.OBSERVED TRIALS:
..WorId QIampIonshIp Qbiervecl T.- Series
(Left) Finn Tomml
Ahvala balances en
route to a thlrdoverall flnlah In
Spain. It Is rumored
that the Fantlc
.factory rider will be
aboard a Beta In
1996.
(Right) Six-time
World Champion
Jordl Tarres
rebounded from a
poor flret lap to
salvage second
overall and remain
In title contantlon:
18
Doug was again relaxed. "1'0 drop from
first to fifth was a disaster. If 1 had
.moved up from 10th it would have
looked different," said Doug. "1 don't
know what went wrong today. I rode
the hard bits very well and then threw it
away on stuff I couId do blindfolded."
Tommi Ahvala, rumored not to be
not totally happy with Fantic, was keeping the top two in sight, and a potentially spectacular final loop was only
spoiled when he fived the easy ninth
sub.
Joan Pons, the straight-fa.ced
Spaniard who is riding out of Italy this
year, certainly finished with a flourish,
as he matched Tarres on five marks for
the last lap. These were the two best
scores of the day and the feat earned
Pons a clear fourth place.
Less happy was Steve Colley who
complained bitterly about the observing in Spain - and he was backed up in
this assessment by all the top riders.
"On the second lap I \yas crucified,"
moaned Coliey. "1 rode exactly the
same on the final loop and lost just 11.
In these circumstances, 1 guess I'm
happy with seventh." Sixth-placed
Donato Miglio was once again a model
of consistency with laps of 20-22-21
telling the story.
Colomer was not ecstatic in his winning glory. "It's good to win but this
was a terrible trial for Spain. I don't
know what to say, really. I saw some
terrible observing."
And Tarres was in a similar frame of
mind, even though he had moved up
from overnight eighth to claim second.
"Saturday was bad for me, but on Sunday, I think maybe the observers took it
out on the riders for the problems."
Further down the orEler, 17-year-old
Marcel Justribo followed up his seventh place in ltary with eighth in Spain.
The Beta rider looks set to justify the
faith that the Spanish had in him when
he arrived on the scene last year. Diego
Bosis failed to match his Saturday form
as his second overnight melted to
ninth.
CN
(Left) Reigning
Amertcan National
Champion Geoff Aaron
competed on the flret
dey, but was eliminated
on tlme. On Sunday, he
served as a helper with
the Be1II taam.
Revo
A
Spanish World Trials
Bilbao, Spain
Results: June 17·18, 1995
Olk 1, Marc Colomer (Moo) 40; 2. Jordi Tanes (GG) 42; 3. Tommi Ahvala (Fan) 43; 4, Joan Pons (G-G) 49;
5, Doug Lampkin (Bet) 64; 6, Donato Miglio (G-G) 68; 7.
Steve Colley CG-G) 73; 8, Marcel Justribo 77; 9.
Diego Bosis (Bet) 80; 10, David Cobos (G-G) 102; 11.
Bruno Camozzi (Bet) 103; 12. Kenichi Kuroyama (Bet)
105; 13, Joachim Hindren (G-G) 106; 14, Piero Sembenini
(Bet) 108; 15. Amos Bilbao (Bet) 109,
WORLD CHAMPIONSHlP TRIALS SERIES POINT
STANDINGS (After 7 of 10 rounds~ 1. Marc Colomer
(124/3 wins); 2. Jordi Tarres (122/3); 3. Tommi Ahvala
(95/1); 4, Doug Lampkin (79); 5, Donato Miglio (75); 6,
Joan Pons (71); 7. Brono Camo..i (59); 8, Steve CoUey
(49); 9, Diego Bosis (38); 10, Takwni Narila (37); 11, Amos
Bilbao (36); 12, Graham Jarvis (32); 13, Marcel Justribo
(30); 14. Kenichi Kuroyama (29); 15. (TIE) Joachim
Hindren/GabrieJ Reyes/jose Antonio Benite. (7),
IDIique rider protest, iIlitIIllled and backed by the mazwfacturers, coIJapsed
spectacuJariy prior lID the ope:q lap of the Spmisb Wodd Trial when the
manufactureJs did a IaIIe U-tura lIIld also iIlStrudIed their riden lID vole for DO
French rider' JearH.uc Nlctou was taken
on a stretcher from the sixth section to the
hospital.on Sunday following a nasty.
crash tl:lat alniost saw him lose an eye.
.Niclou fell face-down onto a tree-branch
that had been brokah off and the. twig
pierced his face just below the eye,"n
shock, as the bloOd was blinding him, Nic·
Iou was 18ken to the hospital Where a brokeR c;he.akbone was. the in'lial diagnosis,
Reports hilve il'that the eYll is okay..
'Top American ride; (;eOff Aaron' luriied '
up' in, 'Spain, awarding. himself a sh.ort
'burro trip after'finishing his col~ge examll.
Aaro!) rodl! a, !3etil ,provided ,by' $panish',
il'(lporter T[ueba, bllt Was ,elil)'linated' on
Satul'l!a'y for exceeding the time limit: He ,
fived 11 6f, the'12 sections, but made a two '
in the ninth, Aaron aCted as assistant on
Sunday to th,e Spanish Beta squad. and
,reCkoned: that ,be learned a'iot juSt wajc~
ing,the top guys in ac;tion, ,Aaron did not
,know'tiow long ,he woulll 'remain in
Europe,or WIIlit trials !'If' would ride.
action.
Representatives of tble Cas Cas and Moatesa factories whipped up the rider
protest 011 Friday eveIliDg when DO route markiItg or section marking _
in evidence at the BiIbeo venue. AU riders met OIl Seturday morning when NdcoIm Rathmen, lepteseuting the Saxpa factory, WllfiJmed that DO further work had been
done lID the oourse aftBo aD iaspectior..
Each coantry thea elected a rider iep1 EJ E tllive who, along with a tepJesentalive
&om each factoJy pretIeIlt. signed a doaiment which stated that they would not
start the trial until the sections bad been iDIIpec.'b!d and p8SlM!d as fit lID ride by a del.egate.
.
The AM Jury n,twued from their oourse inspection half an hour after the trial
was due to start and cxmceded that the riden had a good point as die,- had only
seen eight sections (from an origiJlal14) and they were not happy with what they
had seen.
A vote for action was then taken by the 13 representatives and this was when
it all broke down as the factories suddesdy (except Scorpa) voted to start at 4;00
p.m. without any fv:rtber sectiorI previews. It represented a iI\llS8ive dimb-down
and left everyone with egg 011 their face. Rathmell, Italian rider Jeptesentative
Miglio, British representative CoUey and French iePJeselltative Bnmo Camozzi
were all furious and remonstrated strongIf with the factories who had pt:tt pressure on AhvaJa (F'mIand), Narita (Japan) and Bilbao (Spain) to vote with them •
despite certainly in Ahvala's case, being told by his fellow FiNls to go aIoDg with
the earlier proposaL
RItbmeIl said, "'We hIJ\Ie all . . made to look stIIfid ~ the SpaIdIIl. Why did
they w.iIld e ••, _ up and lip a don
' if IIIey didD.'t haw
leW to 1Mdt it
up?'"
