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/126594
• -(Novice) class whil e J ohn Collins" to ppe d Lee Ea rl by three points in th e Senior B ( Begi n ne r) contes t. Dwaine Wa lters leaps into space en rou te to the Expert w in. Dwaine Walters • wms 12th annual EI Trial de Espana By Len Weed O RANGE. CA . DEC. 13 Dwaine Walters (Itj) topped off his finest season, in which he earned ATA number one and U.S . number four , by winning the 12th annual EI Trial de Espana. That victory put him in some m ighty select company. The other winners of the ATA's traditional year-end fund raiser included Lane Leavitt . Sammy I ~ .. Mill er . Marland Whaley. Be rni e Sch reib er. and Sco tt Head. Dwaine was definitely pumped. His dad . J oh n . a former sta ndo ut rider in th e AT A . was in from Tennessee to spe cta te . Dwaine turned in t he best score in t he morning . dro pping jus t 14 markers in 20 r ides . He accum u la ted 19 more in 15 exhi bi tion rides. Jack Srir es.pro- ; duced the best score in the afternoon . losin g just 12 m a rkers to finis h three behind W al ters for the d ay. N ational champion Curt Com er was third. a nother three marks ba ck . T his yea r th e Am erica n Tria ls Associa tion . headed b y Mark Ol d ar , m oved th e trial out of the back of Sad d leba ck Park . loca ti ng it near the en trance ga te . A new twist was the inclusion of three sta d ium -type sections alo ng with two na tural terrain tests for the ex h ibition sections.. Tl\e. first section •. actually a • Terry Baker bea t Ken McAllister by seven in Novice , but McAllister turned out the real winner . He won the Bultaco in the raffle drawing, Su zi Sa um , in from Arizona, topped th e Beginners. losing just two ma rks. J eff Nielsen. Kris Dunn . and T im Walker we re next best with four poin ts. In the Press class, Dirt Bik e's T om Webb dropped just one point. BMX Actio n's Len Weed was second with a two . The press class also a ttracted for m er M otor cyclist editor T on y Murphy and Dirt Bike/ Motocross A ction art director Den n is W est. Cycle Guide 's David Dewhurst. a genuine English tri alsm a n of days go ne by, -d ecided to try his luc k in the Amateur class . American cham pion Curt Comer . who finished third, liked th e new ap proa ch to th e spectator sec tions. " In years past the afternoon sectio ns were a ll like st raight up a nd stra igh t down and th e spectators got to see threes and fives inste ad of cle a ns . T he sec tions to day might h ave been a little easy. but I think they showed off more spectac ular riding a bi lity than just shovi ng thro ugh for a three." T wo yea rs earlier Curt ha d posted the bes t score in th e afte rnoon . losing 43 out of a possible 75 . J a ck St ite s was riding his firs t El T ria l de Espana. Nex t on th e agenda for Jack is a promotional project , the ChainDri ve Mot e -Trial. Feb ru a ry 6 ·7 in Ta mpa a nd St. Petersbu rg , FL. T he two -day will pay abo u t S8000 in tota l pu rse money. the biggest yet in American stad ium trials. Mo te -tria ls co mbi nes timed stad ium trials with the speed way m at ch race co ncept. Two riders sta rt side -by-side a nd tac kle t he a rt ificia l sect ions sim u lta neou sly. Fir st m an hom e win s. J ack . who ca used quite a stir last fa ll when he won back -to -back Nationa ls on h is 200cc Fa ntic, plans to ride the Scottish Six Da ys T ria l a nd stay ove r for some world ro unds . W hen asked how it felt to win the prestigiou s El Tria l de Espana. Dwa in e W alters m issed a go lden opportunity. He sho u ld have sa id: dyna mite! Instea d . he just sa id . " It feel s good. " Dwa ine used to ma ke things go boom as a profession al dyna miter. He'll be using the trial's ra ffle m on ey to ca tc h a cou ple of worl d ro u nds. prob ably in It a ly a nd Germa ny. Afte r a dozen yea rs. Fred Bela ir's b ra inc hild. a tria l to ra ise fu nds for sou the rn Ca liforn ia 's best rid ers to get ove rsea s. has to be co nside red a total success . The quality of America n tri a ls has ben efitt ed greatly fro m th e inpu t brou ght ba ck . T he success of the concept influe nced the NATC . the na tional championship series organizer. to adopt a simi la r program for na tiona l riders two years ago. In the long run . besides the an nua l ca ma ra derie a nd th e gasp specta tor sec tio ns , su pporti ng the best in t he sport is wha t £1 T ria l de Espa na is all abo u t. Number 12 would have to be considered one of th e bes t . • Results EXPERT: 1. Dwaine Walters Utjl 33; 2. Jack Stit es (Fan) 36: 3. Cun Come< (Monl 39: 4. And'e Plouffe lBull 52: 5. David Pyle (SW MI 68 . AMAT EUR: 1. Erik Sod et'Quist (Varni 44 ; 2. Sonny Baskin tM onl 44; 3. Greg Papazian 47; 4. Bim Miller IBull 46 ; 5. Steve Holland IBull 46 . SENIOR A: 1. Jo hn Husmann (Monl 53; 2. Tom Hascher (Bun 55; 3. Gil Sm it h (Bull 61; 4. Harold Rich (Bul) 69; 5. Gene Po ncelet taon 71 . SENIOR B: 1. J ohn Collins 6; 2. Lee Ea,IIBul) 9 ; 3. Lou Gleason lMonl 13; 4. Ray Darb y l Bul) 14. SENIOR N: 1. Bob W atson lItj} 27; 2. Duane Stone (Bul) 40; 3. Tom Dacus {Bull 42; 4. Dean Hambrick IM on143. SENIOR B: 1. J ohn Collins 6; 2. Lee Earl (Bul) 9: 3. Lou Gleason (M onl 13: 4. Ray Da,by IBu1l 14; 5. Jack Vokt er 14. NOVICE: 1. Terry Baker IBull 16: 2. Ken McAllister IBu1l23; 3. Rob Walters (Bull 24; 4. J ohn Robertson U~I 26 ; 5. David Soma IBu 1 128. BEGINNER: 1. Suzi Saum i SW M I 2: 2. J eff Nielsen (Man) 4; 3. Kris Dunn (Monl 4; 4. Tim W alker (Yam) 4; 5. Craig Donaldson (Hon I 5. PR ESS ~ l.Tom·Webb IBull l ; 2. Len W eed IBuIl 2.