Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 12: Kam kiMX Track ion FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES Pit Beirer watched his rivals crash all around him while he sailed to victory at the World 250cc GP in Poland . it was going horribly wrong for Bailey. The Honda factory rider misjudged his line through turn one and got out of shape, sending himself tumbling into other riders and ou t of contention for the race win. "I maybe went in too ha rd ," Baile y said. "I don't know, I go t sid eways and tried to cor rect it, then I fell." Bollev re mounted at the rea r of the field, and it would be a long, hard race from there on ou t for the Frenchma n. Also in tro uble was Hug hes . His Honda flicked him off and, like Bolley, he was so far back that he wo uld no t be a factor among the leaders for the res t of the race. "1 knew on this track that it wo uld be difficult once 1 had cras he d ," Hu gh es said. "1 jus t had to put my head d own and fight for as man y points as I cou ld ." The Winf ield -spon sored trio of Beirer , Co p p ins an d Pich on cha rged past Maschio, relega ting the French rider to fourth place. Picho n, who had on Saturday qualified quickest on the sa ndy track, was right on Coppins' back whee ! an d looking ha rd for a way past. Firs t he was driving hig h on the thick sa ndy ou tside ber m , th e n tu rni ng h is n ew Suzu ki machine in to th e tight ha irp in co rners to pitch his way past the New Zea lander. Coppins hung on for a while, bu t the vete ran Pichon finally got by for seco nd place. "I have only ridd en the Suzuki a few times this past two weeks," Picho n said. begi nning of the seco nd mota , this time lea ding H u gh es, Remy Van Rees and Alessio Belometti . Vuillemin was struggling at the rear of the field . "I crashed on the firs t lap and .hurt m y back ," Vuillemin said. "I wanted to get going again, but it hu rt very much. Eventually [ got started, but ( was a long wav back." Bailey and Beirer were both midpack, fig hting the thick dust and hot su n. It would he a miracle for the two to ge t on to the lead riders. Hughes, meanwhile, was looking for a way past Maschio, and after a handful o f la p s, was in th e lead . If e v e r t h e American had a gr eat chance to win a mo ta , this was it. " I was a li tt le su rprised with my lead, " Hugh es said . "My s ta rts have been so bad , I was happy to ge t a good star t for once. It's been so long coming, I knew I had the co nd itio n to race w ith a ny of the Eu ro pea ns , so 1 wa s ve ry optimistic." Bail e y a n d Beire r, th ou gh , w ere s how ing am a z in g speed as th e tw o raced first past Co p pi ns, th en Picho n. Finally, they we re on the back wheels of Van Rees and Masc hio . "I felt so smoo th," Bailey sa id . "I kn e w Pit (Beir er ) was behind a nd [ wanted to get rid of him . [ needed to ge t so me points back." Beirer, however, wo u ld no t give up, and w it h o nly th ree laps rem a in in g moved up on to H ughes, w it h Bei re r now in third place. Surp ris ingly, Hug hes gave up h is lead wi tho u t too much of a fight, as Bolley ou t-jum ped the American fo r th e lea d , and th e w in . Hughes easily finish ed in second ahea d of Beire r, Maschio and Van Rees. Beirer inches closer By Geoff Meyer GDYNIA. POLAND, AUG. 1 P it Beirer - for so long the rider people have been expecting to crash - is suddenly the rider who is not cr ashing at a ll. Instead, it's -his riva ls who are getting up close and personal with the GP circu it soil. at least at the Poli sh Grand Pri x. With consistent 1-3 results, th e now-steadier German rider took his third overall win of the year, and with only fou r rounds left in the series, is now so me 20 points ahead of his nearest ri val, Frederic Bolley, in the chase for the 1999 FlM World 250cc Motocro ss crown. So what happened to the other guys? ' Well, manv of them crashed. Belley, 'who has wo n four of the last six rnotos, finished wit h 8-1 resul ts, an d it was a hu ge cras h in the second tum of the first mota which resulted in that costly eig hth -pl ace finis h. Bailey, how ever, was in a wa y lu cky, since Belgian rid er Marnicq Be r vo et s - who w a s pl aced fourth in the cham pionship points going into the race - did not compete in Poland. Bervoets crashed while practicing earlier in the week, injuring his hand. And what abou t David Vuillemin? He too went down. Thi rd in th e series points table and without a doubt the fastest rider in this a> year's series wh en he keeps his bike on :: two wheels, Vuill em in, once again, bit ~ the dust, putting him out of con tention in g' mota two . Just like Bolley and Bervoets, « Vuillemin 's chances of catching Beirer 18 are