Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Round 7: United States 22 final score of 18. Pons and Ahvala ended the weekend tied on points, but it was ' Po ns w ho was awarded seco nd -place honors because of his better Satu rd ay score. "The sport appears to be growing in the U.S. There were about a million peopl e screaming an d che er in g at sec tion 12. It was difficult to concentra te," said Tarres. Following Ahvala in the fourth-place spot was the flashy Beta rider, Brit Steve CoUey. Going against the grain of the usually conservative and stoic English style of riding, Colley has adapted himself to the self-described "wild and outof-control" style of the riders from the European continent. . Italy's Donato Miglio finished in fifth astride yet another Gas-Gas, a brand enjoying fantastic sales worldwide. Cu r io usly, not a single Aprilia was entered; they may, indeed; be scaling back on their trials effort, opting instead to concentrate on their road race team. Not since Ahvala's world crown in 1992 has Aprilia made an impact on the World scene. "Though I rode poorly and dabbed many times, the sections were too easy and the grip was too great, making for a low-scoring event," said seventh-placed Narita. "I love this ty pe of terrain, because it is good for the pub lic, bu t I seem to do better in more tigh t, technical traps. I am having so me d ifficulty today, both physically an d mechanically. The thin air mak es it d ifficult for me to breathe an d also the motor cycles run differen tly at this altitu de." ' America n Aaron was cl ea rl y the crowd favorite of those in the know, carrying the American effort to an eventual 16th spo t, one place shy of a points-paying position . Diminu tive Montesa rider Amos Bilbao of Spain is slowly improving his placing after a yea r of developmen t on the all-new Montesa. Eventual- (Above) Geoff Aaron upheld American honor by finishing 16th overall . (Right) Japan's Takuml Narita continued to impress, finishing seventh on the day. Do you 'm d? in N ew to the sport of trials is the concept of a help er / coach . Known as "minders," these riders are not competitors, but they ride with the competitors and assist in the sections. They hel p to spot alternate lines that might not be readily evident, act as a spotter in particularly harro wing sections, carry spare par ts, food and water for the rider and, perhaps most importantly, help the rider by shouting di rections such as how many inches to kick over the rear wheel, or how far back a rider can wrench or jerk his bike to get in good attack position before breaking the boundary ribbons. With the increasing talents and new tricks that are being developed on an almos t daily basis, the minder plays a valuable role in every rid er's World Championship effort. The concep t harkens back to the 19805 when a rider would only have a minder if he had a brother competing in the World rounds as well. Frenchm an Thierry Michaud rode to two World Ch am pi onships w ith the aid of his brother, Fred. Mul ti-time champ Eddy Lejeune of France went one better by entering two brothers, Jean-Michele and Eric. American 1979 World Champion Bernie Schreiber was once heard remarking that a win in the World Championships was im possible in the 80s unless you had a brother. Some of the minders assisting today's competitors are themselves former contenders. Takumi Na rita rid es with the assistance of his father, Shozu Narita, a former Japanese champion, while Brit Steve Colley is ably aided by John Reynolds. Andy Saum of Arizona was helped by former competitor Todd Roper, and Montesa's Lonny Ha llsted was mi nded by his sponsor, Martin Belair. ' Perhaps the most amusi ng comb ination is that of Dougie Lampkin and his minder / fath er, 1975 World Champion Martin Lampkin. Martin is lou d of voice and in his, stro ng Yorkshire brouge makes no apologies for the yelling and screaming that he d oes in .trying to get Dou gi e to clean each section. Truly a "Little League Dad" in his devotion to his son 's success, it is quite evident in some cases that young Dougie (whose name is p ronounced like Doogie Howser, of television fame) wishes dear old dad would just shut up! Also evident is the fact that, given the difficult and d angerous nature of some sections, Martin does a great job of breaking Junior's concentration. From admonitions of "More muscle! More muscle! Muscle it up!" to "Let's have no more of that!" spoken in a 100-deo"be1 voice, the Lampkin clan presents an imposing team on the scene. Following closely is a cowboy-hatted Irishman, Ernie Page, a former Trophy Team rider for the English ISDT team in the '60s. Page's son, David, was a teammate of Dougie Lampkin, and in fact surpassed Dougie in some events. Coached by both Martin and Ernie, the two British lads were heir to the throne held so long by Rob Crawford and Steve Saunders. Tragically, Dav id Page s uccumbed to le ukemia in August of 1993, and Ern ie Page an d fam ily carry on in support of Dougie, as son David would have wanted. . The Lam p kin family has a lon g history in the sport w ith Martin's achievements, plus those of Doug ie's uncle Arthur an d cousin John Lampkin, whose career was cut short by a horrific auto accident. John currently im por ts Betas in the U.K. and sponsors both Dougie and fellow Brit Steve Colley. One finds that it is often difficult to d istinguish between minder and competitor . Some dress identically, like Frenchman [ean-Luc Nictou and his minder. Other minders wear the clothing of the rid er's previous year. [ordi Tarres' brother cons istently wears the old gear. The onl y surefire way to tell is tha t the competitor's number bib is white wit h black numerals, while those of the minders are yellow. Th e concept of minders, which arguably can be seen as unnecessary, has certainly added color to the trials scene.

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