Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Left) American Tallon Voh land, who has been slo wed by injuries all season lon g, Is ju st now getting back Int o the swing of things - un fortunately, the serie s is nearly over. He finis hed third overall at Roggenbu rg. (Above) Mike Brown had one of his best rides of the se ries, going 7·5 for s ixth overall. (Below) Bervae ts (left) and Everts (right) will head Team Belgium'S efforts at next week's Motocross des Nations. ou t aft er Bervocts (who had also passed Sceve nels). With tim e running ou t, Beirer was flying and, wit h two laps remaining, mov ed up on Bervoets a nd passed him. " He was th e fas tes t rid er on the track : ' said race leader Everts of Beirer' s cha rge. But Beirer w a sn't fast enough to catch Everts, who took th e moto win ahead of Beit-er, Bervoets, v ohland , Scevenels, Belley. Brown, Dewit and Rob Herring. Vohland wa s not at all happy wit h his fourth-p lace finis h. "I felt I rod e okay, but I did not have a lot of good r hy th m. Since I' ve co me back, it ' s takin g me a lot of energy. 1 hop e to do bette r in the seco nd moto," the American sa id . The second mo to was anyt hing but a Be lg ian s ho w of p ower ea rly o n as Brown again led the rid ers into tum one, followed by Voh land and Ever ts. A tumone cras h had left Kawasa ki-mounted Yves Demaria layi ng motio nless on the track, as doctors ran to the Frenchman's aid . H e slo w ly made some m ovement befo re a neck brace was mounted and he was taken to a hos pital, where he was diagn osed with a concussion. VohIan d sa id of Demaria's cra sh: "It was stu pid . The track was watered just before the mot e , a nd th at firs t co rner was very slip pery. Luck ily for me, I go t a great start and missed the accident." Brown was still hold ing off Everts in what was his best ride of the year. "I felt oka y. Stefan was really riding fast and finally he got by; then 1 tried to stay with him, bu t he was too good. I finall y let Ta llo n by, as I fig u red h e mi g h t be able to ca tc h him:' a now third-plaoed Brown sa id. Vohland w a s ha v in g none of i t, tho ugh. "There wa s no way I cou ld catch Stefan - he wa s rid ing so smooth, .y et so fast . He is so confident at the moment. I learned so me from him todav," said the honest Ameri can. .. With Everts clearing off into the d ista nce , Vohland was now getting th e hurry-up from Bervoets. " I sa w Tallon a nd fig u re d I co u ld ca tch hi m; he was starting to make m istakes and, with three laps to go, I finall y g o t by, but St efan was long gone: ' Bervoets said . Then, with Everts looking to take win number 15 of the year, he made a small mistake. "I was looking at m y pit board and used my brake a little la te; then 1 fell," Everts said . With Everts remo untin g in record tim e, Bervoe ts fail ed to pa ss the leader, but d id ge t a whiff of th e lead. "When I sa w Stefan ge tting up, I rea lly start ed to ride hard: ' Bervoe ts said. "I thoug ht Mamicq wou ld not give up, an d he mad e so me ground on m e in those last minu tes, bu t I held on to the win," Everts sa id as he sa t with his head d own, swe at pouring from his red -h ot face. Bervoets finis hed second some two seconds behind , followed by Vohla nd, Belley, Brown , Beirer, Pete r Iven, Dewit, Miska Aaltonen, and Collin Dugmore. W it h yet a nothe r win, Ever ts was surprised by his continued motivation this yea r. "It's great. I rea lly thou ght I wo uld struggle to find mo tivation, but I have a lot to aim for - the 10 overalls in a year. My win tod ay gives me my 50 percent wi n rati o, and I want to be in good form fo r th e d es Nations , so [ th in k this is why I'm still winning," Everts said. As for Vohland, his third place was some reward for a tough yea r. "I really canno t ge t into this last part o f th e yea r," Vo hla nd said . "O nce I missed all th ose GPs (five races due to injury), I have not been intense enough, but hopefully it will co me. I d on't see too many riders that worry me, but Stefan is the gu y at the mom ent. Good luck t o him." Brown w a s also happy with h is resul t. . 'Tm fin a ll y ge tti og some results together. It was no t a good start here in Europe. It's harder than I ima gined, but I'm ha vin g a good tim e now a nd feel m ore confident riding u p fro nt:' said the fifth -plaoed rider . Bervoets was a lso a lit tl e Evertsstung. "Winning this yea r has bee n difficu lt. Stefan has so much confidence, even finis hi ng second is o kay, a n d tha t's not norm ally good fo r m e," sa id the one rider who has really challenged Everts th roughout the season. Wi th his ninth win, Everts moved to 491 poi nts and his numbers keep improving . And, with Gaildorf (the final ro und of th e 250cc championship series) and Nismes (the site of th e MX des Nations) coming up in the next two weeks, it's little wo nder th e Belgian legend is loo ki ng over his shoulder. "Wi nni ng this year w a s easy:' h e said. "It's not going to ge t m uch easier than it was this yea r, but if I se t myself new aims, th en it's eas ier to keep motivated . I want to be th e best a nd that means beating everyone. Th is yea r I've d on e tha t." Everts is read y for the Motocross des Na tions a nd hi s expected battle wit h Ameri can champion Jeff Ernlg. " I ca n ra ce with him for sure," sa id Everts of Ernig. "I hear he is still motivated , a nd th eir ra cin g season is running much the sa me as ours, so he will be in good touch. It's going to be a nice weekend. May the better man win." '" Sw is s 250cc GP Rogg enburg, Switzerlan d Results : August 31, 1997 (Round 14 of 15) M olo 1: I . Ste fa n Evcrb tHon); 2. Pit Bcircr (Hon); J. Mamicq Btrvoclll CSuz.J; 4. Tall on Vo hl.and (Ya m l; 5. Jdimy s.."I"VO:'lId~ (H on ); 6. Frl'dt'ric Ilr.llt")' Ouw); 7. Mi"'t> Brown (Y"m); 8. Wernt.>r De wit (5uz ); 9. Rob Herring (Yam ); 10. Pe er lve (Ka w ); 11. Jooicim Karl sson (Hon); t " 12. Joshua Co ppin , (Su7. ); 13. Joa kim Hiasson (Yam) ; 14. Colin Dugrrore (Hon) : 15. Leon Cetsbers (J(Th1 ). Mo to 2: 1. Stefan Evert (Ho n); 2 Mamicq Bcrvoees (Suz); 3 . Ta llo n Vohland (Ya m) ; 4. Fred eric Betley (K .lIw); 5 . M i ..... Bro w n (Ya m) ; 6. Pit Bt-irn (H o n ); 7. Pet er lven ( K.1w); 8. Werner Dewit (Su z ); 9. M i~h Aelton cn hua Coppins

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