Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ r <~ ~ 00 0') ~ rC\I ..c::: u l-< ro ~ England 's Steve Saunders finished second, ahead of Honda teammate and World Champion Eddy Lejeune. Th ierry Michaud, who f inished second in the world last year, served notice that he wants the title this year. He romped to the w in in Spain. World Championship Observed Trials Series: Round J Michaud mauls field in Spain By Mike Rapley PE RAMOLA, SPAIN, FEB . 24 26 Wearing the number two bib, Frenchman T hierry Michaud began his crack at winn ing the World Cha m p ionsh ip title with a superb and demoralizing win in the opening round in Spain. Rid in g the new single shock Fantic in World Championship competition for the first time, the 1984 series ru n ner-u p had a tremendous 22 mark Americans John Robertson (left) and Mark Older failed to score. advantage over his nearest rival after two laps of 21 sections and more than seven hours of exciting action. With a host of French spectators tra velin g across the nearb y French border to the small Pyrennean village of Pera mo la for the trial , Michaud was cheered and chased as he tac kled the huge and slippery rock steps with skill and verve to claim his outstanding victory. Michaud was in a class of his own, but leadin g the pack of riders eager to challenge h im for the title was Bri- rain's Steve Saunders who cla imed h is best ser ies pl acin g to dat e with a fin e runner -up spo t. Sa u nders. riding th e prod uctio n single shock 250 H onda for o n ly th e seco nd tim e in co m p etition . bea t th e World Cham p io n a nd Hon da 's nu m ber on e, Eddy Lejeune. by four marks, to th rill hi s J apan ese bosses wh o were in Spa in for th e ope n ing ro und. And Sa unders' ride co u ld have been even better. H e started badl y, losing 25 marks in the firs t 10 sections co m pared to event ua l 11th p laced fin isher Maza ya Yamamoto's 10. At th e en d of th e o pe n in g lap th e Briton was do wn in sevent h pl ace, but he found th e form whi ch has tak en h im to a d oubl e Briti sh Ch am pions hip , eq ua lled Mich aud' s second lap scor e, a n d leapt to th e top o f th e cha llen g in g riders, For Eddy Lejeune on th e new 360 si ngle shock H onda it wa s a steady if unins p iring sta rt to hi s attem p t a t a fou rt h co nsecu tive title. H e clai med third pl ace o n th e most clea ns tie decid er wi th 12 zero s to th e best Spani ard's II. That rider was Mer lin 's number one, Luis Gallach , who leads th e Spanish titl e ch ase an d was consid ered by many a possible winner in h is home round, Wi th th e o rder cha ngi ng a lm ost event by event, th e yo u ngs ters are taking th e stage. The new names incl ude Saunders, Diego Bosis from Italy on Mon tesa , Ga llach, Pasca l Couturier on Beta from France. Tony Scarlett o n Yamah a from Eng land and Mi chaud. R eg r eta bl y , American Bernie Schreiber had a day he'll want to forget a s he cou ld only manage 34th place. but he wasn 't alone in the di saster stakes as 1983 Am erican round winner John Lampkin was onl y marginall y better orr in 30th pl ace. Organized by the efficient and experi en ced M.C. Tarrassa, with Luis Vancells acting as clerk of the co urse for th e 19th tim e, the Spanish round wa s as go od as ever. U tiIizi ng a co urse th at was en tire lv new to a lmost a ll th e riders, Van cells pl otted a co urse th at was rem iniscent o f a Spanish ro u n d of th e lat e sevent ies. The tight turns so famili ar in modern trials wer e alm o st en tirelv absent with stra igh t secti ons and p lenty of room dem anding a style o f riding where lin e plann in g and th e a bility to find grip p roving crucial for success. It p roved to be a crackin g tri al o n a day wh en th e su n sho ne brilliantly w ith the lar ge crowds ba sk in g in th e wa rm su n . Enthusi asm for th e event was as stron g as ever, but th e fin ancia l recession a nd th e tri al 's n ortherl y loca tion kept th e crowds to smaller numbers th an in recent years. However , they wer e as noisy as ever with horns blaring an d voi ces shouting as th ey chee red on th eir Sp anish heroes . Right from the start Michaud ap pe a red as th e m an to beat. He was on top form a nd by cleaning the third sec tio n of th e day when a ll his rivals faltered h e took th e lead h e was never to lose . At the end of the opening lap he was 13 marks ahead and increased th a t by anoth er nine come the end of his second circuit. Nobody could match his talent on th e day, but with Saunders looking good, the nex t II tri als in th e series should be just as thrilling. At this early stage, predicting a World Champion for 1985 is just a bo u t impossible. One thing is certain though, Eddy Lejeune is go ing to have his work cut out to win for the fourth time, and that has got to be good for the sp ort. - Results 1. Th ierry Michaud (Fan) 38; 2. Steve Sau nders (Hon l 60; 3 . Eddy Lejeune (Hon1 64 t 12 cl.ans) ; 4 . Luis Gal lach (Mer) 64 (11 cle ans); 5. Pascal Coutu r ier (Bet) 69 ; 6 . Diego Bosis (MonI73; 7 . Ton y Scarlen (Yaml77; S. Gill es Bu rga t (Vam) 79; 9. Philippe Berla t ier (Apr I SO; 10 . Ren ato Ohiabeno (FanI S2.

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