Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

claimed Brown after his clear-cut victory. but the South African saved him the trouble after yet another crash. Not only was Langston not able to recover. he only salvaged sixth at the flag, when Parker. having a poor day. slumped in the closing 15 minutes. Dobb had waited patiently for half the race before demoting the twotime champ at half distance. He immediately bagged Erik Camerlengo, too. and with a couple of workmanlike laps. he had stifled any danger from behind. "I was happy with that," Dobb said. "After not being able to eat anything yesterday. I didn't want to risk pushing it too hard. Two podiums were more than I had expected. and I had never even thought about the overall win." As with Brown. there was nothing Dobb could do to improve his chances anyway. so Nicoll made a conscious decision that James should not be given a pit board indicating that he was leading. "Even when he was still down in seventh. Traversini was clearly a danger to get the fourth he needed for the overall ... FIM World C'ship 250cc MX Series Round 2: Portuguese GP Pichon Cleans Up AGUEDA. PORTUGAL, MAR. 26 UZUki'S Mickael Pichon made it three first-time winners in the first four MX GPs of the new millennium S when he swept both motos of the Portuguese 250 GP at Agueda. and it was also Suzuki's first win in any class since May 1997. thus ending the longest lean spell in the firm's history since they took their first win in 1968. The Frenchman. like Dobb a veteran of both GP and AMA racing. withstood tremendous pressure from Pit Beirer and Frederic Bolley in the opener after all three had quickly But he didn't get it. Patrick Caps saw to that. even after the Italian had forced past Langston on the half hour. Traversini accepted defeat gracefully. "I just made a bad gate." Traversini said, "and it was difficult to pass in this race. The first few laps were very hectic. so I let them settle down and picked off one rider at a time - just one too few." Falling on the first lap. Dement passed early leader Mickael Maschio. nursing an injured thumb and ribcage after his big crash in Spain. Pichon again withstood everything Beirer could throw at him in race two. while Bolley survived a big crash to salvage three points. Ryan Hughes did not race after hurting a wrist during free practice on Saturday. Hughes tried to ride on Sunday after taking injections to the wrist. but the pain was still too great. "We didn't see any break on the Xray." Hughes said. "I'll return to Germany for more tests, because we need to know if a bone is broken or not." Hughes has now already missed three of the four motos held. He won the other. Series leader Gordon Crockard had little luck, going down in turn one had to come through from last to finish 12th. one place behind a gritty Sheak. "The front brake line split on the first lap." Dement said. "I had to be careful to stay out of trouble. especially on those steep downhills." Bader Manneh rode a Suzuki to 26-31 moto finishes. CN of the opener with. among others. Yves Demaria. but the Ulsterman recovered to 10th at the flag. Claudio Federici returned to action to post the 15-point haul. which assures him of a start in the Valkenswaard Triple Header. as does the 14th in race one of Pamo teamster Mark Jones. CN Spanish 6P Bellpuig, Spain Results: March 25. 2000 [Round 1 of 161 Portuguese 6P 19ueda. Portugal Results: March 26. 200 [Round 2 of 16) Ryan Hughes (above) missed two more motos at the second 250cc round. He Injured his wrist in practice, and was in too much pain to race on Sunday. Hughes won the only moto he has contested this year, the second outing at round one. Mickael Pichon (left) notched his career-first GP win, grabbing victories in both motos and taking over the points lead. Pichon joined the GP circuit midway through last season after a falling out with American Honda. MOTO 1: I. Thomas Traversini (Hus); 2. Grant Langston (KTM); 3. James Dobb (KTM): 4. Jerf Dement (Hon); 5. Mike Brown (Hon): 6. Luigi Seguy (Y21m); 7. Kenneth Gundersen (KTM); 8. Patrick Caps (KTM); 9. Erik Eggens (Yam); 10. Scott Sheak (Suz); 11. Cristian Ravegtia (SUl): 12. Trampas Parker (TM);. 