Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

.OBSERVE·D TRIALS·' . AMAmATC National Trials Championship Series' Round 9: Kansas City Aaron and Kempkes and two for Bell. Section eight was another of the easier sections, giving up many cleans, including three to Aaron, who had the best combined score. Section nine had a very intimidating dropoff, rock splatter and hillclimb, but ended up claiming few points from the riders. Both Aaron and Young had clean rides through the section in all three loops. Section 10 was the second-most difficult section, taking many fives. It weaved in and out of a creek with slippery rock splatters. While most riders never made it up the last splatter, Peters got through on one loop with a two, and Manniko made it with a three. Amazingly, Aaron cleaned the sechan twice' and scored a three on the last loop. His combined score of three was considerably better than Peters, who had 12, and Manniko, who had 13. Everyone else had a combined score of 15. Section 11 was another difficult section; giving up only four cleans; one each by Aaron and Kempkes, and two perfect scores from Yaung. Sections 12 and 13 were among the easier sections, giving up several cleans and a few fives. tiveness, unmatched mental preparation and an uncanny ability to get out of some of the worst predicaments. In fourth place, with 121 points, was Gas Gas rider Mark Manniko, who finished in the same position in the series standings. A regular competitor on the season several years back, Manniko returned to National competition after considerable time away. The highlight for Manniko was his victory at round two, which came nearly a decade after his first National win. Manniko and Young were the only riders other than Aaron to post victories this season. Canadian Ryan Bell piloted his Gas Gas to a fifth-place finish with 123.5 points. Bell, who failed to finish in the top five in the first half of the season, has definitely raised his riding level, earning four top-five finishes in the last five rounds. The "Show Me" National was held i,n Kansas City for'the first time since 1973. Trialsmaster Dale Malasek did a good job laying out challenging sections with a lot of variety. Hillclimbs, rocks, logs and creek beds were the order of the day. There was even a stadium-type section to round out the loop and provide lots of entertainment for the spectators. The first section started challenging the riders immediately by throwing nearly everything at them. Water, mud, rocks, hills and large splatters got the heartbeat up quickly. Bell, Lonny Hallsted, Kempkes and Manniko barely got through with threes. Everyone else got fives. Manniko returned to impress the \0 . crowd with a hard-earned clean on the 0\ second loop. The next best rides were 0\ the twos scored by Kempkes and ~ Young. the best 0\ score of Manniko hadKempkescombined eight while followed l-; Q) with 10. Sections two and four were the easiest, giving away at least one clean to u almost every rider. Section three, however, proved to be tricky and gave up only six cleans. Three of six went to Aaron as he mastered the section on .g .... o 44 (Above) Six-time National Champion . Ryan Young finished a solid third at the flnal round and was once again runnet;-up to Aaron In the title chase. Young has hinted that retirement may not be far away. (Right) Raymond Peters put In a good· showing In . 1996, flnlshlng third overall In the series. Peters was seventh at Kansas City. pare to come off the inverted "V" onto a 12-inch-wide teeter-totter. Up and then down the teeter-totter, riders .finally finished after going up some difficult, natural-terrain hillclimbs and dropoffs. Most riders got fives or simply opted · not to attempt the section. Only Aaron, Kempkes and Young scored anything less than a five, while Young earned a three and a one and Kempkes scored a two, a one and a clean.' With very controlled and smooth moves, Aaron showed why he is the · National Champion. After 'earning a two the first time through the section, Aaron had two ex ellen! cleans on the last two loops. fN AMAINATA Trials Kansas City, Missouri Results: September 22, 1996 (Round 9 of 9) C'SHIP: 1. Geoff Aaron (Bet) 64; 2. Jess Kempkes (G-G) 116.5; 3. Ryan Young (G-G) 117; 4. Mark Mannilco (G-G) 121; 5. !'yon Bell (G-G) 123.5; 6. Lonny Hallsted (Bet) 150; 7. Raymond Peters (Sea) 150.5; ~Matt Moore (G-G) 164; 9. DemUs Sweeten (Bet) 180; 10. John Oark (G-G) 249.5. EX, 1. Ron Como Jr. (55); 2. Steve Clark (63); 3. Chris Bardell (63). SPTSMN: 1. Greig Engel (28); 2. John Francisco (48); 3. Adam Blumhorst (SO). ID SCHL, 1. Mike Bryant (7); 2. Joshua Metzger (9); 3. Carl Mi.ller (44). 