Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

FI M World Champions hip 1 25cc M X Series re c o vered , fin is h ing a di sa p poi nting 12th . "I got h it by Ravaglia : Parker sa id. "Ma n h e cam e ov er like it was t he first co rner and we were only ha lf way up the start straight . His swingarm pushed up a gai nst m y foo t and I was not sure if I had b roken it or not. I th ought a bo ut pulling in , but 1 sta ye d o ut a nd the pa in m a yb e wa s not so b ad a fte r so m e la p s. Th en [Je ff ] Dement had closed in on m e and we h ad a fight. I c o u ld not pu t my le g d own around the right- ha nd corners though , a nd that made it im possi ble to re a lly ride hard ." Whil e Parke r fou gh t a g a in s t t h e pa in , fell ow Am e ric an Brown eas ily won ahe a d of Segu y , Langston a n d Dobb. With a real go od c ha nc e at the overall win and the te rn- By G EOFF ME YER (Above) Grant Langs to n (to) nails th e hol esh ot in the first 125cc m ota in Brazil. (Right) Frenchman Luigi Seguy pu lled off a long-awaited win, go ing 2-1 on the day. INDAIATGBA, BRAZIL, APRIL 30 wenty-five -yea r-o ld Luigi S egu y , o f F ra nce, has an a m az ing t a le n t , b ut h e h a s b e e n u ni m p ressive in re c en t G r an d Pr ix battl e s ; t h a t a ll changed a t th e Braz ilia n 125c c Grand Prix. Th is tim e , he was a b le to ho ld his he ad high whe n a ll was sa id an d done , a s he trounc ed series favorite s Gr an t La ngsto n , Mik e Br o wn a nd everyone e lse to ta ke th e overall victor y with 2 -1 p lacings. S e g u y , who r ides for Ya ma h a F ra nc e bu t re c e ive s litt le h el p from 'the Yamaha fa cto ry, said, "I wa nt to than k m y m e ch a n ic and t h e tea m. They ha ve been with me a ll the wa y, we h a ve work ed on ma ny th ing s in the past wee ks and now yo u see what results we c an get." S e c ond p la c e in Bra z il wen t to Am erican Mike Brown who was, with out a doubt, th e fastest rid e r on th e tra c k all we e ke n d and can un d e r s ta nda b ly sa y it was just bad luck that he d id not take the ov era ll. • "I feel I was th e qu icke st," Brown said. "In the first moto , I just followed Langston for a while . He made a mistake and I got by him. Then I m ade some fas t laps , trying to get a b igger lead ove r th e others and th at wor ked perfectly." The first moto p ro ve d a p robl em for S eg u y . He h a d t ucked h im s el f betw e en Langston a nd Dobb in the first co rne r ye t was soon in som e b ig trouble as t he t ra c k got th e bes t of him . "I wa s in th ird e a rly : Se gu y sa id. "The n I crashed in a c orn er a nd I lost s o m e pl a c e s an d h ad to rea lly rid e ha rd t o ge t b a c k into co n te n tio n . [Bu t] to fin ish in s e cond p la c e wa s ok a y after the c ra s h . I like th e tra ck a nd don 't ha ve too m uch trouble with the du st or anything ." Langsto n , wh o ha d won the pr ev ious Grand Prix in Holland , s urp rised no bo dy, as he c la imed h is seventh h ole s h o t in a s m a ny sta rts o n t he champions hip tra il. "W he n I w a s fi rs t I jus t tr ied t o kee p th at p o s iti on , but Bro wn wa s re al ly pu shin g m e h a rd : Lan g st on said . "He [Brown] wa s like a ma chine. He seem s good in th is ty pe of heat , I could do nothing but let him by , a nd th en I had Segu y come to m e, same pro blem rea lly, just not good enough today. " Dobb, who ha d finish ed as one of the top 125c c r id e r s at t he 1999 Mot ocross des Nations on th e Brazil track , was not so happ y with th e ' track 's la yout th is tim e . A rider wh o like s the mud, Dobb wa s looking for a litt le more water tha n his rivals. "Th e trac k prep arat io n is n ot a s go od as last ye a r: Dobb said. "The y wa te re d it a lo t a t t he de s Nation s a nd, wh ile the first m ot o wa s m uddy , t h e next m oto s were p erfect. He re to day it's a little dusty . In fact , by th e e n d of t he day , d ust will b e a re al proble m ." 4 6 MAY 17. 2000' n c ue I e e vv s De spi te th e du st, Dobb rode well in the firs t moto , com ing from a near c ra s h in turn o ne t o fini s h a solid fourth. "I was in s econd p lace c omi ng into th e firs t c orner: Dobb sa id. "T h e n S e gu y jus t T -boned m e . I was like getting hit fro m everywhere. I came through about e ighth o r someth ing , th en Billy McKenzie was riding great, but h e h eld me up a littl e . I g ot a stone in m y back bra ke a nd it took m e a while to get it out, I had no ba ck bra ke for a few corn ers . After getting it o ut I got up to fourt h, but I could n't get Langston , wh ich wou ld 've be en good ." Tra m pa s Pa rke r wa s c aught up in th e firs t-turn a c c ident a nd he n ev er pera tu re now re a c hi ng into th e 90s , Brown looked pumped a s he a rriv ed at th e s ta rt of th e seco n d moto . It wo uld not, however, turn out exa ctl y as he wanted. With the riders entering th e firs t corner it w a s Pu zar a n d Seguy who lead th e pack a ro und th e sw e ep ing le ft - h a n d e r and into the downhill straight. Brown held e ighth place and his chance of the o verall victory was all bu t squashed. "I felt I wa s th e fastest out there ," Brown s a id . "T he sta rt is what killed m e . Then I go t stuck behind Lan gston for a wh ile and th at rea lly m ess ed up m y cha nce of getting to S eguy. I'm a littl e di sappo int ed, I m e a n I wo rke d rea lly hard th is we e kend a nd would'v e liked to get the overall fo r sure ."

• Cover