Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

pinn ed to wi n the 125cc class over Chiod i and Vuillemin. Carmichael, who had returned to the fray after having h is m ech ani c Cha d Watts change his pipe, came hom e in 27th. After the first mota , it was Italy in the lea d w it h 12 p oin ts, Fra nce in second w it h 16 and Holla nd in th ird w ith 18. Team USA was nin th wi th 32 poi nts . (Left) Unlucky number 13 proved ju st t h at for Ricky Carmichael . Crashes, a smashed exhaust pipe and a broken th rottle cable relegated Carmichael to the back of the 125cc pa c k. (Ab o v e) Ste fa n Eve rts w on two motos o n his 250cc Honda. . en en en uS ~ .9 u o 10 only to relinquish it to Bartolini. For the next few laps, Bartolini was able to put more da ylig ht between himself and the Belgian, who was experien cing a problem with the track . "I didn't wa nt to make a mistake because the ru ts were all filled up with mu d ," said Sme ts. "I tho ug h t the track was go ing to be d ry, but at one point the bike completely sto pped in the mud and I a lmost fe ll . I p u t m y foot on t h e ground and I had to lift the bike out of the comer. I lost a lot of time there." On lap four , laRocco hit the ground, dropping back to ninth, and was forced to wo rk hi s way back u p toward th e lead ers. "I felt good, but 1 shou ld ha ve not been in the back," sa id laRocco. "I go t a dece nt start and I went down. I felt pretty good rid in g a nd go t u p as far as I cou ld ." . One iap lat er, Carmichae l, who was far and away the fastes t 125cc rider on th e tra ck (he was pu lling co ns istently lo w 2:23s co m pared to class lea d er James Dobb's h igh 2:25s), wa s rapidly making up time after a quick trip to the dirt after the start. But problem s would strike him again . "I go t a good start and I wa s pret ty happy, but some guy slid out in front of me in the S turns in the back, w here it wa s r eal o ne-lin ed a n d th ere w a s now here for me to go . I ran into him and then I had to wait for everybody to go by. I got going again and was catching up to everybody real w ell, the n 1 went a rou nd a corner and ther e was a big rock and it ruined my pipe, and that wa s it." . As the ra ce hit th e lap-l 0 mark, it was still Bartolini all alone ou t front, with Sme ts in second, Van Wessel third, a closing Fred eric Bolley in fourth, and LaRocco who had bli tzed his way into fifth. Meanwhile, the 1255 had a good bat tle going on with James Dobb lead ing the way over Alessio Chiod i and David Vuillemin. "I didn' t get the best of starts, but I kept my head down and kep t cha rging and go t to the fron t of the I25cc class , an d that was my goa l - to try and pick o ff as many p eo p le as 1 cou ld ," said Dobb. "I' m pretty thrilled, because it was a pretty fast track and very deep in so me p laces. This is m y kind of track, because you always ha ve to think what you are doing and keep yo ur line ." Vuill emin ex p lai ne d, "I had problems with lappers, and 1 rod e the best I cou ld . 1 am a little bit big, a little heavy for a 125, so 1 rod e as hard as 1 cou ld. 1 know Chiodi's bike is terrific; it has so mu ch pow er. It was like that last yea r, and it is the same thing this year. I was giving it all I had ." As the checkered flag flew at the conclusion of the 15th lap, it wa s Bartolini w ith a big win , which would ultima tely set the tem po for Team Italy's epic day. "I had a good beg innin g a n d fe lt very, very good," said Bartolin i from his law nchair in his team 's pit s. "I had goo d speed and jus t kept mov ing towards the finish . It was a good finish for us. I hop e we can continue to d o well. " Placin g second was Smets, while Van Wessel, Bailey and LaRocco held their on-tr ack pos itions. Dobb, the 10th place m an o n th e track , kept hi s Su zuki Brieflv... MOTOTWO It was Everts leading the pac k of 250cc and 125cc machines au t onto the circu it to begi n the day's second mota. Dresse d in the ye llow, red and black of Tea m Belgium, Everts led