Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Jocke Karlsson was the only rider to score any points on a two-s troke machi ne. T h e Honda rider went 5 ·5 for fifth ov erall. a nd he hit my re ar wh ee l. I could n't re a ch th e cl utc h in time ." Bervo e t s was o n h is wa y , ag ai n faster, but not befor e Pete r J ohansson was pa st for th e win . Smets remount e d sixth , but c ha rge d ba c k to th ird . Beh ind these th ree , J oc ke Karls son passed Willie Van Wessel when the Dutchman made a mista ke. "I think I us ed too much energy wh en I tri e d to catch t h e leaders ," Karlsson sa id . "I was mak ing many mistakes later in th e ra c e ." RWJ team b oss Colin Reed had another explanat ion . "You ha d a fiat rear tire ," he to ld him . Th e Swede we nt ba ckwards to fifth in th e fina l la ps . Andrea Bart o lin i cou ld not c a tc h him , howe ve r. "I tou ch ed with a no ther ride r in th e firs t turn a nd was 10 th on th e first lap ," Barto lini sa id . "By th e tim e I had passed to six th, th e first five were out of si ght. " Miska Aaltonen was th e man ho lding ev erybod y up , to th e despa ir of teammate Darryll King . "I should 've slammed him like Andrea did , but t he t eam wouldn 't ha ve liked that," King said . The second moto was an e nth ralling chase , which , judging by his remark s about the 500cc race in Valk en s waard earlier th is s e ason , Gius e ppe Luongo would pr esum ably have found boring . Barto lin i took t he holesh ot , b u t Smets wa s p a st on t he first la p a nd J o ha nsson a nd Be rvoe ts on la p two . Marnicq was , once again , in s cin t illat ing form a nd ha d split the KTM s befor e the end of that lap. Afte r ne gotiat ing 31 lappets . several mor e tha n on ce , to c ross the line a fraction of a s econd behind S mets , Ber voets s unk to t he g ro u nd a n d h ad to a sk g irlfrie n d C hrista to u n d o h is h e lm e t s trap . "Th a t wa s tw o riders [goingJ fia t out fo r 4 5 minute s ," an exh austed Bervoets said . Th e confirm at ion of th e p he no me nal pa ce of the du o - World c h a m p Ba rt ol ini wa s a m inu t e and a half beh ind . " An d I was g oing as fas t a s I co u ld ," admitt ed the e ve r -c hee rful Italian. Johansson should have been third, but this time his luck ran out. "I had no rear brake for the second ha lf of th e race," Johansson said. "I felt it d isappearing , the hose must be damaged ." Karlsson had to fight hard to m ake his passes stick for another fifth , but Gert-Jan Van Doorn was given a present of sixth three corn e rs from th e end wh e n Van Drun en sl id o ff. Van Wessel's Ma rte ns Hu s ky h ad sputte red to a halt, Aa lto nen c rashed, a nd Da rryll King stalled his Ra d s on versio n befor e hu rtin g a fing e r a nd lo s ing th e fina l p oint t o litt le br o th e r Damien. eN libro MalDrstadian Tibro, Sweden Results: June 11, 2000 [Round 7 of 161 MOTO t : I. Peter J oha nsson (KTM); 2. Mami cq Bervoets (Yam) ; 3. Joe l Smets (KTM ); 4. Will ie Van Wessel (Hus); 5 . Jocke Karlsson (Hon) ; 6. And rell Bartolini (Yam ) ; 7 . Darryll King ( Hus) ; 8 . Mi ska Aa lt onen (Hu s); 9. Marce l Van D ru nen ( Hus) ; 10 . Jonle Engda hl (KTM): I I. Chrids Burn ham (VOR): 12. Fra ncisco Garcia VICO {Yam); 13. Gert .Jen Van Doom {VORl ; 14 . .Jones Edberg (KTM): 15. Jonny U ndhe ( Hus). MO TO 2 : I. Joel Smets (KTM) ; 2 . Mllirn icq Bervoets (Yam) ; 3 . Andrea Berto lini (Yam); 4 . Peter Johansson (KTM) ; 5. Jocke Karlsson (Hon ); 6. GertJ an Van Doorn (VO R); 7. M.cts Nilsson (Hbg ) : 8 . Francisco Gercie Vico (Yam): 9. MlIrcel Van Drunen (Hus); to. J onte En gdah l (KTM); 11. J am es MlIrsh (KTM ) ; 12 . A vo Leo k (KTM ) ; 13 . .Jon e s Edberg (KTM); 14. Ste fan A ndersson ( Yam ); 15 . Demi e n King (KTM) . 