Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS Round 11: Circuit Kwintelooyen FIM W R HAMPIONSH O LDC IP 500ee M XSER IES (Far left) Husaberg's Joel Smets celebrates his third 500cc World title following his sweep at the Dutch.GP. (Left) Darryll King took runner-up honors in Holland, and he als o has a lock on second In the series. Eckenbach held fourth after ha lf an hour bu t then slowed, aga in with sand in the carb, befor e di sappear ing on the pe nultimate lap, Wit h th e firs t three pl acings in the se r ies e ffec tiv e ly s ea le d , th e s easo n fina le s till d oes no t ta ke o n academic in ter est. Ju st a si ng le p oint sepa rates Herring and Van Doo m for the honor of being the high est -placed ride r on a twostro ke. Smets wi ll be looking for ano ther win to help Hu sab er g to th e Manufactu rers' crow n . "I ha ve p la yed a n in te gra l part in building this team, and I feel respons ible to the com pa ny to make sure they win that, too," he said . T he tiny Swed is h firm lead s t he Jap an ese gia nt, Honda, by eig ht poin ts in the Manufacturer' s cha mpions hip . o. Sp ort ma rj Circuit Kwintelooyen Rhenen, Holland Results: August 8, 1998 (Round 11 of 12) MO TO 1: 1. loci Sme ts (H bg) : 2. Pete r Iohensson (Ya m ); 3. Darryl! Kin g (Hus): 4. Ce re-jan Van Doo rn (He n): 5. Chris Burn ham IHo n): b. Rob Herring (Hu n); 7. Danny Theybers (Hbg): 8. James Marsh (KTM); 9. M.lts Nilsso n (Hen): to . Ber nd Eckcnba ch (H us): 11. Shay ne King (KTM); 12. Ioch en Jas ins ki (Yam); 13. Damieo King (KTM); 14. Stefan Ande rsson (Yam); 15. Mats And rc.1 SS0I1 (Hon). By Alex Hodgkinson "W RHENEN, HOLLAND, AUG. 8 hen I sta rted out on the GP trail in a little truck wi th one bike , m y wife , an d m y friend , Lud o, as mecha nic, I could never hav e dreamed that I wou ld one da y be three times World Cha m pion , Word s ca n no t describe th e e motion I fe el today." That was the g ut feeling w hich Joel Smets exp ress ed to th e ga llery of ado ring fans as he stood atop the pod ium at the Circu it Kwintelooyen, ha ving just w on both motos of th e p enultimat e rou nd of the World 500cc MX Series to clinch his third crown in four years . The victor in the first m oto wa s soo n cl ear . Bernd Eck enba ch took th e h ol esh ot , but within h alf a lap , th e g all ery - pred om in antl y Be lg ian exploded as their hero burst to the front. From that mom ent, it was alrea dy a qu estion of who would be seco nd - and whether or not Da rryll King could postpone th e championship d ecider to th e second rnoto. Eckenbach wa s no t goi ng to be second. "Fro m the th ird lap, I had problems with sand in the carburetor," Eckenbach sa id . "In the last three laps, th e mot or was ru nning reall y badly." He salvaged 10th from Shayn e King in a ph oto finish. Darryll .Kin g was init iall y th ird bu t sim ply could not hold his place. GertJan Van D oorn, Chri s Burnham a nd Peter Johansson were sim ply fast er and, lon g before half-d istance, the Kiwi wa s down to fifth. If the position s remained to the finish, Smets was alread y champion , But it was no t to be . First Burnham went back. "I crash ed off a jump," he said. "I got back on fifth in front of (lohan) Boonen, but let him past to follow his lines and regain my rhythm." Th e Brit got a p lace back witho ut a fig h t a s eng in e b olt s b ro ke on t h e Hu sky . Van Doom wa s a lon gtime second in , his last home GP. "I was cat ching up to Joel, too," Van Doorn said. "I knew I was push ing it too hard, but I had to try to ca tch him for the Du tch crowd . In the end, I paid for it ph ysica lly, but fourth is also good ." Second at th e finish wa s Joh an sson . "I gated well," Johansson said, "bu