Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS W ORLDC HAMPIONSH IP 250CC M TOC O SSERIES O RS By A lex Hodgkinson 20 ROGGENBURG, SWITZERLAND, SEPT. 6 ebastien Tortelli declared wa r on Stefan Everts with a late pass ...........~ th a t left th e Wo rld Cha mpio n sp raw led on the gro und in the first mo to of the Swiss Gra nd Prix. He then passed h is riv a l again in th e seco nd mot o to complete the second half of his d ouble "in, but the Frenchman's agg ression has possibly come too lat e, as the -Belgian still leads the series by eight points wit h just one GP remaining, in Greece. He will also need a little help, as someo ne else will also have to bea t Evert s once if Torte lli is to take the crown. Maki ng his penult imate GP appeara nce before re tu rning to AMA raci ng n e xt y ea r , Ta llo n Vohl an d fi nis h e d fourth on the day after cross ing the finish line in that position in both motos. Everts mad e the perfect start in race one to ge t a clear run throu gh the first turn, followed by the Yam ah as of Mickae l Mas chi o and Vohland, but To rtelli wa s quickly up to fou rth. H e p assed Vohland over a ju m p on la p two and swep t under Masch io in a turn on lap three, but Ever ts was already clear and the gap actually wid ened at half a second per lap durin g the firs t half of the race . "I cou ld se e St efan (Eve rt s ) g oing aw ay and I had to tell m yself to wake up," Tortelli said. "I found the lines and then , even when I was six s econds behind, I knew it was possibl e to win." With fiv e laps to go, the g ap was down to two seconds , and the Frenchman edged ever closer before mak ing a brutal inside pass when the Belgia n left the d oor ope n in a d ownhill tu rn , 1 't, lap s from the finis h. The Frenchman hit th e Bel gi an a n d the cha m p io n w ent d own, remounting a d istant but safe second . "I know that is racing, but it is th e sa me prob lem as every week with th e lapped rider s," Everts said . "Tha t was how he caught up to m e. When you have to ride a few corn ers at thei r speed, it breaks you r co nce n tra tion, and it is difficult to g e t b ack y o ur previ ou s rh ythm and speed. It was a very aggressive pass and I fell d own." H e a d ded a wa rni ng : "The sa me thing can happen to him!" A long way ba ck in third was Pit Beirer, who h ad been sevent h on lap one. "I was fifth off the gate, but then at the third turn (Miska) Aaltonen di ved inside me and knocked me right off the track ," Beirer said. "I got plastic tape in my rear wheel and I killed th e motor twice on th e first lap as my rear brake jammed on. After a couple of laps ( had burnt it off and wa s able to ad vance to th ird, but I w as already much too fa r beh ind. But I think I can run with them in race two." Kawasaki rac e boss jan De Gr oot, wh o con gratulated Beirer after the race, Round 15: Swiss Grand Prix must certainly hope so - because the German , w ho has signed for Kawasaki for next yea r, is surely Tort elli's one hope to help keep Everts ou t of the top two. Vohland was fourth. _ "I was struggling to find the lines at first, but once Beirer came pas t I cou ld follow his lines and stay on him," Vohland said . "I tri ed to charge him again five laps from the end, but 1 gue ss he still had a little in reserve." After Maschi o cr ash ed out of fifth , the position went to Jocke Karlsson on the final lap. Sixth on lap one, the Swed e dropped two places early on . "I was being much too careful in the early laps until I realized that the track was not so slipp ery as 1 expected it to -be," Karlsson sa id. "I go t ba ck o n th e pace, bu t I had left myself wit h far too much to d o by then. " He caugh t Rem y Van Rees near the end and passed the Du tchman cleanl y on the last lap by dri vin g und er h im exiting a fast turn. Marnicq Bervoets had cras hed when the tape ripped across the track by Beirer on the first lap dragged him and Paul Cooper off their bikes . Tortelli nailed th e hol eshot in race two but was passed by Everts on the first lap - he didn't seem to be pushing too hard in the first 10 minutes. Everts was also off his best pace, and that wa s exactly what Tortelli wanted . Beirer, Voh land and Bervoets were' still only just over 10 seconds down on the leading duo at this stage and lap times, on a drier track, were below those of race one. Then Everts su d den ly re ali zed the "plan ." If an ything "ha ppened" to him and he was not far enou gh ahea d of the rest to remount still in seco nd place, that potentiall y dangerou s d efeat by so meon e other than Tortelli was staring him in the face. The champion upped the tempo, and . the Frenchman had to react with yet faster times to pull him back aga in. Suddenly, they were moving away from the chasing trio at the rate of three seconds per lap . At the 2a-minute mark , Tortelli went ... past Everts with a clean mo ve on the big hill at the other side of the valley - and a smiling Everts let him go. "I only need tw o seco nds in Greece: ' Everts said later. "That's no problem ." In th eir wake, Bervoets was a cle a r third at the finish, his every effort to help th e De Gr oot team co ming to nothing, while Vohlan d got fourth ahead of Beirer. "Marnicq got away when Pit and I banged bar s a few times: ' the American explained. Th e German Beirer was u n h a p p y with his ride. "I was just physically finished:' he said . "All my energy was already gone after a few minutes." Karlsson w as six th for most of the race after passin g Maschio early on. "I tried to stay wi th those three, but they wer e just that little bit too fas t for me and I had to sett le for sixth." 