Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS WR O LDCHAMPIONSHIP 250cc M T C O SER O O R SS IES aDd 13: Polish Grand Prix 1 1 By Geoff Meyer COYNlA, POLAI'ID, AUG. 17 ' oing into round 13 of this year's i cham pionship, Belgian Stefan Everts needed only eig h t p oints for the , World Championship. Co ing for the overall win was the last th in g on the defending champion's m ind. "I'm having trou ble ge tting moti vated . It's not going to be easy to go ou t and race really hard, but you never know ," Everts said . Like a true champion, he wen t o u t, all right - win ning th e firs t ~ m ot o an d, m ore im port an tly, the Worl d Championship . "Ge tting the win .here is great! Many of m y s upporters ca me over fo r th e weeke nd, so winning in front of them was nice," Everts said . In fact, the fanatical Belgian follow ers 36 came in huge numbers, and the sight of the Belgian flag waving around the dryand -fast ,Gd ynia t ra ck w as impressive. With his latest title, Everts is no w fifth on the all-time Grand Prix win list. With champi onships in 1991 (125cc), 1995, 1996 and 1997, he follows the likes of fellow Belgia ns Joel Rob ert (s ix ti tles ), Roger DeCoster, Georges Jobe, an d Eric Cebocrs (all wi th five titles), and is equal with H eikk i Mikkola, To rs ten H allm an and Ste fan 's father, Harry Ever ts, wi th four World Championships. Everts is hell-bent on leading the way - a nd the way h e is r idi ng, cha m pionships n umbers five and six are not ou t of reach. . Round 13 got under way wit h a Belgian m onopoly in qualifying as Evert s scorched to a 2.07.099 tim e, ahead of Su zu ki 's Marnicq Bervoet s at 2.07.292 a n d Ev erts ' H o n d a te amm at e Ja mie Scevenels at 2.07.660. Other noteworthy p erfo rmers in Sa turd ay's tim ed laps we re Swed ens ' [oa k im Kar lsson (2.08.540) and French ma n Y';es Demaria (2.08.552). American Tallon Vohland was s ixt h fa s test at 2.08.812 , w h il e Mi ke Brown cou ld onl y pick up a 16th -p lace . time wi th 2.09.617. Thou gh he onl y neede d eight po int s to cli nc h the tit le, Stefan Everts took the overa ll win at the Poli sh Grand Prix. It is Everts' fourth World Champio nship. With Everts the fastest on the track , it wa s only a short time before th e huge crowd knew what the defend ing cham, pion's inten tions we re. And com e Sunday , he was brilliant. Sunda y morning dawned brigh t, and with the heat came mistakes. Karl sson wa s Wiped out in morn ing practice an d rushed to hosp ital with stomac h injuries, but it was what happened in the opening moto th a t caught the eye of th e proEverts crowd. Mo to one opene d up wit h Bervoe ts holdin g off a hungry-looking Freder ic Bolley while Evert s sa t beh ind in th ird p lace, ahead of Voh lend, Dem aria, Pit Beirer, Brown, Scevenels and England 's Mark Eastwood . By lap one, Bolley was in to the lead an d a crashed-out Be rvoets w as str ugg ling w ith a broken cl utch lever . "I felt good going into the race, but I hit a fen ce and must have broken th e clutch," said Bervocts. Everts, on the other han d, was smi ling like a cat as he passed the ou t-of-control Suzuki rider and moved into second place. "Motivation was difficult befo re the mot a as I on ly needed very few points ; th en I saw Ma rnicq crash and I reall y had to think about riding hard," Everts said . " I wanted a good mo to. I got arm pump a little early, but fought hard. " Belley was looking good up front , but Everts wa s closing by th e second. With the two in a battle for the lead, Voh land was not noticed as he made a m ove into thi rd pl ace. Fourth was held by Beire r; fifth went to Scevene ls and Dem ari a was si xt h. Mi ke Bro w n, o n ly days earlier dropped from the