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FI M Wo r-ld C h a m p io n ship 500c c Motoc r-oss S e r-ies Round S : La Chamb r-e au x Loups S T O RY AND P HOT OS BY A L E X H O DGK IN SO N IFFENDIC, FRANCE, JUNE 25 n y b o d y who t h in k s Joe l Sm ets might start tak ing it easy and con ce ntra te on simp ly defending his 70 point halfway -s tage lead in the Wor ld 500cc MX Series had be tter t h ink a g a in . Two more moto wins for Joel Smets at Iffend ic in Brittany bro ught his tally to 12 ou t of 16 . "I don 't lo ok at the poin ts lead ," said Smets. "When I go to the sta rt, I still want to win every ra ce ." And a t th e moment, the fa ctory Yarn ahas of And rea B arto lini a n d Marni cq Bervo ets se e m pow erl es s to stop him . A MOT01 Be lgian Bervoets had a fantasti c first two c o rne rs in t h e first m o ta , passing the facto ry KTMs which had just ho leshot. "I have chased Joel 50 often this year," a dmi tted Be rvo et s . "I knew m y best c hance was to get in fron t qu ickly." "Ma rnic q was ve ry aggressive in th ose first few turns " said Smets . "He was ve ry fa st tod a y, but I could kee p his pace a nd se ttled down a couple of s eco nds behind h im. You cou ld not rid e any clos er to any on e for long here be caus e of th e roc ks off th e ir rear wh e e ls . I dec ided I ha d to rush him , and th e first attac k fo rtu nate ly worked." "I n ev er ' saw him co m ing," sa id Berv oets. "I wa s 50 surpris ed th a t I n e a rly fe ll as h e br u sh e d past m e . Th en J oel ha d the lead, a nd I couldn't c hase him dow n aga in ." When the du o hit the la ppers , Smets - un hinder ed by the bac kmarker s as they respecte d the blue flags - mo ved away. Barto lini was a d istant thi rd after passi ng Pe ter Johansson 10 minutes into the race . "My start wa s not 5 0 ba d , and I had a bout the same speed as th e first two ," he said, "But by the t ime I had passed Peter, th ey were g on e." Th e Swede adm itted to a troubled r id e , saying , " I had tw o n a st y mo me n t s o n t he fir st lap a lre ad y when my thr ottl e was st icking. I wa s ha pp y to rid e a lo nel y ra c e with no p ressure in fourth ." Littered with big jumps , the hillside track was no pla ce for the faint -hearted, a nd one cou ld sym path ize with J oha nsson . The ride of the ra c e was being put o n in t he le a d e rs ' wake b y Da rr y ll King, who sa id, "The su s pen s ion was awesome today , bu t I co llided with [Fa brizio] Din i on the first lap a nd had to co me righ t throu gh t h e fie ld to s ixth . I mi ght ha ve had Max Barto lini too; at first I didn 't realize how close he was , or I wou ld have pushed ha rd - er . sooner." RZ Yamaha teamste r Max Bartolini ( no re lat ion t o Andr ea ) wa s o n c e ag a in best p ri vateer a fter p a s s in g Gert J a n Van Doorn m id - ra c e. The Dutchman w a s a ls o re el ed in b y tea m m a te Chris Burnham , wh o was rega ining con fiden ce with a relatively None of the lead ing riders ga ted we ll, but such is th eir domin an ce tha t a lrea dy a fte r hal f a lap Sm e t s had passed Karl ss on for the lead , Ba rtol ini was second , a nd Be rvoets fourth. Be rvoets , the first-mote runner-up , had a lrea dy bee n pa st Ka rlsson once , tog eth er with Burnham, but th e Br it c rashe d right in fro nt of the Yamah a and cost h im vita l s plit second s in the c hase ofSrnets. "My hands blister ed ba dly after the first race , a nd I ha d to tape the m," ad mitt e d Be rvoets , who c ould ne ver aga in get right up on the frot tw o . "At least I kept J o e l honest," cornmented Bartolini a fte r chasing hard fo r 45 minutes . "Th at was m y best ride of th e s eason , bu t I just could not c atc h up th e few me ters Joe l ha d o n me on th e first la p." T he le s s- a g g res sive J ohanss on ha d ' b een 13 t h o n la p o ne befo re ad vanc ing to fo u rt h . "I was pu lling back from th e g ate too ," he s aid , "But I wa s n' t prep are d to ta k e th e ris ks w hi c h Berv o e t s t o ok to get b a ck places." Max Barto lini was aga in be st priva teer, and th e RZ squad almost had a 5 ·6 , but Van Wessel forced his way past Garcia Vico (who had also ridden top -s ix in the first m ota unt il the first of two c rashes) after 30 mi nutes. Da rryll Kin g cou ld not q uite m a ke it after a slow start to the ra c e . "I go t ta pe in m y rea r b rake a nd co u ld n 't c harge for the first five la ps ," he sa id. Ka rls s o n eventua lly cras he d out , expla in ing (as he taped ic e ba g s to h is butt), "I lo st p laces fro m fourth , wh en th e fro n t wheel wa s h e d out. Th en lat e r in th e ra c e I had a. b ig c rash ; I hiqh -s ided after a ju mp ." Van Drun en suffered a c on cu ss ion in a separate c rash , and Bu rn ham took a rock in the face as he tried to come back from his first -la p c rash . The rest of th e Brits were in a sorry state by the end of the day. eN Joel Sm e ts wins are beginn ing to be somethin g of a g iven. He won both moto s a n d extended his p o ints l e ad i n France. mistake -free ride , but at the flag th e VORs o n ly just h eld of f Willie Va n Wesse l. Martens ' Hu s k y t eamm at e Marcel Van Dru nen ha d been 10 th until he s talled th ree la p s from th e end and co uld no t res ta rt the thumper. Pole -setter Miska Aa ltonen , on the fa ctory Husky , was no t pleased with J ury president Alban J ac qu em a i after the ra ce. "I c hos e my gate ," he said, "But th en he c a m e and to ld me I was not sitting in the mi ddle of it a nd ha d to move m y bike . My tires were then on gra s s , a nd I was d ead -la st out of the gate." After getting to 12th, he had to pull out , say ing, "I'm not all ow ed to te ll you why, " th ou gh m e ch ani c John Luotone n was wo rki n g on both th e front and rear sus pens ion. Jocke Karlsson put th e on ly two s tro ke in t he p o ints in 10th , but it could ha ve be en much better had he not s uffere d a rm pump for much of th e ra c e. La Chambre aux Loups l!fendic, France Results: June 25; 2000 [Round 8 of 161 MOTO 1: I . Joel Sm ets ( KT M); 2. Ma rn icq Berv o ets (Yam ) ; 3 . A nd rea Bartoli ni (Yam); 4 . Peter Johansson (KT M); 5 . Max Barto lin i (Yam) ; 6 . Darryll Kin g (Hus); 7. Chri s Burnh am (VO R) ; B. Gert J an Van Doorn (VO R); 9 . Willie Van Wessel (Hus) ; 10. Jocke Karl sso n ( Ha n); 1 1. Fabrizio D ini ( Hus) ; 12. Rom an Je len ( KT M) ; 13 . Av o Lea k ( KTM); 14 . Vincent Turpin (KTM); 15. Dami en King (KTM). MO TO 2 : I . J o el Smet s ( KT M); 2 . A nd re a Bartolini (Yam) ; 3. Mamic q Bervoets (Yam) ; 4 . Peter J ohansson (K TM); 5. Max Bart olini (Yam) ; 6. Willi e Van Wessel (Hus); 7. Fr anci sco Garc ia Vico (Yam ); 8. Darr yl! Kin g (Hu s) : 9 . Rom an Je len (KTM); 10. Fabrizio Din! (Hus) ; 11. Martin Zerava (Han); 12. Gert Jan Van Doorn (VOR); 13. Dami en King (KTM ); 14. All o Leek (KTM); 15. Miroslav Kucir ek (KTM). O/ A : 1. J oel Sme ts (KTM ); 2. A ndrea Bartolini (Ya m) ; 3 . Ma rn i c q Berv o ets ( Yam) ; 4 . Pet er Jo hansson (KTM) ; 5. Max Bartolini (Yam ) ; 6. Darryll King (Hus) ; 7. Willie Van Wessel (Hus); 8. Gert Jan Van Do orn ( VO R); 9 . Roman J el en ( KT M) ; 10 . Fabrizio Dini (Hus) . FIM WO RLD C' sHIP 500c c MX SE RIES POINTS STANDINGS ( Afte r 8 of 16 rounds): 1 Joel Smets (28 9 /6 win s); 2. Marn icq Bervoets (219/1 wi n) ; 3. Peter Jo hansso n (2 0 4/ 1 wi n) ; 4 . And rea Bartoli ni ( 197 ); 5. Darryl! King ( 140); 6. Miska Aal tonen (90); 7. Max Barto lini (84 ); B. Gert Jan Van Doo m (84 ); 9. Will ie Van Wessel (7 4) ; 10. Erwin Mach tli nger (61); 1 1. Jock. Ka rl sson (58 ); 12. Avo Leo k (55) ; 13 . Marcel Van Drunen (5 1); 14. Fabrizio Dini (50) ; 15. Franci sco Garcia Vico (47) ; 16 . Chris Burnham (44 ); 17. Shay ne King (40); 18. .Jonte Eng dahl (39 ); 19. Rupi Walk ner (33 ); 20. Dami en King (32) . M OT0 2 T h e seco n d st art was ragg ed to s ay th e lea st, a s half the riders we re pullin g th eir b ik es as t h e gat e d ro p pe d . " It m ov ed , " insist ed Be rvoets , h is com ment s uppo rte d by the fa ct th at 50 many other s , includ ing J ohansson, did th e same . c ue I e Upcoming Rounds: Round 9 - Kester, Belgium , July2 Round 10 - Culham, England, July 9 n e .. S • JULY 12 , 200 0 23