1"X Frenchman Sebastien Tortelli w o n the Swiss 250cc Grand Prix, closing to within eight points 01 championsh ip leader Stelan Everts ~l1h one round remain ing. Sw iss Grand Pr ix Roggenburg, Sw itzerland Resu lts: September 6, 1998 (Round 15 0116) (Ka w), 7. Josh Coppins (Suz); 8. Leon Giesbers (KlM); 9. Miska Aaltonen (KThI); to. Mickael Maschio (Yam); 11. Collin Dugmore (Hon ): 12. Paul Cooper (Kaw): 13. sq Ph ilippe Du pa uier ITM); 14. Micha l Kadlecek (Suz); 15. Peter Nijs (Hem). MOTO 2: 1. Sebastie n Tortelli (Kaw): 2. Stefan Everts (Han); 3 . Ma micq Be rv oe ts (Su z); 4. Tall on Voh land (Yam); 5. Pit Beire r (Han); 6. jocke Karlsson (Han); 7. Josh Coppi ns (Suz); 8. Philippe Dupasquier (TM); 9. Peter Iven IKaw) : 10. Pau l Coo pe r O(aw); 11. Mlckael Mas chio (Yam); 12. ReIDV Van Ret'S (Kaw): 13. Peter Nijs [Hon h 14. Fran cisco Garci.'\ Vieo (Yam ); 15. Mark Jon es (Han ). O/A: 1. Seba stien To rte lli (Kaw): 2. Stefa n Everts (Ha n); 3. Pit Beirer (Ha n); 4. Tallon Vohland (Yam); 5. [oc ke Karl sson (Hon ); 6. Josh Coppins (Suz); 7. Marnicq Ber voet s (Suz) ; 8. Remy Van Rees (Kaw); 9. Phili ppe Du pasquier (TM); 10. Mickae l Maschio (Yam). FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250« MX SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Aft eor 15 of 16 round s ): 1. Stefan Everts (531/8 wins) ; 2. Sebas tie n Torte lli (523/ 6); 3. Pit Beirer (3b8/1); 4. Frederic Bolley (279); 5. Ma micq Bervoe ts (264) ; 6 . Ta ll on Vo hland (247 ); 7. Io cke Ka rlsson (225) ; 8. Mickael Ma schio (203) ; 9 . Leo n Giesbers (62); 10. Paul Coo per (119); 11. Yves Demaria (l 17); 12. Josh Cop pins uon, 13. Pet er Iven (97); 14. Werner Dewit (86); 15. Justi n Morris (73); 16. Miska Aa ltonen (72); 17. [ai my Scevenels (69) ; 18. Mark Eastwood (6S); 19. Rc my Va n Rees (53); 20. Pie rri ck Paget (32). MOTO 1: 1. Sebas tie n Torrel l! (Kaw): 2. Stefan Eve rts (Ho n): 3. Pit Beire r (He n): 4. Ta llon Voh land . s (Yam) ; 5. l ock e Kar lsson (Hem) ; 6. Remy Va n Ret:: Upcom ing Round: Final Round - MegaJopolis, Greece, September 13 however•.as Chicco Chlodi is now confirmed to stayin the 125cc GPs with Husqvarna. . One cOnfirmed switch Is that of Leon Giesbers to the factory Suzuki Stefan Everts' appeal against exclusion in the second moto of the Brazil- . team for Sylvain Geboers on a one -year contract. Geboers also co n- . ian GP has been rejecte d. v andbrs team is currently awaiting the written, . firmed that Mamicq Bervoets will definitely leave his team. Bervoets is curre ntly hot property as many teams are chasing few"pote ntial winners. . decision before deciding whether or not to .take the matter furtherv The but he will definitely not race for KTM . He co uld sign for Pamo Honda. but FIM Disciplinary Court 'conftrmed the deci sion of the -juryto exclude ir s more likely he will find a place as joint number one wit h Beirer at De Everts rather than to implement a two-minute time.penalty. . Gro ot ~wasaki . wh~ will also get a new main ~pon sor . Winfi eld. . ·T a i lo n Vohland will quit the GP scene to return to ·.AMA racing as ~ .' Werner Dewit. meanwhile. will sign this week wit h KrM. Kees Van der V ensaid that they have .elready agreed to terms. and also that he will member of the FMF 125cc Honda team rnanaqed by Bobby Moore. Vo hretain Champ as the team's primary sponsor: . . landwill race 125 cc outdoor ~ationals and 125cc Wes t Coast Super cro ss . . Yamaha hopes to announce the teams that will tie supplied with· fact~: . ry engines for next year s 125 and 250 cc' GPs next wee kThe most likely scenario is for Mickael M aschio and Yves D emaria to ride 250 s for .Team W irtz . po ssibly with Georges Job e as team advisor. while ' Magic Bike switches to the' 250 s wi th Alex B elometti and hopes to sign Ryan Hu·ghes as team leader . David .V uillemin will thus stay in the 125s alongside Carl Nunn . while Cia udio Federici will 'also stay after . joining Claudio De Carli. The factory Yamahas will have no easy .task . The Fiadso~ . Honda team has been reduced to one rider for the rest of the . year. It has been confirmed that Frederic Bolley broke his right wrist in Poland. while Mark Eastwood also discovered that he had two fractures in his lower right leg after his second-rnoto crash in .Gdynia. Both will miss . the rest of the season. RWJ 's Justin Morris is also out for the rest of the season after undergoing an operation on his shoulder. . : . Marni~ BervDetB will have a 1999 Suzuki RM 125. with i,;ctorY suspensio n and facto ry engine kit part s for the Mot oc ro ss des Nations. .M i c kae l Pichon will replace Bolley in the French Nations team. .

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