Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Tortell i, with a crash-pron e McGra th in third. Next came Pichon, Huffman, Byrne, Paget , Reed , Vial Ie and Bethys . The second f i n a l saw Vuillemin win from Tortelli again , and Pichon in th ird p la ce . McGrath was next , followed b y Reed , Huffman, Via lie , Brown, Betthys, Lalloz. In 125cc action , Buckelew we nt II , while the second 12 5cc fi nal was cancelled due to a bad crash . Second ove rall o n the secon d nigh t w a s a nother Am er ic an Motoworld rider , Gr eg Schnell , w ith 2 -3 resul ts , while Thain scored 3 ·5 for th ird . M cGrath h ad h i s f a ct or y f o r k aga in, and was m o re than happy w ith his setup , alth ough this time h e hit t he deck to o ofte n t o compe te with Vui llemin. " I fe lt 100- pe rce nt better, ' McGra th said. " I also crash. When it all came down to it , tho ug h, Vu ill em in was in a cla ss of h is own , a n d even a race - p erfect McGra th w oul d hav e ha d h is hands full w it h the home-co untry ri de r. "It's all in the starts ," Vuillemin said. "I could only win one race in 1999 at Bercy , but we are working so hard, and I th in k the extra work is payi ng off. Jeremy is qu ick, and he had problems on Friday , but this feels li ke a good win and something I've worked hard for .' "It 's no t really st arting until we get to January ," McGra th said . " Dav id is as fast as me, sometimes faster. If he gets the start , then he 's tough to b eal. I'm not go ing t o get cut up abo ut getting beat here. The whole two weeks in Franc e has been funny a lot of bike problems . It's not an y one's fault, just bad luck. I might be getting a little ahead of myself. I have not ra c ed these fa st guys for a while , and I'm m ayb e push in g it a little. I' ll b e re a d y w hen we start in 2 0 0 I thats when it's going to count." (A bo v e) J u stin Buck e l ew (4) made his first v isit t o Bercy a succ essful one by win ning the Prin c e of Bercy crown. Eric Sorby (5) w on Friday's second 12 5 c c final. (Bel ow . left to rig ht) Justin Bu c k e l ew (125c c). David Vu illemin (2 5 0 c c). Sebastie n Torte lli (25OCc). Rodrig Thain (125c c) and Chad Reed (250cc) cele brate on the winners' p odium. own pa c e, which was quick enough to take the win. ' "It' s imposs ible to do anything with th os e forks ," McGrath said . " When I went out for pra ct ic e, I knew som e- crashed g oin g i nto th e t u n n e l. I th ink I h i t som e ce me nt o r so m eth i n g , and th at spa t m e o f f. I thought I rode o k ay in o n e ra ce . I c a me back from a l o ng wa y b ac k and c aug ht Tortelli. It hasn't been a great weeke nd , but I'm st ill ge tti ng d ialed in to race with the fast guys after my holida y .' FRICAV S UNCAV Vu ill em in o pen ed the show with a heat win ahead of McGrath and Thierry Beth ys, while Mickael Pichon was victorious in heat two over Austra lian Chad Reed and Fren chma n Ma thieu La lloz. Wh en the riders came out for the two fina ls, it was all Vuillemi n, as the Fren c hman too k th e fi rst fi nal ahead of McGrath, Sebastien To rt elli , Pichon , Fred er ic V ia li e , M ichae l Byrn e, Bethys, M ike Brown, Matthieu Lalloz, and Pierr ick Paget . The second fina l went Vuillemin, McGrath, Tortelli , Pichon , By rne , Bro wn , Lalloz, D am on Huffman, Paget and Josh Cop pins . McGrath had major p ro ble ms with h is stock fork (the factory unit h ad been damaged in a cras h the pr eviou s week ), while Vuillem in - sup po rted by the sellout crowd - was never in trouble. "T he sta rt ," Vu ill em in said. " It was always goin g to be in the start. Wh en J eremy w en t fo r th e lea d, I had t o hold him back and then j ust ra c ed m y The fina l n ight l a ck ed M cGrath , who had retired to the co m fo rt of his hotel w ith a thumb inj ury inc urred the night before . "I tried to ride in practice,' McGrath said . "It was okay over the jum ps, but o n the w ho op s it really hurt. I'll rest now for a co uple of weeks and co me back better prep ared.' There were no changes at the top on th is da y . Vu ill em in was in a tough mood , alth o u gh T ort ell i found hi s best f o rm of th e week end t o fi n ish second ov era ll with 2 -2 results. Third ov erall was Reed with 3 -3 results. In th e 125cc cl ass, Reed ' s fellow Au stralian Brett Metcalfe came ou t with a win in the fi rst fin al , with Th ain taki ng second and Buckelew third - eno ug h to wrap up the Prince of Bercy cro wn . " I had a grea t ti me in F r an c e ," Buckelew said . " David [Vuilleminj set th is up for me, and I'm gla d fo r the experience. It's been a lot of fu n, and t hi ng w as wron g . The g o o d forks wo uld not g o d own , we chan ged to the p roduct i on , b u t i t was n ot th e setup I wou ld have liked; you c an 't run w ith the to p guys w ith produ cti on forks . It 's a lot d iff erant to wh at I'm used to , an yway. " In the 125cc class it was Yamah a of Troy ' s Justin Buckelew stealing t h e show by going 1 -2-1 for th e o vera ll an d a nice l ead in the chase for t he Pri nc e of B ercy crown . Bu c k el ew wo n the firs t fi na l fr o m Edgar Torronteras and Rodrig Th ain , th en came home beh ind Eric Sorby in the second fin al and ahead o f St ev e Ra mon. SATURCAV Th e first heat wi n we nt to Vui llemin ahea d o f Tortell i and Bet h ys , wh ile M cG rath w on h i s h eat ah ead of Pic h on and Vi alle . Ne w M o t o w orld Ya m a ha r id er Dam on Huffm an won th e LCQ after a sixth in his heat ra ce, th e fo rm er World Supercross Chern p ion was no t rea ll y on th e p ac e all night long. In the fi rs t fi nal o n Saturday, McGrath got as close as he wo uld get to V u i llemi n w he n t h e t wo r ider s entered the first turn . McGrath went for a block pass , only to have Vuillem in retain the lead and take an e a s y win . S e c o n d place wen t to cue I D n ... _ S • N OV EM BER 15, 2000 7