Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

• to finish. Jam es Dob b, initially secon d, crashed off the track halfway aro und the first lap. " I wa s railing the be rm round th e deep water and suddenly it wa sn 't there a ny mo re ," Dobb sai d. " It mus t h ave been broken d own in the national races. 1 flew over the fence and my rear wheel got entangled in the tapes." Ch iod i and Puzar soon d isp osed of Thom as Tra versini (who then crashed) to take seco nd and third, res pectively. Time and agai n Puzar inched closer, bu t each time Chiodi was able to find that little extra to keep his rival off his rea r wheel. W ith th ree laps to go, Pu za r seemed to have accepted defeat, but then second place was su ddenly presented to him . "My fro nt wheel caugh t one of the loose rocks an d I wen t d ow n," Ch iodi explained. "I wa s too close to m iss Chicco and s lam m ed into h im , n Pu zar ad mitted, add ing w ith a grin, "but 1 w as able to res ta rt first," The points gap wa s down from 24 to "The du st w as very bad in the pack, and th e other rid ers were riding ve ry hecti call y," Ch iodi said . " I decided it was w ise r to st a y clear of them, so I dropped to the back of that p ack an d w aited for th em to ge t ·tired . After 20 minutes I started to charge." At the finish he was fifth, but not all of the passes we re thanks to his ability. Dup a squie r go t p ut th rough the ta pes by Lu igi Seguy; th e Frenchman later crashed alone; Caludio Federici got tape in his rear brake; an d the Yamah as of Dav id Vuille mi n a nd Moo re both moved as ide for thei r employer's title candidate. Onl y Paul Malin did not he lp, but \he Brit was invo lved in a personal struggle against Dob b. In deed, Malin - for the firs t time th is year showing th e form w h ich ha d ea rn ed h im the ' 96 silver med al - had looked like a wi nner as he charged from sixth to pass Vialle for the lead after half an hour. "The race was m ine. but m y w heels slipped ou t from under me on a concrete 22. of the drop -offs," Malin said. Vialle gratefully accep ted the w in and just managed to hold off Puz ar , while Chiodi wa s give n the gi ft of fifth place by Moore on the last lap after Magic Bike team boss Giorgio Foi gave the Amer ican the signal to do so. ." Bob Moo re, a cha lleng ing fou rth for 10 minutes, gro und to a halt with ignition failu re - again - wh ile Bad er Ma nneh W;:l S elim inated wi th a flat rear tire, a fate which also befell him in race two. The seco nd moto was alm ost a team race. "There were Yamaha s everywhere, and the y did me no favors," Puzar said a fter he ga ine d ano ther six p oints on Chiodi . But he did have one helper - Dobb. . "Dobb primo," the tw o-l ime World Champion admi tted. "He w as the only one wh o did not get in my way when 1 came up to pass him - both times!" . Pu zar, nin th o n th e fir st la p , had cha rged to fourth after 25 min utes wi th a pass on Dobb, but then it was his tum to struggle for a while in the hea t an d the' bumps. "I saw he was losing his rhythm, so I wen t p a st a n d p ulled h im b ack to Moo re," Dobb said a fte rw a rd. "Then Sa nd re reg ained his co m posure agai n and 1 let him go after Bob (Moore) first." Chiodi was not so happy with the Brit. "He rod e me off the track at the second com er," Chiodi sa id . "He was inside me and just went wider and wi der until 1 was through the tapes. Tha t is why 1 was only 12th on the first lap ." The poi n ts leade r th en w ent backward to 15th. rid ge which became uncovered on one Belgian 125cc Grand Prix Neeroeteren, Belgium Rasulls :August17, 1997 (Round 11 of 12) M OTQ 1: 1. Fccdc nc Vi.1 c (Yam); 2. SAndra Puzar l1 (TM); 3. CU ero Chiod i (Yam ); 4. Mickael Ma."lChio (H on); S. l u lp;i Se~uy (TM ); 6. Bria n Jorg ll!'n sen (Hon); 7. Claudio Fed eri ci (Hus) ; 8. D.Jvtd Vulllem in (yam); 9. P.atrid Col ~ (Yam); 10. AWx &Iotm>tti (J<.aw); 11. Paul M etlin (Yam ); 12. S IO:" vl" Ra m o n (Ka w ); 13. Jerome Hrmery (Suz); 14. MafC'l"1 Van Drunt"l'l (Hon ); 15. JaflW'S Dobb (Suz , MO YO 2: 1. Frederic Vialit' (Yam); 2. Sandra Puz.ar (TM ); 3. Paul Malin (Yam); 4. Jame s Cobb (Suz); 5. Oticco Otiodi (Yam); 6. Bob Moore (Ya m); 1. ClaudiO Federid ,"us); 8. Dolvid Vuiliem in (Yam); 9. Erik Eggens (Hon ); 10. Lul)ti ~y (TM): 11. Marcel Van Drunen (Yam); 12. Michel MHChio (Hon); 13. Cui N unn (Hen); 14.. J