Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.OBSERVED TRIALS· . AM TCNational Championship T series AINA rials Round 3: McCain Valley OHV Area is rs d ropped ou t in fear or p rotest. The top riders, however, thrived on the challenge of the sections. "The sections are great" said Aaron. "Yeah, they're pretty hard compared to some of the other Nationals, but that's the only way we're gonna get better. When you have the winner droppin g only five poin ts at a National, that's saying something - they're too easy." There was no doubt that the California ' hazards were more challeng ing. and the first section of the da y opened qui te a few riders' eyes. Young was the first rider to get bit by the tricky section, as he failed to co nquer a su pe r-steep rock s tep and watched helplessly as hi s ' Gas Ga s crashe d to the ground . The rear aluminu m subfra me on Young's JT35 was bad ly damaged, as were h is handlebars. The 46-time National w inner rushed back to the pits, and a hand ful of vo lunteers helped repair his tattered ma chine . ~' I was surprised a fter sectio n one, that's for sure," said Young. " I just gave it way too much throttle and the rear wheel spun and I didn't make the step." . Exhibition rider David Cobos, Aaron, Kempkes and Oamagirand were the only riders to get thr ough section one on the first loop wi thou t crashin g. "I thought section one was pre tty radical, but the sections after one were even (Left) Nebraska 's Jess Kempkes earned the first National win of his career in the roc ky terrain of San DIego. (Below) SIxtime National Champ ion Ryan Young was initially tho ught to be the winner, but. the Kentucky rider ended up second. By Donn Maeda Photo s by Mark KariyaIDirt Rider . SAN DIEGO, CA, APR. 29 or Jess Kernpkes, the thrill of victory may have come a day late, but it was still a thrill, nonetheless. Because of a score-coun tin g e rro r, Kempkes left the California National believin g that he had finished second ov erall and once again just missed out on his first-ever Natio nal win . Six-time National Champion Ryan Young had been declared the winner, and Kempkes never even thought to question the results. "I fini shed second at the last round last season," s a id Ga s Ga s USA rid er Kempk es. "That gave me a little taste of the win, and I knew then that I was read y to win one of these things. I've been practicing a hell of a lot more, and I know that I'm read y. My time is here." It wasn' t until the followin g afternoon - during the middle of the next day' s EI Trial de Espana event - that Kempkes was informed o f the s co rin g error and declared the winner of round three of the AMA /NATC Nat ion al Championship Trials Series. "Dude, I was stoked," said Kernpkes, who sported an ear- to-ear grin throughou t the rest of that day's event. "It would have been cool to know abou t it yesterd ay, bu t thi s is still good. A b unch of us went ou t last ni ght to celeb rate my second -place finish, too." Relegated to second after baski ng in a temporar y glory wa s You ng, the series veteran wh o has displayed a new found d eterm inat ion to regain h is Na tion a l Championship. "The y say that all resu lts are suppose d to be o fficial 30 minutes af ter they are posted , but in this case I can understand because the officials added up our scorecards w ro ng," sa id Young, gracious in defeat. "Sure, I would have loved to win, F but I'm really happy for Jesse. If someo ne is going to beat me, I'm glad it was him one of my teammates. This is de finit ely the most-competitive season in a lon g, long while ." Competitive, indeed . In th e three ro u n d s run th us far , there have be en three different winne rs: Young, defending National Champion Geoff Aaro n, and now Kempkes. Rounding out the top three at McCain Valley was the other rider who many feel has the potential to score a National win this year, Belgian Oli vier C1amagira nd . While Kempkes and Young were separa ted by a mere two points, Gas Gas rider Oamagirand had an off day and sat five points furth er adrift. . "I had a bad da y," said Clam agirand, be in g rather hard on h im se lf. " I had man y stu pid mistakes . I should have wo n toda y because this is like my home even t. Instead I had man y errors ." Fini shing an uncharacteristi c fourth wa s Cosm opolitan Mot or s' Aaron, but the factory Beta rider didn 't seem too upset by his final finishing position. "To tell you the truth, with the th row-out rounds, I'm not too concerned," said the cha ris ma tic Aaron . "I 'rn almost done with school, and after that, I can star t practicing more an d hitting these things hard ." Of th e 11 rou nds that comprise the AMA/NATC National Championship Series, only the riders' six best scores will count tow ard s the final series standi ngs . In the past, the championship came down to wins - the rider wh o had six Na tional win s was the champion. "Bu t that looks like it w ill be different th is ye ar," said Young. "The re's four guys who can win on any given day. Maybe now the seconds and thirds will matter, too." After a two-round stint in Arizona, the series headed furth er west to the McCain Valley OHV Area in San Diego County for ro und th ree . The Ame rica n Trials Association (ATA) promoted event drew 77 entrants, as well as a healthy crowd of spectators . Each of the 15 sections we re laid out in large rocky areas, and several even includ ed monstrou s rock slabs that covered entir e mountainsid es. While the opening two rounds in Arizona were considered by all to be on the easy side, the sections that challenged riders in California were on the opposite end of the spectrum. Most riders agreed that the Nationa l w as ex tre me ly d if ficult, an d several of the suppo rt class riders more radical," said Young, who wo u ld end the first loop w ith a 24-point score, only fifth-best. C1amagirand was the only rider of the day to clean the openin g section, doin g so on his first attempt. Like the opener, section 14 was on the radical side and caused qui te a few problems for numerous riders. An extremely st eep climb w ith seve ra l ve rtical steps chall enged the rid ers, and only Cobo s, Kempkes and Oamagirand were able to successfully make' the climb on the opening loop. Throu ghout the da y, no ne of the

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