Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

'.OBSERVED·TRIALS . Roun T lub Warken d1: rialC W orldC hampionshipObserved Trialsseries (Left) Former World Champion Tommi Ahvala gave the new Fantic Section a winning debut. (Below) M Colomer arc reestablished himself as a championship contender with a strong second-place finish . By John Dickin son ETIELBRUCK, LUXEMBOURG, APR. S-9 h e o pe ning round of the World Cham pionsh ip Trials Series took p lace a t Ette lb ru ck, in the tin y European p rincipality of Luxembourg an d gave the b ig Fin n To mmi Ahvala the cha nce to give th e new Fantic Section its first World Round win. Ahvala ke pt hi s cool in wha t was, by Wo rl d Cha mpio ns hip stan dards, an easy trial, but was thankful for that little bit of luck needed when riding s kill al on e is not enough. "This trial was a war of nerves right from th e st art, " sai d Ahvala. "I th in k maybe 20 ride rs cou ld clean all of these sections - you needed to stay cool and maybe have a little luck . Still, it's great to w in an d 1 w as riding we ll. Twenty poin ts are okay from the firs t round !" It was n o ca k e w a lk fo r Ahvala, tho ugh, as he had to fend off the attentions of a pair of Spanish aces. No pri zes 1-0 for guessing that six-time World ChamP... pion [ordi Tarres wa s right on pace - at least he was on Sunday - and his compatriot Marc Colomer looked exceedingly dangerous all weekend an d in fact led T ..... - <: 6 easily after Saturd ay' s single-lap opener wh en he d ropped just a single mark. This pe rformance earned Colomer second-p lace on the tie breaker over archri val Tar re s a fte r b o th finishe d the w eekend just o ne m a r k dow n o n Ahvala. And massively muscled Frenchman Bruno Camozzi was a su rprise fou rth place finisher, looking right b ack to his best form since a chan ge to Beta machinery. Camozz i just go t the be tte r of a s ha r p-l oo ki n g Doug Lamp kin, who reckoned that jus t a single waywa rd five, los t on th e easy 12th sec tion on Sunda y' S first circu it, kept him out of contention. He was right. Luxemb ourg, or to give it its proper, impressive title of the Gra nd Duchy of Luxemb ourg, is a tiny, lan dlocked cou ntry that nestl es between the borders of France, Belgium an d Germany. Ettelbruck is in the north of the country and boasts a population of 6500. Americans may be proud to note that it carries the nickname Patton-town after the General wh o led the U.S. troops to liberate Luxembou rg at the end of Wor ld War II. An d mementoes of th e lib eration are everywhere, with many GI tanks an d ta nk-gu n tur rets sta n d ing as mon ume nts in the su rro unding villages. End of the history lesson, already. Ettel b ruck sta n ds a m idst lovely , wooded countryside - very picturesque, bu t there is ha rdly a decen t trials section to be had and virtually every Luxembourg section is man-made, Truck loads of large rocks had been tipped in the woods and then carefu lly and laboriously set in to th e sce nery to ma ke ma nma de sections from na tu ra l materials. The resu It is s u r p ris ing ly eff ective, although the hazards are all a bit similar as there is a limit as to what you can do with chu nks of sto ne. The hazards are actually much more difficu lt in wet wea the r, but as s u n sho ne all weeken d, th ey we re in their mos t rida ble condition, making the trial much mor e a test of atti tu de than pure rid ing skill. But alth ough the sections were in no wa y big-tim e, they were very tricky, and yie lded to technique. Demons tra tin g this brill iantl y wa s 16-year-old Japanese rid er Kenich i Kuroyama, m aking h is World Championship Ser ies debut. A bi cycl e tria ls cha mp io n, Kuroyama ' s trick rid ing on the Beta Techno was brilliant on the dry rocks an d he asto unded everyone with his amazing la-mark ride on Saturday'S opening circuit of the 14 sectio ns. His nerves took some beating as well, because he ro de right a t the front of the field throughout the lap. The aces knew they were in for a

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