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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126801
0 w w G :: z w ...J > e '" '" ... 0 0 ::J: C>. It''l 00 ,- 0') ~ 0') >- lo-4 C\l ;:3 = C\l I---) Andy Saum takes a dab while tackling one of the many tough exhibition obsticles. Saum finished fourth overall with a 40. Michael Lauxen. 'riding a Cagiva. won the EI Trial de Espana by two points over Fantic rider David Pyle. 32-34. ATA Observed Trials EI Trial de Espana win to Lauxen By Len Weed VALENCIA, CA, DEC. 9 The 15th annual El Trial de Espana saw a new location - Indian Dunes, and a new winner - Michael Lauxen. The recent closing of Saddleback Park forced a relocation of the traditional year-ending event after an eight-year stay. The Dunes, despite its sandy soil, has been l:lsed successfully 54 for Am,erican Trials Association (ARA) trials (including the upcoming Ige Cupon January 13th). All sections -with the exception of the afternoon Expert exhibition - were located across thewash and in the hills at the south of the park. Lauxen, who earlier this year used last year's raffle funds lo compete in Europe, joined a notable list of former event winners. Lane Leavitt won the inaugural trial in 1970and later added two more victories. Sammy Miller, Marland Whalev, Scott Head and Dwai ne Walters each won once. Bern ie, Schreiber, who did not compete this year, won seven of the previol,ls 14. As repeat SoCal number one, Lauxen will be recipient of this year's funds. (Riders are currently eligible to make two annual trips.) John Robertson, number two, may also share in the proceeds. Trial headql\arters was located at the west end of the Shadow Glen parking area with exhibition sections broken into two groups farther lO the west near the speedway track and against the northern boundary. As in the past, Experts rode a single loop in the morning while all other classes completed two circuits. Three loops of the four-section exhibition mini-course highlighted the afternoon's program. Starters totalled 106 including 27 Amateurs,24 Beginners, and 18 Novices. Thirteen Experts plus Amateur Todd Roper tackled the exhibition sections. Th'e 106 starters included 14 from Central Arizona Trials (C.AT.) as well as Greg Bush from Nevada, Duane Rinkes from Oregon and David Pyle from Tennessee. A review of the entries indicates the current trend in rider preference in the area, spurred by the recent release of the TY350 Yamaha Monotrialer. Six of the top n Experts, four of the lOp six Amateurs, and the top three Novices were all Yamaha-mounted. ATA President Tim Walker and Secretary Katy Feland coordinated event presentation. Michael Lauxen supervised exhibition section layout. The morning's 10 Expert rides did little to separate the field'as Lauxen and Paul Webster .turned in zero scores. David Pyle and Kevin Norton both dropped one point, while Mark.Eg$"ar lost two. Eggar - relatively inactive in local trials recently - always shows' up for the year-end fund raiser. A former Honda faclOry rider, he finished fourth, third and fourth in the first three national series (rom 1974 through 1976. The afternoon's exhibition began symbolically for Eggar and other contestants. As Eggar prepared to ride section one a swirling flock of more than 50 vultures circled ominously overhead. " Three sections along a sand bank near the speedway track utilized sandy soil jammed with chunks and slabs of concrete. The concrete offered good traction - except for its rather peculiar positioning. Section one was the easiest of the group. The riders dropped into the sand bowl, then climbed over sand mounds before a spirited splashing leading to an exit climb. Section two started with a steep drop 'over a slab-fragment-infested bank, then a stop-and-jerk maneuver in sand to attack an abrupt slab step and rubble pile that led lo another sand flat that turned to climb out of the bowl, made more difficult by the placing of steel tubing along the rim of the summit. A V-turn returned the riders to the bow I for a traverse over more chunks to a sharp right-hand climb to the lOp. Section three began in the bowl, offering a series of V-turns on the slope before assaulting two angled slabs that shot the bikes skyward toward, but not quite over, the lOp, leaving them to fight for traction to the exit gates. Section four, about a quarter-mile away, made the most of a Dukes of Hazzard graveyard for wasted sedans. The section included rides over six aulOS plus a five-foot-tall steel-tubed pl,a"tform that launched the competi-