30+, 1. G.William Strange (147). 35+, 1. Stephen Oehrle (28); 2. Kenny Mosteller (38); 3. Pierce Ferriter (45). 40+, 1. Shan Moor (28); 2. Howard Galbreath (32); 3. Jim Alterrous (38). 45+: 1. James Fox (29); 2. Gilbert Reed (48); 2. Dave Waldo (53). 50+: 1. Bob Adams (56); 2. Bob Pick 109; 3. Dave Watson <\38.5). 55+,1. Bill Thompson (69). 65+: 1. Hawley Slayton (124). AMA/NATC CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 9 of 9 rounds), 1. Geoff Aaron (249/7wins); 2. Ryan Young (215/1); 3. Raymond Peters (155); 4. Mark Mannilco (148/1); 5. Jess Kempkes (146); 6. Lonny Hallsted (144); 7. Ryan Bell (132); 8. Matt Moore (123); 9. Dennis Sweeten (108); 10. John Clark (77). AMAINATC National Trials C'ship Series Round 8: Omaha, Nebraska iA\~1l ® WnIDl ~ IDl IDllillII ~ (ffi II ~ n I By Larry Toby OMAHA, NE, SEPT. 21 wo-time National Trials Champion Geoff Aaron piloted his Beta to a convincing win at round eight of the AMA / NA TC Championshi p Trials Series. The win was his sixth of the season, giving him an almost-insurmountable 26-point lead over six-time National Champion Ryan Young heading into the last round. Since Aaron's bobble at rounds two and three (where he finished fourth and third), he has been unstoppable, posting five straight wins. The last two have been by huge margins. "It's very different coming into the final rounds with the series points lead, · but I''!1 not looking at the points," Aaron said. ''I'm just riding as hard as I can, trying to win every event." Aaron was nervous coming into this event. "1 don't know what it is about this event," Aaron said. "It messes with my mind. Two years ago, this was the last event of the series, and I had to win it to win the championship. I gave it my all. Today I also gave it my all. I worked very hard. I'm tired, I'm drained." Aaron's hard work paid off. He finished over 30 points better than his nearest competi tor in the demanding, long, technical sections laid out by the Midwest Trials Association and Rock Riders'Inc. Jl each loop. Raymond Peters had the next-best combined score of four. Manniko followed with a five. ~ction five was another difficUlt section, costing the riders many fives; three of them came from second-place finisher Kempkes. The section gave up only four cleans; one to Aaron and Peters, while Manniko earned two perfect scores. Aaron had the best combined score of four. Manniko had five while Young followed with nine. Section six was a championship-only section, designed to route riders up a huge rock splatter after crossing a creek. Unfortunately, poor section marking left an escape route around the splatter. Most riders took the escape route, joking about having to ride all the way back to the pits before returning to finish the section. Aaron thought it was "pretty lame" to go around and attempted the splatter anyway, much to the delight of the crowd. Section seven had a huge log splatter that proved tricky. While the section didn't give up that many points, only four cleans were recorded - one each for Section 14 was nearly a throw-out since it appeared everyone would score fives. The best score in the section was a three; one earned by Peters and two apiece for Aaron and Kempkes. The 15th and final section was a fabricated "stadium~type" section near the pits that provided lots of spectator entertainment. The championship line started up a four-foot vertical face to the top of old cable spools. The spools, which were turned on their side and now flat on the top, were not as wide as a motorcycle is long. Riders had to jump from one spool to the next, landing and stopping at precisely the exact time to keep from falling off either side of the spool. At the middle spool, they had to make a 90-degree tum before jumping to the last spool. , The section then routed riders up another four-foot vertical climb onto the top of an old tank. From the tank, riders had to jump across a three-foot gap to an inverted "V" made out of plywood. The top of the "V" was only three inches long. Riders landed on the inverted "V" with their skidplates, then had to pre-

• Cover