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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127598
GTRIALS World Championship Observed Trials Series: Final Round By Lyndon Luhmann NORTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND, SEPT. 26 ord i Tarres arrived at Pateley Bridge with a smile on his face, knowing that h e h a d al read y clinched h is fifth World Championship title at the previous ro und in Finland . But perhaps Tarres spent too much of his time smiling, as he finishe d th ird on the day aboa rd h is w ork s Gas-Gas, w hile his form er se ries rival, Bet a pilot Marc Co lome r, ro mp ed awa y w ith the win and secured his runner-up position in the final point s ta n di ngs. Fin ish ing b etween th e tw o and making it a Spaniard sw eep of the top three p ositions was Amos Bilbao, aboard a factory Montesa. Th e trial was held ab out 12 mil es northwest of Ha rrog ate in no rthern England. The Wetherby & District Motor ' Club-promoted , Colin Appleyard Motor spo rts Group-sp onsored even t dr ew an en th usiastic crowd of 8000 spe cta tors. Th e fir st rid er s took to th e 14-secti on course at 9:0 0 a. rn., a n d w e re giv en seve n hou rs to complete three lap s. The alott ed time wa s ade qua te, as very few r ider s inc u rred ti me p enalti es. With Colomer's w inni ng score of 34, the trial was considered eas ier than most world rounds. The ar ea 's gene ral ter rain consis ted of gently rolling coun tryside with many moderate-to-steep trails. The sections were generally comprised of tight turns throu gh and over sharp, pointed rocks of vari ous sizes. By and large, the sections h ad fairly good tra ct ion , b ut so me wer e more s lip p ery th an th ey looked . Section three was the har dest of the da y, claiming no less than 70 fives from th e 37 riders . Th e sec tio n fea tured a ma ss ive , SO-ya rd -Iong rocky hill that was covered with gr ass. The h ill was - as the English call it - a one-in-two, or 45d egree incline. It was in a deep, tight gully, which afforded the rid ers on ly one line. Only tw o riders man aged to clean it: Bilbao and the up-and-coming Juan Pons. Section five was the most int erestin g section of the da y and nearl y as hard as section thr ee. The trap claimed 68 fives. It op ene d with a gia n t eig h t-foot-high rock step that riders got plenty of air on. Next was an other five -foot-high rock step, followed by a tum which led to a four-foot ga p between two rocks that riders had to jump across. Riders had to set their rear wheels just right on a small rock in order to p ositi on the bike before jumping the gap . The last obstacle was a three-foot rock ledge on a steep uphill just before the en d cards. This was the hardest part of the section, and the spot at which most of the fives were collected . Several of the top five riders had at least one five here, eve n Tar res. Colomer wa s the only rid er to clean the section on all three attempts. Big Frenchman .and even tual 12th-place finisher Bruno Camozz i had the next-best scores of 1, 1 and O Cam ozzi w as riding the newest . tri al s bike on th e market, th e Scorpa from France . Section six wa s also in teres ting, and extrac ted 63 fives from the rid ers. It consis ted of tight turns over some gnarly, sharp rocks that were rea l-wheel catch ers . Mid-section wa s a five-foot drop -off which had riders saili ng through the air, then up another jumble of rocks an d out. Onl y Beta-mounted Takumi Narita, J (Above) Spaniard Marc Colomer finished the year off with a win, and sat second overall in the final series standings. (Left) Jordi Tarres clinched his fifth World . Championship at the previous round, and finished th ird at Pateley Bridge. 28