Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

:E D R . , Round 3: Italy N ham O·" U · orldC pionship.Enduro5eries W Pe legrinelli comes home (Left) Compet ing on the same tra ils where he learned to ride, Tullio Pellegrinellltook the overall victory. Italians won every class. (Below) Spectator attendance was an amazing 20,000 in Italy , a bit more than the typical U.S. National Enduro- or National Motocross, lor that matter. Here, a group cheers on home ride r Fabio Farioll, who won the Heavyweigh t Four-Stroke class. (Right) Giorg io Grasso won the Lightw eight division l or the second week in a row , exte nding his po ints lead. By Geoff Meyer CASIlONE DELLA PRESOLANA, ITALY MAY21-22 , ullio Pellegrin elli, of the toug h , EI Ca mpero H usqvarna team, led hi s fellow Italians into a point-gathering fre nzy at the third round of th e se ries in north ern Italy . Pellegrinelli, w ho was raised in nearby Bergam o, has been in good form in the early part of the season, and he took the overall ahead of KTM-mounted Giova n ni Sala . Sal a w as the ri der who robbed Pellegrinelli of the 500cc World Title in 1993, and the two m ounted a great battle throughout both d ays of the event. . "1 won her e six years ago," said Pellegrinell i. "Th a t is 'so m e th in g to b e proud of, and to bea t Giovanni is not easy. 1 had a championship , then 1 did no t; yo u alway s miss the n umber-one pla te." The It alian round was h el d hi g h ab ove th e village of Castione, near the site of the '86 ISDE. An ama zing 20,000 spectat ors we re on hand to chee r their ho me riders, w ho common ly practice around the area , so it was no su rp rise whe n Italians took wins in every class. What ma y have come as a bit of a shock was th e d egree to w hi ch th e Italians dominated. . T DAY ONE As Saturd ay cam e alive, Brit-Pa ul Edmondson had th e hon or of lead in g the rid ers in to the lush green hills, and then along a dry creek bed. The early part of the event caused no troubles for the field, but once they came across the motocross test, problems began to occu r. The Italian crowd can often cause more difficulties than the terrain, as they kick rocks on to the trail and wave banners at riders from other countries. It's all pa rt of riding an Italian end u ro, and rid er s the caliber of Edmondson and Sven Erik Jonss on have corne to accept anything. Horne ri d er Giorgi o Grasso was ,Putting up the best times, and he won the first test, w hile Edmondson, his rival in the lightweig ht class (D-125cc), was well off the pace. The GasGas rider sat in sixth place, and was sixth and fifth at the next two tests. He finally wo n the last special test, bu t it was n' t eno ugh to top ' th e day. Th at ho nor went to Grasso, w ho had won the controversia l pr evious r o und after th e la s t loop wa s th rown ou t - w hen it was discovered that many Italians had received outs ide assista nce. . . "1 did nothing wrong, but the exclusio n of th e last lap in France d id not look good ," sai d Grasso . "This was okay ." Edmondson, who wo uld have wo n the French roun d had it not been for the decision, said, "Grasso is a good rider. You d on ' t w in two World Ch amp ions hips unless you're good, and today he beat me fair and square." The Italian invasion was very evident in the Heavyw eight division (126cc and above), as th ree local riders fought for th e to p s p ot . Pell egrin e lli , Sala and Paul o Fellegara all had their moments in th e lead, but it wa s Pellegrinelli w ho held the po sition at d ay's end. He had won his class in thr ee au t of the five special tests, and pla ced second in the other two . Sala was second with a win in the second test , and was impressed w it h Pellegrinelli. "He is incredible," said Sala. "I rod e very well, and cou ld not get near him." Frenchman Cy ril Esq uiro l wo n th e mo tocro ss test, b u t was erratic in the other sections, an d finished we ll off the pace of his series rivals. Two Italians stood out in the lightw eight Fo u r -Str o ke cl ass (0-350cc) - . Mario Rina ld i and Arnaldo Nicoli. Not even Sweden 's Jonsso n coul d match the times of the two leaders. In the first section, Rinaldi blaze d throu gh, clocking a mu ch fas ter time th an second -p lace d N ic ol i. Ne xt w as Sweden 's An d ers Eriksson. Fro m th er e it was all Ital y, wit h Nicoli ree ling off thr ee top tim es. Rinald i score d the qu ickest time in the final test. Th e rider th e huge cr owd re ally wanted to see was Fabio Farioli , who contests the Heav yweight Four-Strok e class (351cc and above). Farioli was born in the hills of this area, and many of the locals see him as a brother. The crowd response was am azing as Farioli en tered the crowded motocross test. Though he wa s not lea ding his class, the Italians wen t crazy, blowing horns and wa ving r ed , white a n d g reen fl ags . Fa rioli tra iled Slovakian rider [araslov Katrinak after the first test but seeme d lifted to another level when arriving on the scene at the MX test. He clocked the best time in his class, then wo n every other test of) the day, saying afterw ards, "This is very imp ort ant for me . These people are my~ friend s and family . They all rem ember w ha t my father did before me." Arnaldo Farioli runs the KTM enduro team , and was a top rider in the '60s. DAY TWO On Saturday afternoon the local officia ls went ab out cle aning up sev era l areas of the course, which would make it more difficult for the early rid ers . The course for the MX test was gra ded, a move that d id not impress 125cc World Champion Edmondson . "It will make it difficult for me, as 1am the number-one rider, so I'm the one who will use the motocross test first," he said. Edmondson need not have w orried, for he already trailed Grasso and several of the other 125cc riders as they arrived at the MX course on Sunday. Gras so had

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