slashing a further three seconds from this "secu rity" lap to qualify sixth, and then immed iately pulling int o the paddock for medical treatm ent. Jacky Marten s and Trampas Parker led away the first mota as the su n finally shone on a SODec GP again Sunda y afternoon , but their glory only lasted half a In the end, he was nearly caugh t by an incredibly fast Darryll King. "That' s wha t yo u call d oin g it the ha rd way," Kin g sa id . got closed d own going into the first tum by Shayne and Smets, and was going dow n before [ocke Karlss on slamm ed into the back of me. I got back into the top 10, but stalled -r