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/126673
~I ~ / ~ 00 O"l ...... ...... ...... ;>.... ~ ::s c ., ~ " Bern ie Schrei ber successfu ll y tackled many of t he exhibit io n sec t ions. in cl udi ng these earthm over t ires. Schreiber's seventh win at 14th annual EI Trial de Espana By Len Weed Photos by David Edwards and Weed O RAN GE. CA. DEC. I I Bernie Schreiber IS officially ba ttin g .500, He 's wo n h alf of th e ATA's a nn ua l year-en d fund-raiser even ts. And, co un ting one exh ibition appea rance with a foreig n li cen se, his 36 •• tall y is ac tua lly eig h t win s in -r h C I 3 ~tarts. . e. La resce~ta , C a l if o r n ia , r id e r w on I ive s tra igh t beginning in 1975, m issed th e '80 even t, tal lied th e lo west un offi cia l score in 1981. th en resumed hi s victo ry stri ng in 1982. Bern ie bega n th e afternoo n ex h ibirion" ro urid with a zero score a fte r' cleani ng th e morni ng's 13-section loop. He dropped 12 poi nts rid in g four sections th ree times eac h . T hat 12 was his h igh est afternoon sco re in three yea rs. In 1981 he dro pped j ust five poin ts ( 14 clea ns an d a Iive ). Last yea r hi s score was six ( 13 cleans, a five, a nd a one). Bu t while the form er Wor ld Cha mpio n was losing j us t 12 po ints . o n ly Iwo of th e ot he r 12starte rs lo st less th an 45 points o u t of a poss ible 60. An d seve n of rh e 13 scored 5 1 o r more . Kip Webb. wit h 10 in th e morning a nd a nother 26 in th e af ternoon. fin ishe d second wit h a 36. ali T horda rso n. :\TA n umber th ree th is yea r, loo k third with a 59. Fo nner H onda team ster Mark Egga r mainta in ed perfect att enda nce (14 even ts) by taki ng fo urt h p lace with a sco re o f 62. H e ed ged Mark O ldar by a sing le poi nt. Among th e m iss in g were th e last th ree AT A cha m p io ns: Dwaine Wa Iters, wh o cl in che d h is thi rd straigh t AT A ti tle earlier in th e vear: SCali • • H ead; tlie' T9 80 'n·limfJe r·on ~\\· rl O n'ow resi des in north ern Ca lifo rn ia ; and 1979 cham p io n And re Pl ou ffe. T h e Experts tackled j ust o ne loop in th emorn ing wh ilea ll o ther classes rode th e 13-section co u rse twi ce. Despite ominous cloud forma tions, th e rai n h eld off unti l a light drizzle bega n falli ng as th e las t few stragg lers headed for th e awards ba nq uet. Cagiva donated a bra nd new DG 350 tria ls motorcycle as first prize for th e raffle which sends riders to Europe each year. ATA president :\1ichael Lauxen, spo nsor ed by Cagiva, will ha ve firs t d ibs on the fun ds raised this year. La ux en , ATA nu mber two. got the nod becau se Walt ers had already been supported fo r tr ips overseas in 1982 a nd 1983. al i Thordar so n may also receive so me ove rseas su p port if funds an' su ffici en t. Unde r new ATA rul es, riders will be limi ted to just o ne tri p . Reij i Na kaya ma ( Bay Area Cycl e Ce n tre ) sco red his seco nd Amateur victory o f th e weekend. H is 24 to p ped Ro n Sa u m by 10 po ints. Greg Papazia n finish ed three points behi nd Saum and four a head o f Bob Penn ingIon . -En du ro ace J ohn Ma rt i n top p ed Clyde Butler by two points in th e Novi ce class. Mike Cates fin ishe d an ot her two marker s beh ind. In th e Beginner class, Greg Bu sh wa s two poi n ts bet ter tha n J ak e Wa tson a nd F. Dani elson. Joh n H em ingwa y led a ll Senior A's with a sco re o f 57, five po rn ts u p on Art Web ster. Misso uri visitor Bill Wac.hendo rfer fin ish ed six behi nd An. J eff Smi th topped Mick Van aman by one poi nt i n Sen io r N. Yes, the same J eff Smi th who wo n two world motocross titles a n d th e SCali T ime Trial twice. Smith ind ica ted that Ca nAm. which imports the Armstrong trials bi ke with their logo . is loo ki ng for .a top rider lor the 198·1 Nati onal series. Dennis Nic ho ls ro de a 250 KT M end uro to vicrorv in the Senior B cl ass. Bill Ma rkh ;m fini shed seco nd, then he lped Joa n Meyers (Ma rla nd Wh aley's moth er), and Sandy Riggs wit h the scoring befor e dashing off to act as master of ceremoni es for the awards ba nq uet . In a departu re fro m past effo rts. thi s yea r's ATA pres ide m deleg-ated less authority for event set -up. Ex plaining his decisio n , Lauxen said , .. I'v e been o ne o f the biggest bad mo u ths when a tria l is bad, so with this eve n t I said I was going to see what it was a ll about on th e o the r end. I laid it o u t a nd marked it . T he re's noboby else to bla me but me this year. So far I hav en't had man y co m p lai n ts.:' Lauxen accomplish ed at least one fea t past o rg an izers had troubl e wi th - keeping th e riders on course wi th sufficient ribhon and arrows. The .specta to r sections presented two a rena-type cha llen ges p lus two na tura l sections in close proximi ty to the starti ng area . Sec tion o ne , a rea l eyeful, used Five large wa ter storage ta n ks. num erous telephone poles, a bo wed. ribbed alumi num roof. a brick p ile , and assorted mo ns ter eart h mover ti res. Sec tion two featured a n off -theedge-of-the-world drop into a nat ura l bo w l th at tu rn ed th e riders bac k up the hi ll for an assa u lt o n a nea rly verti cal eigh t-foot sa nds to ne wa ll. T hi s wa s fo llowed by a sharp left back down th e slo pe to a floa ting righ t han der back u p to th e exi t ga te. Secti on three o ffered a no the r verti ca l dropoff F ow ed by a g rassy deoll scent to the top of the hil l. Secti on fo ur, back a t sig-n- up , presen ted a jumble o f fractur ed co ncrete sla b that m ixed fu ll-cli ck tu rns with ca se-cr u nc h ing lea p s. T he AT A's decision to relocate the a wa rds an d raffl e ceremon ies off-si te