Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

, Motocross Round 15: Ciro<" By Geoff Meyer G IlDORF, GERMANY, AUG.29 t looked like the perfect setting for =-t German Pit Beirer to take a strang le ho ld o n the World 25 0c c M ocr oss cham pionships. After all , he had on his sid e a huge German crowd, armed with air horns and enough energy to scare Beirer's rivals into submi~ sion. But instead of s tretching out hIS slim lead over series rival Frederic Bollev he left his hom e GP with a 19-point deficit. A fall in the firs t moto of th e day, re su lting in a dama g ed back brake, dropped Beirer to the back of the field . With no rear brak e on the fast Gaild orf track , Beirer was history. He finished in 19th place, a position th at could ve ry well end up costing hi m the title. The second moto was just as frust rating. This time, a grea t start saw him enter th e firs t lap in second posit ion behind fou r-t ime World MX Cham pio n Stefa n Everts. Beirer, though, was soon in trouble . As he land ed off one of the ma ny Gaildorf jumps, his fro n t for k s tuck, resulti ng in him nea rly crashing into the spec tators. He still ma naged to salvage a fourth -place finish . But it was n' t eno ugh. The German Grand Prix, as it turned out, wa s not Beirer' s greatest d ream - in fact, it W,15 his biggest nigh tmare. Instead, Stefan Eve rts, ~ with 2-1 results, collec t- m ed the win, ahead of Honda teammate Frederic Bel ley, who tallied 1-3 resu lts. Thi rd place we nt to Yama ha rider Davi d Vuillemin (3-2). Bailey's ride earned him the cha mpionsh ip lead and a very goo d cha nce of giv ing his Radson Ho nda tea m their seco nd World 250cc Mot ocross charnpionshi p in thr ee years. Heavy rain on th e Fr iday n ig ht of action turned th e u suall y in te res ting Gaildorf circuit into a muddy mess, and competitors struggled to come to terms with the th ick..sticky mu d in qualification . Rider after rid er returned to the pit area with the hope of having tu rn ed in a t least one good lap in the sloppy conditions to qu alify for the da y' s program. For Beirer, th at all -important la p cam e near the end of th e da y, as the sun cam e ou t and dried th e tra ck. It was a lucky break, and o ne the German accep ted w ith open arm s . H e clocked a b e st 2:17.798 tim e, with Vu ill em in sec o nd with 2:18.903, and Finish rider Marko Kovalainen third with 2:19.615. Qua lificatio n, however, meant nothing when the gate dropped for the start of the firs t mo to. Josh Coppins shot into the ea rly lead, followed by Alessandro Belometti. Saturday's hero , Beire r, was last as he remou n ted after a tu rn -one cras h. "I' m not sure w ha t happe ned ," Beirer said . "It was jus t one of those raci ng accidents. I hit somebody and we went down. I knew then th at I was goin g to be doin g it th e hard way on this track under these conditions." Coppins, who had moved away from the field , wa s also abou t to crash , as he lost a ha ndy lead after slippi ng over on lap four. "I wa s really nervous," Coppins said . "I had a te rri ble d ay o n Saturday and d id not feel comfortable on the track. I go t rea ll y b ad a r m pump a n d was exp ecting the o thers to be on m e any With just a single ro und remaini ng in the series. Frenchman Frederi c Boll ey took ov er the po ints lead wit h an overall win. seco n d . After r e a li z in g that no bod y was co mi ng, I se tt led down a nd th en , like a n id iot , cras hed . I' m really kicking myse lf." With Coppins ou t of the way, it was Bolley w ho took the lead on lap five. He was followed by Everts, Vuillem in, Coppins , and Rvan Hughes. With th e tw o Radson Honda rid ers raci ng a w ay fr o m ev e ryo ne; a ll th e a tt en tion tu rned to Beirer . H is u su a l back-from-the-pack cha rge, however , did no t eve ntu ate, as he struggled with no rear brak e. "I coul d not ride to mv limit," Beirer sai d. ':1 was ju s t trying' to fig h t for a point. It wa s very d ifficult , and the tra ck was only on e line due to the mud . I had to ta ke it very ca refu lly in to th e co rners." Eve r ts be gan 10 make up so me ground on Bolley and, a t half di stan ce, was looking likely to give th e Fren ch man so me seri ous problems. It was not to be , though, as his Honda mechanics br ought out the signal to let Bolley go . Team manager Dave Grant ordered th e news to Everts. "It was difficult to d o," Grant sai d. "Stefan has done wonders to come back fro m his in jury. We have a championship to win tho ug h, an d Stefan realizes he ca n help Fred wi n it." Hu ghes co n tinued in fo u rth p lace wi thou t too mu ch trouble, al though he was again no t imp ressed wi th th e track. "W ith th e mud it was just the sa me as it's bee n all season long - one line and difficult to pass," Hugh es said. "If ther e is one th ing tha t has disappointed me abo ut Europe, it's these tra cks ." Vu