Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

57th Acerbis M o t o c r o s s of Nations Z olde r Circuit Smets, Ev erts and Ram o n hel d to p - Coppins . It was ob vio us t hat th e fiv e pla ces , and the A me rica ns str ug- q uickest r id er on the t rac k was gled. Carmichael ra n outs id e th e top Carmicha el , and he race d pas t Sme ts 10 , and Ferry and Hug hes hel d 26 th and 28th , r espect ively ; the day w i t h ease on l a p three and set o ut after Everts . Un li k e in t he sem ifina l, l ooked just abo ut over for the favorites. By lap one , Everts had co m ma nd ed control o f th e situation, as Smets remai ned in second and R.C. began to pus h his way t hrough t he fi el d , moving into third place afte r passing Everts put up li t t l e r es istanc e t his tim e . "I could se e he was much q uick e r , " Eve rt s sa id. " T h i s is a t ea m event. I didn 't wan t to pu sh t oo har d and wrec k m y self. I neede d to k eep seco nd p l ac e, and I let h im b y and BRIEFLY••• Ri c ky C arm ic h ae l was the perfect representative of America at the Mot ocross des Nations. The Honda fact ory rider sat long afte r all the other riders had gone, signing shirts and posters for the Belgian fans . Ca rmichael gave his nation 100 pe rce nt and proved to the world he is a fine ambassador for his country . "You know . I came here to race for Ameri ca." Carmichael said. " for the fans of America. If the people back home didn 't back us, then it wo uldn't be worth coming. I hope we didn't let anyone down , and I hope we can come back in 2004 and win this thing. For me personally, winning against Stefan Everts proved I'm the best, and that means a lot to me . (Above) Ryan Hughes was knocked out of the race by a b rok e n cha in. (Right) T im Fe rry suffer e d a thumb inju ry the day before t he rac e and was unab le t o pe rform u p to his u sual standards. nea rly as much as w inning fo r my co untry ." Wh ile in Belgium, Ricky Carmichael also comm ented on the booing he has received in some races in A me r ic a . Hav ing bee n lo ud ly che e re d by t he Euro pea n c ro w d , t he AMA Supercross/ Motocross Champion hopes things turn around when he gets home for the U .S, Open. " I've had a hard time in America," Carmichael said. "You know , I have to do what I think is good. I don't think I have done anything wro ng. I came here for my country, and I hope they are appreciative about what we tried to do here. We got 1DO-percent support from the Belgian public, and that felt so good : you don 't want to be disliked by the fans." would be my time , and I just p ic ked the pace up a little. It was funny, sort of racing Kevin Windham , those two both h av e gre at riding st y le s , and Everts is a ve ry good ride r, no doubt about th at. " Carmichael wou ld g o on to w in o ver Hugh es, w ho m ad e a lat e- rac e charge past Everts and Ramon . Then Ramon got ar o und Everts for th i rd. Fifth wen t to Brian Jorgen sen. " It was fun o ut the re," Carmichael sai d. "I ha d a l itt l e arm p ump b ut ke pt it pi nned. In America , yo u learn to ra c e w it h arm p u mp; in Supercros s, we hav e it all the time. I'm not sure wh at happen ed to Everts, finish . ing in fo urth p lace. I really en joyed rac ing him - he's got a great style to watch. " Hughes was less impressed by t he Bel g ian s , thoug h. Ry no had fought his way through and given the home team a ra cing lesson , as the semifi nal rolled to a fini sh . " W e al l h a d some t y p e of a rm p u mp ," H u gh e s said. " T he track's getting reall y ro ugh, and the d iffer ence be t ween th e A m er i c a n r id e r s an d the Euro peans is that we race till th e e nd. W e k e e p our lap times go ing; the Euro peans seem to give up afte r they get sore arms." A s fo r Ev ert s, brok en gogg les and ar m pu mp caused the Belg ian legend to ba ck off and conserve energy for the A final. "I did n 't want to take any chances," E vert s said . "I can say that racing wi t h Ri cky is a grea t expe rience . We ha d a ni c e race fo r a while, and he is for sure the top of t he sport - he's a g reat rider." Sm et s, who had led t he sem i early on, crashed ha rd , injuri ng his forearm an d fi nis hed a l on g way d o wn the fie ld in 15th place. 