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/128631
BRIEFLY••• Though the M X des Nations pits co untry against coun try . so me 01 the riders understan dably pitted out 01 the truck s 01 thei r sponsors. since that was what they were accustomed to . Ryan Hughes was in the PAMO Honda camp. Ricky Carmichael was wit h W infield/M otorex Kawasaki. and Travis Pastrana was wit h C orona Suz uki (fortunately. the three teams managed to park quite near to one another). This meant that somet imes rivals were working out o f t he sa m e pits (f or example. Am erican Ryan Hugh es and Frenchm an Frederic Bolley are both on the PAMO team). but the atmos phere was quite l riendly. Thomas Traversini was a last-minute replacement on the defending champion Italian team for Alessio C hio d i . " He did the last th ree GP s. and he wants to rest hi. [previou sly injured) w rist. " said Traver sini . who admitted to fee ling some pressure. The Husqvama rider w as teamed wi th And rea Bartolini and Claudio Federici. Team Great Britai n. w hich wo n the des Nations in 1994. had an unbelievable streak o f ba d lu c k in Saturday' s qualifying. First Carl Nunn lost his brake and cartwheeled through a fence at the bott om 01 a downhi ll in the 125 cc race. Then Ricky Carm ichael slammed into Paul Cooper while making a pass in the 250 cc class. giving the Husqvarna rider a hemotoma on his left calf. And finally. 125cc regular James Dobb. w ho was riding a big-bore l our- st roke . DN Fed the 500 cc qualifier when a T-ba ne-incurred engine crack caused the oil to leak out of his KTM . The team was forced to advance through Sunday morning 's last chance qualifier. The Netherla nds also had bad luck on Saturday. as two of its rider s - Remy Van Rees and Mar cel V an D runen - faile d t o finish their qualifiers. In such case s, the country isn't eve n allowed to participat e on Sunday' s LCQ , so Holland - normally fairly strong - had to load up its bikes and watch. When J oel Smet s cut his elbow in a la ll at the previous week' s GP . he immediately declared that he would ride the MX des Nation s regardless. but the wound became in f ect ed and when the Belgian had trouble even holding onto the bike in moto one. he pulled out and declared that he would not ride t he l inal heat. But aft er looking at the standings wit h team manager Joel Rob ert and seeing that his team was stili io urt h. Smet s decided to give it anothe r try . " I felt really moti vated. because they trus ted me so much. " Smet s said. "That's such a good feeling . " Sebastien Tortelli's American mechanic Shane Drew had a few stressful moments afte r a rock bent his bike's shift shaft in the second mot o. as he had to do a quick motor sw a p before mot o three . " I barely made the cut. " Drew said. Since his co untry finished in the to p three last year. Stephane Roncada didn't have to participate in Saturday's qualifiers. so after his practice session. the Frenchman pi c ked u p his digita l camera and got some shots for his we bsite. wwvv.ronronmx.com . Du ring the team intro ductions on Saturday. the Spanish and Italians betrayed their Latin roots . The former squad picked up the pom -pom girl that was holding their cou ntry's sign. wh ile the lat- (Above) Jeremy Albrecht (left) tuned for Carmichael in France . (Below) Pastrana (10) a nd Roncada (4) - 125c c 1-2 in the U.S. - w ere back at it again , bu t this time on French soil. ter team 's hands hovere d near the hindquarters of their sign holder. The French crowd roared its approva l in both cases . South Alri ca l inished fifth , desp ite the fact that one of its rider s - Ryan Hunt - isn't even really a prol essional racer. "H e rides fo r fun ." said team member Greg Albertyn. participating in his final M XdN . [C olin] Dugmore was supposed to be our third rider. and he was top 10 In the wo rld until he broke his scaphoid. " Third member Grant Langston was the top 125cc rider in moto one. Because often a country's best riders are normally in the same class. many entrants were on machines of un familiar displacement in orde r to fill the three divisions at the M X de s Nati ons. Brit Ja mes Dobb. w ho normally rides a 125 . rode quite well on a big ope n-class fourstroke KTM . Kiwi S hayne King went the other route , trading in his familiar Katoom thumper for a 125. and rather than his usual Yamaha l our-strok e. Belgian Mamicq Bervoets was on a YZ250 . There has bee n a lot of spec ulation and gossip as to what Stefan Ev erts will be doing next season, and while it is still unconfirmed officially, two impeccable sources at the M X des Nations said that the Belgian will be riding a factory Yamaha four-stroke in the 500 cc GPs in 2001 . There has also been speculation that f ormer M X g reat Jean ·Miche l Bayle - wh o co mpe te d in endu rance road racing this year - would return to motocross. or that he would begin racing SOOcc road race G Ps on a Yamaha . At a press conference l or the FFM (Fed eracio n Francaise de M otocychsm e). the Fr e nc hman w a s coy . saying. "I think it will be a good surprise for Chri stm as." T hi s vic to ry w as t he U nit ed S tat e s' 15th at th e M X des N ations. j ust o ne wi n shy o f the record . Great Britain ha s 16 w ins . it s la st having come at the '94 Swi ss event that ende d Ameri ca' s st reak . Belgi um has 12 w ins, Sweden has seve n, Russia has two, and th e Czech Republic and Italy ea c h have one. Surpri singly , France has still not won the M X des Nations. As if more prool was needed of Travis Pastra na's (rig ht) com" petitive str e a k . the Suzu ki rider was caught timing himself as he signed his autograph on a stac k ofTeam USA sticke rs. c u e . e n e uv s SEPTEMBER 20. 2000 17