Preview - Grand Prix of Germany.

With three rounds remaining, the 2002 FIM World Motocross Championships are starting to draw to a close with every point now more valuable than ever in the chase for final positions in the standings. This weekend sees the tenth event of the season arrive in Gaildorf for the Grand Prix of Germany.

250cc series leader and current World Champion Mickael Pichon will be checking his calendar and praying for a case of d?j? vu.

Team Suzuki must have smiled upon seeing the GP of Germany placed once again near the end of the Grand Prix schedule for 2002. The event, and the fast-when-dry circuit of Gaildorf, holds nothing but good memories for the team and their reigning number one.

Back in 1994 the small factory squad witnessed Greg Albertyn collect the 250 title on the grassy German slopes before waiting another seven years until Pichon rounded off his 2001 season of dominance by bringing the coveted title plate back to the Belgian/Japanese camp.

With 25 points counting for a win (and Pichon should know after scoring 8 victories from nine races this term), the 26 year old Frenchman holds a numerical advantage of 52 points with only 75 up for grabs. If he blasts to victory anything like in the style of 2001 then it will not only be a fitting way to continue and define a season of superiority but the easiest method of tightening the screws on his number one plate for another year.

Pichon's nearest threat lies in the form of Pit Beirer. The German finds himself elevated to the runner-up spot thanks to Josh Coppins points deduction from the Grand Prix of Austria where the Kiwi originally finished third and Beirer fourth. The two Honda team-mates now swap positions in the Championship thanks to Beirer inheriting third place at the Karntenring. Coppins sits third in the standings trailing by only 1 point, 53 from Pichon.

Beirer is of course riding on home turf and will be hoping for a better result than in 2001 where he did not score a point after a spectacular crash also involving Fred Bolley. The 29 year old won in Gaildorf in 1997 but had a bad race in 1999 ending his Championship hopes. He last won a race (and the last German to triumph in a GP) in Switzerland two years ago.

Bolley is surprisingly drawing his GP career to a close following an announcement after the GP of Belgium. At only 28 years of age the Frenchman has won the World Championship on two occasions (1999 and 2000) and now has only three Grand Prix left with his Yamaha team after declaring his intention to retire from Motocross and try his hand at road racing.

The podium this season has been mostly inhabited by Pichon, the two works Hondas and Bolley. Gordon Crockard has appeared twice on the factory KTM and Kenneth Gundersen, riding the Kawasaki, is the only other man to have won a Grand Prix. Outside the top three the battle for fourth is very close. Bolley is tying on 126 points with Jamie Dobb, Gundersen holds 122 and Crockard is currently seventh with 119.

Stefan Everts and Marnicq Bervoets will be eying the 250cc German GP with interest after committing themselves to Yamaha's new 450cc four-stroke project in the quarter-litre class for 2003. Defending 500cc Champion Everts will then be hoping to firmly place one hand on the trophy he has been polishing in anticipation for the last year. The Belgian leads the senior classification by 34 points over Bervoets.

Like 2001 Everts has a slim chance of taking the title in Gaildorf. If he wins and both Bervoets and third place Javier Garcia Vico (having their own little contest for second) score no higher than 14th and 9th positions respectively then Everts has World Championship no.6 in his final 500cc season. He claimed second at Gaildorf in 2001 after suffering a very rare race crash during the event while chasing Joel Smets.

Smets, retaining fourth in the points table, won the last race in Belgium and has collected four winners trophies already this term. Only two bad results in Italy and Austria (a DNF and 17th position) prevent him from being a valid Championship contender. His factory KTM team-mate Yves Demaria is hoping to ride in Germany after missing the GP in Genk due to further shoulder problems.

Guest riders in the 500 class include 250 regulars Pit Beirer and Jussi Vehvilainen, both steering Honda 450s, while World Enduro Champion Juha Salminen again rides a KTM looking to better his disappointing result of 20th in Belgium.

From a five rider feast, the 125cc Championship party has narrowed down to three likely candidates with winner of the last race in Genk, Patrick Caps, leading the way by 2 points from Mickael Maschio and enjoying a slender 5 point gap over Steve Ramon.

Alex Puzar's retirement in Belgium and Philippe Dupasquier's lowly 13th mean the duo are now playing catch-up, whereas Ben Townley will be hoping to bury the painful memory of a crash-strewn follow-up to his first ever career win in Sweden. Only Caps and Dupasquier in the top eight have scored points at every GP so far.

With Caps high on confidence and Maschio, together with Ramon, fans of a dry Gaildorf circuit it's unlikely the 125cc chase will be wrapped up before the final round in Moscow.