Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Motocross as possible between him and Be lley, and the AMA regu lars we re his bes t chance fo r a s s ista nce (tho ug h n on e w ere Kaw asaki-mount ed ). Expatriate Ryan Hugh es had come to his home GP fourth in points wit h a shot at third , and the fans exhorted him to an emotiona l ru nn er- up finish. Windham had ga ted poo rly and been seventh after half a lap , but he cha rged forw ard a nd even tually followed Hu ghes up to third. He might have go ne higher, had a rock not becom e lod ged in hi s rear bra ke peda l for seve ral lap s. "1 maybe. lost a little respect for him (Everts) jus t for say ing tha t," said Windham, after me nt ioning that the track's lines we re different than thev wou ld be for a U.S. Nationa l. "Bu t hO' s a gre a t e rider, very fast. He just proved that in rnoto one." . "Whoever wa s beh ind me - 1 guess it wa s Wi ndh am - h e was fa s t," sa id Hu ghes. "H e do esn' t make mistakes." Grant never gave Everts the signal to help Be lley, nor d id the rid ers of d ifferen t Hond a teams len d a han d . True, Pamo Hond a' s Hu gh es a nd Ame rica n H on d a ' s W in dh a m bo th di spla ce d Ka wasaki-mou nt ed Beirer, but American Hon da's Sebastien Tortelli also displ aced Rad so n Honda 's Bel ley. who looked to be riding conse rvatively. By mot e ' s e nd, Ho nd a rid e rs w ere o netw o-three, bu t no ne in tha t tr io w ere Bollev. "~Iaybe Stefan 's wo rds di dn' t help to m ak e th e co m m u nica tio n b e tt er bet w ee n (Honda) Ll .S. a nd (Hon da) Europe," said Beirer from the seat of his s ta tiona ry bicy cle be tw een mo tos. " It (the title) is still ve rv difficult, but it's possible." " "Mavbe in the seco nd moto I'll have to pull ove r," sa id Everts. "Who knows? It depen d s wh at all happens ." MOTOTWO Despite havin g made up five poin ts in the first outing, Beirer still needed a top-three pl acing for the tit le, even if Bolley were to go poi n tless. Tha t see- It certainly wasn 't for lack of effort that Stefan Everts (2) couldn 't back up his boasting. He dec imated the field in one moto, and very nearly pulled off the overall win, nario becam e a veritable impossibility w hen he mistimed the start and cras hed on lap one, while the French man ga ted mid pa ck and pretty much stayed there. When as ked if he had ridden over his head , Beirer repli ed , "Yea h, o f course. After the bad start, I knew: eve ry thing or noth ing. It was no thi ng." A ll eyes th ere fore turn ed to an insp ired Windham , w ho was set ting sa il a t the fro nt of the pack. Windham had said before moto two that he was here to ra ce , a nd no t for a soap opera, bu t a soap opera is wha t he go t along wit h his sta rt. The fans awo ke and fo rmed a hu man wave (okay, maybe it was more like a rip ple) as they ran back and forth between the comers, urging their cou ntrym an to bea t Ever ts. He obliged, dom inating the second moto just as convincingly as Everts had don e in the first. "It's not reallv a Wind ham -vs.-Everts d eal anyway," ; aid Wind ham . "I came here to beat everybody, and there ar e a lot of fast rid ers here. It was jus t one of those dea ls tha t fueled my fire. 1 think it was good for me to hear that. There's no The French Connection I n addition to new cham p Fred eric Bolley, there were three other Fre nch rid ers w ho Yank race fa ns were excited to see at Budd s Creek - David Vuillemin (left), Sebasti en Tortelli (midd le), and Mickael Pichon (right). All three have tiesof varying types to the U.s ., and all were making returns at Budds Creek. For Tortelli, who ra ced Sta tes ide th is y ea r unli l d isloca ti ng h is w ri st, Budd s Creek was his firs t ride back fro m the in jury. Picho n raced several yea rs in the U.S. befor e leaving mid season this vea r when Hond a fired him . This was his firs t Ll.S, race si nce. Vuillernin is going the other d irection ; thou gh he con tested a few '99 AMA supe rcrosses before the GP seaso n s tarted , this was his first American race since signing a two-year contrac t to race next year with Yamaha USA. '" '" '" N '" ~ Cll .c E Cll Q. Cll en 8 SEBASTIEN TORTElll On his first season in the U.s .: "In Supercross I was no t high -five, and I did not so good, not as good as I was expecting. I jus t think it was my first yea r, an d I d idn't practice enoug h this w inter becau se I was hur t, so I was kind of not into the season for su percross. Outdoor I wa s pretty happy until I got hurt. Before that my pace was good; I was not bad . I was happy about that. Too bad [ got hurt and co u ld n' t finish th e champ ion ship. Next year." On his su pe rcross riding: "I think 1 can improve it a lot , because I didn't ha ve so mu ch practice