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/128630
F IM World C h ampio n ship 500c c MX S erie s Round 1 5 : D e K a p p e n b u lt e n a nd if you went for a pa ss you had to rush past someone. In the en d , Jonny made it easy for me when he ma de a little m istake, but even the n I had to throw m y goggles away after 30 m inutes - I had us ed up a ll of the roll-off t ap e . I had a 20 -s econ d lea d so I could' ve stopped, but it was st ill rai ning and e ve n with a clea n screen on the goggles it was getti ng difficult to s ee the lines we ll, so I decided to ca rryon and just make s ure I stayed out of the way of th e roost fro m th e lapped ride rs ." Lind he was satisfied with his first experience of leadi n g a GP fo r so long . "It wa s a ll new to m e," he said . "But I felt good for four laps. Th en I just made on e sma ll m istak e and th e front whee l wen t away from m e . When I got back in the ra ce I couldn' t find m y rhythm again." Avo Leok was eventually seco nd aft er a tactical race from fifth on lap on e . "I just made sure I didn't make a ny m ista kes and let the ot hers fall off," Leok sa id. "Once I could see no-one ah e ad of me I wa s able to relax ." Miska Aalto nen had a more hectic ride to th ird . "I ha d to throw my gog g les away early on when th e Roll-Offs broke a n d la p ped ride rs got in m y By (Ab ove) J o el Smets continued to embarrass and demoralize the c omp etition in Holland by agai n sw e eping both motos f or his 12th overall win of the 15-race-old series. He clinched the championship long ago and now leads by 15 3 points. (Ri ght) If Mamicq Bervoets w ere to have j oined his f ellow Frenchman for the 250cc campaign, and he accrued the same p oints tally, he w ould si t sec on d in points, only 14 behind Bolley going into the fin al round. Instead, he decided to race Smets; now he's second In points, 153 be h ind. Second's second either way, right? A LEX H O DGKI N SON HAlLE, HOllAND, MG. 25 ~ lorious . b lue s kies , just like those ~ wh ich g re et ed th e ver y fi rst 500cc GP at Imo la in 195 2 , a waited th e te ams to Halle in e a stem Holland o n practi ce day fo r the fina l s ing le class 500 cc GP of the year, or in the foresee a ble future for th a t matter, bu t the overn ight ra in wh ich had abated t h ro u g h Sunda y morn ing re t u rn e d just before the start of the first m oto it was simply typ ical of the Y2K Europe an "s um m e r." But come ra in or shine, on e th ing rema ins th e same - J oel Smets won again. And he ca n n ow e q ua l Rog er DeCoster's recor d of 36 career 500c c GP win s at th e fin a l round of the series in Switzerland. The champ ion le d from t h e fifth "la p of race on e . "Whe n I was second to [Jonny] Lindhe ," Smets sa id . "I had to m a ke a conscious de cision not to get to o clo s e to h is rear wheel. Th e re is only on e goo d line ou t there , 44 S EPTEM BER 13. 2000 ' c ue I e newvs way when I go t to fourth t he first time ," he sa id. Re mounting n inth, th e Finn could see third -pl a ce d Van Wessel e nte ring the fina l lap . "I got fa irly close to him e nte ring the lo ng est straight a nd just wound the po wer full on, " Aa ltonen sa id . "I nearly wen t o ff the track when I got sidewa ys , but it worked ." T h e rid ers battli ng fo r the series s ilver med al we re soon in tro uble. Marn ic q Be rvoets sai d , "I locked the e n g ine go ing into th e firs t tu rn, sli d in t o s o m e on e else a n d w ent dow n. Th e n I had a no ther crash further a ro und the la p . I kn e w I ha d to ke e p going and when I saw J oha ns so n o n th e grou nd on the second la p it ga ve m e the extra incentive to push hard ." By th e finish the Yamaha ride r was e ighth. Peter J o ha ns so n sa id , "I crashed on the second lap when I was battling wit h a Dutc h rid e r. I was alongs ide the b ik e af ter lo si ng contro l over a ta bl eto p . T h e n th e b ike wouldn't resta rt im mediately. " By the fin ish Bervoets was 14th with 12th- p laced Da rry ll King in h is sights . Th ese mis h aps c o u ld h ave g ive n And rea Bartol in i a c hance to re g a in so me g round , bu t he was o ut early in the ra c e. "I h ad a big c ras h and dis located m y le ft s hou lder," th e for m er ch amp said . T he o rga n izer s tri ed the ir best to rep air th e track as ra in persisted , but the re was s ta nd ing wa te r in th e first t u rn a n d Joha ns s o n wa s the ma in victim at the sta rt of race two . "I don 't know what happen ed ," he said. "But I know that I c ouldn 't move my left arm at first. " What happened was that Johans son t ried to turn on wate r a nd ne ither the fro nt wh ee l no r the front bra ke rea c ted . He s lit h e re d int o t he re a r wheel of Leok , who , comi ng fro m the o uts id e , ha d the a dv a n ta g e of re la tively dry gr o un d m idtra c k and was ab le to ma ke t h e t u rn . Wh ile Leo k stayed on , J ohansson high -s ided a nd fell int o the pa th of Dar ryll King . "I' m sorry , m a te ," Le o k sa id to King . "I tr ied to m iss yo u and hit your bike , but I couldn 't steer e ithe r." Wh ile Smets led th roughou t for a nother win , J o c k e Karlsson, who ha d exited seventh in race one with a seized motor, made a d ramatic outs ide pass on Leok for second pla ce at the end of th e first lap. "It was good to h a v e a cl ear