Motocross
Round 11: Uddevalla Circuit
.,
File pho to. By Alex Hod gk inson
. UDDEVALLA, SWEDEN, AUG.22
oel Sm et s w as the winner of the
Swedi sh GP with a heart-stopping
outside pa ssin the final corne r, but
it was Andrea Barto lini who inch ed
e ve n cl oser to becoming Italy ' s fir st
500cc MX World Ch amp. The Belgian
Sme ts is a three-time champion himself,
but with bike troubles this vear and tim e
running ou t, he'll have to Settle for winnin g rounds.
MOT01
The start was hectic as Yamaha fourstro ke- mounted Bartolini sliced across
Sme ts a n d knocked title rival Pet er
Johansson off the tra ck. "My fron t wheel
lifted ou t of the gate, and I went to the
left," admitted Bartolini.
"I thou ght we were all going d own,"
-said Smets. "I grabbed the brakes, and
And rea lost contro l. He didn't do it on
p urp ose."
The d ra ma left Dem aria in front with
Van Wessel, Burhnam and Bartolini following. Sme ts was already back in fifth
after one lap , and KTM's Johansson wa s
15th. The Swede fou nd it di ffi cult to
ad va nce in th e ea rl y la ps , and d idn' t
move to seventh u nt il th e race was 20
minut es old . A fall by Bartolini 5 minu tes earlier gav e ho pe, but the Itali an ,
continuo us ly looking back to Johansson,
was alwa ys able to keep him off his rear
whee l.
Sme ts took the lead eventually, and
th is tim e his Husaber g held on to th e
finish. Th e mot e ' s hero, however, was
Grea t Britain 's Chri stian Burhham , who
ea rned a delighte d caree r-bes t -in the
country where he was Junior Cha mpion
11 years ago . "I was ph ysically sha ttered
after 30 mi nu tes," sai d the Hond a rid er,
"but 1 wasn't goi ng to let that one 'go.
I've never raced that fast before in my
w hole life. It was a great feeling, and 1
want more!"
Willie Van Wessel crashed midrace:
"I could see I was going to land with the
wheels in d ifferent ruts, and 1let go."
Rob Herring was sixth after chasing
the leaders for mos t of the race. "I had to
take it easy in the final laps after 1 fried
the clutc h," he sai d .
Shayne King, w ho went d ow nfield
from an early sixth to 15th, said, "I had
no third gea r most of the race, and kept
finding neu tral as I changed from second to fou rth."
Q.
G>
en
40-
MOT02
Bartolini chose a middle spo t on the
ga te , n ext to fir st-m oto h ol esho tt er
Dema ria, and it wo rked. " It was too hectic on the inside in race one, so I d ecided
to change ," he sai d . "I go t a perfect ga te,
and could pull across to the inside of the
tum."
Once again, how ever, other ri ders
we re less than pleased wit h his starting
A de spera tion pass by
Joel Sme ts (1) st ole the
overall vict ory fro m
Andrea Bartoli ni, b ul the
Ita li an ri de r probably
wasn't too upset ; wi th
just two roun ds left , he
leads the points chase
convincin gly.
techn iqu e . "A n d re a cut ri g ht across
me," said King. "I had to tum befo re the
corne r, and Peter (Johansson ) hit me."
Dead last , 46 seconds behin d 15th on lap
one, the Kiwi eventuall y finished 16th.
. Up front , Johansson was quickl y second to Bartolin i, but hopes of a head-tohead duel eva po rated on lap tw o whe n
the fron t wh eel of th e KTM tu ck ed
under in a tum: The cool Swede thou ght
qu ickl y, and bump-started on th e followi ng hill rather th an risk trying to
kickstart the warm mot or . From 12th, he
put on a fan tastic rid e back to second until the fina l co rner . Smets had been
p a ss ed o n th e way, bu t t he Belgia n
knew tha t only second would give him .
the win on th e d ay. In a treme nd o u s
su rge, he stormed around Johansson in
the last tu m to clinch the overall honors.
Behind them, Burn ham lost another topsi x fini sh when his front fork seized
solid .
CIII
Uddevalla Circuit
Uddevalla, Sweden
Resu lts : Aug ust 22 , 1999 (Round 11 of 13)
M OT O t : 1. Joel Smets (Hbg); 2. Christian Bumh.1m
(Hen): 3. And rea Bartolin i (Yam) ; 4. Peter [oh ansson
(JaM); 5. Yves Demaria (Hus ), 6. Robert Herring (Hon);
7. Miska Aal to ne n (Yam) ; 8. Joch en Ias tnsk t (Ho n); 9.
Jo n te Eng da hl (Ho n ): 10. james Ma rs h (KT M); 11.
Tra mp as Park er (J(TM); 12. Andreas Dyg d (Yam); 13.
. Willie Van w easel (Hus): 14. Mat s And reassen (He n):
15. Shayne King (KTM).
MOTO 2: 1. And rea Bartolini (Yam); 2. Joel Smets
(Hbg): 3. Pet er Joh an sson (KTM ); 4. Miska Aalto ne n
"
(Yam); 5. Willie Van Wcs. C1I (Hus ): b. Alessa nd ro Puzar
(Yam); 7. Jochen jasinski (Ho n); 8. Ionte Engdahl (Hen) :
9. Fran cisco Ga rci a (Yam) ; 10. Avo Leok (KTM ); 11.
Ch ristia n Burnham Il-lon): 12.. Bernd Ecken bach (Hus):
13. Erw in Ma chr lin ge r (H en ): 14. Ioakim Eliasson
(Yam); 15. Mirosl av Kudrek (Hen).
