Several of the top riders struggled
as the KTM team boys took command. First up was Eggens, who took
the lead ahead of fellow KTM riders
Gundersen and Marco Annimento. As
the race drew to the halfway mark,
Gundersen passed Eggens for the
lead.
"I lost my concentration when he
passed me," Eggens said. "Kenneth
was just too fast today. I am now
fourth in the championship, and third
place is possible. The early part of
the race was okay for me. As I had
the lead, it was slippery, but I could
control my pace. Once Kenneth went
past, I could do nothing to keep with
him, and then the mud became a
problem. The week before Italy, I
trained with Kenneth. We are good
teammates, and it is good for each
other to train together. Today,
though, he was just too quick. I did
my best to stay in second place, and
to be honest, that was the best I could
have done on this track."
Italian Thomas Traversini had
entered the first lap in sixth place on
yet another KTM, and with time running out, he made a passing move on
former World champ Alex Puzar for
third place.
"Finally, I have a good result,"
Traversini said. "I did not do anything
Pichon and Reed moved into second
and third, respectively, on lap four,
while other stro~g riders such as Gordon Crockard and Frederic Bolley battled on in 10th and 23rd places,
respectively. Despite huge applause
from his home fans, Federici made an
error, and Pichon raced by for the lead.
"I did not have good concentration,
and when Pichon passed me, my
motivation to keep with him was not
good," Federici said. "I knew I was
good for the podium, but winning was
not possible. I felt so good in qualification on Saturday· maybe I got nervous, and I just had to let him go."
While Pichon had been able to get
to the front quickly, the same was not
the true for Reed. The Aussie struggled to pass Federici, and it was there
that he lost the race.
"I tried to pick off as many people
[as possible)." Reed said. "I saw Federici and Pichon up front and knew I
because he gated very quickly. I saw
the chance to pass him, and once in
the lead, I was able to pick up the
pace and move away from Erik."
125cc GP
With the championship already in
the KTM factory's hands, one could
expect the orange team to back off a
little, but that's just not its style. Once
again, riders of the Austrian bikes
gated first and raced away with the
moto. Just as has been the case for
the entire season, the 125cc riders
had to deal with a Castiglione track
that was so overwatered that it looked
like a flash flood had hit.
det
cue. _
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SEPTEMBER 26,2001
7
