Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

(Above) Steve Lamson made his Chaparral debut and fin ished fourth in the horrible cond itions. (Left) Robbie Reynard ended up putting his Suzuki on the podium with a third-place finish. (Below) Lamson battled with French Canadian Jean-Sebastien Roy in the second sem i of the night. Roy ended up sixth in the main event. had eve r seen. Then r id ers such as Jeff Emig , Ezra Lusk , Sebastien Tort elli and Alessio Chiodi sus tai ned in ju ries, and the field was slimmed down to possibly Jeremy McGrath and Stefan Everts, and w he n those tw o deci ded no t to rid e, it ~as a ny thi ng but a strong field . With Larry Ward, Robb ie Reynard and Ryan Hu gh e s a s t he top Am e ri can s, and Vuillemin the top Euro, this wa s no t at heart a "World Championship eve nt" yet the Parisian even t ha d potential. With a crowd of 50,000 (the g reatest cr owd attendance in Europea n Supercross history) and a track that was all that everyone had hoped for, th e even t again sta rted to take on th e look of a World Cha mpionship event. But then the rain s came. O n Satu rday, around 11 a.m., it started to pour, and it d id not stop un til well after th e eve n t was over. As a result, passing was made impossible' on th e muddy track, and even the scorers had their work cut out for them. American Su p ercross legend Rick y' Jo hnson was again in a t te nda nce. "It seems that the former American champion is making mor e trips to Europe this year than during his racing d ay s, and h is appeara nce h a d a n effect on the crowd . Jo h n s o n wa s more than impressed with the track. "It has everything we hav e in America," Johnson said . "I have not in all m y 'years of racin g in Europe seen a track so much like an Am erican tra ck. It' s impressive, for su re." Wa rd was also impressed. "They have 'done a great job," Ward said . "If the rain stops , then we will see so me great racin g tonigh t. The jumps are nice and the w hoop s are also good. O nly problem is, it' s a little too ha rdpacked. Otherwise, I really like it." After a few minor races were held , the track was al ready busted up. Mo st of the rid ers retu rn ed to th e pits fro m the minor events covered in mud . Thefeature's firs t qualification race went to Ward, who led home Hu ghes, Maschio an d Vuillemin. "It's a shame it r ained s o h ard, " Ward said. "The track wa s grea t; now, with th e rain, it' s ve ry s li p pery, and they have put a roller on it, making the top layer very hard and slippery. Man , it' s tou gh ou t there." "I hit the starting gate and was last ou t of the start," Vuillemin said of h is rid e. "I came back third and had a lot of problems to ge t past Hughes; then Maschio got by." The second qualificat ion race was a chance for Reynard to sho w Euro pe his talent, and he d id not fail to im p ress, winning easily ov er Tim Ferry, Fred eric Vialle and Serge Guidetty. The big loser, th ough , w as new Yamaha rid er Stev e Lamson , as his 12th p lace wou ld see him have to race the semifinals. "I cr as hed on th e fi rs t co rner a nd broke my front brake," Lamson said . "I was a long way behind and just deci ded to pull in. It was my first ride for Yamah a , and I wa nted to d o s o m e thi ng . Maybe.in the semifinal." Lams o n s urviv ed h is se mi fi na l, altho ug h his first wi n on a Yamaha was not to be, as he finis hed second to local French rid er Thierry Bethys . "I go t a bad start," Lamson said . With all the favored Americans going int o the final, along with Vuillemin and grand prix riders Maschio, Bader Maa nah an d Vialle, at least the sellou t crowd wo uld see the best in attendan ce. The rain was now co ming d own in buckets, th ough its pounding d id not dull the roar of the crowd, as Vuillemin and Maschio made the first corner ju st behind Reynard. Lap