Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126300
Bernie Schreiber gets a lot of close scrutiny in one of the sections. Schreiber finished ninth for top American placing. Yjro Vesterinen began the defense of the World Championship crown he has held the past two years with a win over Martin Lampkin. World Ch a mpi ons h ip Trials Seri es · Round On e Vesterinen takes advantage of Lampkin's "gamble" By Dave Wilcock ULSTER N. IRELAND, FEB. II World trials champion Yrjo Vesterinen is back on course for his third successive title. Conjuring a performance of pure magic on his third and final lap, the 25-year-old Finn came from behind to beat Martin Lampkin at the frozen solid Hurst Cup title opener in Ulster on Saturday. 14 But it was only a cruel twist of fate that cost Lampkin the victory he seemed to have in the bag after two laps of icy torture on the bitterly cold Clandeboye landscape. A front wheel puncture on one of the rare occasions that the British Bultaco ace did not carry a spare tube, forced him to a gamble he didn't need. He could ride the final four sections with a flat tyre . or risk lOsing time penalties while going back to base for a new wheel. Lampkin decided to press on . and ran up a disastrous string of four con secutive fives. That finished it. Vesterinen seemed to find grip where there was none to be had - and drop' ped only eight marks in the last four sections, to win by 11.9 marks. The cold facts that came together afterwards showed that if Lampkin had gone for the wheel , he might have lost 20 minutes - or two marks. And if he had repeated his performances of the first and second laps , he would have lost five, instead of 20 marks on those final sections · enough to win. "I gambled wrong," he admitted afterwards. " I thought I was riding well enough to get through the last sections okay . But I'm not disappointed with second place." Though Rob Shepherd, riding from three-quarters distance on the first lap without third gear on the Honda , and Mick Andrews, having his best world title ride in two years followed Lampkin home in third and fourth· it was a disappointing da y for the British. Not least of all for Malcolm Rath me ll, whose tenth place made it just fou r Brit ish riders in the top ten. In conditions tha t favoured big riders on heavy bikes , Rathmell and the 165·lb. works Suzuki were always struggling, and the former European champion lost more marks after two laps than Vesterinen lost over the full distance. A last minute about-tum by U.S. champion Marland Whaley cut the strength of the American challenge. Whaley's decision to splash $68 ,000 dollars on a new house, and then stay at home to look after his latest aquisition, left Bernie Schreiber and Mark Eggar to wave Old Glory . Ninth place, two championship points and a badly skinned thumb was the reward for Bultaco sponsored Schreiber, whiz-kid of the 1977 World Championship series. " I've never ridden a trial as icy as this," quipped the 19-year·old Californian, "but it sure is fun ." Eggar, taking two weeks off college where he's studying to become a fire chief, found the going tough, and marks difficult to save. He finished down in 35th spot on a Montesa borrowed from British importer Jim Sandiford. Lampkin took full advantage of his early number, got the 195 lb. Bultaco moving and led the field by 12 on the first lap , before sections turned to polished ice. Mick Andrews, arnvmg in Belfast only hours before the start also made capital of the early going to take second spot ahead of Austrian Jo Wallman, the surprise packet of the first lap leaderboard. Dr. Peter Kuciuian , designer of the new 320 SWM , was snowbound at Milan airport , unable to see his machine make its world championship debut. But French senior champion Charles Coutard proved the potential of Italy's expensive newcomer, moving from sixth to fifth on the second lap, and holding that position at the finish . But there was no repeat of last year's Hurst glories for SWM team-mate John Reynolds . Briefl y on the leaderboard after the first 24 sections, the young Wetherby rider crashed heavily, bruising his ribs , and never fully recovered. Nick Jefferies' debut ride with the new CCM ended on the third lap with a broken footrest , bent rear damper and a split tank - a real acid test for Alan Clews' ma chine. Earlier, at th e end of lap two, Jefferies had wanted to quit , believing that with just an hour of his time left . he wouldn't make it. I\ut officials urged him on.