Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128103
M lckael Pic hon (2). Pit Be lrer (3) and J osh Coppin s (4) launch do wn the start straight in the 2S Oec m ain eve nt. F r e n c h m a n Yves D e m a r i a took th ird on a Free Time Yamaha . Whi le Cro ck ard 's vic t o ry was defi n it el y a su rprise , the 125cc and 500c c d iv i si on s went t o t h e riders wh o led in t he po ints - Jamie Dobb and Stefan Ev erts, re spectively . In th e 12 5 cc d i visi on , D o bb rode aw ay from the o p pos it io n to win hi s th ird Grand Prix o f t he ye ar. The KTM fa ctory rider had st art ed a little slowIy , yet by h a lf-ra c e h ad ove rt ake n Dutch sa nd sp ec iali st Sven Breugel mans, who settled fo r second . Another Dutch ri de r, Mark De Reu ver , was third. " If you look at Lennox Lewi s, the boxer," D obb said , " he d idn ' t do his ho m ework , an d lost the Wo rld Heav y weigh t Cham p ionship . He d idn't tra in like he should have, and it cost him the title . I'm work ing harder than ever, an d will not stop wo rking until the j ob is don e." T h e bi g -b o r e class on ce aga in brought t he best raci ng of t he d ay , w ith Ev ert s and defen din g c h a m p Joel Sm et s clashi ng in a battle of the legends in front of th eir home crowd. It was Smets wh o took th e early lead , but the final verd ict w ent to Everts, who pas s e d t h e KTM r id er as he struggled to remount after a crash and put his Yamaha into the top posi tion to stay . " He was ver y quic k early ," Everts said. "I could not match his speed, but I did not give up , and near the end of the race, I started to make up ground on him. In the end I wa s just waiting fo r the correct moment to pass. Wh en he c ra she d, I j us t ro de around the o utside , and al though I ro de into some thick mud and nearl y sto pped, I was able to ge t go ing and win ." S m et s held on for se c o nd , and E verts ' t eammate M arnicq Berv oets took third for a Belgian sweep. 1 2 Bcc In terr ibl e c o n di t ion s, the 12 5cc rid ers wer e fac ed with a ve ry difficult situation . Yamah a-mounted Br eug el m an s d id his b e st to c on t ain th e supe r - fast Dobb , but th e Englishman was rid ing with his usu al energy , tak i n g ove r the lea d at h al f-di stan c e . Breug elm an s d id m ana g e to repass the KTM r id e r , b u t only for a m om ent. In no time , D ob b had rep assed and p ull ed four seconds on the D ut chm an. While Dob b was enjoying the fresh breeze up front , the other competitors were having little in the way of luck. Third -p laced Patrick Caps was get ti ng serious hurry-up from De Reu ver, wh i le Du t ch Gra nd Prix- w inn er Er ik Egg e ns wa s fi ghti ng b ac k fro m a crash in t he first co rner. Eggen s had started in la st pl ac e ye t , b y la p 12 , was into fifth . " W he n I got up , everyone w as long -g one ," Eggens said . " I ' m not disappointed with the ride, but I was quickest in qualification and shou ld have at least been on the podium. As far as my race, though , I am happy I showed c o u rag e, and that means a lot to me." Dobb , however, never once looked in trouble , a sight that is becoming quite regular. 2BOcc T h i rd - pl ac ed D emaria had struggled with his b ik e setup all we ekend long, bu t by th e ti me the gate fell , he knew he ha d the machine to make a run at the po dium. " I was i n some trou ble w it h [pit) Beirer early ," Demaria sai d. " O nce I co uld get away from h i m, it wa s okay . Mickael Maschio was ahead of m e earl y , but he has not ridden much latel y due t o his inj ury, so I figured he would lo se st re ngth nea r the end of the rac e, and he d id ." Severa l top 250cc riders strugg led i n th e th i ck mud at G enk. Corona Suzu k i 's