oc::iwn JOlldnski (YmI.); 15. Alex Bek>metti (Kaw ). OIk 1. Fredt-ricVWlIt (Yam); 2. Sandro Puzar (IM); 3. Chiccc Chiodi (Yam); 4. Paul M.din (Yam); 5. CL.udio Federici (Hu-,,); 6. Micka..1M.. CHon); 7. Luigi St-guy ( f M.l; 8. David Vuilkmin (Yam ); 9. J.Jml.5 Dobb (Suz ); 10. Bob Moore (Yam ). ..c-.to WOR LD CHAMPI ONSHIP 125( ( MX SE RI ES PO INTS ST ANDINGS (A ft er 11 of 12 roun ds): 1. OUa:o Otiodi (.J.IJ/ 4 wins); 2 Sand ro Puz.v (3Zl/ 2); 3. o.udio Nderid (23111); -I. Frederic vtaue (218 / 3 ); 5. Mick.w l Ma»chio (162); 6_Oavid VuilJemin (149); 7. Bob M oo re (125 / 1) ; 8 . Lu ig i Seguy (101); 9 , Thomas Travt"!'Sini (100);' 10, '.lInn Dobb (95); 11, AWl( &>Iomt'tti (M); 12. Midwl.. Fan ton (It ); 13, Ph ilipp" Dupasquitor , (77); 14, Erik CaI1m'kongo (74); 15, N icow OIarlier (74); 16. Ma x Bartolini (64); 17. Paul Malin (55); 18, Xavier Cctom e r (SOl; 19. jechen Ja si n ski (49); 20. 8rian ... ~( ~ Upcoming Round: Round 12 ~ Lierop. Holland. August 3 1 • (Above) Frenchman Fraderlc Vlalle took the overell win at the Belgian round of the 125cc World Motocross Championsh ip series, though he isn 't In title co ntention. Sendro puzer (above right) scored second overall to move within 16 points of his thle rival, Chlcco Chlodl (right), who fi nished t hird . ·Brieflv~ .·. C125ccl, Stefa':' Everts (250 t c) and Joel ' S me ts Ifour-stro ke). Bervoets was amazed to, be- chosen for the 125cc ride, es .he 'had 'not , e v e n be e n.' asked by 't e am mana ger, J oel W hq's sig~in'g with whOm: aavid . V~iI~in ' Robert jf he was available for that class. , ' has signed a. three-year deal with Yemaha .He will r:ace 125cc GPs for the, next two years for , Yves Demaria 'w as no t- consid ered . by th e Yamaha France' before being integrated into 'Fr e n c h be cause he d oes' not ri de wi t h a .th e U.s. Yamaha team : He w ill ' ride 12Scc . French l icense this year,' so they wi.U h e send- . .W est Coast SXs . early next year ,directly for' ing David Vulliemin ( t 25c~), ' Fre de ri c Bolley (25 0 c c) . 8nd Frederic Via lie the Yamaha team....Bob-M oore' s replacement (25OccJ. " . .. . . 0'; the' Ma gic' Bik e 12Scc G P team will be' " Mike Brown, The team will again get ·tactor)t Sweden has na me d Fredrik Werner Yamahas.; Bader Manneh Will return to the United States' to ride for' Pro-Circuit Kawasa- <1 2S·c cl. Jocke : Karlsson C250cc) a nd . ki..; S andro Puzar will 'again fo~ 'TM : Peter' Johansson (four-Stroke), U next year.... The Amorie: o tea m will 'switch , Engla'nd ~II almost certai nly 'send ·J a'm •• · from 1M to become .the offiCial ~ sq uad. It Dobb. C1 2SCcl , Mark Eastwood (250cc), ' is not yet clear whether or not Luigi Seguy and Andeee Bart olini will be .retalned... Chieeo and Kurt Nicoll (SOOCC): The latter two were ' Chiodi will again ride in 1998 ,foi Claudio De named las t week , and t he fin al decision Ca rli. Noth Ing ha s bee n 's igned ; b ut they ' ,between Dobb and Paul Malin ' ~as' due ·t~is expect to , aga in use Yam aha . p o w er. ;. week after the Belqien G P~ Matin was the top Michele Fanton will' not ride '~ in 'this Year ' scorer of the two on the dey, but Dobb also beceuse e broken bone in his left shoukier.. did wel l to move into the senes'.top to and his He' is expected to .switch to the.SO Occ 'C es greater consistency over the entire senesto next year, possibly c n e Plati ni ~a s a kL . · date could see him re~in the ~ . .Another rider not opening his mouth (foi con ' . tractuelreesoosrrs Cart Nunn, but .it is ~er· . For Italy. · A n d re a Bartolini is·defiAitely , tam that he w\l1 jo in Paul Malin in the 125cc goi ng to ride the four -stroke Yama ha , and GPs on Yamaha... David Thorpe' s Cat Honda . Chic:co Chiodl is set to ride as well. but rt . -tea m will .beve an all-new look, Brian' Jorisn't yet eertain in wh ich 'class, The third rider sensen w8S told last 'week that his .services. will be Sandro Puzar or ,C laudio Federici: will no longer be required. Thof"pe:js hoping to ~ ign Frederic ~lalle, " . James Dobb was 'wearing the '98 O'Neal . gear for the first time in Belgium. and also had AmericD's' rivals are ,Stowt/ annOuncing teams ', 8 Troy' Lee shark fln o'n his helmet. Trendsetter' have one -for next month 'a M~ des Nettc ne. On home . Dobb Is the firSt 125cc GP 'rider ' " . :.' soil: t;lelglum ,will . field ,Ma~ieq , Be~~.· mounted. race o f to 37

• Cover