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;·O S R E TR ·:-:,···. Round 6: French World Round B E V D: IALS ' :W orldCham pionShip Observed T SerIes rialS By 1 9nasl Bertran Translation by Martin Belair BREAL sr. MONTFORT, FRANCE, JUNE 11·)2 t has become apparent, for one more year at least , that [ordi Tarres is the man to beat in the World Championship Trials Series. Just when thing s looked bleak and many expected the five-time World Champion to miss a podium finish, Tarres came back and made it clear who was in charge with a masterful final loop in the hills of Breal St. Montfort, France. Tarres earned his 50th World Round win in an event that saw only Dotigie Lampkin and a consistent Takumi Narita able to keep pace, while the rest of Tarres' championship contenders faltered in comp ariso n. . Championship contender Marc Colomer bounced back with a great third lap after a pair of so-so opening laps, and the Spaniard was able to salvage sixth overall. Former Wor ld Champion Tommi Ahvala was fourth on the day an d further extended his lead over Colomer in the series point standings, but both men still lost valuable points to Tarres. "Today I have won a triple victory," sai d a happy Tarres. "I have won the trial, p ulled ahead of my rivals, and set a record 50th victory. Winning cont inues to be difficult, but today I have managed it and I am pleased ." Organized by the A.c. Brealise Club, the Fren ch round was a clin ic in th e marketing of th e sport of trials. Over 30,000 spectators paid $15 each to watch the best battle over the rocksof Brittany. What had been hyped up to be a very difficut trial, however, turned out to be just the opposite, as man y of the top rid ers tallied very low scores . On Saturday Tarres started the day off on the right foot, though it was actually on neither foot, as Tarres went clean .1 ... 0\ N ill § -. 34 th rou ghou t the pr ologue, a feat rarely accom plis hed in World Championship compet ition. Ta rres was shadowed by the youn g Brit Lampkin, who turned in a one-point score. Impressive and spectacular sections thrilled the French crowds, but failed to draw many marks from the top men. A tightly grouped pack emerged from Saturday'S first lap with Tarres and lampkin leading the way, chased by Ahvala (2), Donato Miglio (2), Narita (4), Steve Colley (5), Bruno Camozzi (5) and Jose Benitez (6). Marc Colomer (7) and Joan Pons (8) were the only riders inside the top 10 who scored a five. First-lap lead ers Tarres and Lampkin blew up on Sunday's first loop. Tarres dropped 11 po ints, while La m p kin scored 12. This, combined with th e excellent scores of Ahvala (6), Narita (6), Diego Bosis (6) and Miglio (7), turned the standings up side down. Tarres had (Above left) Jo rdl Tanvs spanked the competition en route to his 50th win. (Above ri ght) Japanese ri der Takuml Narita was second. (Right) Donato Mlg lio fi nished fourth aboard a Gas-Gas. (Below) Dougle lampki n broke a streak of poo r finishes with a third overall at France . fived two sections almost consecutively, d roppin g to fourth in the p rovisional stand ings. Heading into the money lap it was Ahvala out front with a total of 8, followed by Miglio (9), Nari ta (10), Tarres (11), Lampkin (12) an d Colomer (14). Convinced that he could not rep eat his second lap, and dete rmined not to let the histo ric 50th win slip through his grasp, Tarres re-established order in his world and dabbed onl y once. His onepoint score left little doubt who is the baddest dude in trials and left the othe rs scrambling for second. Lampkin and Colomer turned in excellen t three-point scores, follow ed by Narita (4), then Ahvala and Pons, who each had six. "The sections required much attention, and even though I showed it was possible to zero a lap, I also showed the