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
F IM World Championship 1 25/25 0 / 5 00cc MX Series R o unds 1 2 : K a n a ldijk Circuit lu c k afte r Spa in ," he said, " b u t th a t no se-div ed a n d crash ed on th e p roved the team is now in c o n ten ti o n sa me jump w hic h later claimed P i ch on . But i n rac e tw o , it w a s fo r t h e w in every week." Cooper adm itted , "I t was a strange Sm e t s ' turn t o fall a ft er le a d in g e a rly race toda y , b u t getting on the podium on. F or h a lf t he r a ce h e then c hased overall made th e effort t o g et tha t r el entl es sl y wi t ho u t m a k in g a ny ninth i n t he fi rst r a c e , aft er b eing m aj or advan c e o n Bervo ets until th e kn o ck e d o ff twice and stalling t w ice , Yamaha start ed to sp utt er. Thre e worthwhile. " l aps a ft er the pass, Bervoets ' m otor di ed completely . SOOccGP (Ri ght) After winning th e first 250cc moto, M ickael Pichon cra she d in th e second moto an d injured his shoulder, and then Pichon 's dad Injure d a medic by pun ch ing him In the face (allegedly, of course). Sound familiar? (Below) Mamicq Bervoets holeshots the first SOOcc GP moto, but Joel Smetswon. Joha nsson had a n easy t hird i n th e fin is h, but I h ad t o Joe l S m ets c o nti n ues t o re w r i t e race o ne , but h a d to admit defeat to k e ep go i n g, " J ona s t he recor d book s . Th e K T M ri der A ndrea B arto li n i, w ho had exited the said. e xt en d e d fir st moto with a bro k e n cha in , in his rec o rd m oto win Eve rt s race two. seq uence t o II , he bro k e t he all -time h ad an se a sonal GP wi n record , h el d p re v i - " I w a s t r y in g to p a s s And rea , but unhappy c omebac k. " I c an r a c e 40 m inutes o usly b y H arry E ve rt s in } 9 79, w ith the tra c k was v ery rutted and I landed on h ard t r a c k s w ithout his 10th o vera ll w in of t he year, h i s on t he fr ont wheel and went through any se v enth w in in a ro w is tw o m ore t h an t h e t ap es ," J o h ansso n said . alr e ad y o n Fr i da y I pr ob l e m s , bu t any one else h a s ever achieved , a nd , B ut PJ is n ow just 20 po i nts hav in g n ow w on all three B el g ian GPs beh ind B e r v o e t s a nd has a r eal w i th m y f orea rm s i n so far t h is yea r , h e mu st on ly h e ad c hance o f securi ng a no ther si lver th e sa nd h ere after j us t h om e Marni cq Berv o et s in b o th medal. wa s ha vi n g pro bl em s a f ew lap s , " Ev erts T h e sensat ion , however , was moto s at Namur t o clin c h his fo urth W orld title. W it h 3 3 ca reer GP wi ns, S w ed ish h e is n ow s ixt h o n the all "t im e li st. Edb erg . KT M p r i v a t e er Jonas sa i d . " B u t i t is all p art of co mi ng fo u r-ti mes W orld Champ ion! It w a s b a c k , a n d I man a g e d 3 0 m in ute s fantast ic ." n on "s top th is m orning . That made me The 5 0 0cc r a ces h ad , once again , " I st ill don 't beli eve it," he ad mitted I n th e seco nd m oto , J on a s w a s d ecid e t o ra c e , but I h ad c ra m ps a fter been a confrontatio n of the two Belg ians. after racing to fo u rth - and si xth -place even more h ero i c , adva nci n g pa s t just a few laps in t he ra c e . In th e en d I B erv o ets t o o k t h e ho leshot in t h e moto fi nishes . " I got a g ood start in factory b ikes fro m 13th o n lap o ne t o c rashed an d hurt m y k nee , so it was f irst moto an d h ad a lrea dy r epul sed th e fi rs t m oto and t hen p a ssed S tefan cl inch t he histo ric p odium p o sition . b etter n ot to risk racing h ea t tw o ." eN th e ea r ly Sm e t s charge befo r e he E v erts after a few laps . 