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.OBSERVED TRIALS· Markt Piesting, Austria 12th Annual Trial des Nations "The loop after section one sucked," he said, in reference to the super-steep downhiU. "1 walked my bike down the hill every lap." Moore enjoyed a chuckle in section two on the operung lap as he lined up for a steep step. American Team Captain Mike Komer saw that Moore needed guidance while setting up for the climb, and went to climb down the hill to offer help. Komer slipped on a mossy rock and did his best Mary Lou Retton imitation as he cartwheeled down the hill and nearly into Moore. "I was balancing there and I looked up and saw Mike sliding down the hill on his head," said Moore. "He almost took me out where 1was balancing." Luckily, only Komer's pride was injured, and he recovered quickly enough to offer Moore some help. Peters had a spectacular spill in section 10 on the first lap. "I lost my balance while I was dropping off a ledge," said Peters. "The front wheel punched a tree and the next thing I knew I was spit right over." After completing the first lap, the majority of the riders began to pamc as they realized that time would be tight. Some of the riders were forced to take voluntary fives in some of the bottlenecked sections. "No time to wait," said Japanese rider Kuroyama as he punched out of section two. "Today is very bad for us. I do not like the sections, too slippery for me." (Right) For the second year in a row, Oklahoma's Matt Moore was a member of the American squad. The youngster had several spectacular rides. (Below) Three-time team member Jess Kempkes rode with his usual Intensity. The Nebraskan was the most . flamboyant of the four team members. (Left) calm, cool8lld collected, New Yorker Raymond Peters rode with precision en route to the team's fourth· place Group B finish. cans wor~ thEl" traditional blue and white skunk stripe helmets, but this year they didn't have the pleasure of wearing Shoei's trials· specffic TR2P model. Because the rules state that each team must ·wear helmets that are· It's only cheating if you get caught: approved for com~tition'in their own country, Though each team was allowed only four the U.S. riders could. not legally ""!lar the minders (one per rider), it looked as if the Spanish team had at'least eight or nine. Each 'TR2P, Last year, a ·mix·up saw the team ,minder was assigned a 'bib, with' a numb!!r , members receive the stYlish, ~elmets', but thill year, t~ey .were ,forc,,!d to compete in opencorres'ponding 10 his rider, UpOn close face scooter helmets. 'We have that balloon.inspection', several of the Spanish mindel'S,'who obviouslY Knew' thi'lt Tarres, Colomer, ' head look: joked ~oore. "I '\jIas bummed' whEl"n I openEl"d up the bOx. It'makes me look Pons' and Bilbao would wear numbers .one like the, Jack in the Box guy." Oddly, enough, through fou'r - wore similarly numbered bibs the TR2P tsn~t apprOli,,!d in several other from a previous ~vent.'· . countries, but all of those team dders used it. 'On Saturda.y, a lOUd b'oom' could be' heard And speaking of. helmets;, Polish team rider echoi,ng through the' pits. As it turns out, Pawel GrochOwski sported an older-style American supporter Ma~ TerpStra· smugNolan helmet with the USA· skunk stripe paint gled a hand·mede potato guo in ~is luggag~ and presented it as a gift ,to ,Amos Bilbao.. design, n6 doubt given to him by a previous team member, To make th·ings more confusThe impish Spaniard had a blast • Iite,rally.with the gun, and was seen firing it at practic- . ing, Grochowski made a habit of trailing the Ame(ican riders', and frequently jumped in ing riders up on the ,hillside. Wo'rid Champion between them io line, At times, It looked as if Jo~dl Tarrea was seen bent over with laughter as Bilbao fired the homemade cannon - there were five U.S. riders. again and again. . '. Three new bjkes were on display at the event: the 1996 Beta Techno, the Gas Gas Because of the new A and, B Group for",at, JTR270 and the all-new SCorpa Easy 250.· several new teams attended the event. And The new Be!a was ridden by Great Britain's of the new teams, tne three-man team'from Dougle Lampkin, arid th'ough one was on ·Greece was the most interesting, Pappas hand for Japanese rider Takumi Narlta, he PanagloUs, Lavoutas Dimltrlos and optfld to stick with his '95 bike because it was Sotlrl'1os loannis joined' together to foem the ;"ore l<1mili'!r. The Gas Gas was actually a country's first-ever team, 'and 'the Gas Gasmock-up, 'but International Export Manager ,mounted triO were quite a sight to see: Older Andreu Codina rep9rteq that production . than most of their competition, the bearded would begin shortly. As for. the Scarpa, the trio wore UF:O motocross ~ear - che,s! protecexotic-looking machine was the only one in tors and alII 'We are much older," said Panaexistence so far, and was displayed in a bangiotis, "We wear the armor because- we do nered·off area. Look for ,photos and more, not want to get hurt!" Each of the three riders details on all three machines in next week's strugglep, filven in the B Group lines, and all issue. three riders tu(ned in fives in every section, 'on all three laps. '"The secti9ns were very Of the four American riders" Ray Peters, hard," said Panagiotis, "Much harder than made the 'most modifications to his borrowed what we ride at .home. In Greece, there are machine. PeterS' packed hi,S luggage iUIl of , not mariy trials riders. Maybe about 20 riders trick parts off of his personal Fantic Section. show up at. each competition. We will be better prepared next time. We will have some' inc!u<;1ing a carbon-fiber subframe and a mo<;tified cylinder, head and piston, Geoff Aaron younger riders. We al! had a good time." ' bolted his own front brake assembly and oversized footpegs to his' borrowed Beta Once again, the ~panlards had the best-lookTechno, while Matt Moore and Jess Kemp" ing team ,helmets"as their orange and yellow kes simply switched to Renthal handlebars. lids gave them a true team look. The Ameri- (Right) Two-time Natlonal Champion Geoff Aaron was his usual steady self. The Connecticut rider was popular with the European fans.