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/127949
Round 6: Crossedromo Pino Serra
MOTOCROSS
F O LD C
IMW R HAMPIONSHIP
1 MOTOCR S
25cc
O SSERIES
, I
By Geo ff Meyer
••1
BORGO MAGGIORE, SA1'I MARI!'iO, JUNE 14
have no preo;su re o n me; it's all
in my favor : I don ' t even
expect to win this year's cha mpionship, " s m iled 20-year-old French
rider David Vuillemin after chalking u p
his second overall victory in this year' $
Worl d 125cc MX Series.
Vuillem in has a po in t: W hile he is
very much a rider of the highest quality,
it is Hu sq varna-mou nted Alessio Chiod i
who is expected to defend his numbero ne plate w ith ease. Chiodi, w ho had
won three of th e opening four ro u nds,
had loo ke d u n st oppab le in th e ea rly
goi ng; no w , ho w e v er, it see ms it' s
Vu illem in's turn to ta ke cha rge.
Th e s i te fo r the 1998 Sa n M ar in o
12Sec MX gra nd pri x had bee n a ha p py
h u n ting g ro u nd for C hiodi, w ho had
overall w ins in 1994 and 1995, and who
also finished second in 1993. Was it any
w on d er h is o p posi tion was expec ting
anythi ng less tha n a wi n by the series
leade r?
" I re a lly like the downhills her e,"
said Chiodi of the und u lating track.
"You ha ve to ride like the wi nd and
s how so me heart "
Vuillem in ha d his own liking for the
track, thou gh.
" I have a p ract ice track exactly the
sa me as this at hom e," he sa id . "I think I
can fin ish wi th a t leas t tw o top- three
placi ngs."
Qualification would give some indication, as Chiodi and Vui llemi n finis hed
first and second , respectively, th e two
clocked tim es being far better than those
of th eir mai n riva ls: TM 's A lessandro
Pu zar cou ld o nly ma nage eig hth fas tes t,
w hile Yamaha's Ca rl I un n, of G reat
Britai n, could only m uster fifth place.
Co me Sun day, rain clou ds aga in hovered over the moun tainsid e track. Whil e
r a in w o uld n o t fa ll durin g the fi rs t
rnoto, it wo uld be a m ajo r player in the
day's overa ll placings.
O pe ning up the first mot o was a rampan t C h iod i, w h o blit z ed o u t o f the
s ligh t uphill start straight and into th e
lead . Beh in d th e d efending cha m p io n
chased Yam a ha rid er s Luca C heru bin i
a nd Fred eric Viall e, Suzu ki -mou n te d
Bria n Jorgen sen, and N u nn. The pace of
th e fi rst la p w a s amazi ng , a n d t w o
favo rit es were not even in the picture Puza r and Vui llemi n s truggled with
s lowe r r id ers , P u z ar in 30th a n d
Vuillemi n in 10th. For seven laps, Chiod i had his bike pinned and was loo king
sure to record his third consecutive win
o n th is ha ppy hun ting ground, but ou t
of the pa ck, Vuil lernin ha d cha rged past
all but the leader.
"The firs t few laps I was really struggling with my rhythm," Vuillem in sa id.
" In fac t, three riders passed me; then I
got some nice lines and sta rted ma king
up some time on Chiodi."
Th e Yamah a-m oun ted Fre nc h m a n
was clo sin g o n C hiod i, a nd the local
crow d w as ex pecting the w orst On lap
e ig h t, Vuill em in to ok t he le a d an d
began his own show of power.
" I tried to stay with him, but he wa s
u sing so me lines I could not work ou t,"
Chiodi said of Vuillernin's su rge.
Further ba ck in the pack , Che ru bi ni
had dropped fro m th e picture, his place
taken by Jo rgensen, while Nunn was
tr ying topu t pres sure on th e Danish
rid er .
"1 felt rea lly stro ng, but I wa nted to
conserve my ene rgy, and Brian was riding very w ell," sa id N u nn .'
Jorgensen moved his Suzu ki machine
into a safe third place.
Pu zar, mea nwhile, was st ill figh ting
Vaill••in clo••• in
wi th riders of much less q uality. It is a
problem PUZ