Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Then a ll h ell broke loose. Be fore Everts carne aro und for the 10th lap (the first moto ran 13 laps), the course marshal a t the bot tom of The Hill pulled out the red flag and stop ped the madnes s, w h ic h w a s b y thi s time th e foc us of eve ry fan on that side of the valley. With n ow h e re t o ro u te t h e rid e rs e xce p t through the crowded infield spectating area, the fen ces were pull ed down an d the rid er s were sen t through the people and back to the tra ck on ano ther sectio n to ge t b a ck to t he sco r ing a r ea. But beca use no officials there co u ld see down th rough the fog to the other end of the valley, and no one seemed to be wearing a radio, the race con tinued. For two biza rre laps, the rid ers raced around half the track, then rod e through a gate int o the sea of spectators, up the infie ld and back on to the tra ck to s tart racin g aga in. Wh at was rea lly fu n ny was the fact that every time the you ng Carmich ael rod e through th e fan s, he waved and high-fived the spec ta tors as he w ent along. " I was jus t having fun at that point," Rick y la ter rem arked . "I d idn't rea lly kn ow w ha t was going on or what I was supposed to do, so I just kept go ing. Everyone was yelli ng and cheering and blasting those air horns, so I figured I mig ht as well enjoy the ride." By the time the parade was stopped, it was obvious tha t the scoring was going to be a big problem. For instance, Chiodi was leading the 125c<: class but was stuck on The Hill when the red flag carne ou t for Ca rm ichael, who di d not hav e to try to climb the mon ster ag ain, thus all owin g him to get in tw o mor e 'laps than the stra nded Italian. Afte r more than an hour's d elay, the first set of scores we re released and an u pro a r we n t thr ou gh t he pa d dock. Eve rts was the w inner, of course, but Chiod i and Picho n were not even classi fied . In fact, only nine riders we re cred- ited wit h finis hes. However, Ca rmichael was ranked seventh (and 'second 125) beh ind Danish s ta r Brian Jorgen se n . Obviously, the last three laps through the infield we re counted . "T here was n o co m m u nicatio n between th e man wh o pu t the red flag ou t and th e race direct or ," said Action Group representat ive Pascal Hardic ourt. "We do no t hav e a definite answer until the race director comes to tell us when the red flag carne out, but he is busy trying to red ir ect th e tra ck fo r the fina l moto. At that point we will homologate ' the res u lts and ma yb e change one or two posi tions." The FlM ju ry met agai n and a new set of scores were put ou t tha t reflected the standings af ter 10 laps, the las t lap befo re th e red flag flew . Everts was again the wi nner, but Pichon was bac k in secon d, foll ow ed by Finnish rid er Ma rko Ko va la in en , Britis h ri der Pau l Malin , and Beirer. Ch io di was given Ca rmichael's seven th place, top 125, and the Ameri can was dropped to 14th overall. Even with Ca ps ' DNF , Belgium was now in com plete control, needing only Everts and Beire r to bo th finish in the top 15 in the final 250cc/Open moto to secure the team championship. Team USA was still in the hunt, but with 26 points already in the bank and no throwaways left, it would take two Herculean rides by Henry and Dowd and a DNF by the Belgians for an Americanteam win . After mo re track cuts to elimina te The H ill, th e anticlimactic fin al moto went off more than 90 minutes late . German Open rider Bernd Eckenbach held the early lead , followed by Darryl King, Da n is h rider Van Doorn, and Henry . Everts was seventh, while Dowd was back in 24th . The race would go bad ly for both Americans. While Dowd moved up to ninth p lace by the finis h, he would fin ish nearly th ree minutes beh ind Eve rts. Henry had sli pped back to seventh by the fift h la p, at w hich p o int h e fe ll. Afte r that, mud d y gloves a nd p o or vis io n w ould h ind er h im u ntil th e completion of the ra ce, a t which poi nt he was tw o laps d own a nd 19th ove ral l. Unfo rtu na tely for th e cause, bo th Am erican fini shes in th e fina l moto w ould co u n t toward th e standings, and the Ll.S. team wo u ld drop to fifth p lace. As for the others, w it h in . fou r laps Everts had moved up int o the lead , and the Belgian hero checked ou t. He wo uld even tually wi n by one minute, 13 seconds - his first-ever class wi n at the MX des Na tions w hen Belgi u m has won. Dutchma n Va n Doorn, w ho was co mpeting in his last professional race, was a fi tti ng second, fo llo wed by Darry l Kin g, Ma rko Kovalai ne n, a nd It alian Alessa ndro Belomett i. Pichon DNFed the mot o after bein g hit in the eye by a hu ge rock tha t flew ' off the back end of another bike. "The w ho le th ing wo u ld have been better had it kept rainin g all day ins tead . of starting and stopping," said Pichon, who was wrenched by his American me chanic, Tony Berlutti. "To me , the whole race was a little bit ridiculous. This is not a good day to s how the world who the best team in the world is. The organization had bad luck wi th the weather , but t h a t' s the way i t goes sometimes." Th ree fa ir ly unkn ow n Fin ns ma naged to combi ne consis tency and speed together to secure the best Finnis h finish ever. The sa me goes for New Zea land, which took the final spot on the pod ium . "I think our best resu lt here was a fifth before this," said Kiwi leader Darryl King, the oldest of the Kin g brothers . "The mud suited us a little bit. We've (Above len) The heavy mud broke the front number plate off Carmichael's bike. (Above) What this rider must be feeling can pretty much sum up this year 's MX des Nations. had a lot of rain to rid e in over the yea rs - it' s w hat w e lea rn ed how to rid e in . Shay ne and I used to slide arou nd in the mud every ni ght a fte r sc h oo l on o u r mi ni b ikes, so it d efin it el v suited u s . Bein g up on the podium was prett y special for us. Motocrossers all across Ne w Zealand are goi ng to be pretty happy with this." But the day belonged to Everts a nd the Bel g ians. Wh en as ke d if the win eased t he p a in of lo s in g his 25 0cc Wo rld ti tle to Fre nc h ma n Seba s tien Tor tell i tw o weeks ago, Ever ts a nswere d, UNo, beca use it was so methin g tot all y differ ent - and Tortelli was not her e, anyw ay . The MX d es Nations is such a cool and specia l race for me, because it brin gs so man y specia l feelings wit h it. Everyone is here to ride for their coun try an d d efend it, and all of the fans a re wavi ng yo~r flag and everything. The atmosphere is com pletely different than a GP . It's just great. It's a pity we had these conditions, with all of the mud and all , but that's racing, and sometimes you have to expect that. That's motocross." "It was a good experience and I was proud to rep rese nt the U.S., bu t the condi tions jus t di dn' t m a k e fo r a goo d race," sai d Hen ry afterward, still icing a so re an kle from the last moto. "We' di d ou r best, bu t it just wasn' t ou r d ay." C\ MX des Nations Foxhill, England Res ults : Septembe r 27, 1998 O /A : 1. Belgium; 2. Finland ; 3. N~w Zealand; 4. The Netherland s; 5. USA; b. Ge rma ny; 7. Great Britain ; 8. CZ«h Republic; 9. S10Vf."IlL.l; 10. 1t.,ly; 11. Denmark, 12Switzerland . 00 0\ 0\ ,..... ~ ,.....' l-< Q) .c o ...., u o • 39

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