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/127781
(Left) The everfla mbo yant Amos Bilbao completed the a il-Spanish podium after s urpassing Doug lampkin on th e fina l loop. (Right) Steve Colley (8) has had better da ys than lhose he experienced In Spa in. The Brl1 struggled all weekend - despite his brilliance on th e indoor section - and came away 11th. (Be low) New kid on the block: Competing on a Honda-powered HRC prototype, 16yea r-old Japanese Cha mpion Taka hlsa Fujlnam l carded 191h In his World Championship debut. , of th e blue with a sing le-dab ride o n the 10th hazard where everyone e lse m axed ou t. Only Japanese star Takurni Narita managed to su rmou n t yet an oth er difficu lt s te p at number 12 while Col omer threw a temper tantrum a fter drowning out his Mont esa on the easy river crossing. He balanced and managed to kick it ba ck to life but failed on the step as h e w as close to the three-minute time limit and al so down o n p ower after th e drownin g . Th e final section o f the loo p w as b ack in the s ta rt area a n d w a s actu ally a n indoor section, staged in a sp orts arena an d featu ring large rocks se t on ste pped s tage . W a te r w as p u m ped over th e r o cks to m ak e a prett y-spect a cu la r w at erfall. Th is prov ed to be very d ifficu lt a n d sur p r is i ngly t o ok in door celeb rities C o lomer, T a rres a n d last year's se nsatio n Kenichi Ku royama for Ss. Th e real stars were Bilb ao and Steve Coll ey, who made the section look easy. Colomer led af ter th e first loop with a 28-p oi nt total, but it was a mad scramble behind h im with Tarres at 34, and Bi lb a o , Ahvala and Lampk in at 35. La m p kin had a s u ccess fu l protest to thank for his score, as he was o riginally credited with 39. Sun da y sawall th e co ntenders set out in a m or e purposefu l m ood to attack two laps of th e same h azards. Colomer was s traigh t in to top form to rip off th e best loop of the weeken d, during which h e lo st ju st 16 marks - which was just a b o u t h a lf t he lo s s o f the reign i ng champ Tarres. Lam pkin and Kuroyama w ere on a charge, p ostin g excellen t laps of 31, an d Bilb ao continued his return to form wi th 27. Th e final circuit again saw Colomer with a score of 20 to finish on 65 and cemen t th e victory. " T h is was the r e sult I wan ted ," Bru no Camozzi (GoG) 99; 7. Mar ",I Justribo (Bet ) 109; 8. Taku mi Nama (Bet ) 113; 9. To mmi Ahvala (Fan ) 115; 10. Joan Pons (Fan ) 117; 11. Steve Co lley (G-G) 118/10; 12Diego Bosis (G-C) 118 / 3; 13. Donato Mig lio (Bet) 128; ).1. Gabriel Reyes (Mon) 132; 15. Jose- Antonio Benitez (G·G ) 136; 16. Graham Ja rv is (500 ) 137; I i . Joa chim H indren (G-G) 138; 18. Piero Sem benini (GoG) 1-10; 19. Takahisa Fu kinami (Hon ) 144; 20. Tom oyu ki Ogawa (Bet) 151. . _ WORLD CHAMPIO:-SSHIP O BSERVE D TRIALS SERIES STA NDI NGS (After 1 of 10 rou nd s): 1. Mar c Col c rner (20 points / l wi n ); 2. [o rdi Tarres (19); 3. Am O!> Bilbao (15) 4.. Doug Lampkin (13 ); 5. Keni chi Ku royama (11); 6. Bru no Camozzi ( to); 7. Marcel Justribo (9); 8. Takum i Narita (8); 9. To mmi Ahvala (7); 10. Joan Pons (6); 11. Stev e Coll ey (5 ); 12. Die go Basis (4); 13. Donato MigJio (3) ; 14 . Gab ri... Re ye s (2); 15. lo se -Antonio 1 Benitez (1). Upcoming Rounds: Round 2 - Great Britain. April 20-21 Round 3 - Ireland. April 27-28 of Ma rc Colomer but featuring HRC logos ' C nda owns Montesa). The cha s sis was Ho designed in Spain and built in Italy. The engin" was designed in Japan by HRC but built at the . . Doug La mpkin protested a bizarre incident Honda plant in Italy. and the machines were on the third section during the open ing loop assembled at Montesa in Spain. When put into when an official grabbed the forks of the Brit's production after December as '97 models, the Beta - thinking that Lampkin was about to fall - bikes will be sold as Montesas in Europe but ' _ and promptly awarded him five marks. After as Hondas in .Japan. In America ._? the event. Lampkin told the international jury that he was in no trouble and that he would There is much speculation over the numhave gollen out 'of the section with the one ' ber of gears in the bikes' used by the factory point he had already lost just as the official riders in the World Championship rounds this year. Gas Gas insists that Jordi Ta r res is pounced. Lampkin was awarded the 1 on the using a four-speed cluster. Bottom gea r is grounds that the section official had no right to never used by the top riders. and for closedintervene when Lampkin's official assis tants - . circuit World Rounds . no top gea r is used 'father Martin and cousin J ohn . had le ft him e ither. 'It is 'almost certain that Doug LBmp- Brieflv.. . - alone: . ki n is also running a four-speed box in his factory Beta for the same reason. Much spec ulaTommi Ahva la brave ly rode : to ninth in tion centers onthe Honda/Montesas of Marc Spain despite pain from his .injured right shoul- Colomer and Takahisa Fujinami as the der .vwhich he dislocated at a rece nt Indoor . factory remains tight·lipped. Outsiders reckon event. ·"it Is very painful, and in most danger of it a s a fou r-speed clu st e r as the rear damage on the dovimhills ." the 1 992 World c ra n kc as e. is v e ry .nar ro w on th e HA C Champion said.. - But most of .the sec tions go designed engine. Insiders hint at .a fiv e-speed up.. . cluster. Spanish World Trial Navace rrada. Spain Results: April 13-14, 1996 1. Marc Co lomer (Man) 65 points; 2 Jordi Tarres (GG) 82; 3. Amos Bilb ao (G-G) 92/10 clea ns; 4. Dou g Lampkin (Bet) 92 /9; 5. Ken ichi Kuroyama (Bet) 98; 6. 'Ta ka h is 8 FUjinaml : the ' 1995 J apanese Champion" rode his first World Championship ' trial in Spain. The late st wonderboy from J apan followed in the wheel tracks of la styeer ' s .Japanesertsinq son. Kenichi Kuroyama to '. finish 19th; r op S pa nish ' prospeci '16-yea r-old Da v id. Cobos is now almost fully recovered from a , broken thigh.bone, an injury he s ustained as the result of a moped accident earlier this year. The Gas Gas rider had the European Champi. . ons hip as his focal point this year but missed the first round due to his injury. Cobos was Speaking of Fujinami, the 16-year-old rode a seen at the S panis h round wi t h .~is mento r prototype machine similar,to the Montesa . Andreu COdina . . - It: ~ 39