O /A: 1. Joel Sme ts (Hbg); 2. And rea Bartolin i (Yam);
3. Pete r Johansson (KTM); 4. Miska Aaltonen (Yam); 5.
C hris Burnham IHon ): b. Jassin ski [o ch en (Hen): 7.
Willi e Van Wess ell (Hus); 8. Yves Demaria (H us) ; 9.
Alessa ndro Puzer (Yam ); 10. Rob Herrin g (Hon) .
f1 M WORLD CH AM PION SHI P 500 cc M X SE RIES
PO INTS STAN D INGS (Afte r 11 o f 13 round s ): 1.
And rea Bart olini (3 16 /3 w ins); 2. Pete r Iohansson
(257/ 4); 3. YVe5 Demaria (219/1); 4. Joel Sme ts (21S/3);
5. Alessa nd ro Pu zar (173); 6. Francisco Ga rcia Vieo
(166); 7. Shayne King (164); 8. Miska Aaltonen (l S3); 9.
Chris Burnham (121); 10. Trampas Parker (118); 11. Rob
Herri ng (103); 12. Da rr yl King (99); 13. (T IE) Erw in
' '>
M.teht lingcr/ Willie Van Wt.S. t"J (97); IS. [och en Jasinski
(89).
Upcoming Rounds:
Round 12: Kouvola, Finland, August 29
Round 13: Lierop, Holland , September 5
(He n): 7. Ca rl N unn (Ya m); 8. Jonn y Lindhe (Suz) ; 9.
Oaudio Federi ci (Yam); 10. Jeff Dement (Hen ): l 1.luigi
Seguy (H en ): 12.. Davy GOOV3crts (Yam ); 13. Frederik
Werne r (Hus): 14. Patrick Ca ps (Bon); 15. Petri Iarve la
(Yam).
MOTO 2: 1. Grant Langston (K1"M ); 2.. Jam es Dobb
(Suz); 3. Claudio Federici (Yam); 4. Steve Ramon (Ka w):
5. Alessio Chiodi (Hus) : 6. Mike Brown (He n): 7. jenny
Lind he (Suz); 8. Jeff Dement (Hon): 9. Luigi Seguy
(H en): 10. Patrick Caps (H on): 11. Tho mas Trav ers ini
(Hue): 12. Davy Coovae rts (Ya m); 13. Luca Cherubini
(Yam ); 14. Fredenk Wern er (Hus): 15. An tti Phrh onen
(H us),
AM W
orldChampionship 1 5ccMX Series
2
Round 12:Haenchen Circuit
!!!~~me
hile the title contenders played
it conservative in the pe nu ltimate rou nd of the series, Grant
Langsto n - normally off the podium seized the opportunity to no tch his first
win of the seaso n in Germany . The
South African dominated with d ua lmoto wins, while points leader Alessio
Ch iodi cruised to fou rt h overall via 3-5
placings. Chiodi - a Husqvarna pilot - is
chased in the standings by fellow Italian
Claudio Federici , bu t a lingering hand
injury p revented the Yama ha rider from
capitalizi ng on Chiodi's average rid e.
Federic i we n t 9-3 for fifth on th e d ay,
actua lly losing a few poin ts on his rival.
"I tried hard to race, bu t it was very
di fficu lt," lamented Federici. "I am very
d isappoi nt ed beca use it meant I cou ld
not race wi th Chiodi."
CIII
W
Haenchen Circuit
Haenchen , Germany
Res ults: Augusl22, 1999 (Ro und 12 of 13)
MOTO 1: 1. G r a n t La ngst o n (KT M); 2. Jaim y
Scevene ls (KTM); 2. Ale s sio C h iodi (H u s): 4. j am e
s
Dobb (Suz ); 5. Ste ve Ramon IKa w) : 6. Mike Brown
O / A : 1. Gr an t Lan gst on (KT M ); 2. Jam es Dobb
(Suz); 3. Steve Ramon IKaw ): 4. Alessio Chiod i (Hus): 5.
Claudio Federici (Ya m ); b . Mike Brown (Hon); 7. Jeff
Dement (Hon); 8. Luigi Seguy (Ho n): 9. Ca rl Nunn
(Yam); 10. Patrick Caps IHo n).
FIM WO RLD CH AMPION SIIJ P )2S cc M X SE RIES
PO INT S ST AN D INGS (A fter 12 of 13 rounds ): 1.
Alessi o Chiodi (375); 2.. Gaudio Federici (342); 3. Mike
Brown (2J.l ); 4 . James Oobb (187) ; 5. Thomas Traversini
(84); 6. m El SIeve Ramon /Patrick Caps (66); 8. Jeff
Dement (I27); 9. Grant Langston (13); 10. Luigi 5l>guy
(911); 11. Eric Ca menengo (97); 12. (TIE) Carl N unn / Erik
Eggens (88); 14. Johnny Aubert (72 ); 15. Luca Che ru bini
(71) .
Upcomin g Round:
FinalRound " Jastrebarsko, Croatia, August 29
Briefl
•••
Ge rma~ B ';rnd·· E ck e n'b ach had a
strange problem in moto one:'" 1 fell in a
turn and the RolI·OII s cord on my goggles '
got caught in another .rider' s 'handlebars.
' He was dragging me down the track ,"
'A le s s a n d r o' Puzar pulled out of moto
one with a sprained ankle. ,but apparently
.recovered soo n. afte r: He placed sixthin
. the seco nd outing:·.
.
Othe~ rider s ·also incurred 'various aches
and pains. Rob He~ng knocked, himself
outin a crash. Trampas Parker twisted :
his right knee. and Yves Demaria broke
the throttle cable when he hit a fallen rival, .,
