Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

eOBSERVED TRIALS e El Trial de F.Ip_ana _ Mark Manniko scored his fourth El Trial de Espana victory in five years in front of an estimated 500 spectators. Manniko sealed his win with a one-point second loop. Manniko scores fourth EI Trial victory By Don Williams Photos by Kelly Callan LUCERNE VALLEY, CA, APR. 12 phenomenal single point final exhibition loop assured Mark Manniko of th e El Trial de Espana XXII win on the blistering boulders at Cougar Buttes in front of 500 bedazzled spectators. The win gave Manniko his fourth set of bookend trophies in five years from the most prestigious pair of nonchampionship ob served trials even ts in th e United States: El Trial de Espana and the Schreiber Cup. Only a section 's worth of points separated th e top four Championship class riders after the morning warmup loop, and three riders held the lead at different points of the exhibition sections. After scooting through 10 relatively easy sections, Manniko managed to build a slim one-dab lead on his Fantic K-Roo over semi-retired three-time National Observed Trials Champion Scott Head. Manniko , n ationally ranked number 3, lost his points in one of th e sectio ns designed by th e Southern California Trials Association, one of the member clubs of the sponsoring American Trials Association. The section was extremely tough by El Trial de Espana standards with a steep, loose hillclimb with switchback off-camber turns and a trip through some jagged rocks o n th e righ t side of the hill. " It was just real loose. Dirt and rocks. I fell to the inside of a tu rn:' Manniko explained. Manniko , sponsored b y Fan tic, Section One T rials Products, Shoei A 28 Helmets and Kal-Gard, looked forward to the afternoon exhibition sections. " Yo u get a lot more adrenaline going (with a big crowd): ' he said. Head, mounted on a 1989 Beta TR34C against six competitors on water-cooled, upside-down forked bikes , felt good after his o pening loop. " T he sections were well laid ou t: ' said H ead . " A little technique. A couple of steps ." Head's two dabs cam e wh en he lost balance while trying to hop the bike in a section . Gas-Gas rider Kenn y Ledu c was in the thick of it after he dropped one point in each of four morning sectio ns. Local five-time cons ecutive reigning ATA Champion Tom Hamann, on a Beta. Zero, lost six points o n the opening section and was well within striking distance of th e leaders and just ahead of Montesa 31I-m ounted Kevin Norton. Following a lunch break the Ch ampi onsh ip class riders trotted out to ta ckl e th e fi ve a we -i nsp i ri n g , spectator -o rient ed exhibi tion sections surrounding the pit area. The ope ning section was the Gerard .Roof Tiles Section. It was a climb amo ng the rocks guarding the pea k of Cougar Buttes. After an open ing step, riders challe ng ed a pile of jagged rocks on ly to be rewarded by a ride alo ng a 25-foot cliff befor e turning right afte r steppi ng up a three-foo t wall along the way. A few mor e swi tchbacks along the rocks and the riders exited the section 75-feet above the entrance. Manniko, like last year's winner Geoff Aaron, broke with tradition and led the way into the section instead of letting th e trailing riders test the wat ers. It cost Manniko , as he stru gg led slightly through the rubble befor e recovering to scor e a smooth three-po int scor e. When Head took hi s shot he had th e ben efit of wa tching Manniko's mi stakes and p ut togeth er a one-po int ride and a roar of appro val from the crowd as he took o ver th e top spot. Leduc rode his Gas-G as GT32 into the sectio n last and, after much of th e crowd had gravi tated to the next sectio n, he pulled off the first clean of the day to mov e him into a 4-4 second pl ace tie with Manniko. Leduc dropped into third on th e second sectio n, spo nsored by Gas-Gas, wh en he scored a three, while Manniko and H ead each dropped a pair. The Gas-Gas Section was highly techical. A l5- foo t climb up a nearl y vertical V-shaped crevice proved to be the mo st difficult obstacle requiring some riders to p lant bo th feet and pull their bik es over the top. A two-point lead was turned over to Leduc when H ead and Manniko both fived the AXO Sport America section . After an easy left-hand turn, riders had to cli mb and perch upon a fourfoot cu be-sha ped rock with virt ua lly no room for a running start. Riders carefully jumped off the rock and were greeted by a right-hander requiring hopping both wh eels to face a six -foot wall with a lO-foot staging area. Manniko too k the wall , turned right , and set for a jump across a six -foo t chasm. Riders had to make the leap with the front wheel of the bike a foo t lower than the rear. Manniko, still somewhat unfamiliar with the K-Roo , misjudged the jump and crashed hard, but was unhurt. Head th en challen ged the section, but was unable to scale the six-foot wall after taking an unorthodox lin e off the cube. It required two Ll-turn s before setting up for th e wall. Again, Leduc rode the section after th e majority of spectators had moved on, bu t scored an impressive sin gle dab score. Manniko tied things up on the next section by cleaning it while Head dabbed twice and Leduc notched a three. But the most unfortunatel y spectacul ar action on the Jennifer Hathaway l Al Nourian-sponsored fourth section came from Norton who had opened with a competitive collection of three threes. After a coup le of open ing obstacl es, Norton was face-to-face with a fourfoot tall undercut rock. He revved hi s Moruesa pa st the redline, dropped the clutch and attacked th e overhan g. He misjudged the charge and his skidplate slam med hard into the rock. Norton fell back, with his hands still on the bike. He hit the ground hard and a loud gasp emana ted from the crowd. "I couldn' t back u p far eno ugh. I was too close to the rock and I j ust went for it anyway. I got abo ut half way up and I was n't go ing to ma ke it. I fell backwards and cou ld n 't get my foot dO ~\y'n_ and the bike fell .. l~,to } ;:'J~~~ :

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