OBSERVED TRIALS ·
.World Championship Observed Trials Series ··
Round 4: United States
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IV
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By Donn Maeda/Dirt Rider Magazine
MAY 25-26, EXETER, RI
s the World Champ ionshi p Trials Series regulars cross ed the
Atlantic and headed for the U.S. World Round, much of the
pre-trial hype was focu se d on Doug Lampkin and Marc
Colomer. As winner of the last tw o rounds, Englishman Lampkin
was on a roll and many expected the factory Beta rider to pull off a
hat tri ck in Rhod e Island. Colomer fans, meanwhile, felt that the
Spaniard w ould rise to the occasion and duplicate his series-openin g perf ormance. Co lomer enjoyed a slim one-point lead ov er
Lampkin in the series point standings, and w ithout a d oubt it was
thes e two rid ers who had dom inated the series thus far.
Funny, how fickle fans can be.
A
(Above) Seven-time
World Champ ion
Jo rdl Tarres scored
his first win of the
year at the U.S. World
Round. The Spaniard
credited the time off
following the last
event as the reas on
for his improved
s howing. The Gas
Gas rider has been
strugg ling with a bac k
injury all season long.
(Left) Doug Lampkin
negotiates the final
section of the trial.
The stad ium-type
se ction was well
received by the
estimated BOOO-strong
crowd. Lampkin was
second In Rhode
Island, and took over
the s eries point lead.
8
While h is youn ger rivals Colomer
and Lampkin attracted all of the att ention, 29-year-old [ordi Tar res tu rn ed in
2-8-3 finishes at the first three rounds of
the series. Pund its were qu ick to d ismiss
the Spaniard, saying that he was too old ,
lack ed m otiv ation , or had lost co n fid en ce a fte r los ing last year's Spanish
N ati onal Ch ampions hip t o a rch rival
Co lomer. Sadly, m any h ad writt en the
seven-t ime World Ch ampion out of the
'96 title chas e.
"The first three rounds wer e hard for
me," expl ained Tarres. "I had troubles
w ith m y lower back jus t b e for e th e
series-opener and I was in much pain .
The events were all in a row, and I had
no time to train or res t. Thi s time, I had
some time off. I w as bett er in America."
Hard-core Tarres fans had plen ty to
cel ebrate as the World Ch ampion ship
Series returned to the States, as the factory Gas Gas rider rode with his usual calm
and controlled manner en route to a solid
two-point win. Tarres' fifth Wagner Cup
win came at the expense of - you gues sed
it - Lampkin and Colomer, who rounded
out the top three positions, in that order.
Lampkin rod e with a co n fi d e n ce
level that was second to none, but in the
end, it was overconfidence that proved
