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Final Round: Circuit De Herselse Motocross FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP500cc MX SERIES By Alex Hodgkinson L1EROP, HOLLAND, SEPT. 5 t was h ot a t Li erop , scene of t he Dutch 500cc MX GP fina le, bu t th e Hu saberg still kept go ing for once, as Joel Sme ts d evasta ted the opposition in the second moto to sna tch his fourth GP win of the season and salvage the series bronze meda I. As th e d eposed cha m p gave teammate Danny Theyber s, who had sp lu ttered arou nd for the final 20 minutes, a wid e berth w hen he lapped him, it was jested to Smets' mechanic Glenn Woodman th at Joel didn 't w ant to ge t too I King dropping backward from an initial second du e to arm pu mp , the Swed e was left alo ne as KTM pushed to deny Yama ha the Manu factu rers' title. Up to fourth a t one stag e, he finished fifth . . "I went throu gh a bad pa tch at ha lf an hour and Boon en passed me back," King said. And th a t was no t quite eno ugh to ma inta in th e team ' s hopes, as Mi ska Aaltonen , hi s a n kle strapped hea vil y after a Saturday fall, battled throu gh to ninth. Had the Finn faltered, Bartolini's recovery to 11th wo u ld a lso 'h a ve secu red matt ers. Race two was one of su rviva l. Even Yves Demaria and Sandre Pu zar rest ed their sprained ankles, Bernd Eckenbach reported an eye infection , and Belgian ace Werner Dewit, looking to rid e his firs t GP of the year after re-breaki ng his leg in an early season wa rm -u p race, , never mad e it past the first free practice. Wi tho ut eve n crashing, the bon e aga in fract u re d fo r the th ir d t im e in 15 _ months. Circuit De Herselse Lie rop, Holland Results: September 5, 1999 (Fina l Round) MOTO 1: 1. Willil' Van Wcssd (Hus): 2. joe l Smets (Hbg) : 3. Rcm y Van Rces (Kaw): 4. Ioha n B ooncn (H u s): 5. Pete r Ioha ns son (KTM); 6. Shayne Kin g (KTM ); 7, Swnel:s close to Theyber s in case The ybers' ignition problem was contagious . "joel's motor is on the verge of going th e sa me way (as They bers' ignit ion }," Woodma n sa id of th e temper amental ignition. "Tha t's why he (Sme ts) forced hard in the early laps to build a lead . He's been cruising on low revs to keep th e motor temperature do wn since halfw ay." The Belgian was no t the only w inne r on the d ay. Willie Van Wessel narrowl y d efeat ed Sme ts to w in the op ener after bo th had fallen in the early laps. "Yes, I fell down on purpose," joked the Dutchm an . But for that fall, the race would have gone to a further lap as Van Wessel had ta ken the two-lap board at 40 minutes a n d one second ~ a nd the Husk y sp lu ttered thro ugh the fina l 500 feet a s t he fi nal d raps of fuel w e re drained from the tank. The injured Yves Demaria 's failure to sta rt me ant that the first thr ee places in the cham p ions hip wer e decid ed before the gate d ropped fo r race one, but, if this was a "d ead race" (because the title had alread y been clinched), it.wa s anythin g but boring. New cham pion An drea Bartolin i wa s a lread y on the ground at turn one. "[ohan Boonen had the holeshot and s w itc he d hi s lin e a s he e n te red th e turn," Bartolini. "My front whee] hit his rea r an d down I went: ' Up front , th e fir st fou r pla cings changed every lap for 20 minutes. First Boon en led , then Van Wessel, then Boonen went ahead agai n when the Du tchm an fe ll on la p fi v e ; and wild ca r d Rem y Van Rees shru gged off a virus to lead th rou gh the m idd le of th e ra ce b efore Van W es s el a n d S me ts ca me charging past to set up a dram atic finale. Had the race go ne to an extra lap, it is doubtful man v wo uld have finished . [ochen Ja;inski, a s u pe rb seven th, ad mit ted, "The motor was sp lu tte ring all around the last lap . I lost a little fuel when I fell ea rly on , but not enough for 'a com plete extra lap: ' , Teammate Ch ris Burnham, h aving d iscarded another top-six cha nce w it h two falls, took no chances. "Wh en I saw Willie close behind, I pulled ov er to let m yself be lapped ," Burnham sai d . "I had jus t eno ug h fue l to ge t me back to the tru ck." The t acti c paid di vid end s w ith th e point whi ch was to sa lvage his top-TO ranking, as Av o Leok, runn in g eigh th, ground to a halt halfway arou nd the lap wit h a dry tank. Th e numerou s falls wer e exp lained by Peter [ohansso n. 