Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

then after finding out his lines I passed him for good." Mickael Pichon easily handled the 250cc class to record his second straight win. 125cc GP In a rather wild first 100 meters, series leader Steve Ramon crashed. Third-placed rider in the series Ben Townley collided with Tallon Vohland, and Mickael Maschio led into the first corner. For Ramon, it would be a long day as he remounted his KTM as the riders disappeared into the distance. On the super-fast Bellpuig circuit, the Belgian had little chance of making up enough time to challenge the likes of Maschio and Eggens. Vohland, who had suffered problems with the bike in the first lap, retired on lap two with a broken spark plug. "I'm really disappointed," Vohland said. "I had no chance to race with these guys, and on this track I had a good chance. I was mentally prepared to fight for at least a top three here, then the bike just stopped." By lap two, Ramon had moved into 22nd place, then, as Maschio and Dupasquier were swapping paint for the first place, Ramon clocked super quick laps as he moved into 15th place by lap seven. Ramon, however, crashed again on lap 11 as he tried to move into 11 th place. He would eventually finish in 22nd place, earning zero championship points. Up front, Maschio had worked out his path to glory and began to move away from Dupasquier, while thirdplaced rider Erik Eggens put a gap between himself and Yamaha rider LUigi Seguy. American Jeff Dement fought hard in eighth place. "I broke my back here last year and came in a little unsettled," Dement said. "I am so happy to get a top-10 place after only my second GP back. I'll go home and work on my injured finger [Dement re-injured his finger in practice on Saturday] and work to improve on eighth place. I am excited about this year and I know I can run with just about anyone in this class." As the 125cc race closed out, Maschio won by six seconds ahead of Dupasquier, while Eggens was a further 14 seconds back in third place. Seguy picked up fourth, followed by Alex Puzar, Patrick Caps, Ben Townley, Dement, Antoine Lettelier and Tyla Rattray, who rounded out the top 10. 250cc GP So far, Mickael Pichon looks to be the rider to beat. His lap times have been much quicker than his rivals; no one has shown the speed to rival the Frenchman's. While Pichon's win was an easy one, he did complain of problems, something that many trackside are finding a little strange going by his domination of the class. "I hurt my shoulder in a French International last weekend," Pichon said. "I really struggled with it for the race today. I had trouble with the big Dobb, fourth place in Valkensvaard three weeks earlier and the World 125cc Motocross Champion, was looking sure to get second place when he rolled to a stop with two laps remaining. A broken clutch on the KTM meant a slow walk back to the pits. With Dobb out, Bolley moved into third place, while Chiodi took over second. The race would end with Pichon winning by 22 seconds, followed by Chiodi, Bolley, Kenneth Gundersen, Coppins, Paul Cooper, Jussi Vehvilainen, Johnny Aubert, Pit Beirer and Carl Nunn. 500cc GP As Joel Smets and Stefan Everts took the opening lap in first and second around the Circuit de Catalunya, everyone expected a great race - it didn't happen. What has become a rather predictable class in the World MX Championships, the 500cc competition is not able to match the speed of the two Belgians. Smets walked away from Everts to win easiIy, while Everts' second-place finish jumps and I could not ride at my full potential. Yesterday in practice, and qualification, I could only do a couple of laps, it's not a good preparation. I hardly rode the bike this week." As for the other in the race, this was one of the wildest and fastest 250cc GPs for a long whiie. In the early going, England's James Dobb led Bolley, Josh Coppins and Paul Cooper. While Dobb held a slight lead over Bolley, the others were in an allout war for fourth place. Coppins, who looked more motivated than ever, moved into third place when Bolley crashed on lap six, then the New Zealander also went down. "I had some pain killers in my foot today after twisting it yesterday," Coppins said. "Then I got my foot caught in a rut and lost concentration and crashed. I was so angry. And then I got up quickly only losing one spot to Chiodi. Everyone was riding so hard, but I still felt I could have gotten back to third, then I had some bad luck when a lapped rider crashed in front of me and ran into a hay bale, then I hit that and crashed." While Coppins was riding on the edge, Bolley was making up serious time on the other riders. Having dropped to 11 th place, he was back into eighth on lap 16, and charging hard. "When I came up behind the front seven guys, I knew I only had a handful of laps to get to a podium place, which was the worst I wanted," Cooper said. "I saw the three or four riders in front and they were all very close. [Jussi] Vehvilainen slowed and I got him, then I could pass [Paul] Cooper after he made his mistake. I only had to get to Chiodi and Dobb, which seemed possible." Bolley, who had been making some changes to his bike, continued to show great speed, despite his crash. "We have the Yamaha now going very fast," Bolley said. "I think our bikes can match that of Pichon. We still have some parts coming and the bike will only get faster. Pichon is very fast at the moment and it's still in those first few laps were he is winning the Grand Prix. I have to attack him early, otherwise it's a long season." cue. e There was some surprise in the 125cc class, as Mlckael Maschio took a close win over Phillipe Dupasquler (behind Maschlol. n e _ s • APRIL 24,2002 19

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