0 11\: I. Joel Smets (KT M) ; 2. Mamicq Bervoets (Ya m); 3 . Pet er .Io h an s s on (KTM): 4 . A ndrea Bartolin i (ve rn): 5 . Jocke Ka rlsso n (Hon ); 6 . MlIrcel Van Drunen (Hus); 7. Gert Jan Van Doom (VO R); 8. Willie Van Wessel" (Hus) ; 9. Fran ci sco Garcia Vico (Yam) : 10. Jon l e Engda hl (KTM ). FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 500cc MX SERIE S POINTS STANDI NGS ( A ft er 7 o f 16 ro unds) : I. Joe l Sme t s ( 2 49 /5 w in s); 2 . M arn ic q Ber v o et s ( 187/1 ); 3 . Pete r J oh an sson (176/1) ; 4. And re e Ba rto li ni ( 16 5) ; 5 . Darry ll K i ng (122) ; 6 . Mi sk a Aaltonen (90); 7 . Gert Jan Van Doo rn (72); 6 . Max Barto li ni (62); 9. Erwin Mach tli nger (6 1); 10. Willi e Van We ssel (5 7 ) ; 11. Jocke Ka rlsson (52) ; 12 . Ma rce l Van Drun en (51 ); 13 . A vo Leok (50) ; 14 . Shay ne King (40) ; 15. Fabrizio Dini (39 ); 16. Jo nte Enqde hl (39) ; 17. Franci sco Garcia Vico (38) ; 18. Chris Bu rnh am (35) ; 19 . Rupi We l kne r (33) ; 20 . Dermen Kin g (28) . Upcoming Rounds: Round 8 - Iffendic, France, June 25 Round 9 - Kester, Belgium, July 2 FIM World Championship Z5Dcc MX Series Round 7: Circuit Les Tonnes "I did not ride to m y fu ll ability in Spa : Pichon said. " I need to p ic k it ba ck up and return to the winners ' cir cle." Pichon did just that, taking the first moto win, a nd wh ile his second-place finish in moto two only ga ve h im sec ond ove ra ll, his c ha m p io n s h ip lead was not threatened. "It was important no t to let Bo lley get any points on m e ," Pic hon said . "I worked re all y hard to win th at first m o to a n d c ras hed be c au s e of it. It was lucky I ha d a big le ad , othe rwise he wo uld ha ve ta ken a win , that's not what I wanted ." Th ird pla c e in Fran c e wa s Pich on 's Suzu ki tea m mate Josh Co ppins. The Ne w Zea land e r, wh o h a s been Mr. Con s istent th is ye a r, finis he d with 5 -3 scores for his first pod ium of the ye a r. "I jus t wanted to wor k o n riding a t m y best ," Coppin s sa id. "I d id not wan t to c ra s h a nd lose points. It's important that I c a n im p ro ve . I'm having trouble with a knee injury; it started to hurt aft e r a while in the first moto . I am now on ly 16 po ints awa y from th ird pla ce in the championship , so so m e more consistent re su lt s cou ld see me p a s s Be irer in th e series." For Bo lle y , Pichon a nd Coppi ns , the French GP was a day to remem ber, but not so for Ge rman cha rge r Pit Be irer. Th e Winfie ld Kawasa ki rider b le w another c h a n ce to win a GP. Third p lace in the first moto gave Be irer some inc entiv e , yet his seco n d- m o t o D N F saw h im drop to ST OR Y A ND P HOT O S By G E O FF MEY E R BROQ,FRANCE,JQNE 12 n front of 27 ,000 screaming spec tato rs , defe nd ing World 250cc Motocross Champion Frederic Bolley brought a s m ile to t he faces of his c ountry men , as he won the Fr ench 250cc Gra nd Prix at th e Brou cir c uit , some 70 miles we st of Pa ris. Wh ile it seems th at Fre nch ride rs ha ve be en win ning ju st a bout everyth ing rec ently, it's be en a s urpris ing 14 yea rs since a Fren ch rider wo n his h om e Gr and Prix , so for Boll e y a nd all F re nc h men th is was a m om ent to sa vor. "I k new n ob ody h ad won si nce J acky Vimond in 19 8 6," Bolle y sa id with a sm ile. "I worked hard in the firs t moto and [Mic kael] Pichon got t h e w in . Ther e was no wa y I was going to lose the second race and th e overall ." Bo lley went 2-1 on the p ictureperfect Les T o n n e s circu it , and h is first -moto duel with P ic h o n was everything we ha ve come to e xpe c t from the fighti ng Fre nc h riders. Bo lle y's second -m oto win again proved that he has the s peed to rega in th e c ha m pio ns hi p that he won in 1999, a lthough Mickael Pichon will h ave something to say a bout that. Corona S uzu k i rid e r Pich on , who leads the c ha m pio nsh ip points ta ble , went into his hom e Gr a nd Prix with som ething to prove, a s he had be e n beaten badly by Bo lley in the previous GP in S pa , Be lgium , a week earli e r, and wanted revenge . I cue I EO n e _ s: • J UNE 28.2000 41

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