Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

safety guarantees we need . So, after the free practices I reported that to the promoter and the FIM representative, and I dec ided not to race ." Built into the woods, the Bilsta in track offers a really nice layout, according to the racers, but proble m with the circuit lies in its lack of safe areas in crucial sectors where the riders say it wo uld be impossible to avoid fences. The FIM had requested a different level of safety, but the local organize r didn't meet all the requests on time as previously promised. Sl If nothing else, the Bilstaln trac k's layout was really nice and technical, and when things become tough , only tough guys preva il. It was an ideal cond ition for standings leader van den Bosch to show his riding abilities. Precise and extremely smooth on the difficult Wallonian course, "VDB" confirmed the stro ng level he has reach ed at this point in the season . In fact, he won everythi ng at Bilstain, but in order to do that he had to battle local heroes Gerald Delepine and Seel. Fo r the first part of the event it was "Spiderman" Delepine who re presented the bigger threat to spoil van den Bosch's win streak. In both mota one and mota two, the Husqv arna rider got the holeshot and tried any possible mane uver to make it a hard race for the French con tender. In the first heat, Delepine kept the lead for more than half of the laps. The battle was rea lly inte resting, with VDB challenging Delepine in the first corner of the off-ro ad section . While De lepine was taking the faster outside line, VDB used the sho rte r and slower inside line to show Delepine a wheel, putting mental pressure on him and distracting him from the place where VDB would actually make his final attack. The real challenge came ove r the fast triple jump a few corners later. VDB and Dele pine hit the obstacle handlebar to handle bar, the two coming into close contact before VDB took the lead and escaped with the win. Delep ine didn't like the maneuver and at the end of the race went under the KTM tent to clarify his position with his competitor. Mota two made things even more difficult as rain created even mo re slippery conditions on the track . Delepine got the holeshot , followed by VDB. In the beginning, it looked like Delepine would pull away to win, but the n he lost the front end in the slowest corn er of the circuit. VDB was close beh ind him and avoided him easily to inhe rit the lead . From there, the race was over. In the Super Final, Delepine again showed perfect bra king control in the first corner, getting his third holes hot of the day, ahead of an "o range group" com prised of Boris Cham bon , VDB, Frederic Fioren tino and Ivan Lazzarini. Delep ine's lead didn't last long. Within five laps VDB was up front , and the race immed iately changed profile when Seel also stepped up the pace. The 2003 World Champion pas sed teammate Delepine on the same lap as VDB and put in a really hard charge on his home track. Seel stayed with VDB until his aggressive riding cost him when he lost the front in a midspeed corner. By the time that Seel got back up, Delep ine was past him and into second place. VDBwent on to win, followed by Delep ine and Seel. It was a rea lly big w in fo r VDB, w ho, afte r this round, rea lly proved to be the most flexible racer in the series. "Winning is never easy, especially he re , where Eddy [Seel] and Gerald [Delepine] are really fast," VDB said. "1 tried to keep focus and avoid any stupid mistakes, and it paid off. The only disappointment is with my starts tod ay. I have to work on it for the future . I wa nt to thank my team because they are so supportive in eve ry situation." VDB also offered his viewpoint on the unfortunate situation with the trac k. "When I arrived here I saw that the track was very dange rous , and I think that safety sho uld be top priori ty," he said. " But then the decision was to race, I forgot abo ut that , and I just tried to stay focused . And at the en d, I think nobody got injured , so that's a good th ing. I also understand that fo r the o rganizer it is very hard when they see that just before the GP the riders don't want to race and all the people are coming to watch the eve nt. Maybe in the future , the FIM sho uld include some riders ' re presentative when making decisions on the tracks we'll have to race in so we can avoid situation like this, and we'll know it a month before the race instead of two days before it. Obviously, we don't need things like this to happen again; it's bad for everyone involved." S2 There wasn't much to te ll abou t the smaller class, as w ith all the top riders out, it was a private business between Belgians and the well -known former motocross specialist Van Drunen from Holland. The race was won by another European motocross name of the past, Th ierry Godfroid, who won the entire program and was in te ars on the podium in front of his big crowd . The provisional standings didn't suffer major changes as all Reigning World Champion Ed dy Seel finished third after cra shing in the Super Fina l while challenging van d en Bosch for the lead. the top contenders e xcept Godfroid were o ut. Verderosa is still the leade r, with Jero me Giraudo and Davide Gozz ini in second and third, res pectively. eN ROYAL D ISO N MOTOR CLUB BI LSTAIN , BELGIUM R ESUlJS : OCTOB ER 16-1 7 , 2004 ( ROU ND 6) Sl S UPER FINAL (16 I.ps)' I. Th'eny v.>n den Bo.ch (KTM); 2. Ger.old D*Pne (Hus); J. Eddy See! ( H us); ~ . tv.n Laz:urin i (KTM); S. Max Manzo (Apr) ; 6. Matthew Winstanley (KTM,: 1. Boris Ownbon (KTM) ; 8. Eric Debnnoy (KTM); 9. Vatter Bartohni (VO R); Maxim Testu (Hus); I I. Jan Kva.snida (HU1i); 12. Marcel GoelZ (KTM) ; 13. Eric IlougoYle . (KTM); 14. Mkhael Paul (Hus): IS. Frederic Fior"entino (KT M) . Time: 14 min., 06 .002 sec. Margi n of victory: 1.SI S sec. Sl SU PER FINAL ( 16 I.ps), I. Thieny Godfro id (Kaw ); 2. Marc P raikin (KTM); 1. Marcel van Dru ne n (Yam): 4. Daniel C ros se r (G- G); S. C hristophe Gru n (KTM); 6 . Jean -Man: Gaillard (Hon). Ti m e: H min., 00.887 sec. Margin of victory: .. ]4 sec. 4 FIM WOR LD S UPERMOT O CHAMPI· ON SHIP SERIES POINTS STAN D· ING S (After 6 of 10 rounds): SI , I. Thierry van den 80Kh (1 17/4 wins); 2. Gereld Delepine ( 187/ 1 win); 3. Boris Chambon (183); 4. Ivan Lazzari ni (17911 win); 5. Eddy See! (177); 6. Vah., Bartolin i ( 11 6); 7. Max Manzo (109): 8. Bernd Hierner ( 103); 9. Frederic Broedi (69); 10. Mauhew WinstAnley (65); I I. M"'Ce1 GoelZ (62); 12. ""brice Guy<>< (60 ); IJ. Frederic F....._ (58); 14. Graz iano Rispoli (57); 15. (TIE) Jan Kvasnicka (44)'Massimo Beltrami (+4). 52: I. Husimo Verderosa ( 17211 win); 2. Jerome Giraudo (153/1 win); 3. Davide Gouini ( 139/ 1 win); 4. Fabrice 1.e

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