Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Serey Supereross: Palais Omnisports Supercross pared to do battle in mot o one . Establi shin g a trend for th e w e ekend , PARIS, FRANCE,NOV, 12-14 McGrath ga te d well in s eco n d, w ith o r Jeremy McGrath' s competiVu illemin several positions back. Th e tion , the sea rc h for a way of American led the 14-lapper by the secd efeating th e AMA Su percross ond go- around , while th e Fren chman Cham pion can at times seem like a fruitproved that pa ssing was possible on the less endeavo r, but Fre nch se nsa tio n tigh t circu it, moving up to second by lap David Vuil lemin found the needle in a three . Vu ill emin's efforts at a dvancehaystack during th e sp ect acu lar Ber cy ment had the lanky Frenchman han ging Supercro s s in hi s h om e co u n try . off the bike in comer s and monitoring his follow ers via under-the-armpit, Tour McGrath won five o f six mot os over ' th ree eveni ngs of racing, but a freak br ode France-sty le back-glances, b u t he would ge t no further than second. The ken carbure tor needle th warted him as he led Friday's second ou ting . two Yam ah a rid ers pulled away fro m Th ough Vuillem in did use a bit of th e pack, finish ing o ne-two in fairly luc k to win th e titl e, a fa ir amou nt of close formation . skill was also necessary . Th e likea b le "I was pl ayin g w it h th e track, and Frenc hman suffered poor s ta rts , but when you pla y y ou have fun, " sai d ._~ " J, ; : .r.. " . ".. ",': ...:,.......e ' .. Vu illemin. "I just tried so man y ~-- ,-, . .... ...... ;'io~""~, •. ,. , ' . _ .."" ~-" . things." if ,f . '. .... .. . .: . ' ''", Mike Brown was an im pres.~ . real loos e and co nfi de n t - w e ' re in France." " I didn 't g et a g o o d s ta r t," sa id VuilIemin. "I just sta rted to be rela xed and just ride my own race - just be consisten t and catch as many ri ders as I could. I rode good, I found good lines and I wa s relaxed." By Chris Jonnum F ,~, \ ... .. , . " .or:", • , 4: tl- ' \.'l...:.t ," ' r..,- , I .~ 't. U.r;; . · ~~ ..."' ~. ~ "lI"' SATURDAY After besting Vuill em in in night tw o' s fi r s t qualifier, M cGrath pull ed th e ho les hot in mot o one, with Vuillemin once aga in starti ng poorly and com pleting lap on e in sixth. Ezra Lusk - Saturd ay' s other heat-r ace winner - se ttled into second on lap three, but was soo n hounded by th e Fren chman. If he has troubles on the starts, Vuillemin cert ain Iy makes u p for it with his p assing skills, and he was abl e to ge t 1, ; :-; J :r:.... ' by Lusk with thre e laps .," . r emainin g , 0 ':' J"' . - _I - '" Ill- ~ ~ .. . - L .,i ' • - ;_ .... '" "I'm glad to be here," sai d McGrath "I' m having so me goo d races , gettin some good starts, and that's importan in a race like this ... If it wa sn't for a bit 0 m is fortune, I' d be th e King of Ber cy Con gratulati ons to David. He rod e real Iy well." "Jere my is the real King of Berc y,' sai d Vuillemi n . "He w on five of si races and jus t had a small mechanica problem ." 125 Whil e Vu illemin see ms to have troubl ou t of the ga te, his 125cc cou ntry man Thain - has got the starts dialed. The rider repeatedly go t awa y well in Bercy leadin g into lap two on five of nine occa sions . He also knows how to put stron starts to good use '- .~ ••'.1~ ••$.,... as Thain finis he • , on the pod ium iJ ' ., 0 . ..... .'.' , : \,. .. • .~ •.,a ". :, ~~ .... . .. J ~ i: E Q> despite the tight confines and relati vely few laps, he always fou nd a way to move near the fron t. "He's a good rid er," said McGrath of Vuill emin , w h o is he adin g to Team Yam aha USA for 2000. '1 think he's perfectl y ca pable of winning races next year." The frie nd ly rivalry see med to have the Fren ch spectators in a qu andary as to whom to roo t for - like all fans, they love McGrath, bu t Vu illemi n was th e hometown h ero . Th e American rid er co nsisten tly go t hug e ovations, bu t nationalism won out in the end. ' That French pri de was stoked in the 125cc class, in which Rodrig Thain another hom e rider - put his KTM into the top overall position. Doing so meant bea ting so me of America's bes t tid dler p ilots, in cluding Erne s t o Fo n seca , Na than Ramsey an d Casey Lytle. Keep an eye on Thain, w h o is a lso com ing Stateside for next season. To assure that the top riders were on the track as often as possible, two 250cc motos were utilized each evening, rather tha n a sing le final as is cust oma ry in the Ll.S, Rider s qu ali fied via tw o heat races and