Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

SEM I- F IN A LS LaRocco to o k th e open ing sem ifinal after a poor start. Se cond place was for Bethys , fo llowed by Rodriguez, Jonnhy Aubert and Coppins . "I g at ed terr ib le ," LaRocco sa id . -I was sixth o r seventh , made m y w ay tho u g h and b y l ap three was in the l ead . F rom there it was oka y . This t ra ck 's reall y t ough to pass on , and d epending o n wh o is in front of y o u , making a pass ing move is di ffi c u lt. I need to get better starts for sure in the final. " dropped hi s ma ch in e over a berm. It took L aR oc c o some time to get going again , and h e in fact h e re- e n t e re d the race in last place. " I c a me o ve r th e tripl e ," La Ro c co sai d . " T h e ruts we re all leadin g to th e left, and I wa s j u m p in g to the right. I hit th e ru t , and m y hand slipped o ff t h e throt t l e an d I turned left and c ra shed." W ith th e c ro w d now l oo king a t Albertyn to retire wi th a World Cham pionship , th e pressu re started to (Right) Greg Albertyn showed up understandably un d er-train ed, but still fi nished fourth in the fi nal race of hi s career. (Be low) Corona Su zuki factory rider J osh Coppi ns was co nservative , but fast, at th e W orl d Supercross fi nal e . Coppins ' hopes of c hasi n g L aR o c co home in the fi n a l loo ked even less poss ible as h e trailed in fifth place . The K iw i ha d lead early , o n ly to d rop off th e p ac e after lo o king a li ttle ra gg ed . "I got a littl e o u t of shape an d s lo w ed down ," C oppins sai d . "I' m not taki ng any chances . It' s not worth it; I'm only here to get some pra cti ce fo r n ext year , do some te sting with th e b ikes." M cGrath was li ke a t ornado i n the second semi , getting out o f the s t a r t qui ckl y and never looking back . The Yamaha rider proved h is speed is back after h is Paris trou bles, ta k i ng a 19- sec o n d w in ahead of Suzu k i riders Albertyn and Thain. "I feel good, " McGrath said . " T h e bike it not a p ro blem at all . I'm having fun out there to d ay . The b ike is excellent, t hat's the difference from B e r c y . When t h e b i k e ' s set up , we c an really ri de it hard ." F IN A L Just as he ha d d one in his sem i fi na l, M cG r ath prov ed th e m as ter o f the s tarti ng gate , h o l e sh o tt ing t he m a in a nd m o v in g away fro m secondp laced M i k e La Ro cco . Al bertyn he ld th ird p la c e with Be t hy s f ou rth a n d C oppin s fifth . A ft er t w o l a ps , i t l o o k e d like LaRo c c o had t he t itl e a ll but sewn u p , w he n i n a m o m e n t o f pa nic he " I got second in come i n t o play. T h e race w a s McGrath's, as he was running so me 2 0 secon d s ahea d of second -pl ac e d B e t h y s ( w h o had p as s e d a tiring A lberty n ) . LaRo c co fa il ed to g ive u p , thou gh , chasing everyo ne d o w n and passing Beth y s o n the last corner to pocket the 100 -gran d winner' s check Messe Ha ll le ipzig Germany , Results: Novem er 25. 20 0 Stad d e France and th e F a s t cros s , " L a r o c c o said. " It's been a while si nce I've won so m eth i n g , so t hi s is nice. I a lwa ys work hard , d on 't giv e up, a nd I hope this is a rewa rd for t hat. 1 k new w h en 1 crashed th at I c o u ld g et b ac k to t h e f ron t. I've had g ood speed a ll n ight RNAL (2 0 laps): 1. .Jeremy McGrath (Yam); 2. Mike laRocco ( Hon); 3. Thierry Be th ys (Hon); 4 . Grog Albortyn (Suz); 5. Josh Coppins (SUl ); 6 , Jussi Vehv ilainen ( Hon); 7 . Pierr ick Pllgel ( Hon); 8 . Joaquim Rodriguez (Hon); 9. Jerome Hemery (Kaw): 10. Rodrig Thain (S uz). FIM WOR LD CHAMPIONSHIP SllPERCRO S S SERIES RNAL POINTS STANDINGS (A ft .r 2 of 2 rounds) : 1. Mike Lakoccc (40 ); 2 . Greg Al berty n (29) ; 3. Thlerry Beth ys (26) ; 4 . .Jerem y McGra th (25/1 win); 5. David Vuillemin (25/1 win); 6 . Josh Co ppins (2 4 ) ; 7 . Pierrick Pagel ( 18) ; 8. Rodgrig T hain (17 ); 9 . -Joaquim Rodriguez ( 14) ; 10 . Jus si Vehvilainen (10) . lo ng , a n d o n ce I g ot a r oll , 1 wa s p assing g uys eve ryw here ." eN and th e championsh ip. It was a t ripl e c elebration, wi th A lbertyn , La Ro c c o and M cG r a t h all sto p pi ng aft er the r a c e to recog n ize a career' s en d, a c ha m p io ns h ip w i n and a r eturn to form . " It's n ice to wi n a ny ti me ," M c Grath BRIEFLV G reg Al bertyn looked very emotional as he climbed from his machine after the final. Nearly coming to tears, the tough South African sat for about five minutes with his eyes closed, his face occasionally show ing signs of e mo tion. "It's tough ," A lbertyn said. "This is the crossroa ds in my sa id . " I w ork ed ha rd this