in it. Thi s winter I'm going to practice a nd ride some more, and I'm go ing to get better. I'm going to work with Gary Bai- hard feelings ; I have a lot of respect for the gu y." . No rma lly a s tro ng mot e -two rid er , Everts had pr ed icted after moto one that "it's not do ne vet," and he was correct; .he was fourth"aft er ha lf a lap, a nd he lost an o ther spo t w hen Greg Albe rty n go t him the next time ar ound. The Belgian then bided his tim e there for most of the race before ge tting a seco nd wind and going on a late tear. It carried him to third and - on the last lap - to Albee's rea r fender. Had he go tte n by, the wi n would have been his. "I woke up too late," said Ever ts just befor e mo u nting the podi u m. "I'm not going to give any excuses, because that sounds reall y silly. We got beat , a nd tha t's the end of the story." Actua lly, it w as n' t quit e t h e e n d, a s s pec ta to rs taun ted and jeered the Belgian mere second s later. Afte r his s tro ng firs t rid e, Hu gh es needed just one point to pass Frenchman David Vuillem in for third on the year. In other words , he just need ed to fin ish ahead o f the Fre nchm an , which did n't se e m like a probl em co ns id e r in g Vui llemin 's l l th-pl ace first mot a . Thi s lime, however, Vu illernin started mu ch better. In fact, he pulled the holeshot and led th ree la p s, whil e Hu gh es star ted third and then slid ou t in a tum mid race. Vu illemin succu mbed to both Alber tyn and Everts on the las t lap, but still fintshed fourth, wh ile Hu gh es - despite rid ing so hard that he colla psed near the p od ium fro m heat ex ha ust ion - was sixth. "I go t on th e gas too hard a nd th e back end came arou nd ; I'm still lig h thead ed ," said Hu ghes, before wobbling off to the pod ium to be interv iewed . eN Budds Creek MXPark Budds Creek, M aryland Results: September 12, 1999 (Final Round) Q UA LI FYIN C : 1. Kevin w indham (2:25.419); 2. ynard (2:25.&85); 3. Mickae l Pichon (2:26.2% ); Robb ie Re 4. Sebas t ie n Turtt'l li (2:26.880); 5. David Vuillcmin (2:26.958); b. Stefa n Everts (2:26.987); 7. Frede ric Bollev (2:27.301); H. Crcg Albertyn (2:27..129); 9. Ryan Hughes (2:27.523); 10. Leon Getsbers (2:28.130); 11. Pit Bcirer (2:28.703); 12. J O~ hU .l Co pp ine (2:28.739); 13. Jean Roy Se bas tie n (2:28 .835 ); 14. Mar k Jon es (2 :2M.928) ; 15. Mic kac l Ma schi o (2:29.344 ); t n. Mar ko Ko val ai nc n lev on it, and I think I can do a good job on it." On his wris t injury: "It will be a week that I'm rid ing for, Sun day. I feel m y wri st getting each time bett er, an d I'm getting more confiden t... Dr, Ting d id a grea t job on it. I just go t a br ace for it jus t to keep it safe - not go ou t of the motion I can do. I feel safe. It doesn't bot her me wh ile I' m riding on the track." MICKAEl PICHON On returning to the GPs: "I' m prett y happy. I'm reall y happy to be ba ck w it h uzuk i, to o . It ' s do ne a good job for me in th e Ll .S; and I was reall y ha p py to go back with them in Europe. It's a good feelin g for me to go back home, becau se I've been here for five ye ars. I had a g rea t time , exce pt for th is year... I' ve been home now for a couple of months, and I rea lly like it." On the future: "I signed a two- year d eal with Suzuki 2000,2001 - wit h Ceboers' team , and we'r e rea lly look ing forwa rd to tryi ng to wi n the cha mpions hip , like Gre g (Alberty n) d id this yea r in the U.s. A lot of people were thinking Suzukis were not that great in the past years, and Greg proved this year that Suzu ki can win. I' ve bee n very impressed with the bike since I've been ridi ng with Suzuki this year, and I really feel they have the pot enti al to win a cha mp ions hip ." DAVID VUILlEMIN On coming to the U.S. next yea r: "It's a good change for me , and I look forward to the season I ",;11 make with Yama ha . It' s my fir st yea r, a nd I wa n t to be fas t and ready. I need to work thi s wi nter becau se I did a long series in outdoor this vear, and mav be it will be d ifferent fo r me a t th e fir st Sup er cross ..: Su pe rc ross is more aggr essiv e. It' s a short race, but it' s an intense race... I had propositions since thr ee years now, but it wa s in 125, and I wanted to come in 250." On Picho n's depa rtu re from the U.S.: "l' rn not Pichon, and Pichon is no t me . We are d ifferent. Me, 1 come here just to race like an American. I don't want to be a Frenchman here in America, and to live like in France . I want to live a little like an Am erican... I think the team will help me also, because they are very friendly with me , and they want me to come here. It's like a famil y, so I think it will not be a problem.

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