Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

OBSERVED TRIALS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OBSERVED TRIALS SERIES Rounds 3·5 • By John Dickinson BARCELONA, SPAIN, FEB. 7 h e Barcel ona Ind oor Tr ia l w a s quite prob abl y the best -attend ed in d oo r tr ia l e ve r - and tha t includes the fa m o u s Tr ialma st er d e Bercy in Paris. More than 14,500 spectator s cra mmed int o the su pe rb St. [o rdi Stad iu m, whic h wa s built for the 1992 Olympics. A nd d oin g ju s tice to suc h a hu ge crow d was an equall y huge eve nt, wit h the 14 sec tions ma king a total contrast with the five in Toulouse three days earlier. But, with 10 sections being in use in the qu alifiers, just six riders would tackle the migh ty course and thr ee unlucky rider s w ould lose ou t on a rid e in th e final. The majori ty of the sections were old Span is h favorites of th e s ho rt, s ha rp, 'instant-hit, 6-foot-step variety that resul t in a clean or a five. But spicing them up w e re seve ra l lo n ge r , mo re techni cal stru ctures. Gra h am Jarv is was fi r st in to th e arena for the 1o-section qu alifying run. Running as a last-minute stand-in, Jar vis failed to qualify on his underpowered, borro wed bike . David Cobos was next in the show an d the yo ung Sp ania rd d ropped too many fives in the 'sections to stand a fighting chance of qualifying. Fe llow Span ia rd a n d G as Gas rid er Amos Bilbao follow ed Cob os into th e arena and really gave it his bes t shot but mi ssed th e cu t a fter losing o u t in an excit i ng ra ce wit h Co bo s a fte r bo th dropped 24 marks in the qua lifier. Steve Colley was next, and the Isle of Man ace wa s pu mped aft er his victory . in Tou lous e a few days earli er . Colley fived the opening sectio n - as did everyone in the end - bu t recovered we ll to post a score of 18, pu tting him right into the final. Marc Colomer followed and disappointingly didn't even pop a wheelie for the fans, a stark contrast to the previous riders who rea lly go t the cro wd behi nd them with wheelies, stoppies and doughnuts. T As the season passed its halfway point, reigning World Champion Doug Lampkin continues to carry his points lead and has thus far won every round but one. In front of his ho me crowd, Colomer's start was nothing short of a d isaster as he fived four of the firs t five sections one mo re of those and he wou ld ha ve been ou t. This wo uld have been a bigger upset than Lampkin' s not qualifying for T oulouse. But Colom er pulled himself toget her and only pa rted wi th three more marks over th e last five sections. He was in the fina l - bu t w ith only one mark to spare. Enter Lamp kin - cool as could be. A compu lsory five on the first section was shrugged off, but anoth er maxi mu m on the fou rth su b reall y shook Lampkin into action as he cleaned the Coke cans be fo re storm ing the final five sectio ns for a loss of just two mar ks. His tota l of 14 pu t him on po le for the final, w here riders co mp le te all th e 14 sections in reverse order of quaIifying. Both Colley and Col omer fived the opening sub, but to a tremendous chee r Lampkin blasted the Beta throu gh clean. Colomer and Colley then failed on the secon d s h o r t, s h a r p h a zard , a n d a s Lampkin then fought to stay perfect on th e ha za rd , h is fa t h e r, Ma r tin , wa s sho u ting: "Come on, d o it. Clea n this and it' s all ove r!" Lampkin d id clean it and his dad was right ~ it was effectively all over. . o matter w hat Colome r and Colley d id from that point on, they were always playing catch-up. Lampkin's only hiccup was on the d umpsters, which he fived and w hich Colom er man aged to fight thro ugh for a three after twice bouncing back off the hazard, feet up , as the Montesa lost traction. Lampkin even bea t Colomer in the ra ce s, a rare o cc u rre nce. Fea rful of jumping the start, Lampkin often loses ra ces e ven before th ey begin, but he made no mistakes in Barcelona. "I wanted that badly a fter Toulo use no way I wa sn' t going to win tonight," Lampkin said af ter cong ratulating Colley on his third-place finish. As for Colley, he was hap py with his p erforman ce d espite being beat en by Colome r for second. " T h e re w a s no to uchin g Do u g tonight, but while I'm disappoint ed no t to bea t Ma rcr at least I' m well clear in third place in the cha mpionshi p now ," C oll ey sa id . " I h a v e n ' t r idd en w ell indoors this seaso n yet and I could ou rp ri s e th em in th e last co u p le of rou nds ." 1::\ 51.Jordl Stad ium Barcelona, Spain Results: February 7,1998 (Round 5 of 7) O IA:. 1. Doug Lamp kin (Be t) 10; 2. Marc Cc lcmer (Mo n) 24; 3. Steve Colley (G-G) 28. WORLD IN DOOR ·T RI A LS CH AM PIO NSH IP PO INT STANDINGS (At le r 5 of 7 ro und s); 1. Doug Lamp kin (91 / 4 wi ns); 2. Ma rc Co lc me r (91); 3. Ste-ve Co lley (74 /1); 4, Da vid Cobos (57); 5. AI1108 Bilbao (56); 6. Graham je rvis (34 ). Upcoming Rounds: Round 6 - Vienna, Austria, February20 Round 7 - M adrid, Spain, March 7 World Ind oorTrials Championship,Round 4 Colley collars one By John Dickinson TOULOUS , FRANCE FEB. 5 E , t was a surprise result for the fourth round of the World Cha mp ions hip In d o or Tri a ls Series when Br it ish rid er Steve Coll ey rose to the occasio n a nd took h is fi rst w in o f th e year as champ ionship lead er Doug Lampki n slump ed to fifth on the night after failing to reach the final. Colley's win was good news for Lam p kin, th ou gh, as it I

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