Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rounds 13-1 RhodeIslan 4: d w hy these thi ngs ha p pen. But I took a five in the next section as well. I think I hit it wrong the first lap, bu t I sti ll made it clean." Of the second lap, he said, "I think I was a b it n erv ou s a n d I didn' t hit it righ t." He'd zeroed bo th on the first lap. "The first lap was very good for me:' he said . "The bike feels good and I'll just try a bi t har d er tomorrow, try and concentrate tomorrow . There wasn't a lot of time, but I didn't lose any time penalty." Pe te rs was th e top-finishing North American, his 110 close to 40 off the final world regula r. Bu t th e d ay had sta rte d badly w hen Pe te rs w hacked h is k nee w he n his Sheree Bultaco kicked back as he was going to tech inspection first thing in the morning. TI1at meant riding wit h a stiff knee, w hich he said affected his performance, "The sections a re pretty good - they're n ot deteriorating too fas t, excep t for 15, w h ich is int eres ting, bu t it's a poor las t section for a Wo rld Championship: ' he said . . Peters used a ca r analogy to compare the wo rld level to national leve l of competition. "The World Championship is a wh ole order of magnitude: ' he said . "It's the differe nce betw een dirt track and NASCAR. It's really a big step. But it's good for us . I enjoy ridi ng the events ." Because of their experien ce, there were some obstacles, including se ven, where the World riders could strut their stuff. "They can go up vertically be cause there's so much grip," Peters said. 'They can just sky up it. We're just not used to riding that level of stuff. As much as anything, it's not that I d on't thin k tha t we co uld n' t do it, but I feel uncomfortable tr yin g it, therefore the confidence isn' t there, so you tense up, you kind 'of freeze on the bike. As soon as you're no t doing it right, it's not going to go . There's no margin there." Aaron came to Rhode Island for really just one reaso n. "Ju st to make an appearance as the National Champion: ' he said. "People w ould st art asking q uestion s if I didn' t show up. They'd sa y, 'How come yo u weren 't there, how come you didn't ride?' So I thought I'd come and take a stab a t the ones tha t I could get through and say hi to everybody." Aa ro n, w ho 's d one abou t 10 World ro unds i n his ca reer, und erstood the seve rity of the course. 'They've go t to cha llenge the top five gu ys; in order to d o that you' re practically killi ng me . The eve n t wa s kind of d ry for this area , so it's probably sligh tly eas y for th e top World guys, bu t they were d efinit ely cha llenging for us No rth Americans . I had probably half a d ozen d ecen t rid es. I had abo u t thr ee cleans on the first loop and a cou ple on the second loop and overa ll just plugging away, just kind of spo tty here and there. I had a few good rid es and a few bad rid es, but overall an oka y World-round experience." if you make a little mistake to los e a point." Of the two, Co lornerhad the be tter day, d ropping four on the first loop and five o n th e second. He too k points in seven, 12 a nd 15 on bo th loo ps, but no fives, a nd the wi n, his first of the yea r, was guaran teed . "I like the sections, but I make on the second lap mistakes a nd I finish Iflth," he said. "Tod ay I start very we ll and I finish too very well. I thin k I win the race and it's my first victory this year a nd it's not a good year for me in general a nd this victory is very important." Colomer's previous best were seconds in the first two rounds in Spain and Portugal. As for his ending Lampkin's per. fect season, CoIomer said it wa sn 't importan t. "Fo r me, no; for Lampkin, sure, it' s not good because maybe he wants to win all the races: ' Co lomer said . "Now, sure, it' s not possi ble: ' Lam pkin's second-loop zero wa s historic and a little surprisin g coming af ter . his first-loop 13. "It's like I said yes terday - yo u make a mistake a nd you 've just got nowhere to recover from it," Lampkin sai d . "I made tw o small mi st akes and o ne major and they both ended in five. At the end of the da y, how many people are under 20? It's a World Championsh ip ; I think thing s need to be more difficult." Lampkin said he didn 't lose concentration. It was more that he wen t off line. "Rid ing, especially in this syste m, you're not goi ng to be perfectly on line every time," he said . "I go t off line twice in places w he re if yo u were off line, you cou ldn't recover, and tha t wa s it, really two fiv es . Sec tion fou r a n d s ec tio n seven: ' His section-seven five wa s on e of the more spectacular of the eve n t. As he nearly crested the hill, he went for the clean inst ead of putting a foot down and taking a one, like a number of riders . Th e tire (Right) Canadian Ryon Bell was the top-finishing North Ame rican rider as he rode to 19th an d 21st ove r the two days. (Below) Lampkin sprays the , champagne after furt her extending his World Cham pions hip po ints lead in Rhode Island. spu n out and the now rid erless Beta tumbled to the boltom of th e hill, mos tly unscathed, as Lampkin let out a scream of frustration afte r being ca ught a t the top byminders. "T h e seco n d lo o p was a b so lu te ly u nbelievable because th e secti ons had really deteriora ted, but u nfo rtuna tely he just mad e tw o fairly elementary mi sta kes on the first lap and it cost him 10 marks:' sa id Lampkin 's fath er, Martin . " Bu t it was that kind of trial. It was quite easy, or very easy, reall y. But very unforgiving - Brieflv. • • Montesa Honda HRC's Amos Bilbao is considered one of the old men oh rialing. though he's only 29. Still . he's see n a number of the great champions. including fellow Spaniard J ordi Tarres . who won the title seven times. but the rider he thinks tops them all is Beta's Douqie Lamp. kin. "I've been riding for many years . I think he's the bes t rider I ever saw." Bilbao said. "Because of everything. I remember him five years ago practicing with me at my house and he's very bad. And now. it's impossible to beat him. If he has no problemwith his body in the future. he will be champion fo r many years ." As for his ow n plans. Bilbao will remain a Montesa test rider for this year