1 had passed a "I was co m p le t e l y ex h a usted b y Nicoll. " But we will have a four-rider team in the Supercross and Nationals. Rodrig Thain will ride for BRIEFLY. • • us again, and I have agree d terms verba lly with Mi ke Brown . Another American rider will complete the team . N o decision has ye t been made as to w hich rider s w ill ride in which series in S upercross. " Just 14 month s after he left America in controversial circumstances, M ickael Pichon has been ba nn e d from racing for 30 days and been given a SOOO Swiss Franc fi ne. The penalty was announced at 8:30 p.m. following a near three-hour additional sitting of the International Jury at the Flanders Triple Header MX GP at Grobbendonk. An hour later. Belgian police escorted Pichon's father from the track wearing handcuffs in connection with the assault on the medic. The riding ban and fine were imposed on Mickael Pichon because. under FIM rules, a rider is responsible not only for his own actions but also for those of his team. FIM MX Commission secretary Dirk De Neve confirmed on Monday afternoon that the writte n confirmation of the penalties had been sent in writing by registered mail that day and that Pichon would have. five days to appeal against the decision following the certified receipt of the notification. J is not yet clear whether Pichon or Suzuki will appeal the t decision. Pichon will miss the 13th round of the W orid 2S0cc MX championship series whether or not there is an appeal. however. Aft er being flown in a helicopter organized by Eric Geboers to hospital in the nearby city of Antwerp, a dislocated shoulder was diagnosed and it was thus certain on medical grounds that he will miss N amur. A return to racing at round 14 in Luxembourg one we ek later was considered possible. Having apparently failed in a bid to lure Sebastien Tortelli back to the GPs with a lucrative offer, the Italian Free Tim e Y amaha team has also failed to land either Pit Beirer or Stefan Evert s. Free Time press officer Stefano Bergonzini admitted that both riders had been approached as part of a plan to field two riders in the SOOcc GPs, and two or three in the 2S0s. as well as two young Italtans in the 12Ss. He added that Beirer seemed the most likely option. " He does not have a contract for next yea r," Bergonzini said. "Eve rts. on the other hand. must obtain a release from Husqvarna and . that appears to be difficult." Both riders were being chased for the 2S0 GPs. On Saturday Beirer immediately squashed rumors. "I received a new offer from Kawasaki, a top offer, yesterday, and I would say that I will accept it." Everts, rumored for weeks to be keen to disassociate himself from both Husqvarna and his manager D ave G rant. gave a direct answe r when asked about a pos sible Free Time 2S0 deal. " My future is in the SO Occ class," he said. " Mo re and more factories are developing four-strokes and it will soon be the major class." Grant explained the contract situation. " Stefan has a rolling five-year contract with me," Grant said. " He does not have a rider contract with Husqvama. but he is my co-director in G lenhill Investmen ts. w hich has a th ree -yea r contract with KTM's U.S. Team will be sponsored by Austrian energy drink Red Bull . Nicoll also explained that KTM will, once again, not officially contest the 2S0cc GPs: "Team Millennium will receive bikes from us, but they will not be factory bikes. They will probably have the same riders as this year in the 2S0s. and Shayne King will ride for them on a four-stroke in the SOOcc GPs when he returns to Europe next year." Joel Smets and Pet er Johansson (SOOcc) and James Dobb ( 12Scc) will be retained, and it is likely that Patrick Caps will also be resigned. while Erik Gundersen will step into l..llngston's shoes as number one at the Champ KTM team with factory bikes. Pamo boss Paul Kasper said he still had no indication of HRC's final plans for the 2001 GPs. He hopes to retain both Frederic Bolley and Ryan Hughes, and, should he run teams in both 2S0cc and SOOcc classes, as expected, one of them will ride in each class. Ryan Hughes will return to GP action for the final three rounds of the 2S0c series in Luxembourg, Germany and Switzeriand. Although the final choice for the French Nations te am will not be made for several weeks, it already seems certain that, barring injuries, they will be represented by St ephane Roncada ( 12Sccl with Frederic Bolley and Sebastien Tortelli on 2S0s. This was already the first choice even before