Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

also dabbed i n sectio n 10, was fiv e ma rks b eh ind o n six, w hile o n seven w ere Cam ozzi and quiet Italian Gas Gas ve teran Donato M iglio. T ar res was f ar from h ap p y wi t h eigh t, an d h e was joined by Japa nese rider Takumi Narita an d no fewer th an three Brit i sh rid ers i n t he sha pe of Lampkin, Steve Colley and a very-co nfid ent-looking Graham Jarvis. Jarvis has grown in statu re since claiming th e factory Scorpa rid e, fo llowing Camozzi ' s deflecti on , and su rprised many w ith his efforts. The organizers had stiffened up five sections for Sunday ' s two loops, the maximum permissible under FIM rules, but it was i n vain, really, with th e terr ain av ai l ab le . Pr ay in g for o ve rni gh t rain w as als o a d ead -l oss, so m ore low scores were expected. Colomer started as th e clear favorite on Sunday, but at only the third section ' he collected a stu nnin g fi ve to open the whole. trial up again. Ahvala surprisingly needed three here, but he was in bril- (Left) Graham Jarvis rounded out the top 10 aboard hi s French-made Scorpa. (Below) Jordi Tarres' factory Gas Gas JT25 featured a heavily modified frame. An alum inum rad iator duct vents the hot air to the sides, rathe r than stra ight back onto the cy linder. (Below left ) Steve Colley was impressive in his Gas Gas debut, but a poor second loop held him back. BriefIV... •• - , The Gas Gas 'ridden' by Wor id Champion Jordi Tarre s was the photographers' favorite . m ount in luxembourg, as it was completely remodeled in the radiator area . The front .downtubs s on the frame were brand-new and sported heavy bracing in the headstock area. The aluminum radiator was a new item and featured neat , handmade alu minum duct s around the cooling fan. The dueling swept the ho.t air out to the sides of the radiator and not I back overthe engine as' is th~ usual. This is an experiment by developm ent engineer ' Josep Paxau, who also' made an aluminum , fuel tank which 'was made necessary by the ' air-ductinq. Jerdi's engine is also of a larger size than the production mach ines , some where in the range 'of 27OCC. The Gas Gas camp was also proud of the 330 ridden by Joan Pons . The bike' was finished in a very d ifferent color scheme. A ,black, carbon-fiber-colored seaVrear-fender .. unit was complemented by light-blue radiator . panels 'and a mucky bronze-painted front fender and headlight unit. General consensus was .that it looked a 'mess, but cou ld look ' good if .they. dro pped the dung color and ~ .rnade more with light blue. . -l-< 0.. ~ 8 Tomml Ahv ala reaped the reward of a winter. spent practicing in Spain instead of taking his usual break back home in Finland. The work spent developing and practicing on' the new Fantic Section resulted in a welt·deserved win. Tommi is a picture of confidence and the Fantic is performing well. It is not the bestlook ing of mach ines, though , 'and the Fantics look well used. There were no obvious trick parts,on Ahvala's mount. new The,British riders look confident this season and fielded no fewer than four riders in the points - the .sa me as the all -conquering Spaniards. Doug Lampkin is still the pick of the bunch with Ste ve Co lley . brilliant but erratic, now com ing under pressure from Graham Jarvis , who takes up the Scorpa challenge , Rob Crawford needs something otherthan a standard Yamaha TYZ it he is to move up into the top 10, . Diego Bosis had a spare Beta Techno on hand thatsported large radiator panels which served no other purpose than to provide more decal area. Bosis opted not to use the panels in the ,trial as theteam doesn 't yet know it the fittings affect the engine cooling. Could be that we 'll see ·trials bi kes following ' the taired-in treatment that MXers are now receiving." ' ., ,. Montesa's factory prototype Cota ridden by" , Kenic hl Kuroyama .' at 16 ye ars old , only Marc Co lomer is now running and looking just failed to make the 'points' on his World very well. The development work is still very Round debut. The ,JaPanese ,Beta youngster much ongoing and many new parts a re being was in his element in the tight, technical lux, ' -trled. It looked very rough last season but embourq sections,but it remains to be seen now looks a lot cleaner and professionally fin; ' if he has the physical strength and technique to cope with the slippery terrain and bigger ·ished . Colomer looks confident 'and 'could easily return to the form that made him real sections . He certa inly looks a br ight World Championship contender in '93. . prospect. ' a

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