Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

F IM World C h a m pi ons hip M X S e r ie s R o u n d s 7: C ir cuit G e orges .Jobe BRIEFLY ••• The FIM is poised to confirm in the next few days that next year's Triple Header GP s will feature one moto of 40 m inutes plus two laps per class . The FIM. Action Group and Dorna had meeting with the industry and riders at the weekend. but in reality these meetings were only there to make the parties feel as though they had been consulted. A high-ranking FIM official admitted already on Friday afternoon: "The decision was made weeks ago." he said. " Everyo ne needs to be in neg oti atio n w ith po ten tial spo nso rs already now , not in the autumn. and you wo uld just be show n th e door if you app roached a m ulti-national w ithout concre te pro posals. All that will be left to do at the FIM Autumn Congress will simply be the ratifi cation of the decisions." And even FIM MX Commmission president Wolfgang Srb admitted. "W e have a Bureau meeting this wee k, and I expect an announceme nt within a couple of wee ks." he said. Already at their Valkenswaard meeting in April. a majority of the factory-backed teams had indicated that they wanted to retain three classes. and at Spa. only Yamaha (who had an official rep there. not just Rinaldi) called for an Open class. It seems increasingly likely however that there will be no age limitations on the t 25s. while a request for top riders to be allowed to contest two classes was rejected out of hand. Unoffically. however. the two-mote , single-class World championship. with the 125s put down to "World Cup" status. can be expected by 2003 at the latest. It is worth noting that the FIM and AGI insisted in early March that their beloved TV audience could not understand the two-moto format. Yet after two years of single moto GPs. the armchair cretins will miraculously be enlightened. Yet more frustrating news for the true motocross rider had leaked out on practice day. GP tracks next year will no longer have to be a minimum of 1750 metres (5775 feet) in length: the new lower limit will be 1500 metres (4950 feet); less than one mile. "We 'll just be going round in a bloody circle with a TV camera in the middle soon." said one factory rider, "Let's hope we don't get dizzy." "What are we, the guinea pigs for the 250s and 500s7" said one leading 125cc GP rider bitt erly on Saturday eve ning at Francorchamps, as he stoo d in agony. suffering severe skin irritation in the wake of his GP ride. The cause of complaint was the cocktail of chemicals and plaster. which had been strewn on the track before the weekend to help bind the virgin soil to ge t he r and p reve nt du st accum ulatio n. Skin irrit ati on and severe dam age t o cha ins and anodized wheels had already been registered in dry conditions. but when a typical Ardennes storm brewed up in moto two. the situation got completely out of hand . Belgium's Cedric Melotte ripping off his saturated shirt after finishing 15th. was appalled to find that he had also ripped lumps of skin from his chest where the wet plaster had stuck him to his shirt. while more than half the field were seeking medical attention by early evening after their legs and lower torso had developed painful sores and rashes. When the reason was explained to Sandro Puzar on Sunda the Italian gasped in disbelief and said, "Where are we here. Chernobyl?" Mechanics y. too were suffering. just by getting splashed as they power-washed the bikes. and even on Sunday. after much of the offending topsoil had been removed and it stayed dry. 250 and 500cc riders reg ist ered that it chy fee ling . Ma rk East w ood said. " I was won de ring w here the mosquit oes we re co ming from at first. before so meone to ld me w hat was wro ng. " The top soil removed , par- tially by bulldozer and the remainder by spinning wheels. there was less soil on the track by the time the 500s had their first moto than there had been on the track at Foxhills by Saturday evening. Riders also not only faced the danger of flying rocks - a much more pronounced problem at Spa than in the West Country - but also the possibility of getting wood splinters in their eyes after the track had been initially covered in wood