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/126471
Scottish'Six Days Trial Feet-up Finn lashions lirst loreign lirst By Len Weed FORT WILLIAM, SCOTLAND, MAY 5-10 George Burns wishes that he was 18 again - accompanied by a country and western beat. W hen the wily old cigar smoker re ally was 18, back in 8 1914, the Scottish Six Days Trials was already five years along. Over the past 71 years th e six day test ha s been a bastion of British trials su pe riority. Until this year. A foreigner , Yrjo Vesterinen, finally won the world's most publicized observed tr ial. If it had been the Scottish Three Da ys that first foreign win would ha ve belonged to Bernie Schreiber. He post ed the low score on the opening day . After Tuesday's action he led by 11 po ints - 14 to 25 . Rob Shepherd, still riding the last of the Honda ,big bore prototypes, too k over on day four, then yielded the lead to Vesterinen , the three -time cha m pi on that Schreiber unseated in th e world title tussle last year. Vesey's major challenge the final two days came from last yea r's winner, Malcolm Rathmell, Rastus, who ended Martin Lampkin 's bid for a record fourth straight win in 1979 , started th e final day three down . He finished six back. . The Finn winner , third last yea r , won in his sixth attempt. That's qu ite remarkable, by recent Scottish sta ndards. It took Lampkin 10 years to garner his firs t. The two riders tied for most career victories - Sammy Miller and Mick Andrews with five apiece, also took the best part of a decade to put together their first winning effort. The "Sporting Holiday in the Highlands" attracted all major world championship contenders except the current points leader , Ulf Ka rlsson ' of Sweden, and Spanish rider Manuel Soler. The opening day lineup included all five world champions currently active Andrews, Lampkin, Rathmell, Vesterinen and Sch reiber. Entries ca me in from 17 foreign countries inclu d ing every nation in Western Europe except Luxembourg, Norway and Portugal. Asia was repre· sented by Japan, Hong Kong and Australia . Schreiber's eventual sixth paced the American entourage. Lane Leavitt , returning to the high lands after a five year absence, finished 28th. Jack Stites, third in national competition last year, came back to earn another Spe cial First Class (top 20% ) Award. He finished 112nd. Scott Jordan of Mississipi took home a First Class Award by finishing 72nd among the 280 ·rider field. Jordan, based in England with the Air Force, is capitalizing one the opportunity of being able to ride on or more trials every weekend. Back home, 0 1' Man River Country isn't exactly a hotbed of trials activity . The American trio of Schreiber, Leavitt and Stites would have had a lock on the Scotia Trophy for best Foreign Team , but the organizers, looking at Bernie's British ACU riding license , decided he wasn 't American. If a team of Leavitt , Stites and Jordan had been entered, they would ha ve also won the trophy. The Family Leavitt's plans of being the first couple to solo in Scotland were scuttled by the impending en largement of the Family Leavitt. Debbie is four months pregnant. This year's trial featured an "American Embassy" with a decided "country" flavo r . Lane and Debbie were Luke and Debbie Duke of Hazzard County, USA. Other flag -bearers included trials photo-specialist N .E. "Wick" Wicker, wife Marilyn and daughter Keela , also with camera in hand. The embassy even had a photo lab and dungeon for political prisoners. And, in recognition of the "Dallas" craze that has swept Great Bri ta in , the embassy posted the following message out fro nt "J. R. is not here. Sue Ellen did it." Fo r the first time in recent years the starting list was not topped by Bu ltaco entries. A summary of the proga m revea ls: Montesa 87, Bulta co 62, Yamaha 26 , Suzuki 22, Ossa 20 , SW M 16, Fantic 10, Honda 9 and Ma tchless 1. The 1952 Mat chless, the only English machine entered, was ridden am idst tumultuous ovations, by a Swed e, Stig Karlsson. The four- banger fini shed, earning its pilot a First Class (top half of the entry) Award. 1980 has be en a year of continui ng ' musical cha irs as far as factory rides