Crosser Tortelli wins Yogyakarta race
YOGYAKARTA (JP): Sebastien Tortelli of France, capitalizing on a dusty track and come-from-behind strategy, won the 11th leg of the 125cc World Motocross Championships yesterday.
By romping home with 40 points, the 16-year-old Kawasaki rider retained his third place on the world ranking list with 242 points. After the 10th leg of the 125cc GP at home he bagged 202 points and was placed third behind Alessio Chiodi and Allesandro Puzar, both from Italy.
Chiodi, on a Yamaha, kept his number one position on the world ranking list with 305 points after collecting 21 points yesterday. Two points adrift was Puzar who finished second with 303 points.
Puzar failed to finish the first heat due to engine trouble. He finished third in the second heat to collect 15 points.
Tortelli, who faithfully followed his manager's tactic of letting his rivals speed ahead while watching the dusty track, won the first heat. He clocked 46 minutes 18.62 seconds with an average speed of 40.086 kmh around the 1.8km track which he had to ride for over 40 minutes plus two race laps in each heat.
The Bordeaux-born Tortelli, had a total time of one hour 33 minutes and 21.32 seconds after two heats. He employed the same tactics in both heats.
"By letting other riders go ahead for several laps and keeping alert, Tortelli stepped up the pace to over-take the riders ahead of him one by one. And he was very successful on capitalizing on the dusty track," team manager Jaichy Vimond told The Jakarta Post.
Tortelli took over the lead in the second heat from Paul Malin of Great Britain, who led until the eighth lap. The French rider never looked back after passing him on a bend in the track. He finished well ahead of close rivals Malin, who finished second, and Puzar, who placed third.
Poor condition
Puzar, upset that he was forced out of the first heat by a carburetor choked with dust, complained about the poor condition of the track.
He was countered by Italian Yamaha team manager Michele Rinaldi saying that "the dusty track was a problem for all riders not just him. I think he was just upset about failing to finish the first heat so he blamed the dusty track."
Some 40,000 Indonesian motocross enthusiasts jammed the track located in northern Yogyakarta to watch world class riders from five continents. The event was formally opened by State Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman.
After Yogyakarta the 125cc GP Motocross World Championship will move to Reil, a small town in Germany, for the 12th and final leg of the 1995 race on Aug. 13.
The world motor racing governing body has scheduled this year's motocross races to be held in 12 countries. Italy will host the first race on April 4. (rsl)
Results
1. Sebastien Tortelli (Fra) 46:18.12
2. Frederic Vialle (Fra) 46:20.54
3. Jimmy Buton (USA) 46:52.95
4. Michael Maschio (Fra) 46:55.96
5. Eric Camerlengo (Ita) 47:11.28
6. Allesio Chiodi (Ita) 47:26.30
7. Massimo Bartolini (Ita) 47:57.41
8. Michele Fanton (Ita) 48:12.61
9. Brian K. Jorgensen (Den) 48:32.82 10. Mauro Dal Lago (Ita) 48:53.78