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/126633
Eddy Lejeune made it three wins in a row in Ireland. World Championship Observed Trials Series: Round 4 Lejeune continues domination in Ireland. By Mike Rapley C LA NDE BOYE, IRELAN D, MAR . 12 The Eddy Lejeune/Honda partnership rolled relentlessly on when the Belgian/Japanese duo won the fourth round of the series on the Clandeboye Estate in Northern Ireland. The Hurst Cup Tria l h as become Lejeune's o wn event, an d his succe ss just six da ys after winning the British ro und brought 10 h im h is thi rd successive victory in this Irish classic. Lejeu ne wo u ld be th e first to admi t h is wi n was luck y, and came a bou t more beca use of o the rs' mistakes rather than hi s ow n suprema cy on th e da y. The likely win ner right fro m th e start was Ame rican Bernie Schreiber, wh o comp leted the o peni ng la p of 15 sectio ns with a loss o f a mere si x marks. H e wa s clos ely foll owed by Lejeu ne 's fellow Belgian ace Bernard Cordonnier on nine. . Lejeune looked decid edl y sha ky. H e went heading for so me d isasters, only to recover with some fra ntic legwork on sectio n seven, a series o f slippery rock steps, a nd with well placed dabs o n severa l of th e o the r sectio ns. However . h is 14 lost for the lap, although well o u t o f to uch with Sch rei ber, was sti ll th e joint thi rd best score with eve n tua l II th p lace fin isher. Spaniard Ped ro Dine. Normally a very difficult tria l wi th loads of mud. the course was in a nything but a sticky co nd ition after severa l long dry spells which meant th e organizers had to tighten u p sect io ns considerabl y in a n a ttempt to ex trac t Bernie Schreiber finished three dabs behind Lejeune for second, marks. Just as h e was looking set for an easy and co n vin ci ng seco nd win of th e ser ies, Schreiber h ad a d isastrous second lap which wrecked his cha nces o f an overa ll victory. He fived the ini tial tigh t turn o f th e seco nd sectio n wh ere he wen t for a wide line, losin g hi s SWM's front whee l in deep mud. H e th en h ad two furth er fiascos durin g the lap to tot al 20 ma rk s for th e circu it. In co m pariso n , Lejeune im p ro ved o n h is fir st lap result by three marks. Altfiough not brilliant, it nevertheless gave h im a slende r one mark adva n tage over Sch rei ber at th e en d of two laps. It wasn' t Schreiber Lejeune wa s wo rry ing a bo ut. H e was keep in g a wa ry eye o ut for Co rdonnier, wh o had two steady laps an d by then had a th ree mark lead on the tr ial. It was th e fir st time ever th e 6 foot , 6 in ch SWM rid er h ad led a World Championship event. On th e fin al lap, h owever , Co rdonn ier had hi s own d isaster a nd dropped 26 ma rks to p u t h im sel f o u t of the hun t. Lejeune co nti nued h is stea dy run to ta ke a l 2-p o int fin al la p, 'good for a three-dab victory over Schreiber. Co rd on ni er wound up th ird . Fa nti c h on ors we re uph eld by Adrien Pra to, who fin ished sixth for h is first placin g in th e to p 10. Two spots a h ea d o f him was T h ie rry Micha ud, 'u p ho ld ing h is rep u ta tion as o ne o f th e most p rom ising rid ers, a nd in fifth ca me Ton i Gorgo t. T he H u rs t is norm all y run at a di sm all y slo w ra te wit h mal ingering a ll part of th e tr ial. T h is year it was run a t a fran ti c p ace with th e six hour time limit no p roblem for any o f th e rid ers. Just as he a lways does, it was Gorgot a t th e back ofthe entry. While he was still riding his third lap, Lej eune was being presented wi th th e winner's laurels. It might hav e been p rema ture. but only if Gorgot went round for one mark or less, a nd that was just abo u t im possible. Thierry Mich aud's elder brother Fred made seventh pl ace on hi s SWM. The experience d warhorse, Yrjo Vester in en, came home eigh th p ro vin g the th ree-time World Champ ion still has th e a bility.to mix it with th e bes t. Ninth was taken by th e sensa tion of this year 's series, Phillip e Ber latier, At just 18 years of age and riding th e factory Italjet, Berlati er has scored in all four of h is first World Ch ampionship events. Taking the final top 10 placing a nd making th e elite for o n ly the second tim e in his career was J apanese Honda rider Kiyot eru Hattori. Kiyo has been ca m p aign ing a 250cc pr eproduction Honda which is due to go into production in Apri l for deliv ery to th e European m arket, and possibl y th e U.S, in mid-summer. He proved it's co m pe titivene ss with a very po pular placing. Once again , it was Lejeune' s tr ial and he o pe ns up a very h ealthy eight point advantage over Schrei ber wi th th e next round of th e 12 event ser ies in the USA. It sh ould p rove a very interesting bat~le of th e aces . • Results 1. Eddy Lejeune (Han) 37; 2. Bern ie Schreiber (SWMI 40; 3. Bernard Cordonn ier (SWMI 48; 4. Thierry Michaud (SWM) 48; 5. Toni Gorgot (Mon l 49; 6. Adrien Prato (Fanl 53; 7. Fred Michaud (SWM) 56; 8. Yrjo Vosterinen (Bull 58; 9. Phillipe Berlatier (Ite) 59; 10. Kiyoteru Hattor i (Hon) 59. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTSTANDINGS: 1. Lejeune (53); 2. Schre iber (45); 3. Gorgot (36); 4 . Burget (32); 5. Thierry Michaud (22); 6. Cordonnier (19); 7. Bertatier (14); B. Lampkin (13); 9. Prato (5); 10. mE)Vesterinen/Soler/Coutard/Fred Mtchaud (41 .