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/128626
a t the second corn e r. I d idn't try to s tay with him . It wa s al ways going to b e a lo n g ra c e a nd t he ru ts we re let ha l. We had no brakes aft er a few la p s and I'm s u re no o ne e lse h a d either. It wa s no surpr is e wh en h e crashed ." His South Afric a n riva l had gone down afte r 15 minutes. "I got a bit s idew a ys o n a ste p -up jump, hit the t o p lip an d we n t ove r t he bars ," Lang ston sa id. "The bike wa s so bent I ha d to stop, a nd I nee de d fre sh gog gles, too." But th at sto p a lmost c ost Langsto n h is e ve ntual sixth pla c e a s he fa ile d to s to p in th e de s ign a ted wor k a re a . "What wa s the po int in go ing the re whe n ther e wa s no me cha nic th e re?" Langston sa id. "E ve ryo ne was at th e sig na ling a rea o n the stra ight. I thin k they ha ve to s ho w common s ense. I wasn't th e only one to stop the re ." Th ere wa s no prot est a nd La ng sto n kept his points . J orgensen , Stev e Ramon , Patrick Caps and Luigi S egu y were a mo ng t ho se pu t out of contenti on at turn o ne , wh ile Mike Bro wn saw his slen der title hope s dim in ish m idrace , as he e xite d ninth place. On a da y when fe w were c om p la ining about a la ck of water, th e Axo Honda ran its radiator dry afte r a ho s e was severed. Pa rk er wa s t o e ve n t ually m a k e 12 th. "With all th at water , I ha d no fro nt bra ke from the first la p a nd no rear a fte r two la ps ," Brown s a id. Scott Sh e ek' s shoulder popped out of jo int aga in in the m or a ss. Th e s un ca me out between ra c es , but dark clo uds o n the ho rizon arrived at the Ka na al d ijk track as the ride rs went to t he gate for rac e two t o un leash o ne o f the h eav iest sto rms ever to fa ll d uring a motocross GP. "The wat e r leve l o n the tra c k wa s rising e ve ry lap ," Dob b said after he ha d clinc he d th e overall with a stun n ing ride from se ve n t h t o se cond behind Jorg ensen. "We c o u ld n e ver have completed another lap . By th e end it wa s abov e th e axles , a nd a t places it was tak ing m y legs off the footrests. " Jorgensen ha d inherited the le ad wh en Lang ston a gai n cra s h ed a ft er taking th e hol e shot, and the Dane ' s team manager Stev e Dixon was more worried whether th e ra c e would count than the reliability of th e bike. "We had wa terproofed th e e lectr ics and brakes si nc e the fi rst m oto , " Dixo n said. "But I was worried they might stop it to o e a rly. Wh en Brian cam e round o n la p se v e n h e wa s already signaling that th ey needed to stop it, but the re were only 17 and a half minutes gon e. I ran to the Jury p res ident to ask him whe n t he ra c e woul d co unt and he tol d me it ha d to run 20 min ut es. Tha t wa s on e more lap and th en th e y hung o u t th e checkered flag ." But it was nearl y Dobb who took the flag first. "I leaped past Brian on .. (A bove) Patrick Caps (on ground) w as no t particularly im p res si ve in the Belgian mud. (Right) Gordon Crockard shined i n Sunday's 250cc GP, scoring his seco n d w in of the year. th e fina l ju m p , but th e moto r bog ged as I la n d ed and h e we nt t hr o u g h again, " Dobb sa id. It wo uld ha ve made no d iffer en c e as th e resu lt is a lwa ys co unted o ne lap ea rlier when a ra c e is sto pped pre mature ly. Even m ore frus tra ting for Dobb in h is b a t tl e fo r the t it le - Lang ston c rossed the line fou rt h afte r b ein g pa ss ed by Ram on in id ent ic a l ci rcum stances on the fina l jump , but got th e points for third . Still, Dobb wa s confident fo r the fina l four GPs. "I'm the fastest now on any tra ck in an y conditions; I can stil l pu ll ba ck thos e 32 po ints ," Dob b said. Brown s logged his way to seventh , but Pa rk er wen t out. "I've been riding with a blood clot under th e skin at the bottom o f m y b a c k s ince I c ra s he d in It al y la s t m on th ," Parker sa id . 