an LCQ. Few er riders were invited in the 125cc suppo rt division , elimina ting th e need for qualifiers (alt ho ugh some rid er s d id ha ve to s tar t on row two). Three 125cc motos ran.each evening. Q> FRIDAY 18 Afte r splitting wi ns in the two qu alifying heats, McGrath and Vuillemin pre- u o ,, ~ ' _ J . ' - sive (tho ugh d istan t) " third , w hile so me riders d idn't far e as well as expected . Lusk came up sho rt on a jump, stuck his bike in the soft track and went over the bars; Windham , having taken so me w elld eserved off-time , was still getting into the swin g of thin gs and finished fourt h. Mot o two saw McGrat h ga te around third, and moments afte r workin g his way to th e fro n t on la p six, d isa ster struck. " I w a s lead in g co m ing o ut of the w hoops, a nd it sta rte d going, 'b u ah , bu ah ," said McGra th . "I don't know what it was." It was a broken carbu retor needle, somethi ng me chanic Randy Lawrence had never befo re witnessed. "It's a stock part in a stock carb," he sa id . "It came wit h the bike." T h a t le ft Lu sk in co mma nd, b ut Vu ille m in - n inth on lap o ne - was steadily advancing throu gh the pack, sen di ng the French cro wd in to a fren zy. With ju s t 14 lap s on a s ma ll track, Vu ille m in passed so me fast r id ers , incl u d ing Carmichael a nd Windha m, and by lap eig ht only Lu sk rem ained. Th e Hond a rid er bobbl ed o n la p 12; and Vuillemin gave him a block pass for the lead . Lusk tri ed a block pass of his ow n , but i t was to o la te , a n d Vuillemin go t the p o p ul ar w in. Carmichael wa s third . "I d on' t like losin g," said Lu sk . " I knew [Vuilleminl was going to be ridin g l' ' ,. "'1, ~~~ . s q u ir ti ng b y on the insid e of a corner in the hidd en tunnel sec tio n. Th at wasn't enough to catch McGrath, wh o won b y n earl y seven seconds. Lusk was third , Mot o tw o sa w - su rprise - McGrath s tar ting near th e fro nt and Vu illem in ga ting midpack. The Ame rican had the lead on lap three, and kept it to the finish, while Vuill emin - pumping his fist to the crowd over jumps - ad van ced to third b ehind Lu sk a t m oto ' s end . Holeshotter Windham crashe d in th e tunnel and finished seventh, " I d on't much ca re for th ese tight tracks," said Lusk. "It's d ifficu lt to ma ke up time." " I h ad a r eall y goo d d a y ," sa id McGrath. " It he lps m ake up for last night. I may be a bit old, bu t I' m still learning. and that's good." "Maybe it' s too mu ch traction for the rear tir e," sa id Vu illemi n w he n as ke d abo ut his poo r starts. SUNDAY O n th e fi na l d ay of ra cin g, McGrath utte rly d om inated , leading every lap of his qualifier and both mot os. Vuillemin go t his usual midpack gate in moto one, passin g Lusk for second on lap 10, but his mote-two second- place sta rt had the locals hopin g for a straig h t-up Vuillemin w in. Des p ite th e Fr en chm an' s b est efforts, it wasn' t to be, and McGra th had a five-secon d cushion at the finish. Windham go t back in to th e sw ing of thi ng s wi th third-place finishes in both motos. all but tw o motos. Both of thos e mo to w er e on opening night, when an a rm purnp-beleagured Tha in finished the firs two outings in fourth, then improved fo second. Fon seca w on all three Frida races in convincing fashion. Fonseca 's dominance disappeared on night two, starting with an over-thecrash in the wh oops in moto on e. Tha w as followed by three more bails in th sa me sec tion in mot o two, leaving th Costa Rican batt ered and so re. He final Iy improved to win moto thr ee, but th dam age to his Princ e of Bercy qu est had been d on e. Appa re ntly un faz ed by sca ry night-one crash over the side 0 th e fin ish -l in e jump, FMF /H onda" Casey Lytle topped the first mot o. Th co nsis te nt Thain w ent 2-1 -2 o n t h eve ning. "I cra shed a lot tod ay," und erstated Fon seca a t eveni ng's end . "I hope I'm d one with that for the weekend." SplitFire /K a w a saki rid er N athan Ram sey finall y go t a moto win in Sund ay ' s firs t ou ti ng , after a battle wi th Thain. Motos two and thr ee saw Fonseca back on top , and Thain finished second in all three races - ple nty good fo the overall title. "I'm very surprised to beat them [th American s ]." sai d Th a in throu gh an int erpreter. "It's a good surprise becau se I pl an to go to th e Sta tes . Now I can appreciate my level among the top riders ." Fon seca, on the other hand, wasn' t Continued on page 21

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