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/128317
Briefly... Former 125cc World Motocross Champion Bobby Moore was In Zolder. Moore was catching up with his rider Marc de Reuver on behalf of the management firm The Familie. He is concerned about the Grand Prix scene but doe s stillsee the special things about the series. "M otocross in Europe is really struggling at the moment," Moore said. "In fact, it's strugglingallover the world, but for sure Europe needs some changes. I'm not sure what they can do to stop the riders heading to America - probably nothing. I stillfeel like the Grand Prix series is much better prepared than the AHA series, no doubt about it. Europe has some great facilities, and also the organizers in Europe are really on the ball. As for young talent, there are some good riders coming through ." Smets, Eve rts and Pichon all spen t the weekend semi-injured or charging th rough the field after cras hing in the first comer of each moto (Smets in mo to one and Pichon and Everts in rnoto two). Many loca l riders showed blistering speed as well, as six Belgian riders finishing in the top eight in the second MX I moto, whi le fo ur finished inside the top ten in the overall stan dings. It cou ldn't have been a w hole lot better for t he Belgian riders. In t he MX2 class, New Zealand's Ben Town ley proved his attitude t his year is very d iffere nt fro m the last two years . He 's about being consistent and no t taking any chan ces . Townley went 2- 1 for the victo ry, lead ing home fellow KTM factory rider Marc de Reuver and Sco tland's Ste phen Sword for the overall - and in the face of his biggest fan. "I am so happy," Townley said. " My father is here to day, so it was a good Grand Prix to win with him here. Th is is what we have worked for! The KTM team has put in so much hard work over t he past few months, and it has all paid off. I had some better lines going in the seco nd race, and I was just trying to stay out of trouble w ith the t rack bei ng so rough and unpredictable. My goa l is to carry thr o ugh this con siste ncy fo r the next 30 races. I was a little su rprised that Marc [de Reuver] and I had it so easy. We rea lly dominat e d eve ryone." In the MX I class, the Belgian crowd was t rea ted to so me great raci ng. In the end, t ho ugh, it was home rider Cedric Melotte on the L&M Yamaha who took the win ahead of fellow Belgian Steve Ramon of the KTM factory team and CAS Honda's Josh Coppins. "I used a lot of energy in the first race to pass [Brian] Jo rgensen and [Mickael] Picho n, but I was happy with second after I made a small crash," said 25-year-old Melotte. "Th e second race was just perfec t. I thought I had moved into the lead too early whe n I passed Coppins, but I resist ed t he pre ssure . Win ning here was a big su rprise for me. I had a little bit of luck on my side, but this is the best possible motivation for the rest of the season. My ambitions of finishing top seven or top five every race have not changed. Of course, I will not hesitate if I can produce some more surprises!" With every silver lining, though, comes a black clou d, and in Zo lder the weather Marc de Reuve r wore a Chad Reed replica helmet in Zolder. The Dutchman is good friends with Reed, and he went out and wo n the opening race wearing the helmet. He changed lids though for the second race and didn't have the same luck. "Next time, I wear the Chad Reed helmet in both races," de Reuver laughed. "I saw the colors in the Thor catalog and wanted to wear it. Plus, I like Chad; we were good friends when he was in Europe:' Word of a rid ers strike spread through the pits on Saturday night, although while the riders complained about the prizemoney situation (onlythe top 10getting paid), none would talk about the riders' private meeting. Joel Smets, who is often behind rider comp laints, would also not give anything away. One rumor said the riders would not race in Spain. A Youthstre am spokesman did say this, though: "We have co ntracts wi th the teams, so it's up to them to give us the riders. We didn't hear anything from anyone personally, but we heard the rumors," American Jeff Dement (87), riding for the SRS Honda team out of Italy finished 20th , in the MX2 class. Dement finished with 14-DNF and will tum to Spain in a week to improve his bad luck. Ireland's Gordon Crockard, who injured his knee a week prior to the Zolder event , failed to race after the knee gave him too many problems . The CAS Honda rider will now have a smalloperation on the knee and be back in a few weeks ' time. Spanish rider Javier Vieo Garcia, who is signed with Aprilia, was riding Honda machines in Zolder. It seems the Aprilia is no t yet ready, and Garcia was able to race a Honda, although the machine Vico raced had no logos on it - just a jet-black tank and handguards. www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 31, 2004 25