250ccGP Afte r the incre dible wo rk put in by the a m a te ur loc a l workers overnight , the trac k wa s in perfect co nd ition for Sund a y ' s rac ing , even if th e trac k wa s da ng e rou sly unpredictable , with some pa tches softer tha n others. Pic hon m ade a perfect sta rt fro m the insid e gat e in ra c e one . "I decided I would sta rt th ere o n Fr ida y," Picho n said. "I would ra ther be sure of com ing out of turn one in the top s ix tha n ta k in g a midd le gate lik e th e fa st gu ys in th e 125s a nd taking th e risk o f b e ing pu t in th e fen ce . But m y Suzu ki is so strong it got m e to th e turn first a nywa y." Indeed it wa s a Suzuki 1-2 all th e wa y with J osh Coppins in the Fre nc h m an' s wa ke . Not even a fa ll for e a ch c o u ld e n d a nge r t he do ub le w in as Crockard c hased home th ird . "I had to be c a reful with the la pped th e colla r hims elf a nd left th e track ." An hour later , Pich on 's father wa s taken from the tra ck in ha nd c uffs by th e local police in c onne cti on with th e assa ult on the m edic , a nd the S uzuk i rid er was flown by he lico pter, o rg a niz ed b y E ric Gebo e rs , to Antwerp hospita l. A d is loc a ted shou lder wa s diagnosed , a nd , e ven prior to t he one -month race ban im pose d in th e eve ni ng, h e w a s ce rta in t o m iss Na m ur on m edical grounds . After a poor start, wh ich left him 12th o n la p o ne , Bolle y wa s a t least abl e to re co ve r t o fourth a nd thu s s c or e tw o po int s more than his title riva l on th e day. It was his first defeat in Be lgium for two ye a rs , ha ving won th e la s t four GPs there. Bu t th ree En g lish -speak ing rid e rs d isputed th e win . Kiw i Copp ins le d ini ti a lly from S outh African Pau l Cooper before th e d ominant Iris h m a n Cr oc kard sw ep t past them for an overwhelming win . "·1 g ot back o n to h is rear wheel m idr a c e , bu t Gordon was awesome t od ay , " adm itted Coppi ns . "I was right o n the lim it to catch h im . and I don 't know how I c ould have passed eve n if I hadn 't m ade a m istake and lost him aga in. " Cr o c k a rd hi m sel f wa s o v e rwhelm ed by his win. "I had some bad riders aft er m y goggles brok e at half d istance a nd I had to throw the m a way, " Crockard sa id. Frederic Bo lley was in big tro uble, 24 th o f 30 o n la p o ne . "He had no c ha nce ," said a witness at turn three. "Masc h io ca me up the ins ide c o mpletely o ut of control and wiped him s trai g ht out." The c ha m p ion battled relentlessl y to ma ke se ve nt h by the checkered flag . Pic hon 's ins id e gate gamble fa iled to pay of f in ra ce two as th e field closed h im d own and he completed the firs t la p six t h . He still held that pos ition as he approached th e fina l ju m p o f la p tw o a nd flew o ve r th e ba rs after landing o n the front whee l. But it w a s wh a t followe d n e xt whic h le ft on loo ke rs amazed . The Fren chman was stretchered to an ambulance wearing a ne ck bra ce. Jur y pre sid ent T ony Skil lingt on ex plai ne d : "I am still awaiting a writ ten report, but I have been to ld ve rba lly that he ha s a brok e n colla rbo ne , possi ble ne ck injuri es and sem i-c on c us s io n. There [also] was a n a ssau lt on a mem ber of th e m edi cal staff just outsid e th e ambu lan c e [wher e Pichon was being tre ate d ] a nd he [th e m ed ic] ha s suffered a cut lip . Pic ho n ha s refused medi cal ass istanc e , removed c u e I e n e __ S • A UGUST 16, 2000 27