Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

" I wa s unlu ck y to lose th at yea r," Everts said. "I was the better rider and Albertyn go t the cham pio nship." The two wer e biller rivals and while th ey mi ght respect each other on the tra ck, it does not g o any furth er. Of course, Albe rty n has an advantage since he raced at Budds Cr eek in Jun e at the outdoor Nati on als . Tallon Vohland won th e 125cc cla ss tha t da y, so he wi ll go in to the eve nt wit h a good feelin g. "I' Il go to th e GP with th e hope of winning," Vohland sai d . "I like Budds Creek and Honda ha s told me I will have a good bike for it. I'm not thinking it will be a problem tha t I have raced a 125cc Honda all yea r lon g. On ce I ge t on a 250, I'm comforta ble." G reg Albe r tyn , w ho wo n a 250cc Grand Pri x a t Budds Creek so me years ago , is also a favorite. Having rid den on th e tra ck th e p ast five year s, h e w ill ha ve a good idea of what is expec ted to wi n. " It will be fun ," Albe rtyn said. "I like the tra ck and I'm rid ing fast eno ug h to win. If the top Eu ro pe an gu ys are still racing for the cha mp ionship the y will be tou gh , bu t then again I wo n' t have any pressure . I' ll be th ere to win, b u t it won 't kill me if I don ' t." Of course, w hile we ar e all look ing at the big nam es, the reaso n the GP is coming to America is to d ecid e th e 1999 250cc Cha mpions hip, and the tw o rid ers w ho will arri ve at Budd s Cree k to battl e for tha t title w ill be German Pit Beire r and Fren chm an Fre de ric Bolley . This little duel w ill be wo rth ad mission pri ces alon e. Beirer has argu ably been th e bes t rid er overa ll this year, with very co ns isten t results. Be ir er ha s a s ty le th a t cou ld se n d h im int o th e s now fen ce, but it has also taken him to the top of th e Wo rl d 250cc s e r ies points table for more than half of th e ye a r . Bud ds Creek s ho u ld suit Beirer, with i ts pe rfec t d ir t a n d great sweeping corne rs. "I' ve heard the trac k is good," Beirer said . "I hope to go to Bud ds Creek writh a nice points lea d, bu t we will ha ve to wai t an d see. I' m s u re M arn icq (Bervoets) ca n help me if I need it. He has been a good team rid er for me this year, and he is ca pa ble of bea tin g any one on the track." Mlckael Pichon will be making hi s first appearance in the Un ited Sta tes since his controversial "fIring " from American Honda ellrller this year. Th is should be good. As for Belley. he too will find the undulating Budds Creek tra ck a p lea sure to rid e. For Be lley, wh o rides the fact ory H ond a , o n e wou ld exp ect so me help fr om Everts and Tortelli. Then again, if th ese two wage war on each other, Bolley migh t have to wait for an AM World Championship un til the year 2000. "Stefan has told me he wi ll help me if he is leadi ng a race and I'm in secon d, " Bolley said. "I don't sec any reason why tioned in high regard . Make no mistake, Vuillemin is the future of mot ocross. He can ride a bike like no other and at times has been th e fas tes t co m petito r in th e 1999 World 250cc Mot ocr oss cha mpio n s hips . The o n ly p robl em with th e Fre nch Yamaha rider is that if he d oes no t wi n, he u su all y hurt s h im s elf. VuilIemin has crashed sev era l tim es this year and , on the odd occasion, ma chin e prob lems h a ve r obbed h im of maj or point s. In fact, if Vuillemin could have stayed upright for only tw o of the races he's cras hed in, he wo uld be fighting for th e World C h amp ionship at Budd s Qualification The Budds Creek GP will use a series of qualifiers to narrow the field down to 30 riders for Sunday's feature. Start ing on Friday . September 10. the re will be a free practice session beginning at 11 a.m.. followed by another free practice sessio n at 1:30 p.m. Timed practice - which will be used to det ermine who wi ll make it int o Sunday's prog ram - will get underway at 3:30 p.m. On race day. those who have made the prog ram will again be test ed against the cloc k. but this time. their times will be used to de term ine starting positions on the gate . Ryan Hughes would like not hi ng beller than to finish off the 1999 GP season with a win in fro nt of his American fans at Budds Cree k. he wo uld not, but I go to America wi th the in tention of showing the world that I am a capable World Champion ." Will Sebasti en Tortelli wa nt to he lp Fred e ri c Boll e y , a fe ll ow Frenchman a nd Hon da rid er ? Or , will he go ou t and help Pit Beirer, w ho last year, ridin g a H ond a , h e lp ed To rtelli w in th e Wo rl d cham pionship, d espite the fact tha t To rtelli was riding a Kawasaki? American Ryan Hug hes, anot her Ho nda boy, is sure he won' t be helping Ba iley. z "Ho nda (the facto~ ry) has not help ed me ~ all season long," sa id §Hu g h es . " I d on 't :I: expect to be doing any 1;5 - - - - - - - - ;;i Mike Brow n, a " wil d ca rd " entry, w ill take a br eak from t he 125cc GP series to compete in the 250cc class at Budds Creek. fa vo rs for th em, b u t you don 't know wha t w il l happe n . T o b e h o n e st , thi s