Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(L eft) American Mike Brown won the fi rst moto but cou l dn't get around Seg uy f o r the overall w in . (Right) James Dobb didn't g et the starts he needed but still pulled off respe ctable 4-7 m oto finishes. Langston , so often th e quickest in the first two or three laps , was this tim e rele g ate d to third , as Puza r and Seguy went at it on the ir Yamahas . The South Africa n wo uld a gain suffer th e sa me prob le m as ride rs m o ve d past in rapid succession . " I got a n okay start again , " Langston said . "S e g u y was pretty fast early on. When Seguy got near to Puzar, they held ea ch other up a litt le and I was abl e to g et back to them . Puzar go t a litt le wild a nd I got him . S egu y re a lly starte d t o wor k hard and I d id not want to ride ov e r m y limi t and I h ad to let him g o . When Brown cam e onto me , I tri e d e verythin g t o k e ep h im o ut for as long as I could , but near the end he rea lly put the pressure on and he got me ." Th e troub le wou ld not stop there for Lan g ston as a b unc h of rid er s , inclu d ing Pa tr ick Caps, Alex Puza r a nd Tho m a s T rav ers ini, c a ught him . Langston was really s t ru g g ling t o keep from los ing h is th ird pla ce. "1 don 't kn ow wha t it is but whe n som ebod y p a sse s m e I lo se rh ythm a nd sp e e d , a nd the others ca me to m e ," La n g s t o n said . "I ke pt some good lines a nd the y could no t p a ss me. I jus t had to not m a ke a m ista ke o r I wa s goi ng to lose three or four pla c e s . St ill, I have a bigg e r lead in the championship. I've been on the pod ium for seven out of eight motos t h is year a nd I'm really happy with that. " Puzar, the veteran of World Cham pionshi p MX wars , was rid ing we ll u nt il a stone fou nd its wa y into his back wheel ; he wou ld eventually fin ish in seventh pla c e. "I had no problem keep ing th e same pace as S e g uy ," Puzar said . "T h e n Langsto n came aro u nd be h ind me a nd a stone got ca ught in m y b a c k wheel. I got a little sideways and th en all of a sudde n I was flyi ng th rou gh th e air , bi g c ra s h. I could not get m y rhythm b a c k af te r th a t." Dobb , o n th e o ther ha n d, was fighting with the du st after a te rr ible st art left h im o ut of th e top 10 , a nd he was bat tling with slower riders . (L eft) Langston, t hird ove rall In Brazi l, still holds the serie s lead. (Below) Seguy was a h a p py m a n after h is fi rst v ictory of the ye a r . "I was about 18th a fte r the first lap ," Dobb sa id. "The du st was bad an d yo u could not see a whole lot. I tried so me ot her lin es , but noth ing worke d . It t o o k a lon g tim e t o get past some guys. Nunn got in m y way a litt le , t h e n Pa rk e r. It to o k me a wh ile to get in to seventh pla c e a nd tha t's whe re I finished . I'll just ha ve to ge t some extra wor k don e a nd come ba c k an d get some po ints back, s imple a s th at , rea lly." Pa rker had im prove d on his first moto results , yet still lo st va lu a b le points to the top three. "I wanted to make up some ground here," Pa rker said. "I was about 1Oth or s om e th ing into t he first la p and just made some mistakes go ing ba ck a n d forw ard du ring the m oto . I then fou nd a litt le b it of rhyt hm and finished in eig hth, so I got so me po ints , th at 's better than no th ing I guess ." Brit ish Ya ma h a rid e r Carl Nunn a nd t he o ve rall win n e r fo ur weeks earlier in Fr an c e wa s ne ver in the hu nt in mot o two . "Just was not good en ou gh," Nunn said. "My Roll-Offs bro ke on lap two, th a t d idn 't h elp . [II go t a no ther bad s ta rt, don 't know why, not s ure if