afte r lap, Reynard looked good to wi n the final as his lead increased over the two French rid ers. Th en th e mud claimed its first major-name victim. "I just fell, " Reynard sa id . "I w as a li ttle angry . I had a chance to wi n th e race - bu t that' s racing." . Reynard got back up in third , behind Masc hio and Vuillemin. Ward wa s further back. The Suz u kimo unted rid er was in the sorry positi on of 15t h and not lookin g anything like the Winner of on e of the few mud races in the U.S, Supercross cham pionships in 1998. In fact, the usually grea t mud rid er had more than his sh are of probl em s. "I jus t couldn 't h old th e handl eba rs," Ward sa id. "I had so mu ch mu d on the grip s, and at the sta rt line, I hesita ted. The gate had been dropping a little before it d ro p ped completel y down in the heat races and I waited, th inking it wou ld d o it ag ain, but th is time it w ent st ra ig h t d own . I go t ou t rea lly slow, and my handlebars and seat were covered in wat er an d mu d . I could not sit d own, and I could not hold the bars, so I pulled out. I was h av ing a tough time." Hugh es, who had been in a position to wi n early in the race, wa s now well down the field after cras hing into a rider on the finish straight. "I came over the finish-line jump and ther e was a gu y on the ground:' Hughes said . "I landed on his head and fell. Wh en I got up, I was covered in mud, and w hile I go t going aga in, I was reall y muddy and had some trouble." Up fro nt, Masch io made a mi stake and cr a s h ed , g iv ing th e lead to Vuillemin. This is whe n the crowd really came alive. Vuillemin clocked off the best laps of th e final. Vuillemin, with hu ge mo me n tum, kep t his lead, and in d oing so he took the fina l ahead of Masch io, Rey na rd , Lamson, Hughes and Canadian Jean-Sebastien Roy. "I'm raki ng this cham p ionshi p very seriou sly," decla red Vuillemin. "I wanted to ge t on the pod ium, an d a win is grea t for me. The Fren ch team won the Wo rld Cup (of) Foo tball (soccer) here and the French fans really liked it, and tha t inspired me to win." Lamson' s fou rth pl ace w as a big improvement. . " I think th is w a s th e worst m u d superc ross I ha ve rid d en in:' Lamson said" "I wa s im pressed with the crowd. It was a shame the tra ck was so wet , bu t the n again, it held u p gre at." H ughes, ma kin g his third appearan ce on th e new Honda Pamo team, was also no t too disappoin ted wi th his night. "Wi th th e rain and all, it was a shame, but the promoters did a grea t job," Hugh es said. "I had the crash, bu t otherwise I felt I d ealt with th e cond iti ons okay. I really did not have too much of a problem. Even my gog gles sta yed on ." t~ Stad de France Paris , France Results: October 24, 1998 (Round 1 of 4) H EAT 1: 1. Lar ry Wa rd (Su z): 2. Rya n Hu gh es (Hen): 3. Michael Maschio (Yam ); 4. Davi d Vuill em in (Yam); 5. Thie rry Bethys (He n). HEAT 2: 1. Rob bie Reyna rd (Suz): 2. Tim Ferry (Ya m ); 3. Fred e r ic Via ll e (Ka w ): 4. Se rge Guide- tt y (Hen) : 5. Pierrick Paget (Honl. SEM I 1: 1 Thierry Bcthys (Hen): 2. Steve Lamson (Yam); 3. jean-Sebas tien Roy (Kaw): 4. Juss i Vehvi lainen (Ha n); 5. Gregory Riaux (Kaw). SEM I 2: 1. Pierrick Paget (Ho n): 2. Xavier Fabre (Ha n); 3. Rod Beau (Ha n); 4. Jimmy Verburgh (Ha n); 5. Frede ric Billet (He n). MA IN : 1. David Vui llem in (Ya m) ; 2. Mick a el Ma sc hio (Ya m) ; 3. Robbie Reyn ar d (Suz); 4 . Steve Lamson (Yam); 5. Ryan Hu ghes (He n): 6. Iean-Sebastien Roy (Kaw): 7. Pierrick Page t (He n): 8. Tim Ferry (Yam); 9. Xavier Fabre (He n): to. Nicolas Ca illy (Ha n). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 • Belo Honzonte, Brazil, October 31 Round 3 - Leipzig, Germany, November 20-21 ,....., ,..... l-< aJ ..0 S aJ ::o Z 29

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