Yamaha Rinald i team, wa s eigh th midrace, but dropped to 16th. Wit h o nly th re e la p s rem a in in g, Everts started his charge. "I was rid ing too hard ea rly in the race, but I sett led down and rea lly ga ve if everything I had near the en d," Everts said. And every thing he had was too much for Belley, who gave the lead away with several laps remaini ng. "Stefan was rid ing very hard and I was tired - it wa s im possible to stop his pass," said a disappointed Bolley. Th ird-placed Vohl and was also a little surry. " I w a s close to St efan in the firs t mot o, bu t I wa s getting a lot of stones; it wa s very da ngerous and I came close to cras h ing se ve ral times . Then I made a d ecision to keep thi rd and looked for bette r lines for the secon d rnot o," Voh'\ land said . Following Vohla nd was De maria, Beirer, Sce venels, Werner DeW it, Peter Ivcn and Ped ro Tragter. . Between m otos, Everts was given a hu ge reception by the Belgium supporters and, when it came down to business in mot u two, he tried his best to keep his great Winning record going - alth ough Yves Dema ria w as stand in g in h is wa y th is tim e. The Fren ch ride r powered ou t of the start behind Bervo ets and chased th e Belgi an rider for th e first 12 lap s. T hen o n lap 13 , Be r voets m ad e yet a noth er error, crashing out of the moto. Demaria then w ent ab ou t bu il d in g a goo d lead ove r second-placed Everts. "I knew if I coul d get a good start, I co u ld ra ce well h e re," Demaria sa id . "jus t befo re Bervoc ts crashed, I go t a flat tire and I rea lly had to pu sh ha rd to keep Everts awa y." . Eve rts, on the o ther hand, had h is story. "At first I felt I coul d not keep w ith th e top two; then Mamicq crashed and I thought second place was en o ugh," he sa id . "I knew the ov erall was mine and the championship was alread y wo n." A happy Demaria crossed the li ne first, followed by Everts, Bcrv octs (who cam e back from hi s cr as h) , Vo hla nd, DeWi t, Be lley, Iven, Paul Cooper, Joshua Coppins and Miska Aa ltonen. Mike Brown's disappointment continued with a 13th place. Dema ria wa s more than hap py w ith hi s w in. " I cam e he re sic k from so meth ing (I contracted) in Indon esia; I felt weak, bu t in the secon d moto I felt goo d . At this track, it's important to get a goo d .start , so that helped a lot for th e wi n. " Having sign ed a contract to rid e in th e last few races of this year's 250cc champ ions hips (i n p lace o f t he injured Sebastien Torte lIi), Dema ria m u st now look for a dea l in 1998. "Hopefu lly this res ult will help," sa id th e French rider. "It' s importa nt to sh ow I can win." Pit Beirer crashed in th e second mot o, bu t was also happy, des pite his fall. "I'm n ot inju red , so th a t' s a b onus," Beiter said . "I' ve ju st signed a co n t ract w ith Yamaha for 1998, and the next two Grs will be in Swit zerland and Germa ny both are like home CPs for me." Everts wa s all talk about his next few weeks. "I' ll go to Sw itze rland and Germany with the des Na tions in min d," he said. " I want to win both GPs and go to Belgium (the s ight of th e Mot ocr oss des Nations) in rea lly goo d form . It's important for me to wi n there. There will be no ,p ressu re; in fact, ra cing in Bel gium is always a big bonus for me. I always go goo d there." Un like last year, whe n Everts sa id he wanted to kick jerem y McGrath' s ass, Everts w as a little restrained in his commen ts abo u t new AMA Cha mpion Jeff Emig. "He's riding grea t, he looks a su re bet to win the American Championsh ip, and he' s the guy in Am erica ," he said . "But I'm not scared of anybody and I'm going to th e des Nations to win." W hil e Eve rt s' n ext focus is th e