Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ ~ CJl 0 ..J 0 Z > w a: 0 > 0 '" > '" 0 CJl l....'j I- 00 :I: 0 - O"l e, c.o C'! IJ.) c ...J '" Fell ow riders as well as spect ators w atch ed int ent ly in m o st sections. Top Ameri can, Sc ott Head, pla ced ni nth overall. Thierry M ichaud was the master ofthe rocky World Championship round in Rhode Island, w inning by a 22-point margin over Gilles Burgat. World Championship Observed Trials Round: 6 Michaud dominates in Rhode Island By Boyd Reynolds EXETER. RI, JUNE 2 Frenchman Thierry Michaud o utdis tanced the competi tion in the American round of the series to lengthen his points lead over defending Wcrld Champion Eddy 'Lejeu n e in their battle for this year's crown. Michaud, on the factory Fantic, carded a 68-point score, well ahead of the 90 of 18 Yamaha-mounted Frenchman Gilles Burgat and the 91 of Belgium's Honda fa ctory-sponsored Lej eune. The top Am eri can placing in th e round went 10 Beta 's Scott H ead, wh o finished ninth a nd wa s fres h from a win in th e pr evious da y's AMA/NATC National Ch ampi onship ro u nd, o n much the same terra in whe re he clinch ed hi s seco nd straigh t Nat ional title. Mich aud , with hi s fifth win in six ro u nds, leads Lejeune 117 poi nts to 94 wit h Engl ishman Steve Saunders, the fourth- p lace fini sh er in Rhod e Island, a t 92 p oints. T he series no w heads to Austria and Pol and before a I m id -summer break. " I need to wat ch a ll th e rid ers I ca n in the sectio ns ," sa id Michaud in q uite good En gl ish . " bu t lik e Eddy I don ' t wat ch th em a ll and go last. It is im porta n t to , how do yo u sa y it, ge t a rh ythm ;" a nd he mot ioned to wards section o ne . " T h is is a very diffi cult sectio n to sta rt o n." Mich a ud wa tched intentl y as rid er after ride r co llec ted a five for th eir ride a mong th e moss-covered rocks. Sectio ns one a n d two proved th e m ost di fficu lt in wh at was a very tou gh co nt est. T he re was certain ly little o p port u n ity " 10 get a rh ythm ," as ' Mich aud had sai d was a key to do in g well. J ean Mari e Lej eune, Edd y's o lde r brothe r, adv iso r an d secti on preview rider al so felt th e sectio ns were " a li ttl e too difficul t. I h ave to make an attempt," said the elder Lejeune. " I do not worry about losing time or th e difficulty of th e sectio ns. I just stay 'close to Eddy." Edd y. Jean Marie and Eri c Lejeune. th eir younger brother discussed a line for section one and both tri ed it witho u t success before Edd y made hi s ride. J ean Marie took h is bik e to section two and th en walked back to di scu ss, a t length, a nothe r lin e with Eddy before he a ttac ked th e sectio n as th e la st rider th rough a nd carded a three for his effo rts . T he n . lik e a t a go lf mat ch , th e entire specta tor co ntingent moveden masse to sect io n two to wa tch th e same show all over again. . At rou nd five in France. Eddy ha d a d isastrous da y a nd fin ished six th , but here he seemed to be back o n form a lt hou gh Mich aud 's brill ian ce overshadowed evervone, It was o bvio us th e crowd hadcome to see Lejeune ride a nd th ev followed him from section to secti on , Mich au d rod e m ost o f th e sectio ns a bo u t m id -p ack wh ile Lejeune was o ne o f th e fin al riders most o f th e time. Michaud's plan o f a ttack was to ca refu lly wat ch so me of th e ride rs as th ey mad e th eir a tte m p ts a nd th en, cog ni zant o f th e tim e fac tor , tak e a calcu late d lin e th rough th e sectio n at h and with co n vict io n. Mich aud was co nfide n t, even arroga nt in hi s attack, defiant in h is ma n ip u lat ion o f hi s mount a nd th e terr ain a nd explici t in h is balance a nd crea tive ma neuvers o n th e narrow ledges or tight a reas wh ich called for preci se piv o ts, Second-place fini sh er Burgat wa s o n the a ttack from th e sta rt o f th e day a nd th e two IS-mile loops o f 17 sectio ns each which were to be co m pl eted in six hours and 10 minutes. Burgat's so lid rid e was rewarded as he ch ip ped a way a t Saunders and th en Lejeune for hi s pl acing. If th ere wa s a cro wd favorite o u tside th e " na me" riders it wa s jonny Andersson of Sweden . Andersson's style and fin esse in th e sections sa w h im ga ining fan s throughout th e da y. As diffi cult as th e sect io ns were, th e scoring was leni ent, but consistent fro m rider to rid er . The co urse planning and detail by co urse st eward Bill Mathewson was met with grudging respect by the rid ers. Italian Ren at a Ch iaberto , seventh in th e ch am p ionsh ip point standings. was' slowed on Sunday a fter crash in g while on a dirt road and susta in in g a shoulder fra cture as h e ra ced to a section. There was considerably less trail between sections which left the riders with a good deal of time to observe a nd plan their rides . Sections one, two and three were acknowledged as th e most grueling and difficult. Sections five and six were combined as were seven and eight and these proved to be the most tiring for th e riders since they co nsisted of bou lder strewn climbs up a steep incline. The ninth section wa s one of the most interesting with a layout in a n o ld mill foundation with waterfalls a nd slu iceways surrounding it. Eddy Lej eune was one of th e few riders to mak e it to the to p of th e vertical stone dam o n ly to tu m ble o ff th e huge gra n ite blocks a t th e top a nd blo w th e trip for a five. T he la st gr o u pi ng o f sections were located in a n area o f vertica l sto ne sla bs with narrow ledges . One section , ca lled " T he Wall o f Death, " p rov ed to be j ust tha t as it was death to good scores for a ll excep t a few riders. Scores depended o n ho w much tractio n a rider cou ld keep o n th e wa y up . Mich aud went u p before Lej eune an d cleaned the section . Lejeune got nin e-tenths o f th e wa y up before losing trac tio n a nd had th e scorers franticall y scra m bling to hold bo th he a nd hi s bike from tumbling o ver a ledge. For th e m ost pa rt, th e scores o n th e seco nd loop improved for m ost rid er s a lthoug h th e fin al sectio ns were aga in wh ere riders gai ned or lost p osi tion s. T wo of th e pl acings in th e top 10 wer e decided on th e n umber o f cleans scored with Saunders edging Lui s Gall ach for fourth with 12 clea ns to G all ach 's six. Andersson d id th e same to Phillipe Berl at ier for seven th. • Results 1. Thierry M ichaud (Fan)6S; 2. Gilles Surgat (Vam) 90; 3. Eddy Lejeune (Han) 91 ; 4 . Ste.e Saunders (HonI9 S; 5. Lui. Gallach (Mer)9S; 6. Pascal Coutur ier (Set) 107; 7...Jonny.Andersson (Yam) 115; S. Phillipe Serlatier (Apr) 115; 9. Scan Head (Set) 120: 10 . Fred M ichaud IFan1121 ; 11 . Renata Chiaberto IFanl 125; 12. Diego Sassi. (Man) 126; 13. Er ic Lejeu ne (Han) 133; 14. Jeck Stites (Vam) 13S; 15. Bernard Cordonn ier (JS M) 139 . WORLD CHAMPIONSH IP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Michaud 117; 2. Lejeune 94; 3. Saunders 92; 4. Surgat (66); 5. G. ll ech (54); 6. Tony Scarlen (50); 7. Serlal ier (46); S. Chi.berto (38); 9. Couturier (3S); 10. Bossi. (30). AIIA/NATC NafiOliaI Championship OIIsenell Trials Series: .GIRIS Five straight for Head By Boyd Reynolds EXETER, RI, JUNE I Beta 's Scott Head edged Yamaha rider Jack Stites by a scant one point to collect his fifth victory in as many rounds of the nine-event series and clinch h is second straight National Championship title, Head, with a 68.6-point score, had Stites for close company on the tally sheets all day as Stites fini shed with 69.6. Beta rider Curt Comer. a former National title holder, finished third with a n 83.2 score . The Stepping Stone Stables were the site of th e sta rt / fin ish area on Saturday and th e same for Sunday's World Championship round. Ten yea rs ago a t th e same area and over some of th e sa me terrain an other World Championship was held. In order to stay a way from Sunda y's FlM sections. th e riders had to ride long sections o f trail which linked their sectio ns in the six-hourplus-one-hou r-grace-period event. The area betw een sectio ns ate up eno ugh of th e ride rs time th at many took penalty points for fin ish ing late. Head, Stites. Comer and Don Sweet pl ayed a waiting ga me in many of the sect ions a nd ran late in th e entry as each rider so ug h t to judge wha t were th e best lines without gi vin g them away. T he battle in th e ser ies now cent ers on seco nd place with Stites holding a slim three point edge o n Comer, 59 p oints to 56, th rough five rounds. • Results CHAM PIONSHIP: t . Scan Heed (Set) 6S.6; 2.J.ck Stil es (Yem) 69 .6; 3. Curt Comer (Sell S3.2; 4. Sobby Mickel 91; 5. Don Sweet (Man) 63 . SRi 1. R. Farmer 61; 2. G. Krist 74; 3. S. Copi.trent S6; 4. O. Waldo S9. SUPERSRi 1. JerryVoung; 2. WiluWagner S5; 3. Glan McNeal 97 . VET: O. Wilcox 96 . SPORTSMAN ; 1. Gary Sourque 37; 2. Louis Cocopue 42; 3. Ste.e Clark 51; 4 . R. Toole 84; 5. S. Howard 75. HIGH SCHOOL; 1. Mike Manniko 77 ; 2. T.Coffey 77; 3. K. M.nniko S9; 4. Te Perrera 190; 5. Jo Perrera 122.

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