Darryll King report from Round 2 of the World 500 Motocross

Posted: Mon 19 Apr 1999

Report from Darryll King:
Venue: Osuna, Spain
Weather: Hot & sunny
Track: Tacky, very slippery & technical
Qualifying: 2nd in group B
Race 1: I had a much better start than last week. I was 5th and running at the same pace as the leaders. I closed on the leaders and moved up to 4th, however at the 20 minute mark I started feeling some really strange problems with my front suspension. I lost traction and and struggled to turn out of easy corners. I crashed and picked it up to finish 6th. The last half of the race was a fight between me and the bike. It wouldn\'t turn and I was extremely unhappy with the way it handled.
Race 2: We bolted new suspension in front and rear after finding some problems. I was 10th after the start, the hole shot came from the complete outside, a real fast sweeper, with everyone on the inside having to shut off or go down. I held off some crazy passing attempts in the early laps and then moved up to 7th and held a good race pace. I made one small mistake in a corner and lost a place. I finished 7th after Demaria DNF\'ed.
Comments: I feel I rode much better in the second race than the first, but I still feel that I am not fast enough. My bike handled much better in the second race and I started to feel like my old self. To be honest, I just need more time on the bike, as well as on these hard tracks. Once again my results today were not mind blowing but I feel that I have made a steady improvement and we are going in the right direction. Being consistent at this stage of the championship is crucial. We have changed our plans and will remain in Spain to test on hard tracks for the next few days.
Current Championship Points:Smets 63, Demaria 54, Bartolini 54, Puzar 51, Parker 45, Karlsson 38, Johanson 37 D. King 35, S. King 27, Garcia 27.