J osh C oppins c r ash ed on t he fir st lap aft er d efending ch am p Frederic Bolley hit a mud bank on his fa ctory UFO Honda and fell. British ride r Carl Nunn also suffered a miser ab le ra ce and a near -miss . "I also got ca ug ht up in the Bolley c ras h ," Nunn s a i d . " L uck i ly, h is w heel boun c ed up and just touch ed m y arm . I d idn 't go down , but I did get c aug ht up a li ttle in t he falle n ride rs." Bo ll ey remou nted in la st p la c e , the n fought for several la p s b ef o re stoppi ng in 24th . The race, like most of t hi s season so far , has been fo rget t ab le for t he Frenchman . Co p pi ns fi ni shed i n 10t h p l a c e afte r fig h ting t h rou g h from 27 th on la p o ne. "It's no t good for th e poi nts ." the K iw i sai d . "I've had a bad weekend , and to be ho nest, it w as not my fa ul t. I don 't c r ash v er y o ft en, and tod ay I did it twice . I'll be hap py j ust to get to the next ro und and try and m ak e som e p o int s o n the top t wo gu y s." Wh a t can yo u s ay ab out C rockar d? T he r id e r k now n as " Ro c k - h a r d " in hi s Iris h h om el an d b litzed out of th e st art and set a pace that no t eve n Pich on coul d m at ch . By half -d ist an c e, Pichon was showi n g his f a c e to Cro c k ard , b u t th e Honda rider j ust knocked aw ay a ny smile the Fren ch man ma y hav e been showi ng. " I wanted t o dic tate the sp e e d today ," Crockard sa id . " I did n 't want him to show me the way around the track . I had to respond to his three wins, and today I had good lines and was not having any trouble with arm pum p or anything lik e t hat . This tr ack is so d ifficult, yo u ha ve to re ally think about wh er e to ri de fast and whe re to ride slow. The track va rie s so much ; one minute you ha ve th ic k sand , th en a sto n y base , then mud . I was c o n sta nt ly rethinking my lin es ." Pichon had be en st aring at defeat si nce th e moment Cro ckard s et a qu ic k pace on lap one. "I could not follow him," Pichon said. "His speed was very good - I was sur prised. When I tried to make some time on him, I would make m istakes. In the end, I thought it was better to take second place and fig ht another day." T he re is noth ing li ke a good 500c c Grand Prix at the m oment. Everts and Sm ets co ntinued their duel in Belg ium, bolti ng to the front o ff t he start an d m oving well away of third place (W illi e Van Wessels) in no time. By lap fi ve , t he t wo fou r -tim e Wo rl d Cha m p ion s were 10 sec onds ahead - Smets w ith the lea d and E verts chasing like a wild dog. Lap after lap, the two clocked t imes two or three seconds quicker than their ri vals , and it loo k ed for a while as if Smets would do it . "I just wanted to get as far ahea d as poss ib le ," he sa id. "M y co ndition is not good at the moment, and I d id no t w an t to have hi m on m y ta il near the end of th e race. As it turned out , he w as able t o keep m e in sight." Sure en ough, on l a p 15 of 19 , Everts pulled up o n Smets and pre pared to ma k e his move. Then , in a moment that sent the crowd into a frenz y, Smets fell, handing t he lead to Everts. " I felt m y speed was good," E verts said. "I had already picked a place t o pass and was setting myself up • the n he fell. I moved to the outside of the track ; however, they had pushed all "Th e track was tough - many mud holes and stones ," D obb sa id . "You really ha ve to be careful on this type of track ; we only had one clean li ne, and on t he o utside of the clea n li ne was th i ck m u d . I'm getting so me po ints on the others , but my aim is j ust to win Grands Prix . I do n 't want to sta rt thinkin g a bo ut t he champ i onship j ust yet." cue I e BOOcc n _ os • MAY 9 ,200 1 23