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/127812
OBSERVED TRIALS· Round 1: Turin, Italy . World Indoor Trials Championship On Surtday, the same select eightrider field lined up to do battle again for championship points this time. The contestants were Colomer, Lampkin, Bruno Carnmozzi, Tommi Ahvala, Bilbao, Graham Jarvis, Marcel Justribo and sole Italian Donato Miglio. Six sections were packed into the compact circular arena, as well as a fast "race" in which competitors joined in final head-to-head combat - the close proximity of the action to the spectators making for a great atmosphere. Italy desperately lacks an up-andcoming trials talent at the moment and it was veteran Miglio - the development rider responsible for the revised geometryon the '97 Beta Techno - who was pressed into action for the benefit of the home crowd. MigHo was paired with 18year-old Spaniard J.ustribo in the heat and, predictably, neither qualified for the final. Justribo has the talent and can do all the tricks, but just failed to find any fire on the night. ext into the ring were 1992 World Trials Champ Ahvala on the lone works Fantic and Brit Jarvis on the new, 1997 Scorpa "Professional." Jarvis is a relative newcomer to the big-time indoor scene but wasn't overawed, determined to make the most of the chance. Mare Colomar (left) look whal was essentially a sudden-deeth win over Doug Lampkin (below) al round one of the first- . ever World Indoor Trials Championship. By John Dickinson ... T'""i T'""i I-< Il) E u Il) Il) o 16 TURIN, ITALY, NOV. 23-24 arc Colomer, reigning World Trials Champion and FIM Indoor Cup holder, took his first step toward winning the first official World Indoor Trials Championship by snatching victory from Doug Lampkin in the first of the exciting new 10-round series which was staged in Turin, Italy. Turin, in the north of the country, is Italy's motor city, home to the vast Fiat conglomerate, but it was two wheels on center stage when the trials world arrived to play two nights at the circular, 5,OOO-seat Palasport venue. The World Championship event took place Sunday, continuing on from a non-title trial Saturday evening which gave competitors excellent practice for the main event. Colomer showed what was in store by winning Saturday, taking the runoff with Amos Bilbao unopposed after Bilbao took a nasty crash and was forced to withdraw. Until then, the little Spaniard had the crowd in the palm of his hand following a brilliant display of riding in the sections when each outrageous maneuver he tried paid off. Jarvis really went for it, pioneering a spectacular jump across the corners of some large, sandstone blocks and he completed his lap for 10 marks in the sections. He didn't have a single five, but Jarvis did lose one mark for exceeding the sevenminute time allowance, and in the end this cost him a place in the semi. Ahvala started out confidently on the . prototype aluminum-framed Fantic, taking cleans on the opening three sections, which comprised giant tires, giant wooden cable drums and a concrete castle. Unfortunately, the Fantic clutch then started acting up and he fived the following sandstone section. Ahvala dragged the Fantic through the final log and wooden-pallet hazard to finish with 12 - the extra mark was for losing his race with Jarvis. The winner gets a dean, the loser drops one point. Gas Gas riders Amos Bilbao and Bruno Camozzi were next out to do battle. JUnos was as spectacular as ever and started out with a two, a clean and a one, before making a mess of the sandstone blocks and taking three through the trees to finish with 11. Camozzi, the muscular French rider, then went out and put together a really sound, if unspectacular lap to complete the six sections for just three marks. The Frenchman was sure to be an easy qualifier for the four-man semi, so before. their race, Bilbao quickly checked with the scoreboard and politely asked his Gas Gas teammate to lose! The extra mark made no difference to Camozzi's qualifying, but Bilbao's extra clean got him into the semi and pushed Jarvis out. The world numbers one and two, Colomer and Lampkin, were last into the fray with Lampkin going first. The Brit; totally at home on the indoor circuit this season, .rode superbly to lose just three marks in the sections and this looked even better moments later when Colomer, so calm and confident, fived the sandstone blocks. Colomer beat Lampkin in the race after overtaking the fast-starting Brit, prompting Lampkin's minder - his father Martin - to ask his son, "What the 'ell were you playing at? You got the lead and then slowed down to let him past!" The semi saw the sections ridden in the same order but the opposite way around. They were definitely harder this way. The cable drums featured a spectacular but very difficult leap across a void which Bilbao, Camozzi and Colomer cleared, but Lampkin took a big, nasty-looking crash after his approach went wrong. He then had to take a fiveminute break (as allowed by the rules) to. repair his Beta's broken rear brake pedal. Back in action with just seconds to spare, Lampkin rode superbly to clean three sections in a row and take just a dab on the pallets which featured a very technical triple step. Colomer was perfection on wheels, qualifying for the two-man final with ease, having cleaned all six sections - his excellent technique making the pallet step look ridiculously easy. The final - Colomer vs. Lampkin was virtually sudden death, comprising the three most difficult sections - cable drums, castle and pallets - plus the race. But it was a tense thriller that had the.