Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 1 25ccMX SERIES (Left) Alessandro Belometti (11) leads Alessandro Puzar (2), Claudio Federici, _ Luca Cherubini and Chlcco Chlodl early In the first 125cc GP moto In Austria. (Above) Defending champ Chlodi hauled back some of the points that he lost at the previous three rounds by going 1-1. By Alex Hodgkinson KLAGENFURT, AUSTRIA, JULY 12 ~ 40 ot a mome nt too soo n, it was finally the turn of Alessio "C hicco" Chiodi's main rivals to have problems , as the defendi ng Wo rld Champion won bo th motos at a rugged Launsdorf track in Au stri a, not only to maintain his o nc e- com fortable p oints lead bu t to in crea se his s eries lead in the World 125cc M X Ch ampion ship s ta nd ings to 16 points. Ch iodi' s o nce-handsome lead in the ser ies h ad be en slashed to ju s t four p oints before Austria, as he su ffered ze ro-sco ring rides in three consecutive GP s, but a knee injury for Frenchman David Vuillemin (w inner of those three GP s) and a flattened exhaus t pipe for third title cand idate Sandro Puzar - and Chiodi ' s blistering pace, of co u rse redressed the bala nce a little. A single "d ry" line developed much too quickly to encourage an y overtaking in t he fir st moto after the usual overnigh t rain of the "s u mmer" of ' 98 came. "I exp ected it (the track) to be better," said ex-AMA reg u lar Jam es Dobb, "bu t nearly everyone was jus t following the sa me line fro m th e very first lap . I w as tryin g to m a ke so m e m o ves and ended up payi ng the pena lty w hen I s lithered down on the mud d y ground as I tried to go under Frederic Vialle on la p tw o. It wa s virtually im possible to pass onc e th e rid er in fro nt knew yo u . we re there." Dobb would finish 14th. Even Vuillemin - an experienced man w hen i t com es to o v ert akin g, as h e inva riably gets bad star ts - was stuck in eig h th p la ce a t th e ba ck of a lowerlead erboard freig ht train for 15 minutes until seventh-placed Carl Nunn made a mistake. " I tried to go wide to ge t a ro u nd (F re deri c) Via lle an d le f t David th e space," Nunn said. "He was pas t Vialle at the next comer and got to fourth in no time at all beca use he made his moves before they knew he wa s there: ' N u n n gra te fu lly accepted a pla ce w hen Al e x Be lo m e tti fe ll ; Bel omet ti wo u ld finis h where he started . Vu ilIemin wa s fairly sa tis fied w it h his fourth in th e moto. "I had to be carefu l not to put strain on my right knee after twisti ng it yes terday," explained Vuillem in. "Once I was fourth, it was 10 seco nds to Puzar, and I would have ha d to take too many risks to try to catch him : ' . Up front, a si ng le m ista ke decided thin gs after Claudio Federici had led for 17 m inu tes. " I g ot into a tan k-s la p p e r goi ng downhill and had to slow right down or I would have crashed heavily," Federici said. "Chicco was able to pass me and alrea dy had a good lead' before I could regain my composure: ' Th e champion wa s rad ian t as usual as he basked in the glory of success . " I thin k I could have found a w a y pa st even if Cla u dio had no t m ad e a mistake, but I d idn' t need to," Chiod i sa id. "Now I hope I ca n m ake a good resu lt in race two:' Th ird -p laced Puzar was o u tpaced from the begi nning and mad e no secret o f the fact that he w as - o nce again /down o n power . The aftern o o n s u n dri ed o ut th e entire track , and the support races mad e it incredibly bu mpy. The end resu lt was a fab ul ou s race in the second mot o. , Magic Bike teammates Belom etti and Fed erici absconded wit h the holeshot, bu t by the finish they were d own to eighth an d sixth , respective ly, w hich goes to show how fast the pace was early on. Vuillemin was s trugg ling as u sual from the start (he was 18th on lap one), so C hio di and Puzar ha d the race between them. Ch iodi hit the front first , but Puzar followed him past Belometti ' on the same lap. "I was comfortable for half the race, but th en I mad e a m istak e in a co rner and crashed," ad mitted the ch amp ion . "I was still seco nd , but soon afterwards other reasons, -I never got a single ,lap in an day without a misfire.- he said. "and we can't find the'problem." There was yet a,;~ther change 'of rider on'the lactory KTM. with Ryan Hunt retuming from South Africa lor the week. The 28·year·oldexplained. "l started ridmg again last year alter a three-year layoff. and I'm riding lor KTM back home.", Alter qualifying as reserve, he laced a tougher task in David Vuillemin has been targeted by se veral 250cc GP teams. racing, "We only ride 20-minute motos at home. and sometimes .t's three including Kawasaki Europe and Winfield'Suzuki. but the Frenchman said or four weeks between races ." Trampas Parker was clearly not happy he expects to stay on with Yamaha; though he was not sure in which that Hunt had replaced fellow American Bader Manneh on the bike he had getting injured earlier ridden the class , "You cannot buy a contract like you buy a loaf of bread." he said. ridden untillast three GPs. said, "l this year: Manneh. who hadhad shaken bike at the didn't have a contract. but I dism,i ssfng suggesti ons that he would cha nge marque. . hands with Chad (Parker) and understood that Iwouldride the bik lor the, e rest of the year, On the basis 01 that. I sold my Hondas and have bor-, Dav id Vuillemin was one 01 the first victims 01 the challenging new rowed one Irom one of my 1997 sponsors to race here," Feeling that he Launsdorl track, hobbling around with his right knee strapped up, "I have had not b'een given' a lair chance. Manneh added, "How did they (KTMl twisted my knee badly and cannot put down my foot in riqht-hand cor- expect 'results from mewhen I never gola 'chance to test the bike during ners ," he- said belore the race.' "It happened already in Iree training on , thewee k? You can't tum upat a GP atthe weekend and start settinqu p Saturday as I went along the straight." While Vuillemin could still race. the suspension Meoneh quallfied as 17th on his Honda but never lig'," otherswere not so lucky., Quallfiers Nicolas Charlier and Marcel Van ured in racing after poo r starts .' Drunen were out with a broken shoulder blade and elbow. respectively. , Carl Nunn has signed a new two-year contract with Cadburys TBC Yamaha. The Brit is ass ured a lull lactory bikenext year. Ex.champ Dave Strijbos. riding lor the first time since Foxhifl. said. "My knee is still a problem: but I wanted to race before my home GP next week," , Sirij~s . however, was all but eliminated from the Austrian GP lor . American David Kratz is-now on the road to recovery from his broken arm sustained in practice lor the Belgiari GP 'in early J une, and he will retum to action at a German Championship round on the first 'weekend olJ August. , "

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