p ast month, life. I've had a brilliant career, would have liked to have changed some things, maybe come to America a little earlier. My style was so set by the time I went to race Supercross. Had I not an d it 's p aid off to ni g ht. Now I ca n go been injured so many times . I wou ld have wo n more motocross championships. I can't rea lly h om e and get rea dy fo r t hat e ig h th complain though; not many riders have been lucky enough to win what I have won. I might think about coming back sometimes, but I hope I don't . it's never the same. The new riders are hun- Superc ro ss cham p io nsh ip ." grier ." New W ortd S u percro ss Cham pi on M ike laRocco is now set to return to A me rica for sen CUS Jeremy McGrath ma y not have started off the European Supercross season in top form , but then again, he didn't expect to. Now that all of the major off-season races have been com pleted, however, the k ing is back on top , j ust where he wants to be going into the AMAlEA Sport s tour. A nd he is not about to get to o wor ried by all the talk of the increased competiti on that mi ght prevent him from winning his eighth AMA Supercross titl e. "Th ey say it all the time: McGrath smiled . "I don't have too mu ch tro uble with it . I kn ow Vuillemin was on it in Paris. Tha t's why Paris is so im porta nt to win - the press goes crazy about that race. I know when I get hom e it' s not the same as these European races. I' ve had bad Euro p ean seasons bef o re and alwa ys cam e bac k to win . Th is ti m e won't be any diff erent. Gary Sem ic s is coming to my house next week, and we are goi ng to work really hard. It' s goi ng to be like boot cam p. I'll be ready when the season starts in America." Bac ki ng up McGr ath ' s wo rds was Gr eg Alb ertyn , the Sout h A frican who kno ws something about fighting back after adversity. "Every year so mebo dy is goi ng t o b eat Je re my McGr ath, " A lby said. "Fo r the last nine years he's beatable, but he still wins. Not too many riders have ever had his m ind power. Th e guy is so stro ng in the head . A re the othe r gu ys as strong? I don 't know. Vuillemi n and Carm ich ael a re both r id i n g r eal good; c a n t hey b ea t McGrath? I know I've got a bet on the series, but I ain't saying who I'm backi ng." prepa ration. "We have not done too much training for the new season." laRocco said. "A little testing; the bikes are great. I'll get serious in December; a month should be enough to get me into the speed I need to have come January.- The Honda rider also feels his intensity is coming back after a couple of years in which he was not really the laRocco of old. "Man. back in the early 1g90s I was so intense. I feel that coming back. I want to start winning again, and I feel I will do very well in 200 1.Grant Langston sk ipped the German round after flying to America two days prior to the event. The South African will spend the last week of November and December riding the KTM practice track. Greg Albertyn, a buddy and countryman of Langston's, is sure the young KTM rider will do okay in 2001. "He's smart riding the 125cc class." A1by said. " lt' s nothing like the 250cc class, and he should be able to slowly get on the pace. He's doing a smart thing, racing the 125cc class first. I can't see why he shouldn't win some races, and who knows, maybe the championship." Several other expected riders also fai led to appear at the German event, Sebastien Tortelli. Mickael Pichon and Ryan Hughes were all programmed, yet it was left to names like Paget. Vehvilainen and Bethys to make up what was a very weak field of riders. Action Group's main man, Gi usepp e Loungo was not hap py with the w ay the S upercross turned out. "W e can only do our be st. " Loungo said. "W e wanted more rounds. but in Italy they made it very difficult for us. W e misse d that round. Brazil has a poo r situation as far as money goe s. We tried very hard to get a championship organized, and it's tough when people want to get in the way of the future. We will continue to try and make a World Supercross Champi nship; this is not the end for us . o no way. The World Supercross Championship might have been something of a joke as a se ries, yet the two races that comprised it were anything but failures. The Stad de France event again hosted the largest European Supercross crowd of the year with around 45 ,000 people in attendance, while the German event attracted 15,000 people, In addition, it must be considered that these fans got to see talent such as Jeremy McGrath, Mike laRocco. David Vuillemin, Greg Albertyn and others in action. cycle n e vv s DECEMBER 13, 2000 15

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