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Using lines which would slingshot
him out of the turns, Beirer got alongside Everts several times before eventu ally ous ting the cha mp at the half-hour
mar k, bu t that pass was th e signal for
Everts to ge t serious. Within half a lap
he was a hea d aga in and gra dually
inched clear until, after a small m istake,
the German accepted his fat e with three
la ps to go and eased his pace.
.
Second place wa s th e least Beirer had
to score to retain even a slender cha nce
of second in the series, but Marnicq
Bervoets worked hi s wa y forward to
fourth in a workmanlike manner from
an initial 14th to ens u re himself of a
third consecutive silver medal.
Th e battle for th e number-five plat e
was serious. Karlsson, no lon ger in pain
from the hand and ches t injuries he susta in ed i n Pol and , qu ickly a dvanced
from sixth to fourth, bu t further mov ement wa s not possible and, on the third
lap, Vohland m ov ed him aside at the
tree com er past the finish line to set off
after the lead ers and try to wipe ou t the
four-point deficit he had going into the
moto.
After 12 minutes, the Californian had
passed compatriot /teammate Mike
Brown fo r third, but could never quite
close down the leaders. Bervoets' charge
gave Vohla nd a n extra point on Karls SDn, and th e Am erican head ed the
Swede by a single point going into the
final mo to as Brown maintained fifth to
the finish. Brown had done his job to
help out his team , but was not satisfied
wi th his rid e.
"I go back ho me on Tu esd ay, an d I
have to admit I wasn't really interested
out there," Brown said.
Karlsson at leas t knew he had given
his best.
"I ma de a lot of mistakes in the last
few laps, bu t at least 1 am still in with a
chance of the nu mber-five plate," Karlsson said. " 1 knew it would be difficult to
be faster than Vohland tod ay because 1
have hardly been abl e to tra in io t the
last couple oi weeks, but 1 a m s till in
. there fighting if he makes a m istake in
ra ce two."
Yves Demari a had cras hed in the first
tum.
"He gave it too much of a handful,
the rear wheel stepped out, then bit and
spat him Dff," explained eyewi tness Jeff
Perrett. "I threaded my way through the
midd le, but three o r fo u r o th e r s
slammed into him."
The Frenchman rode a few laps
midrace to check that all wa s okay and
~ad y for race two.
MOTO TWO
Race two was another superb race for
most of its distance, but this time it was
Beirer in front of Everts for half an ho ur.
Both rid ers were absolutely on the limit,
and they actually se t their fastest laps of
all at the three-quarter stage of the race.
At 32 minutes, Everts made the pa ss
and im me d ia tely began to o pen u p a
lead . With three laps to gD, he was more
than 50 ya rd s clear of Beirer as he cam e
to lap Kanstinger and Asplund.
"They did n't respect the blue flag,"
Everts sa id later at a press conference. " 1
was six or seven corners behind (them),
a nd Pit came very close aga in . 1 was
angry, and 1 made a mi stake in a CDrner."
Kanstinger later a dded portions to
the story that Everts appa rently left out.
"Straight a fter the race, he came over
to my truck and claimed 1 knoc ked him
off," Kanstinger said . "Ho w co u ld I
hav e knocked him off? I was only aware
tha t he was behind me iot one co rne r,
and I let him throug h as soon as 1 saw a
blue flag . I w a s 20 ya rds beh ind him
wh en he fell, and Aspl und was between
us . There was loose straw on the surface
at the co rner wher e he fell .a nd tha t
made the already-slippery surface even .
more treacherou s. He fell alone ."
"I touched him with m y sho u lder,"
As p lu nd said . " But he was a l rea dy
fa lli n g d o wn, a nd 1 touched him
because he fell across me."
Some eyewitnesse s clai med that
Asplund had not give n Everts a clear
run into th e corner but that he was still
racing Kanstinger for llnd, while other
eyewi tnesses confirmed that Everts was
ahead going into the turn and did not
crash because of any contact Everts fin ished a disconsola te second to Beirer
after th e cras h.
The battl e for fifth in the series was a
fascin ating one.
"I made a good s tart, and m y
mechanic was sig na lling me that if 1 finished fourth a hea d of Vohland then I
wou ld ta ke the 'nu mber-five pl a te, so
tha t was w ha t 1 was riding for ,"
ex p lained Karlsson a fter finishing in
that position. He had been up to third at
one s tage after ca tch ing and passing
Werner Dewit , but Bervo ets p assed
them both.
Vohl and had started bad ly.
" I wheelied out of the ga te and just
backed off," Vohland said . "I reck oned
that I had a better chance to come from
last than to ge t pulled down in the mid dl e of th e pack a t th e first tu rn . 1 was
right in beh ind Berv oets, in six th, and
could see Karlsson by half-distance, so 1
felt confident th at 1 co uld catch up to
him. But then 1 just fell down in a turn,
and suddenly 1 wa s 20 seconds back and
was back down to ninth."
It wa s soon pretty clear that Vohland
would eventually catch Frederic Bolley
again for sixth, buj that would not be
enough. He also need ed Dewit to repass
Karlsson . That loo ked possible with a
cou ple of laps to go, but Karlsson foug ht
hard and at the finish had even almost
reeaught Bervoe ts again .
Brown had gone out on the firs t lap
when the m aster cylinder of th e re ar
(Above) Belrer (7) end
Everts (1) staged
t itanic battles in both
motos. Everts was In
the lead late In moto
tw o when he was
in volved In 21
controversial crash
as the pair negotiated
lapped traffic,
allowing Belrer to
take the lead end
score the overall win.
(Right) Tallon
Voh land was the top
American at GaU
dor!.
Vohland went :Hi lor
fourth overa ll. He
Ilnls hed s txth In the
series' fi nal
stand ings.
brak e seized, and the battered Demaria
quit early.
~
Gennan 250cc GP
GeUdor!, Germany
Res ults: september 7,1 997
(Round 15 01 15)
o
MOTO 1: 1. Stefan Everts CU
lm); 2. Pit BeiI'1"T(Hon);
3. Ta llo n Vo h la nd (Ya m) ; .. . Mamicq Bervoets (Suz); 5 .
Mike Brown (Yam) ; b. Jocke Karlsso n (Hon); 7. Werner
Dewit (Suz); 8. Collin Dugmorc (Hon); 9'. Peter Iven
(Kaw); 10. Fred eric Boll ey (Ka w ); 11. Rob Herring
(Ya m ); 12. Josh Coppi ns (Su z); 13. Pedro Teagter (Hon);
t
14. Pit-rrid Pa ll;.'l: (H on); 15. An di Ka nstinger (H on).
MOTO 2: 1. Pit Bt-inor (Ho n); 2 Stefan Everts (Hon);
3. Ma rnicq Ilt-rvllf't!li