Motocross des Nati on s on September 1314, h e a lso h a s hi s sigh ts se t o n Joel Robert. " I wan t more cha mpi on sh ip s th an him for sure," Everts said. " If [ can get seven, then all the better. This year was very ea sy; the past w in s have always been very hard right unti l the end. But I rod e very fast this year and [ would have to say winning like this is a great feeling - but who knows w ha t will happen next year? I'll just hope I can keep this fo nn up . If I can, then Robert' s ta lly is ver y reachab le." With tha t, Everts walked i nt o h is hu ge team tru ck and set about his plan to defuse the bomb Am eri can jeff Emig m ight bring to Bel gium on Sep tem ber 14. As one b oxin g a nnouncer h as said: "Let's get ready to rumble!" n Polis h GP Gdynla, Potand Res ults : August 17, 1997 (Round 13 of 15) MOT O 1: 1. Stefa n Everts (Hon ): 2. Frederic Belley • (Ka w ); 3. Ta llon Voh land (Ya m) ; 4. Yves Dema ria (Kaw ); S. Pit Betrer (H on); 6 . Jamie Scevenels (H on); 7. wern e r DeW it (Suz); 8. Pet e r Ive n ( Kaw); q . Ped ro Tragtt"f (H on ); 10. Le on C. il" ~bt"r!i (KTM); 11. Joa ki rn Elias son (H e n ), 12. M is ka Aelton e n (KTM); 13. Co llin Du gmore (Hon); 14. Josh ua Coppins (Suz) ; 15. Pa ul Coope r (Kaw). MOT O 2: 1. Yve Dem aria (Kaw j; 2. Stefan Everts s (H on) : 3. Ma rnicq Berv oe rs (Su z ); 4. Tall on Voh land (Yam ); 5. Werne r De wit (Suz ); 6. Fred eric Bolley (Kaw): 7. Pete r Iven (Kaw); 8. Pa ul Coo per (Kaw); 9. Josh ua Co p pins (Suz) ; 10. Miska Aa lto nen (KTM); 11. Leon G iesbers (KThf); 12. Pit RPirPr (Ho n); 13. M ikP Rrnwn (Yam); 14. Collin Do gmo re (Hon ); 15. Ped ro Tragte r (Hon ). OIA 1: Stefan Eve rts (Hon); 2. Yves Demaria (Kaw) ; 3 . Tallon Vohland (Yam); 4. Fred er ic Bel ley (Kaw ), 5. Werner DeWit (Su z ); b. Peter lv en [Kaw ]: 7. Ma rmcq Bcrv oets (Suz); 8. Pit Bci re r (Ho n); 9. Leon Giesb ers (KTM); 10. Miska Aaltonen (KTM); 11. Jamie Sceven els (Ha n ); 12. Paul Cooper (Kaw); 13. Josh ua Cop pins (Suz) ; 14. Pedro Tragter (Hon); 15. Collin Dugmore (Hun) . W O RL D CHAMP IONSH IP 250 ('(' MOTO C ROSS SER IES POINTS STAND INGS (Aflt'r 13 of 15 ro u n ds ): 1. Stefa n Eve r ts (451/8 w ins); 2. Marnicq Bervoete (317/1 ); 3. Pit Beirer (285 ); 4. Sebastien Tortclli (276 /2); 5. Joa kim EJia990n (235 ); b . Yve s Dema ria (2 13/ 1); 7. Tall on Voh lan d (211 /1); 8. We rne r DeWit (198); 9. Frederic Bolle y (187); 10. Peter Iven (169); 11. Mike Brow n (117); 12. Mar k Eastw ood (l Ob); 13. Pedro T ragte r (103 ); 14. Collin Dug m o re (102); 15. Le o n Giesbers (84~ Upco ming Rounds: Round 14 · Roggenburg. . Switzerland. August 31 Round 15 - Gaildorf, Germany, September 7 AM Wo~d Championship 125cc Motocross Series Round 11:Belgian Grand Prix By Alex Hodgk inson NEEROETEREN, BELGIUM, AUG. 17 or the second time in three years, the i W o r ld Cha m pions h i p 125c< M X 1 Series wi ll go do wn to a final-round showdo wn be tween Yam aha factory rider Chirco Chiodi, a two-tim e runnerup, an d San d re Puza r, the tw o-ti m e cha m pion who pos tponed a p lanned retirem en t to win the '95 crown on a p riva te Honda, and last fall wa s again persuaded to race by the Italian TM factory , litt le know n in motoc ross ou ts ide Italy bu t o ne of th e worl d's lea di ng ka rtengine manu facturers. After a scorching Belgia n CP, run in stifling heat wi th no coo ling bre eze so that most riders we re happy just to survive, Chiodi and Puzar are separated by jus t 16 po ints after two fascinat ing d uels one a t dose ran ge a nd one at a di stan ce. Th e CP w a s a w in for Frenc hma n Frederic Vialle, but his success wa s academi c. The first moto was Vialle's from start

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