illemin wa s also slip pi ng arou nd like a sna ke on ice as he cha sed Everts. "I had th e w ron g compou nd on th e bike," Vuillemi n said . "I was following Eve rts a nd h e looked to ha ve mu ch mo re grip than m e. It was so slippery ." Beirer's sorry tale con tinued, as Bol- lev came a ro nd to lap him w ith minutes remaining in the moto. Th e German waved Bolley through. Bo ll e y ' s ra ce w a s n ot over ye t, though. Even with Everts slowing do~n in second place, the lead er mad e a m IStak e neari ng the end of the race. "I s li p ped over a nd got up pretty quick," Bolley said. "I cou ld .see Stefan coming bu t did no t expect him to pass me." Ba il ey w a s co r rect. Everts moved in to cruis e co n trol to gi ve th e win to Bo ll ey . Ev er t s fini s hed seco nd and Vuillem in third. Th e second m o to w as Evert s a t h is best. Th e Belgian raced into the first lap with the blisterin g sp eed eve ryone ha s come to expect. Behind him came Beit er, Mickael Pichon , Ma rk Jones and Mickael Maschio. Bo ll ey , w ho h ad d e cid ed to s t~ r t from the 24th sta rting pla ce after seemg Be lomett i's and C oppins ' m ote -on e hol esh ot s, ca me aro u nd in 10th pl ac e. He lost that gamble. "I sa w Coppins and Belom etti in th e firs t m ot o," Bolley sa id. "I th ought it would be a good idea to joi n th em on th e ou tsi de. It d id no t work ou t for me . I g ot pushed to the ou tside in turn one." Everts, w ho had told Bailey pri or to th e second m oto th at he wan ted to go for the wi n in moto two, did just that. It was obvio us he was not waiting aro und for Bolley this tim e. "I wa nted so much to wi n ," Eve rts said . "I knew if I cou ld ge t a lead , I had a g rea t chance. Th e track wa s getting bett er and I felt so good , ve ry smooth d espite the mud ." H ughes, meanwhile, wa s in all so rts of trouble, as he got out of sha pe and hit trackside tires , losi ng man y places. "I go t a good s ta rt," Hughes said. "Then I got a little ou t of sha pe over a ju m p and hit so me tires and crashed . I lost a lot of time beca use of th e track. I then got stuck behind so me slowe r riders ." Boll ev wa s m aking a cha rge as he came up' after his poor start. By lap five, h e w a s in th ird place and h o u n ding Pichon . Beirer was again suffering with his front forks sticking, although he contin ued to hold fourth place. Hughes' race did not get an y better, as he battled with ew Zealand 's Josh Coppins for 10th pla ce. " W e were really ridi ng poorly ," Hughes sai d . "We were making a lot of mist akes, th e tr ack wa s not good . You had to really conce n tra te, and passing was tough - sa m e s tory, different track." Coppins was also not overly happy w ith th e track o r his riding. " Rvno a nd I li ke flo w ing tr a ck s ," Coppins said. "This place was really not good - getting yo ur rhy thm was difficult a nd p as sin g was eve n more troubleso me. I go t stuc k behind Jorgensen for a wh ile also." • Eve r ts co n ti nue d to lead . With French rider David Vuillemin ma king so me serious lap times, Bailey was seon looking over his shou lder. The Yamaha French rider had earlier passed Beirer and Pichon, and he was moving in on Bollev at an alarming ra te. At this poin t, Honda team manager Grant was doing some serious thinking . "What's the points situa tion? " Grant asked d uring the race. "No, I' m not stopping Stefan, he deserves the win." Gra nt could have told Everts to move over and let Bailey through, th us usi ng the experie nced Everts as a blocker for Belley, but he decided against it. It was a brave move by Gran t, as it left his team rider in no-man's land. Vuillemin passed the tirin g Bolley and moved into second pla ce with only tw o lap s remaining. . Everts would go o n to tak e the Win, ahea d of Vui llernin , Belley, Beirer and Jones. Everts made it look eas y as he chalked up his 37 th win in Gra nd Pr ix racin g, mat ching th e tally of Torsten Hall man. The tw o now stand seco nd on the alltime 250cc GP win list to Joel Robert. "I am co mp lete ly h a ppy ," Ev er ts sai d. " I ex pected to a t leas t w in a GP this year, althoug h my aim was Bud d s Creek, so the victory came o ne Gra nd Prix ea rlier than I expected ." As fo r Bailey , hi s. third pl ac e was en ough to ensu re th at he'll go to Budds Cree k as th e fa vorite to win the 1999 World 250cc Motocross cha m pionships . CII Of course only tim e will tell. Auf Der Wacht Circuit Gaildorf, Germany Results: August 29, 1999 (Round 15 of 16) MOTO 1: 1. Frederi c Bolley (Hon); 2. Stefan Everts (Ho n): 3. D.1Vid Vuillemin (Yarn): 4. Ryan Hughes (Hon); 5. Josh Coppins (Suz); 6. Mickael Pichon <5oz); 7. Mark Iones (Hon); 8. Mick..lel M.l!'OChio (Yam); 9. Ma~ Kovalainen (Hord; to. M.nk Eastwood IHon): 11. Jus s,: Pekka Vehvilai nen IHonb 12. Alessa ndro Belometf

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