Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128010
Motocross ·R ·14: C . ound ircuit Saint Joseph FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES By Geoff Meyer m m m - NISMES, BELGIUM, AUGUST22 his one is sure ly going down to the wire. In fron t o f 18 ,000 sc rea m ing s pec ta to rs , Freder ic Bo lley scored one of the most import ant victories of his caree r, wi nni ng th e Belgium Grand Pri x and putting himself in goo d position to wi n hi s fir st FIM World Championship. By topping both m otos, Bolley closed th e ga p trem endou sly on se ries lead er Pit Beirer. With just tw o ~ races left in th e se ries - the next round in .c '" !ii g. en 38 Germany and the g ra nd finale at Budds C ree k - Bolley is now a mere t hree p o ints a drift t he German and ha s mom entum on his side. At Nis rnes, Beirer, w ho we n t 6-2 on the day, was showing the strai n of rid ing wi th th e title tar get on his ba ck, riding perhaps a little over the edge, doin g any thing he could to prote ct his qu ickly evaporating series lead . "I'm scared to race wi th him," Bolley said. "He's riding like a ma d ma n . If I have to ride like that, then I have a problem . I don't need the champions hip tha t much." MickaeI Pichon , who claimed seco nd place over all in Belgium, was also critical of Beirer's erratic riding. " In th e -s eco nd m ot o h e was jus t crazy," Pichon sai d . "I wanted to catc h . him to tak e the seco nd plac e, but I saw a few things and thought it wa s best to just stay away." Beire r hi mself, however, wa s a littl e les s concerne d about hi s rid in g s tyle, althou gh h is p oi n ts lead is a w orry. "I rode to my limits," Beirer sa id. "I only cras hed o nce and that wa s because (Mickael) Ma sch io a nd I go t into th e sa me line and colli ded . lt w as not my m is take co mpletely. I wa nted to leave this p lace wi th a 20-point lead. It turns ou t I have just three poin ts. Still, I lead th e cha m p io ns hip , a nd that' s im po rtant." The cha m p io ns hip poi nt s rac e was not the only bi g topic of the day. The re tu rn of fo u r- time World Cha m pion Stefa n Eve r ts , foll owing a p reseason inju ry, put him righ t in the m id d le of the action. It was, in fact , Eve rts w ho gave Beirer the most trouble in the firs t m o to . Everts raced p a st a s lig htl y shocked Bolley and se t out after Beirer, Frede ric Bailey (5) closed the gap on series points leader Pit Beirer by winning both motos at the 250cc MX GP in Belgium. w ho had taken the lead . It was a move that gave Bolley chills. "I th ou ght for a se co nd, ' Wha t are yo u d oin g?'" Bolley said of his Radson Ho nda teammate. "I realized , tho ugh, that Stefan wa s goi ng af ter Beire r, Stefan is a professiona l and I knew he wo u ld help me, and he did ." Everts hunted down Beirer and then force d the Germa n in to a mistak e, which d ro p ped h im back to seven th p lace w here he wou ld then crash in to Maschio, d ropping him back anothe r position . Eve rts wo u ld lat er mov e over and