10 OCTOBER 1 5 , 2 0 03· G U G The m o ra le betwee n the teams was very good, with Stef an Everts and Ricky Car michael having many laughs together. Everts spoke of his respect for Carmichael, and Carmichael returned the favor . " I have to say that Ricky was just too good today,- Everts said. " Congratulations to him. He's always shown me respec t. and maybe I can come back and beat him in the des Nations next yea r. " Ca rmic hael res pon de d w ith a smile and gave his ve rsion of w hat happened around the Zolder circuit. "Yo u know , I've been beaten by him many times before ," Carmichael said. " He's a grea t ride r, and this was the first time we have been able to go head to head. It was tough. I didn't know what to expect. and in the semifinal I looked at him, and wo rked him out. Then, in the A final, I knew what do to and how to attack him." A big rumo r in the pit s at the M ot ocross of Nat io ns w as that M ickael Pichon loo ks ce rta in to race for the Honda factory in 2004 . The French rider, who lost his ride in the Suzuki team this yea r, wi ll return to riding in February, and then co mmenc e a major training plan to be ready for the 2004 season. England's J a m es Dobb will also race Honda machinery, for the British-based RWJ Honda team . " I mad e a mist ak e and sl i p pe d off," Sm ets said . "It took m e a while to g et going ag a in, and I kn ew my teammates had it under con tro l. 1 was really knoc k ed ab out aft er th e c rash and w an t ed to sa ve m y self fo r the main ra ce . 1 go t a littl e nervou s a nd push ed too hard, an d t hen I lost my gogg les and got a st on e in my ey e , whic h pu t m e in more pani c." Th e sec ond semi was less dram atic , as Co p p in s wo n a h ea d of CAS Ho nd a teamm ates Jussi Veh vil ainen and Gordon Crockard . The Kiw is won on th e points tabl e, with Finland sec ond and Eston ia third. The B fina l proved t o be of li tt le int erest , as K enneth Gund ers on wo n ah ead of Joakim Karl sson , Andrew McFar lan e , Javi er Vi co Garc i a and Rom an J elen, whil e Sw ed en won the overall with 12 points, foll ow ed by Aus tralia with 14 points and Norway with 16 . By the ti me the A fin al b egan , eve ryo ne was lo o k ing t ow ard Team USA. Their domination of t he opening se mi put some doubt in th e h o m e crowd , but w hen the gate dropped , that dou bt was gone as , once again , • e n e vv s M any former gre a t s of the spo rt we re in Zold er . Fo rmer W orld Ch ampio ns such as Hakan Andersson, Graham Noyce, Harry Evert s, Georges .J e, Jacky Martens, Shayne King , Joel ob Robert and Roger DeCoster enjoyed chatt ing and reliving some of the great history of the sport. J oel Robert, the team manager for Belgium, laughed when asked if he wanted to beat Roger DeC ost er again this ye ar. The tw o Belgian leg ends have oft en come across each o the r, firs t as ride rs and now as team managers for B elgium and USA. " You know , we are great frie nds, " Robert said. " Of course, we still have some competitio n, and I want to win for Belgium, but Roger is also Belgian, so he has two chances of winning. I can' t beat that. " DeCoster was happy to see the A m erica ns atlend the M XdN this year, and he was also impre ssed w ith his team. " I take this race ve ry serio usly, H DeC ost e r said. " We co me here to race the best in the wo rld. This race has such a long histo ry, and also it's the link between the two majo r series in the world . I hope next year we can come back and win it. W e had the best team possi ble, because these are the guys who wanted to be here, they wanted to represent their country, and America should be proud of these guys." Even t hough the Belgium team wo n, the victo ry didn't come as easily as it looked. "Srnets' arm is pretty bad, " Joe l Robert said. "He was really nervo us about it and spent some time in the trackside hospital. As fo r Stefan, because he has raced the complete season in both the 125 and 250cc races, he had trouble with the four-hour break betw een the semi and the A final. He we nt fo r a bicycle ride in the forest around the track to keep warm, but it' s not the perfect way to prepare,.. Ricky C armichael did not rule out racing the European legs of the W orld Supercross Championship. The American Supercross Champion is looking at his optio ns for the month of December, "You know , . might come back sooner than you think," Carmichael said, "I am looking at the 1 chance to maybe do them. W e have been do ing a lo t o f te sting in the last mo nt h, since the motocross season ended. I'll go to the U .S. Open and see what happens, and we will all sit down and decide, but it's not out of the question that I will race in Spain and Holland." World MX promoters Dorna said goodbye to the motocross series in Zoider, and not too many people we re unhappy to see them go , altho ugh the 2003 Acerbis Motocross des Nations w as a great even t, and a nice w ay fo r the Sp anish co mpany to say farew ell. Word in the pits at Zolder was that Namu r in Belgium could replace the Lommel facility for the Belgian Grand Prix in 2004 . Namur is st ill wo rking toward the f amous circuit being included in the calendar, and Johan Maris, the promoter of the Belgian Grand Prix, is not sure what will happen. " W e have a deal wit h Lom mel ~ that is , Namur co mes in, they go out." Ma ris said . " W e will know so me thing in the new yea r, but N amur is not 100 percent out of the calendar. "

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