Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

this race feeling I could win; second p lac e is a good way to co me back. Th e champion sh ip is gone , but I ca n s t ill win s o m e GPs , t hat is my aim now for 2001." In th e ever- p opula r 500cc class, it wa s , a gain , a b a tt le between the Benelu x rid e rs: Joe l S m ets , S t e fa n Ev erts a nd Mam ic q Be rvo ets. Sme ts got h is 37th w in , b rea k ing Rog er DeC ost er 's record for most wins e ver in the 500cc class. It was a somewhat easy victory fo r the defending Wo rld 500cc Champion. Smets too k the lea d on la p one and slowly moved awa y from his fellow Belgians . By the end of the ra ce, Smets had op en ed up a 10 second gap ove r Ev e rts , wh o t ook s econd pla c e , wh ile Bervoets wa s nearl y a m inute beh in d th e winn e r. Smets ca me to Germ any still under a n inju ry cl o ud, taking painkillers jus t prior to the 500cc ra ce. "I do n't know if people are bel iev ing me," S m ets s a id of his injury. "Go a nd ask the t ra c k s id e doctor , I've been with him th is morning. I'm not joking a bo ut this injury, it's been difficu lt to tra in a nd I am rea lly st rugg ling with my fitness." On th e record-breaking win, Smets was finally a llowing himself to enjoy his place in Europe an motoc ross history. "I ne ver thought about the record," Smets sa id. "Now I have it I am very de lighted to be the winni ng est ride r of a ll time in th is class, th e class I love so m u ch . I have a g re a t fe e ling of contentment from th is win." Thirty-thousand spectators turne d out for the German GP. Joel Smets (1) made It a d ouble win f or KTM afte r t opping the 500cc class. Points leader Stefan Everts finished second. 125cc GP In p e rfe c t ra cing cond it ion s , th e ) 25cc ride rs ma de their first appe ar a nce on the Mitteldeutsch la nd facility, a n d th e y were g re e ted wit h a ha rd packed tra c k and s unshine . It wa s th e sa m e story out of the start, tho ug h, as Dobb quickly moved into th e lead, followed by Eggens, Ch ristian Stev a n in i, S tephen Sword and Steve Ramon . Three -tim e World 1 25 c c Motocross Cha m pion Ale s s io Ch iod i was having another bad day a s the Ita lian entered the first la p in 29th p lace , just one rider ran behind th e Italian motocross leg end . While Eg gens was able to matc h Do bb for the first five laps, it become ob vious tha t the British rider was not p ushi n g t o o ha rd. Dobb had pro du ced laps times a round 2:02, while Eggens c ould only manage the 2:03 cue. e m ark in th o se first few cruc ia l la ps . Do bb knew ea rly that his pos itio n in the ra c e was safe . "I tried to keep a good c onsistent pace," Dobb sa id. "I kn e w Erik wou ld be pushing ha rd an d we showed with th e KTMs that they a re the stronge s t bikes . Afte r those first couple of la ps , I just rode at the pa c e I had to . I was no t pushing too ha rd ." As for Egge ns , the Dut ch GP winner is known as a sa nd specialist, but o n the hard-pa c ked German track , he loo ke d im pressive , a nd he kn ew it. "I have in the past strug g le d o n hard pack ," Eggens sa id . "Today , I felt good . Of course, I wa nted to keep Jamie in s ight , and I felt t h a t wa s possib le in the e a rly go ing . He got a littl e a wa y from me a t the m idrace po int, a nd I cou ld not keep h im in view . I sett led for second pla ce, which for me was as g ood as winning the Dutch GP." Chiodi , who ha d two wee ks earlier fa iled to qualify for th e Be lgian GP , h a d m o ved through t he fie ld like a fre ig ht tra in, passing 10 ride rs on la p o ne , th en slowly move d into e ig hth position at the climax of the moto . Ch iod i is now some 7 3 p o ints b eh ind Dobb in the champions hip po ints race, an d he knew he ne eded to at least be on the podi um in Germany. "I c r a s he d har d o ve r a sma ll ju m p ," Chi odi said. "I had pr oblems g etting ba ck o n t he b ike a s all the riders were rid ing into m e - it was c ra zy. Eventuall y I could get going a g ain, but I was so fa r ba ck. My finis hin g p osition wa s o kay a fte r wh a t happ en, but the champio nshi p is now a long wa y away." Third -placed Steve Ra mon, who is also known for his sand -t rack sk ills, was excited about his ride . The yo ung Be lg ian has p roven that the 12 5cc Kaw asakis a re anything but slow . "We h ave a good setu p ," Ra m on sa id. "T hat' s not su rp rising c omi ng fro m th e Jan De G r o ot t eam . I e njo ye d mysel f e arly , h o we ve r , a t about half race distance I st a rte d gett ing arm p um p . I ha d to let Eg gens a nd Dobb go. St ill third p la ce is good for me on this tra ck ." Only one man in the 125cc cl ass stood ta ll in Germany , though. Dob b, who crossed the fin ish line to the roar o f the 30,000 German s pe c tat ors , knew his race was won in those critica l early laps. "You h a v e to pu sh hard earl y , " Dobb sa id , "tha t is whe n you show yo urse lf to the others. I've be en luc ky to get s o m e good sta rts and today was not different. From the front , it was always going to be easy on these bikes." n e _ S • MAY 23, 2001 25

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