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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128626
F IM Wor ld Championship 1 2 5 /250/5OOc c M X S eries Rounds 1 2 : Kana ld ijk C ircuit .. Saturday's1 cGPat Grobbendonk, Belgium, was held in the ra in, but Great Britain's James Dobb didn't seem to mind. He scored his third w in of the yea r in the wet stuff. STO RY AND PH OT OS By AL EX H O DGK IN SO N GROBBENDONK, BELGIUM, JULY 29-30 ne championship leader lucky to esca pe disq ua lifica tion, anothe r ba nned fo r a month after h is father a ssa u lted a m e mber of th e med ica l s ta ff, th e thi rd n ow o n hi s b e st friend 's hit list , a KTM 1-2 -3 in both cl asses th at th e y offi c ia lly c onte st , a nd th e mo st ama zing track salva ge o p e ra t io n in t he hi stor y of GP mot ocross: The Grobbendonk Trip leh ead er w ill liv e in the m em ory o f th ose who atten de d for a long , long time. "There was no way we c ould ha ve finish ed another lap ," admitted 125cc overall GP win ner James Dobb a fter cross ing the line in Brian Jorgen s en 's whe e l tra cks in th e a bbre via te d sec ond mot o on Saturday ; torrential ra in and ha ilstones , which bega n as th e gate d ro ppe d, h ad le ft v irt ua lly the O 26 AUGUST 1 6 . 2000' lC U lC I e ent ire tra c k un d e r a foot of water within 20 mi nutes . " It is un b e lie v ab le what th ey achi ev e d ," F IM ra ce di re ctor Da v e Nico ll said th e next morning . "Pa rts of t h e t rack were und e r t h re e feet of water at 7 p. m. S at u rday a nd it wa sn 't d rain ing , but by 8 a .m . Sun day it wa s perfect. " F o rt y - s ev en c lu b wo rker s , a ll unpaid vo lunteers - "a mateu rs " in a n age when the s elf -proc lai m ed "professionals " lik e to pr etend th e y a re indispen sabl e - and t h e loca l fir e br igad e had work ed th e e ntire night with shovels, mechanical diggers and four pumps to sav e Sund a y 's ra c e program , and we re rewarded with a near 25 ,OOO -strong cr owd and no t a drop more rai n , even thou gh fea rs o m e dark cl ouds pa ss ed wit h in a couple of miles at reg ular inte rvals . Th e 250cc cla s s was a se nsational sec on d care er GP win fo r Gor don Cr o c ka rd , whil e th e titl e c hase wa s n eVIls thrown wide o pen as Mic ka el Pic hon s uffe red a d is loca ted shoulder whic h will pr e vent him starti ng a t Na m ur even if he appeals th e on e -month rid ing ba n im po s ed after h is fath er, later escorted from t he track b y Belg ian polic e in hand cu ffs , had a ssau lted a m ember of th e tr a c k m edica l sta ff and left him with a cut lip. After laun ching h is Laz e r h e lmet into th e jub ila nt c rowd , "Cro c kst a r" was th e happiest man on th e planet. "The y might sa y I got my first win in- Spa in bec ause not e ve ryo ne was up to race spe ed , but we are now at th e height of the season ," he sa id . "And I ha ve to thank the wo rkers; the tra ck was great and it is fa nta stic that we are ev e n ra cing afte r th e we ather yesterda y." Equall y a s s en sat ional was the second KTM 1-2 -3 of the weekend in th e 5 00cc c lass, wh ere Joe l Smets , who a lmost inevitabl y s et a nd ex te nd ed ye t mo re records, wa s joined on t he p od ium by a Swedish p rivatee r who deserved ly scored more points in a da y than in his e n t ire ca re er to date , and needless ly upset his train ing p a rtn er an d pr e vious be st friend on the track . Marn ic q Be rvoets was furious after race two . "No -o ne ca n deny that J oel is a fas t rider, but' have no respe ct for him a ny m o re ," Ber voe ts sa id. "He hit me so hard when he passed m e in th e secon d moto and there wa s no ne ed for it. Th e gap betwe en us had be en sta ying betwe en three a nd four s econds for many la p s, and th en sud denly he was on m e , s o he must have known' had a p roblem. He cou ld hav e waited and gone pas t me so eas ily. I am so angry . He can be sure , will pay him back th e first chance I get." 125cc GP With th e gr ound alr eady satu ra ted by pr evious ra in, th e re wa s nowhere for th e lat est deluge to go , a s a storm h it th e tra c k 20 minute s b ef ore the fir st m oto . T he s tor m ab at ed fiv e minutes befor e the start, but th e FIM offic ials rejec ted th e p le as o f th e te a m s for a dela y . Ch a m p team b o ss Ke e s Van de r Ven w a s disg ust ed . "My ch ief me ch an ic Ha rr y No lt e a ske d on b eh al f o f th e te am fo r a 30 -m inute delay to fix the tra c k, bu t h is request was t u rne d d o wn fl a t b y th e Jur y Presi dent and the Race Dire ctor ," he said. T ra mp a s Parke r, th e o nly rid er who had ve nt ured into th e sto rm to exa m ine t he firs t turn , where , along with ha lf th e fie ld, he was to crash , added , "I told th em wh at was wai ting for u s , and' knew wh at t o expect. The first turn wa s co mpletely unde r wat er. When the lea der hit it , he thre w up a huge bow wave , ju st like a 10fo ot hi gh b re a k er . I p u t my h ead down to ta ke the imp act , but s o me one h it me from beh ind and , e nded up in the fe nce ." TM teammate Philippe Dupa squ ie r was furiou s. " F irs t Fo x h ills , th en Franc orchamps , now here ," he sa id. "T hey ca n no t s pend 30 minute s to prepare th e tra ck for the 125s t o race , but th ey can wo rk o n it for the 250s to pra ctic e." Ra c e Dire ctor Da ve Nicoll admitte d he was wrong. "T he Jury p res ident ' and mys elf ju st did n ot know how bad it was ," he adm itted. "We ha d a report from the tra c k staff that it was okay , and fro m where we we re sta nd ing at the gate you couldn 't see th e water. " And nobody seemed pr epared to wa lk the 100 ya rds to take a loo k. "T h e first 20 minutes was the worst wit h all the water, " adm itted Dobb. "But the last 10 minutes we re the hardest with a ll of th e ruts . , actuall y slipp ed in s id e Lang ston a t the fir st co rn e r wh en h e co lli de d with Ramon , but Grant m ade a hard pass