is m y race. I should no t need to be helping ot her riders." Hugh es, w ho ha s been rid in g fo r th e Parn o H on d a te am th is yea r, ha s suffered the sa me fa te .... that Pit Beire r d id last ffi yea r. The Hond a team o f Stefa n Eve r ts and ~ Frederic Bolley has all ~ the best parts, and the Pa mo rid ers ' results have su ffered beea use o f this. Expect to see some fireworks from H u ghes on h is home soil. "I ta ke every race th e s a m e, " Hu gh e s sa id . " I like Budd s Creek, and aft er racin g o n th e Europea n tracks, it will be nic e to race on a real rac e tra ck . I kn ow in Am er ica I'll ge t go od results. In fact; I' m go ing to Budds Creek for a wi n." A lso o n the pro gram at th e USGP will be new Yamaha North Ameri can pro spec t David Vuillemin. Vuillemin is a rid er that e ve n Jeremy McGrath h as men- g Creek. He wo n' t be, tho ug h, as he is' a lo ng way be hi nd Bei rer a nd Bolley in the championship race. Vu illernin's time will come. Besides the riders wit h unu su al names, sha rp mot ocros s fans will The USGP isn' t the only big event over the GP weekend at a lso n otice severa l o ther di fferBudds Creek . as there will be plenty of other racing gOing on as ences between World GP compe tiwell. Including the AMA Fall Classic Series. night racing. Saturtion and AMA Na tiona l MX. First day Amateur Day. and the AMA Four-Stroke National Series. and forem ost are the bikes. Budds which will also be run as a ' support- race to the GP on Sunday. Cree k's '99 USGP will offer fans a Below is a sched ule of the weekend '5 activities . cha nce to see the fabled an d exotic wo rks bikes of the European factoFriday, ry teams. Manufacturers co m pe tseptember 10 ing in to day' s AM A- s a n cli oned 10 a.m. . . .. .. .. ... . ... . . .. . . . . •. . A & B class practice Na tional Mo toc ross Series a re 11 a.m.. .. .. .... .. .... .. . . .. . .• .. . . .250cc GP practice b ound to wha t is referred to as 12 p.m. . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C class practi ce "the pr oduction rul e." Designed to 12:30 p.m.... . . . . . ...•. . . . . . .. •. ..... .0 class practice level the playin g field between pri1:30 p.m 250cc GP practice va tee r a nd factory-sponsored rid4:30 p.m Quad practice ers, the ru le bans no n-prod uction5 p.m 50cc practice b a s ed , o ne-o ff m a ch in es fr om American competitio n. In the AMFriday and Saturday night, sanctio ne d Grand Prix series, th e September 10-11 producti on rul e d oes no t exis t, 5-7 p.m Nig ht Amateur sign -up allowing manu factu rers to ma ke 6 p.m, . . .. ..• .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ... .A & B class pract ice imm e diat e u s e of kn o w led g e 6:20 p.m C class pract ice ga ined from racing and to test and 6:40 p.m. ... .. . .. . • . . . . .. . ... . '.' 0 class practice develop futu re product ion mod els 7 p.rn. . . • . . . , ........... . . . •. . .. .60cc & 80cc practice in a rea l-world se tting . The Euro7:20 p.m....... ... ... . . . . . ...•. . . . . .. . . .Quad pract ice p ean fa ctory b i ke s o f Ev e rt s, 7:40 p.rn. . . • ... . .. . ... .. . . .. . .. .. ... . .. .50cc pract ice Ber voet s, Vu illem in a nd Cop pins 8 p.m. . Night MX racing on display at the USGP could very well be pro totypes of the bikes you Saturday, wi ll be rid ing in 2000 an d beyo nd . Se ptem b e r 11 An othe r sig nifica n t d ifference 6-10 a.m. . ..•.. . . .. Amateu r sign-up for Sat. Amat eur Day be twe en World G P racin g a n d 7:30 a.m••• •.. .. ... •.... . .. •.......A & B cla ss practice American motocross is in the track 8 a.m. . •.. . ..••. . . . ..• . . . . . . .•. •• • . . . .C clas s practice d esi gns. In s ta rk co n tras t to th e 8:30 a.m. . .. .. .. .... .. . .. ... ••....••.. 0 class practice jump-la den, supercross-sty le lay9 a.m. ... . .. .. . .. . •... . . ... .... . . .6Occ & 80cc practic e o u ts so p opul ar in th e Un ited 9:3O a.m Q uad practice States, European Grand Prix tracks 10 a .m. . : Hare scrambles sign-up - rnany of which hav e been in exis10 a.m. .. . . ... . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . • . . . . .50cc practice tence for dec ad es - hav e a distinc10:30 a.m. • • . . . . • • . . . . .. . .. . . . .Fall Classic Pro practice ti vel y differen t fe el th a n th e ir 11 a':m..•••• . . . • •• . .... . . •. . ..... . . Amateur MX races America n cou n te rparts, utilizing 1 p.m Hare scrambles race high-speed layouts and natural ter1 p.m. . . . . .. . . .... . . . . . . . •. . . . . . . .. . . 125cc first mot o rain wi th few man-mad e obstacles. 2:30 p.m . •. •.. . . •. . •.. . • ••..... . . • • • . .250cc firs t moto Unlike American motocros s, Grand 3:20 p.m.• • ... . ... . . .. .. . . . .. . . . . .Quad hare scram bles Pr ix competition reward s hi gh4 p.m.. . . . .... . . . . • . . .. . .. . . •. . . . . .125cc second moto speed riding abi lity and corne rin g 5·7 p.m N ight MX sign-up skill over jumping prowess. Speak5:30 p.m. . : 250 cc second moto ing of ju mping, you will also notice .Q E Cl> Ci. Cl> en 27

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