Tortelli, Windham, Spain's Josep Alonso and German Pit Beirer. Unfortunately, while Windham was in a great position, a moan went up in th e American camp when Carmichael, w ho had gated extremely we ll, went down at the bottom of one of the circu it's small hills. Upon hit ting the grou nd , the Kawasaki's bra ke line and throttle cable were sheared com p lete ly off the bike, an d with that it was all but over for Tea m America. On lap 'three, things also we nt wron g for France when TorteIIi took a frightening fall, cartw heeIi ng down the track' s most treacherous section - a high-speed, w hooped-out downhill. After he go t up, reg ained his senses and dusted himself off, To rtelli rod e to the signaling area where mechanic Shane Drew im med iately replaced the front wh eel. , kn ow" I. have to make a g?od race .to hel p put Fran ce on the podium .. . . .' here. Throughout the ;u'mmer month s.' rumors swirled that Vuillemin wo~ld. i~ , fac t . not be coming to th e ,Sla tes to .race , choos ing instead to remairi in Wh ile most Am erican s presume Brazil to be a country of hot and humid Europe, Were the rumors tru e, 'and if 'they 'were, what made him change weather, this' weekend brought coo l, 60-degree temp eratur es and bright blue skies to the South Am erican nation. Currently in early-spring mode . · his mind? " We ll yes, and no . Yamaha in the U.S . made a deal fo r me and it wa s everyt hing I wanted. They want me to be happyand l am now very the weather that greeted the nations co mpeting in the MXdN was pict ure . · motivated to do well for them. I will be going to race the Stade de France perfect. Quae a difference from last year's slo pfest at Foxhills , Superc ross next we ek . t hen stay in France for a litt le longer before moving to Ameri ca permanently in December, I' m still yo ung and plan to one 'Taking o n th e -appear ance ofan 'A merican supercross . th e C urc uito day come back to the GP circuit. but right now I, want to make a goo d Paulo Yamakami. situat ed in the town of lndaiatuba (pronounced In: . , die-a-t ube) wa s graced 'w it h as phalt pits and gra nds ta nd seating fo r ' career in the U ,S," , upward of .16.000 specta tors . Own ed by the Honda Motor Corp oration of , ' Brazil (w hich has an aston ishing g2 ·percent share of tti e Brazilian motor- ' cy cle .markell. it is a perm anent facility. wh ich IS utilized as a riding and' training facility for bo th the motor com pany and local Brazilians ';'ho 'pur.chase Honda motorcycles and scooters . " The place has a certai n refres hing feeling to it. " said Kawasaki Team Manager Bruce Stj ernstrorn. who ' was on hand to help the American effort. "The Europeans have a ce rtain disci pline that runs thro ugh their racing promotion (Stjemstrom speaks of the Action Group. which promoted the eve nt). EverYthing they do is very effective and I believe we can learn a lot fro m them . " A funny talecarne out .of Brazil the we~k prior to the race . Team USA drew a " lucky" ·n u m ber · 13 gate 'po sition. H owever , the Ac tion Group, aware that the number 13 is bel ieved to be an unlucky number in the U nited St ates.idrew anot her number , this time 23 . Upon receiving a fax which informed the Am erican team of their new gate pos ition, the Action Group was con tacted immed iately . where someone within the Am erican camp was claimed to have said; "W e 're fine with the number 13 . Don ' t do us 'any favors ." Team US A was ultimately given back their numbe r-I S sta rting pick . ' . . -, . Interesting ly; Vuillemin was one of handful ' of riders bit e their fingernails as t heir mot orcycles were held toms. I just got my bike late last night (Friday) and work all night to get it ready, " said the French rider, was not a good thing arid I'm not happy about it. " wh o w ere f~rced to up in Brazilian c u s my mechanic had to shaking his head. '"It . New FIM 250cc World 'Champion Frederic Bolley was also a member of the French MXd N " resistance." " I'm a litt le more relaxed now that the championship' is