Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127665
, By John Dickinson KILBRONEY, IRElAND, APR. 17 HOGHfON TOWERS. ENGLAND, APR. 24 eigning World Trials Champion Iordi Tarres ha s start ed the 1994 World Championship Trials Series in exactly the same way that he finished last year; he already has his nose out front of the field after just two rounds of the current series. Tarres, mounted aboard a factory Gas-Gas for the second successive year, already has five World Championship crowns to his credit and this year chases yet another record to notch up an unparalleled sixth championship. Many insiders believed that this would be the year when the young lions would over-run the old master, but all the signs so far show that the brilliant Spaniard can still put in the rides when it counts. The 1994 series sees a new two-day format for the World Championship Series. Just 12 observed sections are allowed to fill Saturday's loop, and these R are ridden only once by a maximum of 50 riders. The field is narrowed down to the top 40 - the worst 10 scores eliminated - and the remaining riders complete two laps on Sunday. Rid er s leave the start in reverse order of their first-d ay finishing positions, thus saving the best riders for last. Ireland was the first country to savor the new format, with the opening round of the 1D-round series being held at Kilbroney Park, Rostrevor, in Northern Ireland. As well as testing the water for the new-look series, the Irish also applied a rigid observing system that marked riders hard for taking s ta ti ona ry dabs. Needless to say, this d id not go down well at all with the ri ders as they are accustomed to getting away with this type of riding. Even so, the wily veteran Tarres used this to his advantage and made sure that he d id not incu r any unnecessary penalties. Not that he needed to - his form was little short of miraculous as he reeled off the opening day for a loss of only three marks, ending the day with a six-point cushion over his young countryman and champion-elect, Marc Colome, the only other rider to post a single-digit score. Behind Tarres and Colome, there was littl e in it, with fewer than nine riders keeping their scores under 20. The cha llengers must ha ve thought that Tarres was there to be shot at on the second da y, but the champ never gave them a chance. Tarres was simply in a class of his own, knocking off two more amazin g laps of two and three marks, respectively. It was a dazzling display of skill from the amazing Tarres, who left his rivals scrapping for the remaining two places on the podium. In the end, it was the tall Finn, Tommi Ahvala, riding a works Fantic th is yea r after leaving Italian rivals Aprilia, who slotted into second place just edging out Beta factory number-one, Colome, with yet another Spaniard, Joan Pons, in fourth. There were some surprises further down the field which saw British Cham- (Above left) World Trials Champion Jordl Tarres won the Irish round of the series and finished third In the British round to lead the championship. (Above right) Doug lampkin pulled off a surprise win In England. pion Steve Colley start his year well with a fifth-place finish , while Italian Diego Bosis appeared to have regained a lot of his old confidence after switching from the works Fantic to a privateer Beta TechnQ. Bosis edged works Beta pilot Takumi Narita for sixth. Narita is the sole Japanese rider on the World Championship circuit, and bases himself in Italy during the season. The tall, spindly Narita is the most recognizable rider in the sections, as he resembles a stick insect in his skintight one-piece body suit. Having disastrous days were Italian . Donato Miglio, a rider who usually knocks off top-five finishes, and Spaniard Amos Bilbao. The fun-loving Bilbao was finding little to laugh about