Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127749
(Left) Montesa factory rider Marc Colomer tumed in several spectacular rides aboard his works Cota. (Below) Great Britain's Dougie lampkin debuted the new 1996 Beta Techno in Austria. The Brits finished second for the third year In a row. on the loop as well. The final section was laid out near the start/finish area, and was completely man-made. Large rocks were assembled into a crowdpleasing stadium-type section, and to the delight of the riders, not a single tree root could be found in the trap. Thanks to the A and B Group lines, quite a few first-time participants were attracted, and a total of 22 countries were represented. Seven. of those countries competed in the A Group, while the remaining 13 made up the B Group. Giving the event a black eye were several sections on the loop where riders encountered two-way traffic. While the first lap presented no real problems, the high number of sections, coupled with the hort amount of time allotted to complete three laps, caused the loop speeds to pick up considerably on the second and third loops. Racing against the clock, most riders took to motocrosslevel speeds on the trails, which presented quite a problem in the two-way-traffie areas. As expected, many riders encountered several close calls, and two were not so fortunate. On loop two, Brit Dougie Lampkin collided head on with German rider Andreas Lettenbichler and the two collapsed in a pitiful heap. While Lampkin was lucky enough to escape with a bruised shoulder and a collapsed front wheel, LettenbichIer was transported to the hospital With severe facial lacerations and a broken wrist. Lampkin was able to carryon in pain, but headed for the hospital as soon as the event was over. "I was in fourth gear wide open, shifting into fifth," said Lampkin. "That's when 1 saw the German rider coming the other way around a comer, flat out as well. 1 was actually able to stop completely, but he wasn't, and we hit straight on." Most teams took the greatest amount of time on their first loop, some using as (Left) For the first time since 1991, Japan fielded a team at 1M Trial des Nations. Takuml Narlta (pictured) led Kenlchl Kuroyama and Tomoyukl Ogawa to a popular third overall. much as three hours to negotiate all 14 sections for the first time. Spain set the pace from the get-go, dropping only 47 points to Great Britain's 88. Japan and Italy both turned in 110-point totals. Of the Spaniards, Tarres appeared to be the best. The six-time champ rode with the same intensity that carried him to five World Round wins this year. "1 knew what 1 would need to do before the start of the event, so 1 was prepared," said Tarres. "1 rode well today and 1 am happy. The sections were very slippery, no? The rain before the race made it hard to keep traction." In the B Group, Holland set the pace with a 97-point opening loop, followed closely by the Swedes with 107, and ireland with 113. The Americans dropped 133. "This is a lot like the stuff I ride back home," said New Yorker Peters. "The roots and logs are all familiar, but the mossy rocks are tough." Known for his to-the-point summations, Kempkes said, "The sections suck for me. 1 hate slippery stuff, and the sections are super slick. 1 like the dry where 1 can hop around and get tractioI), so 1 guess 1 liked section 14 the best." The loop proved to be a challenge for several of the Americans, including Moore and team minder Gary Jackson, who spent the better part of an hour pushing his way up a steep, tree-rootinfested hill. Moore, on the other hand, was Kernpkes-blunt about a section of the loop that followed section one.