Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

MOTOCROSS Round 16: Megalopolis MX Park -=---- F O LDCHAMPIONSHIP , IMW R 250ccMX S R S E IE IE- By Geoff Meyer MEGALOPOLIS, GREECE, SEPT. 13 ~~ o ('f) J-o Q) .c E Q) ..... 0.. Q) en 18 ren ch sens ation Sebastien Tortelli, riding his Jan de Groot Kawas aki, wrest ed th e 1998 W orld 250 cc Motocro ss Champions hip from the jaws of defeat. " I ca me here th inking it wou ld be d iffi cul t, but I a lways ga ve m yse lf a chance," sa id the new Worl d Champion . Tortelli, w ho en tered the fina l round of the series eight poi nts behind defending c ha m p io n a n d series lea d e r St efa n Everts, turned a 1-1 res ult in Greece into the ti tl e, b ecom in g o n ly t he third French ma n in hist ory to w in a World Mo tocross Cha m pionship. Everts w o uld lea ve th e G reek track w ith his hon or serio us ly d en ted and his prid e smashed. Th e Belgia n, who tallied 3-7 resu lt s in th e tw o rnotos, had not o nly lost his cha nce to win a fifth Wo rld Mo tocross C ha m pions h ip, bu t also fell mo re quickly tha n a house of cards as he flou ndered aro u nd the hill y circui t in a most uncha racteristic fashion . After 1324 minutes of racin g in th e 1998 World 250cc Mo to cross Cham p io nsh ip, defendi n g World C h a m p io n Eve rts a nd h is m aj or r iv al , To rt elli , we re locked on 523 poin ts - with o nly 20 min utes rema in in g in the seaso n . To rte lli, with a bruisin g pass, had o nly seco n d s ea r li e r pu sh ed in fr on t o f Eve rts for th e lead in the final mota of th e last round o f the seas on. With a bet ter 1998 win ratio than Everts (To rte lli was heading for moto win number 15, while Everts had won 14 motos), th e French wonder w as now the fav orite to lock up th e titl e. Many, though, knew Everts was a winner - and that he could come back at any moment and s teal th e glory. Wh at followed cou ld only be d escribed as amazing . Everts, w ho was totally spe nt from a nerve-wrackin g loss in th e first m ot a , lost spe ed in moto tw o and cru ised to a seas on-w orst finish of se venth . "I rod e so tight in the first mo ta that I had no th in g left ," Everts sai d . " I even ~ th o u g ht a bo u t s to p pin g, but I d idn 't wan t to en d it th at wa y . So I fo u g h t through the pain to finis h." Th e fo u r - tim e W orl d C ha mpio n wo uld lat er drop to the grou nd , his legs also failing him as he fainted in the arms of his su p porters as they tried to cons ole him. (Above) Stefan Everts (1) and Sebastien Tortelli (4) leave the starting gate as their war for the 1998 250cc World Champ ionship gets under way in Greece. (Left) Everts leads Tortelli, but it was only a temporary lead. The two fought hard for the entire day but Torte lli ended up coming out on top. ___l Tortelli , m ean while, kept hi s cool and w en t on to wi n the mo to, the ove rall and most im porta ntly the cha m pi o ns hip - add ing to his 1996 Wor ld 125ee Motocross Cha mpionshi p. Wi th the fina l ro und of th e series held in G reece, it was a surprise tha t o nly 18 Europea n regulars turned up for Saturday's qualification. As has been the case all season long, Eve rts clocke d a fas tes t tim e of 1:59.949 aro und the 6270feet track, and Tortelli made his contributio n w it h a 2:00.514. So me tw o seconds off th e pa ce in th ird p la ce w a s Honda-mounted Pit Beirer, with Am erican Ta llo n Vohl and end ing up fifth o n his fact ory Yamah a. A nother A merican, Ryan Hu ghes, had been brought in by th e Ka w asaki tea m to tr y to hel p To r tell i wi n th e cham pions hip, but in a heated m om en t Ev erts ' team m ana g er, Dav e G r an t , a p pealed the entry, forcin g Hughes to sit ou t the even t. "I und erstand Gra nt's deal. Thi s is a big ra ce and I cou ld hav e caused so me probl ems for th e Honda team ," said Hugh es. Gra nt w as a little mo re cu t-a nd-d ry abo u t the situ a tion. " H is e n try was late, so he ca n n o t r ide - it' s as si mp le as th at, " sai d Grant. ~ As expected, race d ay was filled wit h high drama . As th e rid ers en tere d the area beh ind the starti ng gate, television c rews d id las t-mi nu te in ter v iew s . Tortelli ap peared a bit sheepis h, at least co m pare d to Everts, w ho was pl aying thi ngs coo l. Wh en th e ga te d r opped , To rtelli gra bbed a slig h t lead off the s ta rt and Everts, w ho had lost a littl e tim e in the first 300 fee t, wa s a bo u t to ge t hi s firs t wake- up ca ll. T o rt e ll i turned h is ma ch in e ri g ht int o the path of Eve rts and , as th e tw o entered the first corn er, it looked lik ely th at Everts would end up cra shing into the insi de safety fence. Ju st as he has don e in the past, thou gh, Eve rts held the th rottle on lon ger th an his challeng er and came ou t of th e corner in fron t. "H e blocked me, bu t it wa s nothing se ri ous - I ha ve d one th e sa m e to him this year, " Eve rts sa id lat er. Tortelli had so me how lost so me positions and was fifth as they entered turn two. " I got a littl e m es sed up an d w as t hen fig h ti ng w it h Voh land a n d Berv oets," Tortelli exp lained later. By la p tw o, Beire r had moved in to th e lead as Ever ts s truggled wi th his rhyt h m ; Ya maha-mou nted M icka el Maschi o was second . Back in fifth, Vohlan d cou ld n' t believe what he was seeing ahead of him . " I was just behi nd Stefa n (Ever ts) and Tortell i. Ma n, they we re riding like rookies; I was rea lly surprised ," Vohland said. Bei re r was soo n lo o kin g over his sho ulder, seeing that the two " rookies" h ad fo ug h t bac k to t h e top t h ree altho ugh doing it with far less style tha n in p revious weeks . " I d id not wa nt to ge t cau ght u p wi th them ; they w ere figh tin g fo r the title and I so rt of let th em go, " Bier er said . "Bu t th ey w er e rid in g so badly. Then th ey crashed and I was su ddenly ba ck in the lead. At that moment I th ou ght, 'Thi s is my race now.' " . Sure e noug h, Ev erts had crashed headfirst into the hard d irt as he entered a left-ha nd co rner . H e had fou ght hi s way to th e front , and now he w ould have to do it all o v er a gain as he remounted in fourt h place. " I ju st did s o methi ng s tu p id, and

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