I let the clutc h o ut too late or what, maybe jus t too slow. I'm not tired , I was more tire d a fter th e first moto. I'm just sorry I c oul d not ha ve done bett er. " As for Jeff De m e n t , his re s u lts were again attributed to poor s tarts a nd accide nts . "I started rea l bad in th e first turn ," Dement said. "Then it go t wor se . I hit Ryan Hunt and ra n over him. I hope I did n't man gle him too badl y. I a lso hurt m y ba c k. I th ink I was like 34th after a lap , got to 27 th on lap two and ca me u p to 1 1th . I could see Par ke r but could not ge t him . My tea m m a n ager is not so happy tho ugh ." The younge st rider in the field, 15 ye a r-old Billy McKenzie , found Grand Prix Motocross not completely to his liking after suffering a poor start and engine pro blems. "Well, the first lap was a shocker: McKenzie sa id. "I nearly got taken out about three times and I had a c ra p first lap. Fina lly I got a little space but was a lon g way back. The n the bike started s plu tte ring a little a nd I had to stop . I'm not d isappo inte d a t all. It's an ex pe rie nce comi ng to Bra zil. I got a good position in the first race , so I know I have t h e speed , n ow I just need the endurance." It was Seguy, though, who c rossed the line to win th e ov erall ahead of Brow n and Lan g st on. T he F re nc h ride r just dr opped h is bike in a m azem ent the n was qu ickly circled by his team. On c e again , France was cele brati ng. e y e I .. "We h a ve all had some s uccess the pas t m onths ," Seg uy sai d . "Fre nc h ride rs are fast , just look aro u n d : Boll e y , Pich on , Vuille m in , Roncada , ve ry go od ride rs ." With fou r ride rs now hav ing won a Gra n d Pr ix each ( Do b b, Nunn , . Lan gston a nd Segu y), it's on to Croa tia where a nother overall winn er will CN be crowned , but who? Paulo Yamaki Cin:uit Indalatuba, Braz il Results: April 3D, ZOOO [Round 4 of 161 MOTO 1: I. Mik e Brown (Hon) ; 2. Luigi Seguy ( Yam); 3. Grant Langston (KTM) : 4 . Ja me s Do bb ( KTM ); 5 . Ke nneth Gunders en ( KTM ) ; 6 . Patri ck Caps ( KTM): 7 . A lex Puzar ( Yam) : 8 . Carl N unn (Yam ): 9 . Philtipe Dupesquie r (TM ); 10. Jeff Dement (Hon ); 11. Tho ma s Tra versini (Hus); 12. Trampas Parke r (TM) ; 13. Frederic Viall e (Suz) ; 14. Johnny Aubert (Hus); 15 . Mathieu Lettcz (Yam ) MOTO 2 : l. Luigi $eguy (Yam); 2. Mik e Brown ( Hon ) ; 3. Gra nt La ngston (KT M) ; 4. Patric k Cap s (KTM) ; 5 . Al ex Puzar (Yam ); 6. Thomas Trav ersi ni ( Hus) ; 7. James Dobb (KTM) ; 8. T ram pa s Park er (TM ); 9 . Kenneth Gundersen (KTM) ; 10. Carl Nunn (Yam); 11. J eff Deme nt (Hon) ; 12. Christia n Ravaglia (Suz) ; 13. Cedric Melott e (KTM) ; 14. Johnny Aubert (Hus); IS . Ivan Lazzarini (Hon) . O/A : 1. L uigi Seguy (Ya m); 2. M i k e Brown (Ho n ) ; 3. Grant Langston (KTM) ; 4. Pat rick Ca ps (KTM) ; 5. Ja mes Dobb (KTM ); 6. Al ex Puzer (Yam) ; 7. Kenneth Gundersen (KTM ); 8. Thom as Tra versinl ( Hus ); 9 . Ca rl Nunn ( Yam); 10 . Tr am p as Park er (TM) . FIM WOR LD CHAMPIONSHI P 125« MX SERIES POINT STANDINGS ( Afte r 4 of 16 ro unds) : I. Grant Langston ( 129f l win); 2 . Mike Bro wn ( l i D); 3 . Ja mes Dobb ( 108/1) ; 4 . Lulq l Seg uy ( 77 /1 ) ; 5. Tram pa s Park er ( 76) ; 6 . Ca rl N unn ( 74/1) ; 7 . T hom a s T re veraln l (73) ; 8 . Pat ric k Cap s (72) ; 9 . Kenn eth Gunde rsen (69 ); 10. Alex Puzar (4 S); 11. J eff Dem ent (35) ; 12. Philippe Dupasquier (3 0) ; 13. Eri k Carm erlengo (23 ); 14. Cedric Melotte (19) ; 15. Scott Sheek ( 17) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 5 - Mladina, Croatia, May 14 Round 6 - Foxhill, England, May 28 n e _ s • MAV 1 7, 2 0 0 0 47

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