Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.OBSERVED TRIALS· Round 2:Hawkstone Park ..W C orld hampionship Observed TrialsSeries • • es I SIS S surprisingly dry a nd dus ty , t he Span iard was always in control of the trial and led after the opening d ay's 14section loop, ha ving d rop ped 22 points. A surp rise secon d w a s Japanese ace Taku mi Narita on 25, as he mad e a big come back after a di sastrou s ope ni ng tria l in Luxembourg. The rest of the field had a familiar look with Ahvala, Pons, Miglio and the revived Am os Bilbao following close behind. The Brit ish challen ge had an upsidedown look about it. Scorpa-mounted Graha m Jar vis, used to being the th ird member of the British squad, wa s in a By John Dickinson It has only ever been used for trials on HAWKSTONE PARK, ENGLAND, APR. 15-16 ix-time World Cham pion [ordi Tarres gave the pretenders to his wo rld trial s crown a wa rni ng th at he is still the guy to bea t, and that when the going gets real tough - he always has anoth er gear to click up to tha t will take him clear of the field . And he knows it. " It is much bette r for me when th e tria ls are tough," said Tarres, followi ng his first win of the yea r. " It is necessary to be able to do much mor e th- n tri ck a rid ing . Tod ay not many ride rs had the necessary experience - not like me." While the opening round, sta ged the previ ous weekend in Luxembourg, wa s easy, the Briti sh round , h eld a t th e fa mo us H awkston e Park m otoc ro ss venu e, wa s considered extremely tou gh . It was d ifficult bec ause th e sec tio ns were ma st erminded b y former World Ch am pionsh ip contender Steve Saunders. The former vice World Champion knows Hawkstone like no other venu e. rare occasions, and only for the British National Championship Series. Saunders' skills here are best explained with the fact that he once won this event when mounted on th e works Honda RTL - dropping 35 marks compared to runner-up Tony Scarlett's 97.. Hawkstone comprises deep sand and stee p, woo ded hillsides which play host to some pretty awesome rock faces, and it was Saunde rs' know ledge of just what was - and was not - possible, that ma de it su ch a great trial , And it was a totally fair trial in that no rid er had any advantage over the rest of the field. In pa rticular, it was a very un-British venue and it was certainly not the number one choice for Dou g Lampkin su p po rters. Man y fans were disapp oint ed that Britain d id not opt for a slippery Yorks hire venue to give the home boys a boost. But in order to be World Champion, you ha ve to be able to ride everyth ing a nd nob od y rid es "e verythin g " lrke [ord i Tarr es! With condi tions bein g very S (Left) Six-time World Champion Jordi Tarres was In a clas s by him self at Hawkstone Park and scored his first win of the series wilh ease. (Abo ve) Montesa's Marc Colomer was spectacular on day one , but dr oppe d 10 an eventual second on Sun day. (Right) Round one winner Tommi Ahvala debuted his new sk in suit and finished third. He and Tarres are tied for the series points lead. su rp rise seven th, just ahead of Steve Colley in eighth. Langu ishing d own in a n u ria ccu stom ed 11th place was las t year's British round winner, Doug Lam pki n. It had been a trial of stee p climbs and equ ally stee p d rops. The fifth was typical and took Tarres for a maximum as he jus t missed the biggest step. Qui et man Donato Miglio never eve n reached the step as he failed to stop his Gas Gas on a vertical d escen t and we nt straight through the tapes. Co lley claim ed the only cle an h ere w ith a b rilliant ri de against the clock, flying thro ugh the end cards as the crowd counted the final seconds down for the spe ctacular Brit. The bog ey sections of the loop were the adjoining se ven th and eig hth, and on both, the steps were just too big . Yet onl y by inches, as Saunders shaved the abso lute m in imum from th e problem s teps to bring them right into the ball park for Sunday's two loop s.

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