Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 4: Mota-Club d'Ernee FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES By Geoff Meyer .;, g: :;:;. ~ ::E 50 ERNEE, FRANCE, APR. 18 n what is turning out to be a very competitive World 250cc Motocross Championship Series, Marnicq Bervoets eked out his second consecutive GP win. And, for th.e first time since 1996, the Winfield Kawasaki rider is atop the series point standings. It was back in mid-1996 that Bervoets was leading Stefan Everts in the Grand Prix charts but ended up losing the series overall to Everts. Since then, he has not been the same. Yet, in the past two weeks, the Belgian has certainly proved that the change to the Jan De Groot Winfield Kawasaki team has revitalized his career. Bervoets is again a serious challenger. It was the Bervoets of old in Ernee, first taking a solid third place in mota one and then rounding out his day in the mud with a very powerful win. "I was still a little lucky," Bervoets said. "I fell again in the first mota crashed very hard in the end - though I still won the overall, and that says something about my riding." Bervoets' Kawasaki teammate Pit Beirer is also showing signs of his best form. Racing with his head instead of his heart, the German finished the GP with a small crash but still controlled the action enough to take the runner-up position. "We keep Winning," Beirer said. "We are riding very smart. Marnicq is a good teammate, and the atmosphere ,in our team is helping both of us." The fourth round of this year's series looked likely to be dominated by French riders after Saturday's qualification. Yamaha-mounted David Vuillemin and Mickael Maschio filled the top two places on the undulating French track, while third place was filled by another local: Frederic Bailey from the L&M Honda factory team. "The French all rise for this race," Vuillemin said. 'We all want to win here; on these hard-packed tracks, we are dangerous anywhere." After some heavy rainfall, on Sunday morning the track looked more like a swimming pool than a motocross circuit. "This is not fit for a Grand Prix," said American Ryan Hughes. "They must have better tracks than this one in France." Hughes' first mota would end too early for him to find out just how bad the track actually was. The opening race of the day proved that the French riders were on the gas, as Maschio led Bervoets, Bolley, Pit Beirer and DUtch sand specialist Leon Geispers early on. Vuillemin, who many considered a sure thing for the day's win, trailed in 15th place after the first turn, and he would again be fighting to reach the leaders. "I got caught in with some riders," Vuillemin said. "Everyone was sliding around and my goggles got really misty. I eventually took them off, but, again, it was a big job to get around some guys." Hughes was not having a good mota, either, with a broken dutch on the start straight; then, as he trailed nearly in last place with the mud on his goggles obscuring his vision, it looked likely that his race would not go very far. And it didn't. "I got out of the start really slow," Hughes said. "Then, after a few corners, my dutch started playing up. As I came around to the pit area, the dutch didn't work and the bike lunged forward; then it stopped. I got back to the pits, but it was broken, so I stopped." Maschio looked brilliant up front, and the 20,OOO-strong crowd gave the Yamaha rider all the help he would need to fight with the Winfield Kawasaki riders, Bervoets and Beirer. "I knew they were coming," Maschio said. "] could see them. ] could not hear them, though; the crowd was really helpingme." . Lap after lap, Maschio edged away from Bervoets, and then, on lap seven, the Belgian crashed, giving second place to Beirer. "] made a mistake and got out of shape coming over a jump," Bervoets said. "] crashed hard and Pit (Beirer) and Bolley got by me." Also making an impression on the local crowd was Vuillemin. The young Yamaha rider had moved into fourth (Above) Marnicq Bervaets (4) gets the jump on Mickael Maschio (8), Pit Beirer (3) and the rest of the pack at the 250cc MX GP in France. (Right) Bervaets went 3-1 for his second overall win in a row. place on lap nine and was moving nearer to Bervoets. "I can ride as fast as anyone," Vuillemin said. 'The track is terrible - one line - and on the hills it's dangerous coming down, but I have good control and had little trouble." Maschio, with a larger lead, cruised on to win, with Beirer second. Bervoets passed Balley for third, and Vuillemin was fifth after another come-from-beI"lind ride. The second mota's conditions improved as the rain stopped, and it was to Bervoets' advantage. The three-time World number two pulled a great holeshot, ahead of Maschio and Beirer, with Hughes in a strong fourth place. As the others fought in the spray of thick mud, Bervoets looked in total control. "1 really got a good line into the first and second corners," Bervoets said. 'The track had dried out and many of the lines were now usable." Just as Maschio had done in the first mota, Bervoets picked his places on the open track and made a small breakaway from the French rider. Then, with three laps completed, Maschio dropped back to third place, leaving Beirer with the job of catching his Kawasaki teammate. "I wanted to keep with Marnicq," Beirer said. "I knew if I could put him into second place, I could get the overall, but Marnicq was riding very fast." For Beirer, the chances of winning evaporated as VuilJemin came onto the scene. The Yamaha rider had charged past Hughes and Masdtio and was now looking at Beirer as ltis next target. "I felt fast," Vuillemin said. "My lines were better and I could hear the crowd. It was very exciting. I told myself not to get stupid and not to listen too much to the crowd." Beirer, on the other hand, was dealing with his new rival, marking some sensible lap times but not trying to get away from the young French rider. ' , "I knew if I could keep Vuillemin in third, Marnicq and I could fill the top two positions on the podium," Beirer said. "He (Vuillemin) was riding hard, and I did not do anything - just kept riding the same as I knew I could." While Beirer and VuillemiJ;\ battled with each other, Hughes was also having some trouble. First he crashed on a lefthand turn, and then he did the same on a 'right-hander, both times just slipping off. '1 crashed a couple of times," Hughes

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