getling slimmer all the lime . An d then there is American Ryan Hughes. Cu rr en tly ranked fou rth in the championship poi nt standings, "Ryno" also joined th e Cra sh Club wh en h e bailed off in the first mot a . The Pa mo Honda rid er s till finished out the day with third overa ll, and had it not been fo r a super- fast Bail ey in th e s eco nd mot a, Hughes most lik ely would have won his first-ever GP mot a . But it wa s not to be, as Bailey p assed th e ti ri ng Hugh es for th e lead in mot a two with only a few laps remain in g. It was the clos est Hu gh es has eve r come to winning a GP mota . When t he r a cing b egan, M icka el Maschi o proved th at his sta rting techniqu e is one of the best in GP racing, as he came from the 13th sta rti ng position to lead the riders into the first lap of the opening race. "I just had the perfect timing," Maschio said. "I dropped th e clu tch a t the exact mo ment the gate dropped ." Beh ind Ma schio came Beirer, ye t it was a su rprise duo of Josh Coppins and M ickael Pich on , riding the fa ct ory Suzukis, that also led along list of rid ers through the tight second -tu rn hair pin. Up front, Beirer was not about to let Maschio ge t away as he hou nd ed th e Yamaha rider in to the first lap. "I kn ow Maschio is hard to pa ss," Beirer said . "1 also knew if ! stu ck with him I could put some pressure on. He wants points the same as me, but I knew once he got some pressure 1 could pa ss hiirn." Behind the battle for the lead thou gh , "It's been two months since I last raced, but the bike is set up just as 1 like and I felt good for a change ." Coppins , whohadanoth er Suz u ki rider beh ind him, wa s not worried by the move by Pichon. " I knew Pichon had a faster speed than me," Coppins said . "I tried to stay with him, but it was no good. I also had Geis bers b ehind me a nd 1 wanted to keep my podium position ." Bail ey and Hughes were now makin g the ir way throu gh th e field , an d after half the race were eighth and l Oth, respecti vely. Beir er - once past Masch io - cruised to his easiest win of his GP caree r, finishi ng a head of Picho n, Coppins, Geishers .and Vuillemin. Hughes finished in sixth, Bailey eighth. Pichon nearly lost his second place after co ming off the track a nd hittin g so me track banners . "I was lucky they d id not get ca ug ht in mv back wheel." Pichon sai d . "I was a lit tle w orri ed it mi gh t s low me u p and let Coppins back past me, but it didn't. " Beirer was more th an happy to see Baile y and Vuillemin lose more ground on him in the championship poin ts race . "I was right next to Bailey on the first corn er when h e fell ," Beirer s a id . " I looked over and - while I don' t like riders cras hing - 1 felt a little less p ressu re. Th en, after a few la p s my mechanic sho wed me on the pit sign that Bailey wa s in 22nd pla ce . For that I wa s happy." Maschio again held the point at the Pichon, w ho had held eig ht h p lace, su ffered a minor problem, as his bike became stu ck in a sand y comer. "1 r od e into a b erm a nd the bike stopped ," Pichon said. "I tried to get it going and lost many places . [ have to get us ed to the tracks in Europe again, they are so rough, with many st ones, not like in America." Bolle y w a s happy to fini sh with a win after his first-mot o trouble. "I needed those points," Bailey said. "If [ am to win this yea r's championship, [ need to win motos - sim ple as that. " Bail ey has, in fact , wo n four of the las t six motos . Beirer was mo re than happy w ith his overall win. The German mad e a small crash in the second mo to, losing val uable time on Bolley. " I th ought 1 could catch h im ea rly on," Beirer sai d. "I di d not expec t him to get away, but I slipped over on a corne r, and then lapped riders got in the wa y. 1 am go ing to try to jus t rid e the best I can without taking chances for the last four GPs, then hopefully 1 will be World Motocross Champion." CN Kamionka MX Track Gdynia, Poland Results: August 1, 1999 (Roun d 12 of 16) MOT O 1: 1. Pit Beirer (Ka w ): 2. Micka el Pic hon (502); 3. Josh Coppins (5uz); 4. Leon Cei sbers (5uz); 5. David VuiIlcmin (Yam); 6. Ryan Hu gh e IHon ): 7. Remy s Van Ret's IKaw): 8. Frederic Belley Il-ion): 9. Mickael Masch io (Yam); 10. Gordan Crocka rd (Ho n): 11. Mar k Jones C n); 12. [u ss! Veh vilainene (Hnn ); 13. Mar ko Ho Va n Drunen (Ya m ); 14. Mar k Eastwood C Hon); 15. Marko Kova lai nen C Hon). MOTO 2: 1. Frederic' Bolley CH ; 2. Ryan H ughes on) (Hon): 3. Pit Beirer (Kaw): 4. Micka el M aschio (Yam ); 5. Re my Va n Re es (Kaw ): 6. Jo sh Co p p ins (Su z ): 7. Alessandro BeJom ctti (Yam) ; 8. Go rdan Crockard (Hon):

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