Charles CoutIIrd concentrates on a rocky seetlon In the Michigan woods as
Championship competition.
Lane Leavitt
watches. Coutard's win was his first ever in World
World Championship Trials Series Round Seven
Coutard wins in·Michigan;
top ten finishes for Whaley, Griffitts,
Eggar, Sweet and Leavitt ·
.
By Jack Mangus
JEDDO , MICH., MAY 29
Frenchman' Charles Coutard,
perhaps the quietest. 'rider at a
dinner gathe.ring of international riders the night before
24
the American round of the
World Championship Trials
I Series,after the event. Coutard,
was also the quietest
rider
who owns a Bultaco shop in Lyons ,
France, rode a Bul to victory , his first
World Championship win , in the
Wagner Cup /Cycle News spo n·
sored/Michigan Ontario Trials
Association organized dual World and
National Championship event run in
ideal weather conditions, a stone's
throw from Port Huron. " I should be
very happy' no? But I don't feel, any
different, " said Coutard. But, according to Bultaco's American team
manager Ray Brumbeloe, Coutard
"had smiled" after hearing that he
won . For those who know the reserved
Frenchman, that in itself waa an ac comp.lishment.
Finishing a Close second to Coutard
was Honda's Marland Whaley. The
blond Californian finished the twoloop , rwenry-five sections the first loop
tied with scores of nine each, but the
second loop told the tale as Whaley
picked up a five in both Section Six and
Section 14.The five in Sect ion Six hurt
the most as it came early on in the loop
and occured as Whaley ent ered the
section. Just as the fron t axle of his
Honda crossed the entry line of the
section the rear wheel bogged down in
a mudhole and a shock ed Whaley
rece ived a five as th e bike came to a
very still, and frustra tin~ stop. Whaley
argued with the section's checker,
