Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128618
c o uldn 't breath e at first, a nd it' s the sam e h ip I d is lo c at ed th re e yea rs ago ." Pa rker s a w it differ e nt ly. "I went for th e ins ide a nd he ra iled the o uts ide of th e turn ," Pa rker sa id . "I m ust adm it I was s urp rised how fast he ca m e , bu t we h a d ey e c o n tac t and h e did n't stop . My p ip e is flatten ed , t a k e a look , so who hit who?" Dement carried on for 7th and followed up with a 9th in m oto two , whi le Parker rounded out the top five in t h e se co nd m oto d espite a fall , whi ch ' had temp ora rily p ut h im behind De m ent. S c ott Sh ea k s tayed out of all the squa b bles fo r his be s t GP score ye t with fifth in ra c e one a nd 10th in ra ce two . "I fe e l I' ve le a rn ed a lo t ," S hea k said . "I didn 't ha ve a lot of luc k s ince An d in th e s eco nd r a c e Bo lle y swept p a st the Ge rm an on th e seco nd la p a lready for a clear-cut win. Bei rer was delighted to win his first moto of the ye a r e a rlie r in the day. " I have wa it ed a long t ime for that," he said. "We had been making a lot of changes try ing to improve the bike , but in th e end e ve rything we d id ju st made it worse. I s a t down wit h Jan [De G ro ot] two weeks ago, we have started from s cratch ag ain , a nd tha t race pr ov es we a re now o ut of th e deep h o le we h a d d ug . I'll b e looking for mo re wins ." Be irer' s moto win c a m e a fter he h ad pu sh ed Pich on for 25 mi n ute s un til th e Suzuk i ride r fell. "I hav e not ridd en th e bik e much fo r t he last th re e weeks , a nd hav e jus t c o ncent rate d o n p hys ical train ing ," Pic hon sa id . "Th a t wa s a m is ta ke and 1 did no t fee l confiden t on th e bike today . I m ade a lot of mis t a k e s u nd er p re s sur e . It wa s also ve ry d iff ic ul t t o c h oose m y lines wh en Pit wa s beh ind me . He e ve ntuall y passed m e an d I t ried to co m e ba ck in th e nex t co rn e r, but 1 we n t int o he a vy dirt a nd fe ll o ver. I lost a lot of time ther e ." Pichon wa s a distant th ird in race two after a poo r sta rt. "I s talled th e motor at the five seco n d board , and I was n o t relaxe d when the gate fe ll," Pichon s a id. The hol es hot in both motos went sensatio nally to Pau l Cooper on the Husq va rna. "It wa s a stra nge sta rt he re , go ing u ph ill im m ed iatel y out of th e ga te ," Coop e r said. "I jus t bu ilt th e power slo wly and it wo rked." Th e S o uth Afric a n -bo rn Brit led for three la ps in t h e first ra ce b e fo re (Above) Paul Cooper (18) pulls a 250cc holeshot, chased closely by Marc Eastwood (16), Yves Demaria (77) and Pit Beirer (2). Belrer collected the moto-one win. (Leftl The double-molo win of Joel Smets (3) In the 500cc class, when combined with Grant Langston's 125cc overall , made KTM a happy sponsor on the weekend. (Below ) American Mike Brown lost his po ints lead in the 125cc class, posting 3·6 moto finishes. I got he re . Now I want to build on it with some more good re sul ts in the upco m ing ra ce s ." Fox hill s m o t o w inn e r Kenn eth Gundersen pers isted g rittily in both motos despite a ha nd injury. "I la nded on it thi s morning , and I a m sure I have ligament damage," he said. Still s e archi n g fo r his first win , Pa tr ic k Caps scor ed his s econd -con sec utive pod ium finish and wa s hon es t e n o u g h t o admit : "I had b ig hopes, but I made a s illy m istake to let Dobb pa st in race two : he adm it ted . "I was stressed to be lead ing a GP ; t ha t was why it ha ppened . My fro nt brake le ve r was dama ged a nd I wa s ha ppy to defend second." 250ccGP Defendin g cha m pion Fre der ic Bo lley found th e ally he ne eds if he is to pull back th e po ints deficit on Mickael Pichon as he shared top po ints with a rejuvena ted Pit Be ire r; last ye ar's to p two in t he champ ionship both beat t h e series lea der in each moto at Francorcha m ps on S unday . "I m a de a m ista ke a nd c ra s hed in the m iddle of the first race when I was too sh ort on a jum p ," Boll e y ex p lai ne d . "T hat lost m e contact to Pit, or perhaps 1 could hav e wo n that too bec ause 1 wa s leading . Still I a m not s o worr ied . I wa s ha ppy to see th at Pit's speed wa s ba ck; p er haps he ca n get between me and Pich on a nd help me pu ll back th e po ints ." cue ' e n e _ S • JUNE 21, 2000 39