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Motocross Round 10: Orehova Vas FlM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES • By Geoff Meyer OREHOVAVAS,SLOVAKIA, JULY18 ..r u; ~ ~ 28 n blistering hea t, Italian Yamaha rider Claudio Federici - the only competitor capable of stoppi ng fellow Italian Alessio Ch iodi fro m wi nning h is th ird conse cutive Wo rld 125cc Motocross Champions hip - pulled ou t all the stops, win ning bo th mo tos of the Slovakian Grand Prix, and w ith it taking the overall victory. Federi ci , who -h a d never won an ove ra ll u nti l earlier this year in Eng land, is now in brillian t form, althoug h Chicdi, with co ns is te n t 2-2 re su lts, is s ti ll so me 25 points ahead of Federici with only th ree round rema ining. As is always the case it see ms, qu alification brought some surprises as Belgian KTM rider Jamie Scevenels finished ahead of Luigi Seguy and Jamie Dobb in Group A. Scevenels clocked a 2:11.85, while Thomas Traversi ni, with a time of 2:11 .68, was the quickest in Gro up B. Finishing up right beh ind Traversini wa s Am erican Jeff Dement, then another Belgian rider Steve Ramon. As for Chicdi and Federici - the two series leaders they both finished in fifth place in their respective groups, Chiodi with a time of 2:12.24 and Federici a littl e faste r wi th a 2:12.03. Tennessee's Mike Brown came hom e s e v e n t h in Group A with a 2:12.64. The firs t mo to of th e Slo va kia n G P ended up a little on th e bo ri ng side, much of w hich ha d to d o w ith the track being graded flat, resu lti ng in so me super fast racing, ye t passin g th at was next to impossi ble. Federici, sensing tha t the race would be won o n the startline, pulled out a q uick lead , fo llo w ed by young South Africa n Grant Lang ton . La ngton, w ho had raced in America a few years ago in the Junior ran ks with some su ccess, ha d stru gg led all sea son lon g, yet , finall y the 17-year-old is showing the promise everyone expected. " I ca me to Europe and I was sick from the wet wea ther," Lan gton sa id . "We have had rain and other problem s; this tim e the conditions wer e okay. The hea t is like back home and 1 felt good chasing Federici." Further ba ck ca me Chiodi Traversini, Ram on and Dement. As for Mike Bro wn, h is posi tion was midfield , as he fou ght to come to grips wi th the Orehova Vas track. Lap a fter lap, Federici put together the qui ckest tim es, and , after a while, it took its toll o n Langton , who fell, giv ing second pla ce to Chiod i. " I jus t mad e a s m a ll m istake a n d dropped back to si xth pl ace," Lan gt on said . From the moment the South African crashed , Fed erici w as lo ng gone - not even Chiod i co u ld catch him . Third pl a ce we nt to T raversi ni , with Eric Ca merlcngo , riding a Yama ha , in fourth place, followed by Dement in fifth place. Chiod i was q u ick to cover his loss wit h a d ip loma tic excuse, alt ho ugh he did credit Federici for a good race . " I just wa nted seco nd place,". Chiodi said . " 1 h a d n o cha nce to ge t him . Maybe in the second moto it will be my tum to have such an easy w'in . On ce he go t such a good start he was difficult to Claud io Federic i kept his title hopes aliv e wit h a sweep at the Slovakian 125cc GP.