the Pichon family misdemeanors at Grobbendonk: Pichon' s girifriend is expecting their first baby in the autumn and. apart from the Fast Cross at Arsago Seprio and " possibly Bercy," he does not intend on racing any other Supercrosses either, "I need a break before the next season," Pichon said. Br itai n should be represented at the MX des N ations by Carl Nunn C12Scc), Paul Coo per (2S0cc) and James Dobb (SOOcc), provided Nunn is fit. New Zealand will put Shayne King on a factory 12Scc KTM alongside Josh Coppins and Darryll King on their GP bikes. Be lgium has yet named its team, with candidates Joel Srnets, Marnicq Bervoet s, Stefan Everts, Patrick Caps and Steve Ramon, but Evert s indicated in Kester that he would only be prepared to ride a four-stroke, while Bervoets said at the weekend he has given the possibility of riding a 2S0cc no thought as yet. Smets, on the other hand, was adamant. "I look on it as a great honor if I am chosen to ride for my country. " he said. "The M X de s Nations is a team race, not one wher e yo u seek per - Husqvarna. As co-director he has tied himself to Husqvama from the day he first raced their bike. Mr Castiglione is a wealthy man and has many fine lawyers. Even if Stefan wished to ride for another team, he could find that he only has two options, either to ride Husqvarna or to stay at home all year. sonal glory and if I am selected I will ride in whichever class our team manager Joel Robert feels is best for the team." . Even a high court injunction was sought. .. Germany will be represented by Marco Dorsch, Pit Beirer and Jochen Jasinski. Apart from their current star rider Yves Demaria, Free Time looks likely to be able to sign Andrea Bartolini . "I can ride a factory bike in the Rinaldi team, but I expect that I will sign for Free Time,", Bartolini said. "I have a very good offer to ride for one year and then to take an advisory role in the team. YRRT [Yamaha Rinaldi Racing Team] engineer Iller A1dini will build me a modified production VZ426F.' Gordon Crockard will be joined by Adam Lyons and Trevor Cubbitt in the Irish Nations team , with Thomas Merton as reserve. " Crockstar" is also due to ride the ISDE in Spain. Michele Rinaldi , who runs the factory four-stroke GP team for Yamaha as well as his YRRT engine tuning business which provides motor s for many Yamaha te ams in all classes, said: "Yamaha has confinmed that the factory four-stroke will not be allowed to go outside the official factory team. If he goes to Free Time, Andrea can only get a production machine." Should Free Time be able to sign further top riders - though this appears increasingly unlikely as they run out of options - then Demaria, who has already won the latest French championship round on a VZ426F, could also be switched to the SOOcc GPs next year. KTM MX race boss Kurt Nicoll and 12Scc GP points leader Grant l..llngston confirmed at Grobbendonk that the l 8·year·old South African has now signed a two-yea r deal with KTM to race in America starting next seaso n. "We are not ready yet to race the 250cc class in Ameri ca. " said 28 AUG U S T 1 6, 2000 ' cue I e n e vv s S andro P uzar did not arrive in Belgium after splitting from the Magic Bike team, He is now looking for sponsors to go car rally driving next year. Also absent in Grobbendonk was Willie V an Wessel, who dislocated his elbow at the German GP. Willie' s team boss Jacky Martens was there in Grobbendonk. but in a wheelchair. "I was out testing Willie's bike at Motoland." Martens said. " Jhave smashed my left elbow , dislocated my right shoulder and broken my right foot. I needed a bone graft from my hip in my foot. ' D arryl! King got the chance to ride Stefan Everts' GP bike for the first time during training last week when the Belgian went home after a crash. " J Jhad this bike for the GPs, I could be racing for f podiums every week." DK hopes to have Stefan's spare frame for Namur. Jeff Dement expects to move to England next year to contest the 12Scc class for the Emberson Yamaha team, which currently supports J ustin Morris in the 250cc GPs.