t we have to shift earlier than the bigger bikes and Eckenbach, wh o was next to me, he w as able to nose in fro nt and cut across me in to the tUrn." From eigh th on lap one, th e Swede rode magnificently . " I sh owed ye ste rday with th e pol e tha t I am the fast est, but I feared what mi ght ha ppen at th e sta rt," Joh an sson sa id . " It was no probl em to pass, but I gave m ys elf too mu ch to d o to ca tc h Joel." Rob Herring, who had wheeli ed at the start, was a wond er fu l six th af ter coming from 15th on lap one. "I ju st con centrated on rid ing my o w n lines s moo th ly a nd w a s able to charge right to the finish ," Herring said. Just four p oints sep a ra te d Sm e ts fro m th e crow n, but he led th rou gh out the seco n d m ote , wh ich s a p p ed th e strength of even the fit test. But Kin g ke pt the p ressure on to th e end in second place to confirm his ranking, too . Johansson was not so happy. "I crashed on the first lap , and it took so lon g to restart the bike," he said . After four laps, Joh an sson was 30th. "Then I crash ed again," said th e Swede, "and it was pointless to continue ." Burnham and Herring were the early ch a llengers to King, but the Sarhol z teamster su ddenly di sappeared at halfdistan ce. "The rad iat or hose came off and I lost all th e coolant," said Burnham. Herring was third until the fmal lap . "T h e h ea t go t m e a t the en d , but the re were othe rs much wo rse than m e," Herring sai d . One w ho wasn' t was Machtlinger , the old man at 32. He was 11th on lap one, th en climbed up to th ird to virtually en sure himse lf of the number-ni ne plat e, as Boon en retired with back troubles. . ... ' '. • .' M O T O 2: 1. Jo t'l Sm et s (H bg ); 2. Da rry ll Ki ng (B us); 3. Erw in Ma chtli n ger (H en): 4. Rob Herri ng (Hon) : 5. Jame s Marsh (KTM ); 6. Willie Va n Wessel (He n): 7. Ma ts Nilsso n (l-Ion ); 8. Da mie n King (KTM); 9. Iochen Jasinski (Yam ); 10. Stefa n And ersson (Ya m); 11. Ge rt- Ian Van Doorn (Hen): 12. Siggi Baue r (KTM); 13. Jet Ian ssen If-len): 14. Dav id Ca m pbe ll (Hen): 15. Erik Van Klinken (KTM ). O / A: 1. jo l Smcts (Hbg) : 2. Darryll King (H us): 3. e Rob Herrin g (Hen): 4. James Marsh (KTM); 5. Gert-Ian Va n Do om (H o n): 6. Pe te r Johansson (Yam) ; 7. Mat s Nilsson (He n ): 8. Erw in Ma ch tlin ger (Hen): 9. Chri s Burn ha m (Ha n); 10. Damien King (KTM). FI M WOR LD C HAM PIO N SH IP SOOcc MX SE RIES rOINTS STANDINC S (After 11 of 12 ro unds): 1. Joel Smets (367 / 5 win s ); 2. Da rr yll King (308 / 1); 3. Pet er Io han sson (233); 4. And rea Bartolini (225/3); 5. Bern d Eck e nba ch (198 /1); 6. Rob H erring ( 84 ); 7. Ge rt-Ia n Va n Door n (83); 8. S hay ne Kin g ( 6 4 ); 9. Er wi n Mach tli nger (143); 10. Johan Boone n (111 ); 11. Chris Burn ha m (85); 12. Dan ny The yb ers (83); 13. Ja mes Ma rs h (81); 14, Rupi Wal kner (75); 15. Ioch cn Jasin ski (75); 16. Avo Leok (66); 17. Willie Van Wessel (63); 18. Mat s Nilsso n (SO); 19. Da m ie n Kin g (43); 20. Stefan Everts (40/1) . Upcoming Round: Final Round - August 30, W achtersbach, _..:..' ..' .. := .. ' I :Andrea ' Bartolini 'was transferred 'back to Italy after spendinq a wee k in a Belgian,hospital, , where a metal rod was planted 'into the thigh he broke atNarnur, according to Yamahateam manager Hannu Heinonen, "Andrea is in really good spirits and was alr;,adywalking with the aid of, , crutches 'two days after the operation.".Heinonen said, "He'actually watched the' entire opera-, 'non.'and he hopes to be' able to have the rod removed in four months' time and will be fully fit by ,the start' of next seaso n,- Bartclini has already,told friends on' his mobile phone

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