shavings to hide the offending rocks. Even without these problems riders were upset with the tight track layout. which hardly allowed even the 125s to get out of first and second gear. One final word on the previous week' s rain-out Foxhills GP has to go to Stefan Everts. the four-time champ who won there so ofte n. come rain or shine. "Those rider s who didn't want to Pichon and Beirer c am e past in ra pi d successio n . " I've bee n si c k an d h av e ha rdl y t ra in ed for a couple of weeks , b ut it was a l so a n e w e x p e r i e.n ce t o b e l e a d in g a nd I was rid in g to o t i gh t w he n I was in the le ad ," C ooper sa id . " O n ce t hey h ad g ot p ast I w as a b le to relax and p ic k t he pa c e u p again and I cou ld t h en sta y wi t h th em fo r m o re t h a n h a lf t he rac e ." H is lead w as o f short d u ration , as Yves D em ari a p ush ed him o ut in t h e f i r s t c hi ca ne and C oo p er had t o c o me fr om 11 t h for h i s e v e n t u a l fo u rthth . D em aria was also out of lu c k . " I crashed when I was 10th o n t he se cond lap o f the fi rs t rac e a n d c ut m y arm , " D emaria sa id . " T h en in the sec on d ra c e I ca me ov er a ju mp in t he le ad on the fi rst l ap a nd land ed o n b a r e r o c k. I b a dl y c ut m y r ig h t hand and n ee d ed a ntib io t ics ." G o rdon Crocka rd , w i n ner o f th e se ries o pene r in M a r c h , was fl y in g . N inth . after the init ial so rt- o ut in rac e o ne, Crockard wa s closing down Coppins fo r fift h within a cou p le of la ps. " I took the bars in m y chest when I l a n d e d ," C roc k a r d sa id . "I b et I' v e ripped the sk i n o pen," h e ex p la in ed as h e li ft ed h is shirt to co n f i r m h is fears at t he en d o f t h e ra ce. " I wa s real b ad l y w i n de d fo r t h e n e xt fe w la ps or I cou ld have attacke d ear lier. " Once o ut o f major pa in , t he U lst er man zi pp ed thro ug h th e field f ro m 19th t o n inth , a maj or feat o n t h i s t rac k . In r ace two he was down in 13th o n t h e ope ning l ap , bu t s urge d thro ugh to sixt h b y the end in a race, w here B olley 's sec ond - l ap p a ss o n ride there in the mud should find another less dangerous sport." Everts said. "Billiards, perhaps. But there again. they could always get the cue in their eye." Be irer co u nte d as v irt ua lly t he o n ly ot her n o t a b l e m o v e . A n a nxio us m omen t for t he U lst erm an ca me t wo- Speaking of Stefa n Everts. he is due to have the plaster from his left arm removed this week, and he hopes to return to racing at the Grobbendonk Triple Header on July 30. th ird s of t h e w ay th ro u gh th e rac e as h e cl osed down D an n y T heybers ; th e Georges Jobe had banners around the track for " KTM .Jebe." The five-time World Champion explained. "I am working on a project with KTM for a complete new concept of motorcycle. It will use carbon fiber as on the FN a few years ago . and wi ll be for motocros s. end uro and dual purpose. I expect to show the first bike in November at the Bike Weekend. which is planned for here in Francorchamps. " David Thorpe received a shipment of HRC goodies for Mike Brown the day before the European GP. "We will be testing this week." Thorpe said. "You'll have to wait for San Marino to see what is there_ A full factory motor and new chassis parts are believed to be included. KTM also " has new stronger mo tors for the two Italian hard -pac k race s . B el g ian lost c o n t ro l o n a t abl e -to p a n d his K TM c a rt w h ee le d d own th e tra c k , cli ppi ng C rocka rd 's s ho u lder with th e rear w hee l as h e so u ght a wa y pa st . Ryan H u gh e s h ad co nso li da te d sixt h plac e after four laps of t he firs t m oto , but then b egan an u nrele nting slide dow n o u t of the po int s- p ayin g Ryan Hughes pulled out of the first moto at Francorchamps after slipping out of the points from sixth and will not be racing this weekend in France. "I've had a cold this week. but that' s not the problem." Hughes said. "My hand is simply not getting any better." Showing the blisters. the result of his lack of riding time. he added, "It' s not getting any worse either. but I can't go on like this. I am not paid to