'T he sand is so soft ," he sa id. "If vou s hu t off the thrott le a split second 'too early entering the berm, the front w heel will di g in and th row you off: ' Wit h johan sson' s teammate Sha yn e Ioc hen Jasin ski (Hun); 8. jo n tc Eng d a h l (Ho n ): 9. Miska to. [a m e Marsh (K TM); 11. Andrea s Aal tonen (Ya m) ; Bartolini (Y.1m); 12. Erwi n Machtlin gcr (He n): 13. Gert [an Va n Doo rn (VO Rl; 14. Dann y Tbey bcrs (Hbg ): 15. Chris Burnh am (He n). 1 MOT O 2: 1. JlX' Snwts (l lbg): 2. Willic Va n w essel ( Hu s) : 3, [o ch eu Iasinsk i ( Ho n ): 4 . And rea Barto lin i (Ya m) ; 5 . Mis ka Aa lt o ne n (Yam ); b. M.1X Ba rtoli ni (Ya m) ; 7. Er w in Machtlingcr (Ho u ): 8. Shav ne Kin g (KTM ); 9 . Dam icn King (KT M ); 10. Cert J.1n V.l n Doom (VOR); 11. And reas Dygd (Yam) ; 12. Eri k Van Klin kcn ( KT M); 13. James Ma rsh (KTM); 14. Dann y Theybc rs (H bg): 15. Stefan Van Aston (KTM) . O /A : 1. Joe l Sm et s (H bg ): 2. Will ie Van Wes sel (Hu s): 3. [o chcn Jasin ski (Ho n): 4. And re a Bartolin i (Ya m);.5, Miska Aaltonen (Yam); 6. Shayne King (KTM); 7. Remy Van Rees (1<..1\'\'); 8. Erwin Machtll nger (Hun); 9. Iohan Boonen (Hus): to. Pe ter Joha nsson (KTM ), FI N AL FIM WORLD C H A M P IO N S H IP 500« MX SERI ES POINTS ST A ND ING S (After 13 ro un ds) : 1. And rea Bart olini (WO RLD C HAMPION ). (367/ 4 wins); 2. Peter Joha nsson (283/4); 3. JOt.'1Smets (276/4); 4. Yves De mari a (2 19 /1 ); 5 , Sha yne K i n ~ (20 9) ; 6 , Misk a Aaltoncn (204); 7. Fran cisco G arcia VICO (1 1:0); 8, Sand re Pu xa r (173); 9. Wil lie Va n Wess e l ( 57) ; 10. C h r is Burn ham (131); II. Ioch cn J,binsk i ( 31); 12. Trampas Pa r ke r (1 18) ; 13. Erw in Mac h tling e r (1 14); 14. Rob Her ri ng ( 09 ); 15 . Darry ll Kin g (99) ; 16, Be rnd Ecke nba c h (75); 17. Dan ny Thcybc rs (65) ; 18, M.lX Bartolin i (64); 19. Avo Leok (44); 20. [cha n Boonen (43), son nat ional enduro cham p 'Toine Van Dijk wanted to stop, but his cre w repeatedl y sen t him back out again . "You' re in the mone y ," h is crew c h ief would say. "There's on ly 23 still in the race: ' Bartolini took the holeshot, but Sme ts swept past to lead by three seco nds after a lap , seven seconds after two laps a nd 23 - now ove r King - af ter 20 minutes. Th e Belg ian was cru ising to sa ve h is mo tor, b ut ' th e res t were in d ir e s tra ig hts. In h is fare well GP, the Kiw i suffered stomach cra mps fro m halfway, while Ma x Bartolin i, no relat ion to the new cha m p, collapsed at the feet of the first aid cen ter after finishing sixth . Champion Barto lini rounded off his season with a fou rth , "Bu t the combi nation of the Ind ian-summer hea t and the energy-sap ping sa nd starte d to ge t m e after half an hour," he admitt ed . [ohansson p ulled off with late-season blu es. "Smets hit me hard in the firs t tu rn an d I was off the lead erboard ," he said . "I have n o th in g left to figh t fo r a n d could not moti va te myself to carry on." Van Rees al so went ou t ea rl y . Th e first mota had been his first finish for a month after pic king up a viral infection. No Am eri cans co n tes te d th e ra ce. Trampas Parker d ecided af ter Fin land that it wo uld be wis er to retu rn strai ght to h is Italian ba se ' ra th e r t h a n ex e r t undue stress on his troublesome knee. (Above) Joel Smets managed to keep hi s Husaberg running long enough to win the final 500cc MX GP of the year , but the titl e was already gone. (Right) Willie Van Wessel won the opening moto of t he Dutch GP. m m m ~ N N Q; .<:I E ii en '" '" 45

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