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/127671
.. :··:O S R •D: R L Round S' Nepomuk, Czech Republ'lc B E• E .T IA S> V ~'~ ~ '~d~~ By 19nasl Bertran Translation by Martin Belair NEPOMUK, CZECH REPUBUC, JUNE 4-5 t the ha lfway poin t of the World Championship Trials Series, fivetime World Champion [ordi Tarres has pulled out a commanding 21point lead and is showing no signs of letting up . With five titles and over 50 World Round wins to his credit, one might wonder what drives the Spaniard Surely he has nothing left to prove... Nevertheless, Tarres piloted his factory Gas-Gas to yet another overall victory a t the Czech World Rou nd, while his main title challenger, fellow Spaniard Marc Colomer, suffered a surprising eighth-p lace finish. Colomer's bobble allowed Tarres to gain some brea thing room, and unless things take a dramatic tu m in the seco nd half of the series, it looks as if Tarres is head ed for his recordsetting sixth championship title. Nep omuk was again the site for the Czech round, as it has been for the past few years. The greatest chan ge in compa rison to past years' events was th e addition of some very difficult sections. Intense rain on Saturday, combined with some challenging downhill sections, kept even the best riders struggling for control None of this seemed to worry Tarres, though, as he turned in the best score in Sa tu rday's p rologue. Tarres' 16-point score was easily free and clear of Takumi A n~ ~ . · · : : , ' . _~ ~ (left) F1v.t1me World Champion Jordl Tarres nabbed his third win of the aerln, and looks well on his way to his sixth championship. (Below) Former World Champion Tomml Ahvala kept his championship hopes alive with a aecond-plac:e finish. (Bottom) Diego Boals finished fourth overall, and sits In a tie for sixth In the aeries point standings. Narita's 22 The Japanese rider continued to show the good form that he had at the previous round in Germany, staying one point ahead of the ever-consistent Joan Pons, who ended Day One with 23. Italians Diego Bosis and Donato Miglio tied with 25, while Amos Bilbao and Tommi Ahvala matched each other with 26. After struggling through the first parts of the series, Bilbao looks determined to retu rn to a position of honor at the head of the pack. Colomer finished Saturday a disappointing ninth, with 31 po ints. At th is point Colomer was 15 points behind Tarres, which was not an ins urm ountable lead - remember Ahvala's comeback in Belgium - but it wasn't likely that Colomer would overtake Tarres. Angel Garcia had a serious crash in section four and reinjured the wrist that he had broken last season. He opted to take fives on the rest of Saturday's sections, and head to the hospital for X-rays. On Sund ay, Ahvala repeated his Belgian performance, seemingly unaffected by his poor firs t-day showing. On th e con trary, it seemed to motivate him . Ahvala came ou t swi nging. The persislent rain that hammered Nepomuk only seemed to help Ahvala as he bettered his p revious lap score by 15 to card an 11. This specta cuJar comeback launched him from seven th to second in the provis ional standings. Tarres had to be ha ppy with the second-best loop score at this po int (17), just ahead of Miglio and ... Garcia! _