Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

·OBSERVED TRIALS· 25thE rial de Espana IT ar e laid ou t close to the pits, making them easil y accessible and spectator fri endly . Though the Championship class morning sections were of exce ptional difficulty, it was the afternoon exhi bition se cti o ns th a t were truly spectacular. Cobos , whose sligh t frame made him appear every bit a 15-year-old , was mentored by former world class rider Andreu Co di na , himself a formi dable rid er who emerged victori ous in the premier class at last ye a r' s ETd E. In World Round tri al s com pe tition, ea ch r ide r h a s a m ind er - o r m ent or - to caddy him through th e more di fficult parts of each tra p. While Cod ina serves this purpose, Cobos has yet to compete in a World Roun d, as the com pe titors (left) Spa in's David Cobos won the 25th running of the EITrial de Espana. The 15-year-old had a noticeably different riding style than the Americans. (Below) Six-time National Champion Ryan Young tied Cobos on points, but lost the tie breaker on cleans. By Jon Maeda Pho tos by Donn Maeda. SAN DIEGO, CA, APR. 30 he 25th ru nning of the American Tria ls Association 's El Tr ial d e Es pana - in translation, li tera lly "The Trial of Spain" - was hel d in the McCain Valley OHV Area in eas tern San D ie g o Co u nty, a nd it was indeed a Spa nish event. For the second year in a , row, th e event was won by a visiting Spaniar d, and the observed trials community of Sout hern California a n d beyond ga the red in the warm sunshine to watch the nation ' s to p tria ls rid e rs perform their magic. Doing the winni ng a t this y e ar' s eve n t was 15-yea r- old David Cobos of Gava, Spa in. The friendly Gas Gas facto ry rider actual ly ended the d ay tied on p oints w ith six- time National Cha m pion Ryan Young, but w on the tie break er by virtue of a sing le clean . But w h ile th e con tes t w as close on p aper, Cob o s handily won o ve r th e hearts of the spectators on hand durin g the tradition al afternoon exhibition sections. Th e s kin-su it clad rider ea sily clean ed a ll five of the ex hib ition sections, much to the delight of the estimated 700 specta tors on hand. Young had actually topped Cob os in th e morning portion o f th e eve n t, but cou ld not match the teenager's performance in the T ex hi bition. Both riders ended the d ay with a mere fou r points. but Cobos had 22 cleans to Young's 21. "I am very happy to win ," said Cobos . "The sections were a good level. Big ob stacles th a t required much technique ." Defending National Champion Geoff Aaron ro unded ou t the top three, bu t was well off the pace set by Cobo s and Young . The Cosmopolitan Motors rider en ded the day w ith 16 points and 15 cleans. Trad itiona lly the largest non-National observed trials event in America, this year's ETdE follow ed in the footst eps of the th ird ro u n d of the AMA /NATC National Champio nship Series, held at the sa me site on th e previous d ay . El Tria l de Es p an a is a n all -class t rial. intended to attract rid ers of all skill levels. The event played host to an amaz ing 107 com petitors of all levels, one of the. larger crowds in recen t yea rs. Lending to th e s uc cess o f th e eve n t was th e unsea sonably warm San Diego coun ty weather, which saw many rid er s and s pecta tors s p or tin g su n bu rned b od y parts before the end of the da y. All ride rs compete in a two-loop trial in the morning, but only the Ch ampion ship class riders continue on wi th a third lo op. In th e a fte rnoon, th e rest gather to watch the elite compete in the five wo rld-class exh ibitio n sections that must be at least 16 years old. Cobos has a co uple weeks to go , a n d hopes to make hi s World Championship Series d ebut at th e May 27-2 8 Polish World Round. Present at this year's 25th running of the popular event w as ina ugu eal organizer Fred Belair, wh o created the event in 1970 as a mea ns to bring to spotlight to the fledgl ing spo rt and to raise funds to send the top Am ericans to compete on the World Championship level. The funds raised in the pa s t ha ve con- ' tributed to the efforts of America's only World Champion, Bernie Schreiber of La Crescenta, California, w ho topped the World in 1979. In subsequent years, the EI Trial fu n d has en ab led riders, arnoryg them, Lane Leavitt, Mark Eggar, Ma tt Pri tchard and Mike Lauxen, to co mpete aga inst th e best that Eu rope had to offer. In recent yea rs, however, the fun d has gone to support the efforts of the American Tri al des Nations team . Truly th e Olympics of tr ials, th e Trial des Nations pits the top four riders from ea ch p articipating coun try ag ains t the other four-ma n team s from aro und the globe. Indeed, the team effort is of paramount importan ce, as oppo sing team riders work together for the com mo n goal of im proving their national position. The event is traditionally dominated by European national teams, with the Spaniards being the dominant force of late. It wa s a few short years ago that the French took top honor s consisten tly. The dollars raised at the '95 ETd E will again go toward funding the American TdN team effort:

• Cover