finish 16th or even sixth. I am paid to win. and I cannot do that at the moment. Until I rest the hand and let it heal. I'm not going to p l a c es , u n abl e t o h old o n p ro p erly w it h his b listere d da maged hand ( see B riefl y .. . ) before h is w ithdrawa l after h alf a n hou r. He w as not t o con test the second m ot o . wi n either. I won ' t sta rt racing B el g i a n h omel and , J o e l Sm ets n o w lead s th e 5 00cc se ries b y 61 po ints , again until I have the chance to win..' To the red rinse of his still stubbly hair. he said. " I had to do so met hing . and that is Honda's color. It was getting a bit too much like KTM ." he joked. referring to the gray gear worn by factory 125cc riders Dobb and Caps. 40 J UNE 21 . 2000 ' cue • e n e "" :so SOOccGP A GP w inner fo r th e first t ime in h is whil e KTM team m ate Peter J ohansson is j u st e ight b eh ind seco n d-pl aced Marnicq Berv oets. "I f th is is th e fut u re o f m otocross, th en I wa nt a divo rce ," h e said . After c hasing h is teammate ho m e in rac e one, J oh ansson confirmed th e ri d er s' d i sappoin tment ove r a t rack w here it w as vi rt ua ll y im poss ib le to us e anyt hin g bu t first or se c on d gear . " It fe lt ridic ulous ," J ohansson said . " We h ave all th is engine p o wer w hich w e c o ul d u se t o give the fa ns a sp ec tacular rac e , and we a re rid in g rou nd in sec on d gea r. " Th e t r a ck wa s n ot o ne fo r th e impetuous . G r e a t B r it a i n ' s J am e s M ar sh added , " T h e track w as j u st sheet ro ck b y t h e t ime w e g ot o n it ." B o th Marsh and com patrio t Chris Burnham we re p as sing po ints scorers all da y , but it w as to n o av a il as th ey we r e m ere l y unl ap pin g th em se lve s aft er g o ing down o n the polish ed rock su rfa c e . "My sty le' s a b it too ag g ressi ve fo r her e ," g rin ned Burnh am sh eepish ly . Smets to o k t he h ol esh o t in th e f irs t ra c e a nd nobody sa w wh ic h wa y h e w e n t. J o hansson t o ok o ve r se c o nd p lac e from M ax Bartoli ni o n th e t h ird lap , but so on re alized t he futilit y of g iv ing ch ase . D efendi n g c h a m p io n A nd rea B ar t olini was a d ista nt th ird as hi s Yam a ha teammate M arn icq Bervoets had a hect ic r id e . " I started q uite w ell , but I c rash ed already after a few co rners ," Berv oets said. "Still , I ha d g ood speed and ha d alrea dy pa ssed four o r fiv e riders be for e I d ived under [Bern d ] Ec k en bach in a tu rn befo re a drop -off. He c au ght my rear wh eel with his fron t , and we both tumbled down the h ill side." The d uo i m m ed i at e l y bega n t o s t r u gg l e w it h e a c h o t h e r , a nd Be rvoets l ater ad m itted : " It wa s just pu re fru stratio n . I kn ew I n eed ed t o g et t o secon d p la c e a s soo n as p os si b le or Sm ets w o uld b e gone . " Bu t t h e B e l gi an w e nt o u t. If h i s bike w as st i ll r id eabl e afte r t h e coll i sio n , i t ce r tain ly wa sn 't a f ter Ne il Pr in c e l a n d ed o n i t ove r th e bl i n d j ump. " T h e r e was n o y e l l o w f la g , " B e r v o ets sa id . " Per h a p s t hey w e r e wa t chin g t h e f ig ht. " It wa s B arto li n i ' s t urn t o cras h i n ra c e t w o , o nc e a lo ne j us t b ef o re t h e e nd o f th e fi rst la p afte r both Smets a n d B erv o ets ha d p a ssed th e It a l ia n , wh o had grabbe d t he h o leshot. T h e se co nd fa l l ca me w he n h e c ras hed i n t o a fa lle n r ival a f te r r ec ove r ing from la st to 16 t h by h a lf dista nce , Smet s h ad need ed just sev en cor " n ers t o p ass B arto l ini , b u t Bervoets w a s w a s tin g n o ti m e e it he r . S mets k ne w h e w as t h e r e , h o w e v er, a n d a lre ady had a cou pl e o f sec o nd s lead W hi le Smets was d elig hte d to have at t he end o f the la p . B ut the Ya maha finally wo n a GP in fro nt of his home fa ns, h e h ad already ad m itted o n F rida y th at he was n ot im p ress ed by the tight tra ck . ride r sta rted t o re lent le ssly cl o se th e g a p fo r t he fi rst 10 minutes. But th en 11 mi st ak e l o s t h i m co ntact , a n d Bervoets had to settle fo r second . eN

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