and the year 2000. and will also compete. "Iwould like to stay in trials. but It depends on the others ." he said. Beta' s Dougie Lampkin was as ked to compare the course to the ones he rides in Eur pe. "The mainof Europe. with the odd exception. is not as o dry as this." he said. "You get a lot of the marks because the sections are getting more slippery. That's what takes marks. more marks. really. Obviously, you could see if we had a downp our then them sections would be absolutely perfect - If we,saw some rain. So they're very similar to England. really. They've done a good job. It's a lot of effort to put on a World round. They could make 10·11· 12.13-1 4 - tllOse they could maybe make that a little more difficult. But for like the first seven sect ions..that's difficult because you just start putting stupid comers in and then it makes c it hard work for the marshal." DAY TWO en en en ~ 24 After seei ng the low scores posted on Saturday, Bill Mathew son , the cler k of the course, altered three sections. The scores increased on all th ree, thou gh the ride rs w ere mi xed on how much differen ce ,it made.. "T hey didn 't m a ke a ny differe nce; really: ' first-day winner Lampkin said . 'They only moved tap es; they didn't do anything significant, really." Montesa Honda HRC's Marc Colomer disagreed. "The trial yesterday was too easy and tod ay, three sections change, more di fficult," the Spaniard sai d . "It's mo re eas y Sherco Bultacc's Gra ha m J a rv is said the obstacles are more deceiving than they appear. "When we look around. we think the sections are ' very difficult and big. but there's so much grip so the bike see ms to go anywhere if the rider's willing to stand on it long enough." you couldn't really do a lot w ro ng. On that hillclimb (Section 7) yo u on ly had to be half a tire to the right, which he was, and he ca ugh t on th at camber and that were the end of tha t. You can't ha ve a dab on a hill like that : ' In section fou r there we re so me rocks in the bottom and Lam p kin clipped one o n th e way up, veering up out of th e tapes. "And tha t was it, really - game over: ' he said . Like Lampkin, Fujinami had a much better seco nd loop than first. He dropped Tl on the first run, including a five on three, bu t only four in the second , losin g three on 12 as he had on the first run. "Very difficult section 12," the Japanese rid er said in halting English. "Very slippery. Going up oka y. Goi ng d own I lose thr ee points." Fujinami had fini shed ninth o n the first d ay, wi th "many mistakes and fives. Yesterday m a n y, ma n y m is takes . Fir s t lap, three five po ints . After it's okay." Fujin ami fived se ve n and eight, then took a five a t 12. Af ter ta king a th ird on the first da y, Fujinami's fellow countryman Kuro yam a father of the two-time World Champion Douqie Lampkin. won the Rhode Island round and the fi rst-eve r WorldTrials Championship that year. RITC's Bill Mathewson said that the way his club gets the World round is that the FIM awards 'a round to the AMA. which then awards it to a club. "I have to have the organization and facility." he said. "Not many guys in the U.S. wanttodo more than one. It takes a year out of your life." The round cost S25.000. including a $3000 sanctioning fee. "We have to gen· erate a lot of money through sponsors and the club treasury." The Wagner Cup. the trophy that carries the engraved names of the winners of the American round of the World Trials Championship. was esta blished in 1975. the ,first year of the World Trials Championship. by Wiltz Wagner. the founder of the North American Trials Council. The trophy is kept on display at the AMA headquarters in Pickerington. Ohio. Dougie Lampkin is the third Lampkin to add his name to the cup. His father Martin was the first, then came his uncle Jo hn. Martin Lampkin won the first WorldTrials Championship in 1975 andnow travels the series with his son Dougie. Martin is Dougie's minder, which means he scouts the sections for his' son, points out lines. ana gives him advice and encouragement during his ride. The elder Lampkin has a booming voice and thick Yorkshire accent. which was misinterpreted by at least one reporter. "I remember Cycle News." he said. when this reporter approached for comments. What Lampkin remembered was the Cycle News reporter who covered the Donner Ski Ranch event in the mid··90s said that Martin "abused" his so n with his comments. clearly missing the point. (That reporter is no longe r with CN.l To make matte rs worse, Lampkin said the very same story was sold to Motor Cycle News and J rio als and Motocross News in his native England. After a fi rst day ~hich many riders felt was too easy. RITC's Bill Mathewson modified three sections. " I can alter up to three sections without Rhode Island Trials Club president Bill Mathewson. who was also the clerk of the course. said it was the club that gave the 15 obstacles their changing the time limit." he said. "After three I have to change the time limit. and I didn't want to do that." Among them was section 12. the high- .colorful names. "As we 'set them up. we had our own personal reasons est -scorinq sect ion as far as taking points on Saturday. which Mathewson for the way we were." he said. Among.them were "Danger at the Sh-t House." "Bill's Catapillar Sh·t."· "Bottoms Up." "The Snake." and "Wall of Death." . still felt was too easy for the top riders. On Saturday there were 155 points lost. the number rising to 173 on Sunday. "In the process of doing this. before I can officially do it. I have to let the juiy members know. and they agreed that I can change three sections. One federation wanted me to change fiv the five easiest sections. because I stated on the Internet e. that I would have five sections thatwo uld be of U.S. national calibe r. five of international caliber, and five of World·round. So .1 didn't want to take that five away from the other guys." This was the fourth time that the RITC had hosted a round of the World the others being in 1975. '1986 and 1996. The first year the FIM recognized tnals at a World level was 1975 when it made rts first foray out of Eur ope: coming here to West Gree nwich. Martin Lam"pkin, Cha mpionship.

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