Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

M cCain Valley OHVArea San Diego. California Results: April 29, 1995 CHAMPIONSHI P: I. Jess Kem pkes (C·C) 47 points / 27 o..WLS 2 Ryan Young (C-C) 49/28; 3. Olivier ; Clamagirand (GC) ~ /24: 4. c..'Off Aaron (Bet) 62/ 21>; 5. Ray mo nd Peters (Fan) 86 /20; 6. Dennis Sweeten (Bet) 116 / 8; 7. Rvon Bell (GC) 1"19/7; 8. John Oark (143/6~ 9. Matt Moore (GC) 153/2; 10. Andy Saum (GC) 165/1. EXHIBIT IO N: 1. David Cobos (CoG) 27 po inls/36 cleans. AMAINATC NATIONAL CHA MPIO NSHI P TR IALS SERrES PO INT STANDlN GS (After 3 of 11 rou nds) : 1. Ryan Young (80/ 1 win); 2 Ceoff Aaron (69/ 1); 3. O li vier Clama girand (67); 4. Jess Kcmpkcs (64/1); 5. Raymond Peters (46~ 6. Ryon Bell (-W); 7. (IlE) John Oark/ D•-nnis Sweeten (37); 9. Ch uck Sutton (34); 10. Andy Saum (33); 11. Matt Moore (30); 12 Ron Commo Jr. (23 ); 13. Derek Martinson (15); 14. Kevin Busch (13); 15. Kenn y Leduc (11~ Upcomingrounds: Round4 - Harrisburg. PA, May 20 Round5 - Churchville. NY. M 21 ay (Left) Local rider Olivier Clamagirand rounded out the top three. and along the way had severa l spectacular rides. (Above) Defending National Champion Geoff Aaron finished an uncharacteristic fourth overa ll. (Right) David Cobos was actually the low-point scorer of the day. but was not allo,:"ed to officially compete. Amer icans wo u ld clean the secti on . Remarkably, Cobos cleaned it on all three attem pts. The best Am erican effo rt was tu rned in by Kempkes on the final lap, when he dabbed twice on the way up. The visiting Spaniard Cobos enjoyed . the lowes t score after the first 15 sections, having give n up only 13 po ints. Kem pkes, however, held the official lead wit h 14 points. Oamagirand was next wi th 17, followed by Aaro n with 22. "I got a dumb five in section 11," said Kernpkes, who felt that his 14-point score could hav e been even better. "There was a split marker hidden behind a rock that I didn' t see. The sections are good, though. They're real tough, just like I like them." Kempkes held onto the off icia l lead after loop two, even though his 17-point score wa s bettered by Young's 13-point tally. Once again, Cobo s was the lowest scorer with 11. Kempkes was seen racing back to the pits halfway thro ugh the second loop SO that he and his minder-for-a-da y, Bultaco Pa rt Obso lete' s John Thomson, could rep lace a pair of ben t handlebars. "I crashed in section one and bent my bars, but I d idn 't realize it at first," said Kempkes, 'Then I started takin g poin ts in the next few sections because I would do a splatter and get pulled to one side . When I rea lized that the bars were bent I hauled ass back to the pits to change them ." As it tu rn ed ou t, Kem pk es' bri ef pit s to p wou ld even tu a ll y cost h im o ne pena lty poin t for being two min utes late to the finish. You ng w a s happy to imp rove his score on loop two . "I learned a lot on the firs t loop," he said. "I was sp latterin g a fe w se ctio ns tha t I sh ou ld have been doing a 'jap za p' on. On the firs t loop whe n I would get a five, I would back up and ride out the section. It's alway s good to ge t the most out of each ride that you can." Aaron had the most interestin g second lo op . He finished with 18 points, but could hav e easily h ad a 23, had he given up hope in section nine. "I went flying up th is big wall a nd landed in the middl e of a huge crack, and the rear sp ro cke t h it the rock and my chain fell off," said Aaro n. "I was cased ou t on the top of the wall, so I put the t ranny in ne ut ral, reach ed down and tu rne d up the idle screw on the carb, and bent over an d put the chain back on . The two-minute wh istl e was blowing and he re I am, struggling to put the chain back on." To the delight of the spectators, Aaron successfully replaced his chain and went on to clean the section. Sneak Qreview T (Above) Ryan Young crashed hard in the first section an d had to scramble to repair his da maged bike. A host of volunteers made the necessary repairs quickly. Cobos turned in the best loop score of the day on his final circuit, coming into the pits with a th ree- poin t card . Young was in with a 12, and Kempkes flew into the p it s wi t h a 15. The lon g- h a ire d Ne bra skan was two mi n utes la te and given one penalty point, but as it tu rned out he still had tw o points to spare over Young for the win , Because of the scoring erro r however, Young was initially declar ed the official winner. One of the fives on Young's first loop card was not punched completely through, and was at first missed by the sco re rs. The mistake would be cau gh t later that evening. "After I ben t m y bars and lost tim e rep ladng them, I was sweating it throu gh the rest of the trial," said Kernpkes after the event, still under the impression that he had finished second. "I knew that-tim e was going to be tight, so I was reall y pushing through the sections. All in all, though, I'd say it was a pretty good day." Li ttle did he know . I~ hou gh Jess Kempkes is an undeniable Champi onship class favorite amongst hard-core trials fans, . the darling of the crowd at McCain Valley was definitely David Cobos (right), the teenage guest rider from Cava, Spain. Th anks to Cas Cas International Export Manager And reu Cod ina , Cobos was able to make his first-ever visit to the United States, and along the way made quite a few new friends and ga ined a large num ber of new fans. Regard ed as one of Spain 's most-promising young rid ers, Cobos is part of Codina's Cas Cas sup port team, and is just waiting in the wings for his chance to attack the World Championship Trials Series. An d just what is ho ldin g Cobos back? It's not the lack of talent - anyone who saw h im ride in San Diego will tell you that - but rath er, his age. Cobos won 't celebrate his 16th birth da y unti l the middle of May, and to com pete in World Rounds, a rid er must possess a driver's license from his home country. Ever wonder why trials bikes come equipped with horns and headlights? Because many of the loop transfers at World Rounds are held on public streets and highways, riders must be licensed and their bikes are required to be street legal. "David will tum 16 a few days befo re the Polish World Round," said Codina. "He will try to get his d river's license in time for the event, bu t if he does not, he will make his World Championship debu t in Italy in June. Right now, he is studying the drive r's handbook every night." . . Cobos competed in the National as a gu est exhib ition rid er, and his scores did not affect the outcome of the series points payout. While Kempkes w as the best of the Americans, Cobos gra cefully skipped through ea ch section, givi ng u p only 27 point s and amass ing a whopping 36 cleans. In comparison, Kempkes' winning score was 47 poi nts, 27 cleans. Unlike the special Gas C as whi ch he rides in Eu rope, Cob os' b orrowed mach ine was completely stock . "The sections we re very good, not easy," said the friendly Spaniard . "The re were ma ny steps and you needed much techni qu e. I d id not know for sure if I could win the event, an d I am very happy to hav e my first American win. Many of the Americans are very good. (less) Kempkes, (Ryan) Young, (Geoff) Aaron and (Oliv ier) Cla magirand. they have good skills. . "I want to say thank you for all the people who follow me and help me."

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