ove r," laughed Bailey from inside the French pits on Saturday morning , " However, I have been so busy it has not really. sunken in ,yet. Since wi nning the title at Budds Creek. I have only bee n home for · one day. After winning the chernplon shlpthere. I had to go right to M ilan ' for the Fastcross , then straight here to Brazil. I have to do the Stade de France S upercross next week then I wi ll be able to have two weeks off . T hen I will be able to enjoy my championsh ip. " T he caree r plans of fou r-time FIM W orld Cha mpion Stefan Everts we re a big top ic of conversation in the pits at Indaiat uba. One person who is still caught up in the fallout from Evert s' decision to leave Honda is his . . " · longti me mechanic Gernt Zwyzen. "I am not sure wh at I am going to do yet. " said the soft-spo ken Belgian: " Ste fan has offered me a position to On the Friday afternoon prior to the MXdN ,Team USA held a practice work as his mechanic at Husqvarna, but I may stay w ith Honda: I just 'and test session at a l o cal MX ' track located right off the side of a ' don' t know what I am going to do yet. " . majorh ighway running betwee n Sao Paulo and Indaiatub a. Etched out on a field right ,alongside a Wet and Wi ld wa ter and amuse ment pa rk. : the Eve rt s' , fat her Harry Everts , also a four -time World C hampion, was session generat ed quite a sti r ,among the loca ls.' " The guy who owns the wa ter park is a motocross fan and he invit ed us 'over the re. " said Br uce : making the rounds in Brazil: "This is a very nice place. but the track is not so specia l for the Mo tocross des Nations , " said the Belgian. "The start is . Stj ern strom. " The track was pre tty good and we we re able to let the guys get some ridi ng in and d ial in th e jetting .. It w as pre tty . fun ny ' good for a 500 or 250: but the trac k will be diffic ult to ' pass on. I have ,because people would see ' us from the highway, pull their cars off, and . always believed that a. good rider can always do Well, no matter wha t the ... wander over to watch. At one time there had to be several hundr ed pee- . situation', but 'i t will be to ugh here. " ,..., , . pie watching . " ' .. Speaking of ~ood 'riderS:one ,ridei Harry Evertshked was K e vin W i ndThe American camp had an interesting : helper~ whll~ in Brazil, Am erican ham, " W indham is such a wo nderful rider and I am so impress ed wit h Gene "Fireba ll" Gentsch , a former privateer AMA National rider 'and him, " he said. " , . .' .current B:azilian co untry( western .singer a nd rodeo rider superstar, was on hand to help his fellow co untry men around Brazil, " I me t the Am eriAt approximate ly' 0 a.m. on. Saturday moming, the American tea m bus cans at the airpo rt and I feel it is my duty to help them and show them . arrived , and with it , legio'ns of fans that surrounded the U.S .. co mmand around ; " said the frien dly G entsch , who roamed the American pit area . ce nt er t he entire w eekend , The Ameri can s generated a tr eme ndou s amount of intere st amon g ,the Brazilians. .Apparently , one 'o f th e primary ,wearing a 1O-gallon cowboy hat and a big , silver rode o belt buckle , reasons may be that the. entire AMA Superc ross Serie s"is broadcast to David Vuillem in : who will be comi ng toAmerica to race' the 2000 · , the country and is said to draw very .stronq r ating numbe rs. The Brazil" AMAS upercross and National M X Series as a membe r of Team Yamaha. i an spectators 'cheered every time the Yankees rolled out onto the ' was on hand In Brazil to ride the 125cc class for the French team . "I am ' track. espn2 TV commentator Art Eckman . on hand to do some TV work for the Seals Communicat ions -produ ced show " Motoworld, " wa s asked ' ve'ry excited to beheie at the M otocro ss des Nations ," said Vuillem in on for his autogra ph on numerous occasions., So who Was the. most popular Sat urday 'mo rning. " But I have not raced a 125 in almost ayear, and I i

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