13 Cristian Stevanini (Hus); 14. Manuel Rivas (Suz); 15. Sven Breugelmans (Suz). MOTO 2: I. Mike Brown (Hon); 2 James Dobb (KTM); 3. Erik Camerlengo (Hon); 4. Patrick Caps (KTM); 5. Thomas TrZlversini (Hus); 6. Grant Langston (KTM); 7. Luigi Seguy (Yam); 8. Trampas Parker (TM): 9. Carl Nunn (Yam); 10. Kenneth Gundersen (KTM); 11. Scott Sheak (Suz); 12. Jeff Dement (Han); 13. Daniele Bricca (KTM): 14. Maises Bernardez (Hen); 15. Philippe Dupasquier (TM). O/A: 1. James Dobb (KTM): 2. Mike Brown (Han): 3. Thomas Traversini (Hus); 4. Grant Langston (KTM): 5. Patrick Caps (KTM); 6. Luigi Seguy (Yam): 7. Jeff Dement (Han); 8. Erik Camerlengo (Hon); 9. Kenneth Gundersen (KTM); 10. Trampas Parker (TM). FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 125cc MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 1 or 16 rounds): I. James Dobb (32/1 "dn); 2. (TIE) Mike Brown/Thomas Traversini (31); 4. Grant Langston (27): 5. Patrick Cops (21): 6. Luigi Seguy (I g): 7. Jeff Dement (17): 8. Erik Camerlengo (15); 9. Kenneth Gundersen (IS); 10. Trampas Parker (12); II. Scott Sheak (II); 12. (TIE) Carl Nunn/Erik Eggens (7); 14. Cristian Ravaglia (5);15. (TIE) Daniele Bricca/Cristian Stevanini (3); 17. (TIE) Moises Bernardez/Manuel Rivas (2); 19. Sven Breugelmans (1). MOTO 1: 1. Mickael Pichon (Suz); 2. Pit Beirer (Kaw): 3. Frederic Bailey (Hon): 4. Mickael Maschio (Kaw); 5. Josh Coppins (Suz); 6. Justin Morris (Yam); 7. Paul Cooper (Hus); 8. Claudio Federici (Yam); 9. Danny Theybers (KTM); 10. Gordon Crockard (Han); 11. Marko Kovalainen (Han); 12. Peter Iven (Kaw); 13. Collin Dugmore (KTM); 14. Mark Jones (Han); 15. Jussi Vehvilainen (Han). MOTa 2: I. Mickael Pichon (Suz); 2. Pit Beirer (Kaw); 3. Mickael Maschio (Kaw); 4. Yves Demaria (Yam); 5. Paul Cooper (Hus): 6. Josh Coppins (Suz); 7. Collin Dugmore (KTM): 8. Peter lven (Kaw): 9. Claudio Federici (Yam): 10. Justin Morris (Yam); 11. Gordon Crockard (Han); 12. Alessandro Zanni (Yam); 13. Frederic Bolley (Han); 14. Paulo Goncalves (Yam); 15. Joakim Eliasson (Yam). O/A: 1. Mickael Pichon (Suz); 2. Pit Beirer (Kaw); 3. Mickael Maschio (Kaw): 4. Josh Coppins (Suz); 5. Paul Cooper (Hus); 6. Frederic Bolley (Han); 7. Justin Morris (Yam): 8. Claudio Federici (Yam): 9. Yves Demaria (Yam): 10. Collin Dugmore (KTM). FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 250cc MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 2 of 16 rounds): I. Mickael Pichon (70/1 win); 2. Pit Beirer (53): 3. Gordon Crockard (44/1); 4. Mickael Maschio (41); 5. Paul Cooper (40); 6. FrederiC Bailey (35); 7. Josh Coppins (32); 8. Yves Demaria (30): 9. Ryan Hughes (20): 10. Justin Morris (19); II. Peter Iven (18); 12. Alesssandro Zanni (16): 13. Josep Alonso (15); 14. Claudio Federici (15); 15. Collin Dugmore (13): 16. Thierry Bethys (13); 17. Marko Kovalainen (9): 18. Alex Belometti (8): 19. (TIE) Danny Theybers/Pierrick Paget (7). BRIEFLY ••• Defending 125cc World Champion Alessio Chiodi did not contest the Spanish 125cc GP after all. and the Italian has also withdrawn from the French and Dutch GPs. He is. however. back on a bike and plans to watch the Italian 500 GP before flying out to America to campaign the AMA/Chevy Trucks 125cc National Championship Series. Thomas Traversini was an unexpected arrival in Spain. and he immediately proved that his shoulder injury is not proving too much of a handicap by taking the pole... I did not break my collarbone. but the shoulder muscles and the ligaments were stretched." Traversini said of his preseason injUry. "I have tested four times without any trouble." The 2000 Husqvarna that Traversi· ni rides features an altered steering angle. same as on the 250. a new swingarm, and larger diameter axles. Leon Giesbers is out of commission with a broken shoulder. Other riders on the mend are Luca Cherubini (broken collarbone). Brian Jorgensen (damaged neck muscles) and Johnny Aubert (broken fooll. Scott Sheak and Jeff Dement bit the bullet in Spain. Sheak had been off a bike since his left shoulder· the same one whjch had caused him so much trouble earlier in his career· was dislocated. Unlike before when the shoulder had popped out and was immediately popped back in again, this time it out of his socket for six hours. "I only have trouble when my arms are at full stretch. but it is my style anyway to get right up over the fuel tank." Sheak said. He did so to such good effect at the first British Championship round that his boots were ripping off the radiator shrouds and mud-deflectors, hence his use of the smaller '97 plastics. The Italy-based Dement had not ridden for five weeks before Saturday's qualification. '" got a lucky win in the first Italian Championship race with 2-3 motos. then I had to go to the federation training camp. where I broke a bone in my hand. I should've been in plaster for just two weeks. but when the plaster came off. the doctors found that I had also severed the link between the little finger and the hand. I get an injection. and I am operating the throttle with just two fingers." Scott Sheak recently married girlfriend Erika. and Jeff Dement is due to marry his Italian girl· friend this summer. Trampas Parker has set up his own team - GPR - together with Diego Garcia Vlems, who trained Yves Demaria last year. "It is a multi·year deal with TM." Parker said. "Next year, I will race the four-stroke. and we will run not only MX teams but also the enduro team." cue I e nevvs APRIL 12, 2000 33

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