Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Already 14th at that stage, Nunn then played it cool. "I could catch each group ahead of me pretty quickly, then each time I came to one, I spent a lap studying their lines before going for the passes." His task was finally eased as the American trio of Jeff Dement, Mike Brown and Trampas Parker got in each other's way. "The second time I fell it was on my own, but the first time was one of those freak crashes: Brown said. "I was right behind Dement when his rear wheel stepped out; I hit it and went over the berm." "If it had been anybody else other than Jeff in front of me, I'd probably have taken them out," Parker said. "In the end it was a lapper in an orange helmet [the national colors of a Dutch local] who ran me off the track. Still, I'm happy. This was always my bogey track; I never scored so many points here before in my entire career." Dement was eventually the big loser. "Oh, man," he said. "The motor started to splutter about five laps from the end. I eventually ran out of gas halfway round the last lap." Parker was soon second and stayed there despite one nasty moment when he came up short on the triple at the back of the track, while Brown chased through to finish a close third. "We need to find a long gear to get me out of the gate," Brown said. '" proved in Spain that they can't catch me if I can hit the front, but I'm starting too far back at the moment." Dobb eventually made it up to fourth. "I got a good jump out of the gate, but I banged bars with [Alessandro] Puzar and that lost both of us time: Dobb said. "Then I got pushed right out when Carl [Nunn] crashed." That had been at the first tabletop. "The bike ran cleanly out of the gate, but then I missed my first gear change," Nunn said. "Suddenly at the jump the riders in front of me backed off, I caught the rear wheel of one of them and went down. At least our riders rode over me and Siggi [Luigi Seguy] used me as a starting block when he set off again. , thought I'd broken my shoulder and forearm at first and the skin is bumt off my back." After satisfying himself that there were no broken bones, Nunn set off again two minutes behind the pack. He didn't see anyone for 20 minutes, and eventually crossed the line 17th before discovering that his helmet had a massive hole and was cracked. Puzar, whose motor had died on him in the opener, pulled off with his bike a tangled mess and the clutch lever hanging down, while further round the track Scott Sheak, 10th in the opener, was lying in agony. Suzuki team manager Rob Hooper was furious. "His shoulder came out again," Hooper said. "It was half an hour before a doctor got to him." Dement exited early this time. "I was fourth, right behind Chad [Parker]: Dement said. "His back wheel stepped out, I hit it, went over a berm and wrecked the bike." 250GP Sacre bleu! A Dutch GP in sand and the French finish 1-2-3. The result, however, was no fluke. Frederic Bolley and Mickael Pichon had already dominated qualification on Saturday, while the continued absence of Ryan Hughes, the injuryinduced form crisis of Pit Beirer, and Claudio Federici's appalling starts meant there was little to stop Mickael Maschio from completing the podium. Home-country star Remy Van Rees was fourth, but inevitably had to slacken his pace in the closing stages of what was effectively his first race of the year after injury. Bolley was a lonely leader throughout the first moto. "I came here confident," Bolley said. ") could push to win, and) needed a good result after my poor performance in Portugal. The knee I hurt in Mickael Pichon continues to impress as he extended his points lead to 33 only three ....unds into the 16-....und series. The Fast French: Frederic Bailey traded mota wins with Mickael Pichon on Sunday, bu1 his 1-2 finishes bettered Pichon's 3·1 for the overall victory. in 21st on lap one after several firstlap collisions, and his attempts to move forward were halted long before half distance. Bolley made a terrible start in race two and had to pass half the field to get to sixth by the end of lap one. But Pichon was already running away with the race, and by the time Bolley hit second after 15 minutes, the result was in little doubt. Beirer had been quicker to second, but was clearly struggling. The German has been riding with a chipped bone in his foot and by half-distance teammate Maschio was being boarded to ride shotgun for his ailing teammate. It was to no avail, though, because in the end Beirer crashed heavily on his head and eventually trailed home a lap down. Federici had again made a terrible start, but was in superb form, snatching fourth from Josh Coppins on the last lap, while Crockard had to come from 24th. "Bolley carved me up at the start," Crockard said, "and then I crashed into a pile of bottomless sand on the first lap." Cooper's luck was out again, as a front fork seal was damaged in a firstlap fracas. ,,( thought the wheel was broken at first," he said. Recovering at a tremendous rate with only one functioning fork leg, Cooper exited before half distance when the leaking oil got all over the Spain is about 90 percent now, but it didn't trouble me." Van Rees was a long-time second before Beirer finally made the pass after 25 minutes. "It wasn't easy to pass," Beirer said. "Eventually, I stayed tight into the start straight, went along the flat ground next to the signalers and just pushed Remy out in the next turn. I had already wasted too much time behind Maschio early on to have challenged Bolley, but my teammate is a difficult man to pass in the first 10 minutes." Pichon completed the podium on the last lap. "Everyone's pace was very fast at the beginning, and I decided to save my energy for the end of the race: Pichon said. ") hit my head pretty hard yesterday, but I'm okay today." Yves Demaria was sixth despite a fall, while Gordon Crockard and Federici spent half the race in the freight train trying to pass Boyd Karsmakers. It was a frustrating race for the Ulsterman, as he tried to maintain his title challenge. "I didn't start too badly: Crockard said, "but I got tangled up in the second turn and then again further around the track. Even then I might've been able to pass earlier, but I had sand in my goggles, and it was swirling round in there. I was gradually getting more and more in my eyes as the race went on." Paul Cooper was having a day to forget. The factory Husky was down cue I e n e _ s • APRIL 26,2000 15

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