Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.OBSERVED TRIALS· ; World Cham pionship Observed.Trials Series Round 5: Canada The factory Gas Gas ride r was the man to beat after the opening loop, and beat h im th ey did. The defending World l Cham pion faltered badly on the second ' lo op a nd, r eali sticall y, e n d ed h is chances for the win right then and there. He recovered on lap three, but by then itr was too late. Frenchman Brun o Cam ozzi turned in ye t ano the r steady , consisten t ride in Canada, nabbin g fourth aboard his pri vateer Gas Gas. The muscu lar rider was not qui te up to the same level as the top three riders, but still ende d the weekend . o n ly e ig h t p oints a d r ift o f Tarr es . Camozzi's large s ta tu re he lp s him to bulldog his way through sections, and the French Na tiona l Cha mpion actually, h ad more clea ns th an Tar r es a nd Colomer. Unfo rtu nately, a handful of 3s held him back. "The sections, you had to clean them or get as," Cam ozzi said. "I cleaned many of them, as many as Lampkin, but '1mad e too many other mistakes." Round in g ou t th e top fi ve was a familiar an d we lcome sight at the front of the pack. Spanish pit clown Amos Bilbao duplicat ed his U.s. World Round finish, and the Gas Gas rid er turned a few head s w ith an excellen t thi rd -loop sco re. Bilbao' s I l -p oint car d wa s better ed on ly b y winner Col omer , and. matched on ly by Tarres and Larnpki n.! Though some had wri tten him off a few, years ago w he n he ro d e experimental l ).1ontesas, Bilbao is proving that he still has what it takes. "The sectio ns were goo d," he said. (Left) Spanish rider Marc Co lomer returned to the top of the World Champ ionship Observed Trials Series stand ings with a victory at the Canad ian World Round. (Below) England's Doug lampkin was his usual cons istent self and landed the runner-up spot. ! I I By Peter Sengal 26 ALMA, CANADA, JUNE1-2 in ce sco ring a conv inci ng win in the series-opener in Spain, Montesa wo rks rid er Marc Colorner had failed to return to the top slot on the winner's box. Sure, he had been consistent - never finishing worse than third but a h ard charge by archrival Doug Lampkin of Great Britain saw Colomer relegated to seco nd in the series point standings . Colome r lost the lead he had held since rou nd one when he suffered a miserable opening d ay at the American ro und . Needless to say, the Sp aniard was anxiou s to get it back. "I won the first round , but Lampki n was stro ng at th e n ext tw o," Colom er said. "I had a very bad day in America and I was lucky to save third . It is only ha lfway thr ough th e seaso n an d points don' t count yet, but it is a mental advantage to have the lead." Tha t said, Colomer set ou t to reclaim h is position at the front when the series ve n tured no rth to th e m ountainous region o f Briti sh Columbi a. Co lomer was th e pic ture of con centration as he a ttacked the Canad ian sections, and alt hou gh it was seve n -time W orld Cha m p ion [ord i Tar res wh o led afte r da y one, it was Colomer who en ded the weekend with a cush y seven-point margin of victory. "I am very happy to w in toda y," Colomer said . "I liked the sections. They were very technica l and the traction was goo d. That always helps. I now hav e a tw o-point lead over Lampkin, but that does not matter because he is also always on the podium." And filling the slot on the podium rig ht next to Colo mer wa s none other than Lampkin. The very steady Beta factory rider was off the mark on the open' ing da y, but like Colomer, he rose to the occasion on day two. "I'm very happy wi th second today," Lampkin said. "I was a ways .behind in third after the firs t lap on Satu rday. I made three bad mistakes this weekend that cost me. We all mad e mistakes, but Marc ma de the least. The championship is close. The sections were to my liking, they were all po ssible to clean and there was a good variation . It was quite hot, but I got used to it." Round ing out .th e top three af ter .a mediocre da two showin was Tarres.

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