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Round 9: Czech Republic POMUK, CZECH REPUBLIC, JULY 27-28 at~. olomer confidently took a . nt stride toward winning his irst-ever World Trials Champinship by taking a brilliant win in the zech Republic. The Spaniard will be 2 on Saturday, August 17, perfectly . ed to give himself the best birthday resent of his life - the championship s nothing except disaster can stop him rom being crowned that same weekd at the 10th and final round of the 'es, in Belgium. Colomer overtook Doug Lampkin, aturday's leader and season-long chrival for the title, with·a sensation1 ride on the second day of the trial, ot only clawing back Lampkin's mazing 1S-mark advantage following aj:urday's opening 14-section lap, but ulling out a 12-mark winning lead ollowing Sunday's two loops. The N~pomuk venue is a well-used, ell-worn one and the organizers went otally overboard in their efforts to atch the look of sections at every ther world round. Friday the riders omplained strongly, through their repesentative Donato Miglio, about the ections, which they saw as not only mpossible, but dangerous as well. At east the organizers responded and Itered no fewer than eight of their 14 .ons, which were still difficult,. with teep, loose exits causing many maxiumscores. M Lampkin was the absolute master on Saturday, losing just 20 marks through the 14 hazards. Colomer was way back, having lost no fewer than 3S. Such was Lampkin's superiority on the day that Colomer was still in second place. He did have to share the honor, though, as Briton Steve Colley easily made his best start in a championship round this year. The indoor-trials ace really needed a good result and a lot of points to boo~t his poor world ranking - currently outside the aU-important top 10. Also surprising everyone was Spanish teenager Gabriel Reyes, who made it home fourth, ahead of seven-time World Champ Jordi Tarres, although few would have bet on Reyes maintaining that form on Sunday. They would have been wrong not to, it turned out. Up front, though, there was no disputing who had been best on the day. "That was amazing," Lampkin said about his fiTst day. "Everything] tried came off. The only section] fived was the fourth and everyone else did that anyway. I surprised even myself today." Lampkin looked set to land what would have been a long overdue (in his opinion) third win of the year, which would at least do something toward dosing the gap on series leader Colomer. But just as everything went right on Saturday, it went wrong on Sunday. His OBSERVED TRIALS World Championship Observed Trials ~ries first loop of the day left him reeling on a score of 28, including five maximums. "] had a big crash on the second section, which wasn't a good start," Lampkin said. "And then] fived the third one as well. And it didn't get much better." For Colomer, though, it could'n't have gotten much better. The Spaniard just slipped into overdrive and his loss of six for the group was unbelievable. A dab at the second, three at the third and then an incredible run of 10 consecutive cleans before returning to reality with a two on the' man-made final hazard set him up for his convincing win. Next best for the lap was Japanese Beta rider Kenichi Kuroyama, who also was in the throes of a remarkable comeback. Kuroyama lopped 30 marks off his Saturday score to post an excellent 13. Tarres, too, improved on day two, bringing his opening 41 down to a Lampkin-challenging 18. . On the final loop, Lampkin got his ride under control again as he scored just nine. In so doing, he finished second and lost the least number of points to the championship-leading Spaniard, Colomer. Colomer was again amazing, completing the final loop with only four marks and eight consecutive cleans. "] am not celebrating the championship just yet, but things look good," allowed a relaxed Colomer. Lampkin remained upbeat, despite his disastrous turn of fortune. "That first lap was just a disaster," he said. "The sections were pretty big and you were either up them or down them. I got a couple of unlucky bounces and ended up down them. Marc should cruise home in Belgium, but you never know. I will be going for it just in case!" Tarres took his Gas Gas to third with an excellent effort of eight on the final circuit, and this also ensured that he will finish no lower than third in the championship. In the best ride of his career, Reyes rode to fourth on a brilliant last-lap score of 12. Kuroyama slipped to fifth, ahead of lone Fantic factory runner Tommi Ahvala. (N Nepomuk Nepomuk, Czech Republic Results: July 27-28,1996 (Round 9 of 10) \0 0\ 0\ O/A: 1. Marc Colomer (Man) 24i 2. Doug Lampkin (Bet) 57; 3. jordi Tarres (G-G) 69; 4. Garie! Reyes (Mon) 74; 5. Kenichi Kuroyama (Bet) 76; 6, Tommi Ahvala (Fan) 78; 7. Joan Pons (G-G) 79; 8. Bruno Camozzi (G· G) 80; 9. David Cobos (G-G) 83; 10. Diego 80sis (G-G) ..-; 89. ..-; WORLD C'SH1P OBSERVED TRIALS SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 9 of 10 rounds): 1. Marc Colomel (164); 2. Doug Lampkin (149); 3. Jordi Tarres (136); 4. Kenichi Kuroyama (103); 5. Bruno Camozzi (92); 6. Amos Bilbao (68); 7. Takahisa Fujinami (60); B. Tommi Ahvala (58); 9. Marcel Juslribo (47); 10. Graham Jarvis (47). Final Round: Round 10 - Bilstain, Belgium, August 17-18 ~' ...... ell ;:j gp ~ 41