Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Rounds 17 &18: Black Section Trials FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP TRIALS SERIES (l eft) Despite th is dab , Takahisa Fujinami was impres s ive in Switzerland, finishing fourth on Saturday and runner-up on Sunday. (Above) Back from a wrist injury, Kenichi Kuroyama lept to fifthand third-place finis hes. By Mario Candellone BIASCA.SWITZERLAND, SEP. 4-5 om ing into the penultima te sto p of the Wor ld Championship Tria ls Series, d efendi ng champion Do ugie Lam p k in was s howing a bou t th e closes t thing to weakness th a t he had a ll season . Su re , he had a lready clinched the title. Sure, he had wo n 16 of 18 rou nd s. Bu t h is on ly tw o lo sses had come at the previous tw o stop s , fo llow ing a perfect record through t he first s ix doubleround s. So m u ch for th e dra m a . O nce again , th e Brit was perfect, topping both days on his Spanishbuilt Beta. C en en en ~ ., ., N N .c E ., is. en 44 ROUND 17 The wea ther was terri b le Sa turday, w it h ra in faIling all day lon g. Most of the sectio ns we re transform e d into slip pe ry qu agmires, and the large cro wds expected by organizers never showed ; no more than 1000 specta tors were on hand. The rid er s took up the slack, with no less th an 28 co n tes ta n ts doin g battle. As usu al, the top rid ers wen t last, and Lampkin seemed a bit nervous i n th e fi rst sectio n ; he ca rded a o ne, w h ile his m a in ri v a ls a ll cl e a ned the trap. In sec tion three, Lampkin how ever, showed that he is stilI the man to beat. Pr ior to him, o nly newly crowned European champ Jose Manuel Alcaraz had pos ted a zero, and the rock s . had be en less muddy th en . Lampkin cleaned the section in much more slippery cond itio ns. A t the end of the first loop. he alrea dy had a 10-point advantage over co u n trym e n Grah am Jarvis and Steve Colley , 7-17. In the seco nd loo p , Lampkin made so me mistakes, and wa s upset wit h his rid e through the last three sections. His score on the loop was 18, on ly one better than Jarvis, but good enou g h for th e win . Jarvis was seco nd, followed by Co lley. ROUND 18 The weat her was more mil d o n da y two , wi t h no ra in and th e s u n even peeking through the clouds no w and then . Predictably, the cro wd was about th r ee times as large. Th e sec tio ns remained at least as difficu lt, as there was no water to clean th e mud off the rocks, but most rid ers' sco res dropped anyway. Lampkin was leading with an eig ht- Brieflv... - As reported in ' In the Wlnd- two weeks ago. champion Dougie Lam pkin is being courted by Honda-Montesa. but a decision has yet to be made.•After the Trial des Nations. he will examine the possible offers. ' said Lampkin ' s fath er . Martin . Honda -Monte sa manag er Miguel Cirera confirmed this: •At the moment, nothing c onc re te ha s be en don e ." Current Honda -Montesa riders Marc Colomer and Takahisa Fujinam i were equally noncom m ital. Lampkin's co ntrac t with Beta expires at season' s end . Though the event was held in Switzerland. the littl e town of Bi asca is i.n th e It a lian-spe ak- point tall y afte r one loop. fol lowed by the Japan ese pair of Ken ichi Ku royama a nd Tak ahi sa " Fu jig a s" Fu jinami. Kurovama wa s bett er stilI on the second loop: while Lampkin was off his form with a pa ir of fives. Still, the champ had en ou gh of a cu shion to notch an other win _ eN Black Section Bias ca, Switzerland Results: Se ptembe r 4-5 , 1999 (After 18 of 20 rounds) SATU RDAY: 1, Dougie Lamp kin ( &'1); 2. Gra ham ja rvi s IBul ): 3. Steve Colle y (G-C); 4, Takah is a Fujina m i (He n), 5. Ke ni chi Ku royama IBet): b. Am os Bilb ao (Mo n): 7. Brun o Ca mo zz! (e-G ); 8, Ma rcel Ius tribo (MOil); 9. jose Man uel Alca ra z (Mo o); 10, David Cobos (Bull. SU NDA Y: I. Dou glc Larnp kln Wid ); 2. Tak.lh isa Fu jina m i ( H im) ; 3, Kcnichhi Kuroyam a ( Be t) : 4, M.u C' Colo mer (Moo); S. Steve Colley IG-G); b . Graha m ja rvis (Bul) : 7, Jo!'ot' Manuel Alca raz (Mo o); 8. Amos Bilbao (Moo ); 9. Marc Freixa (G-G ); 10. Brunn C arn oz zl ( I-G ) . FIM WOR LD CHA M PIO NS H IP TRIA LS SE RIES . PO I T STAND INCS (A fter 18 of 20 rou n ds) : 1. Dougie Lampkin (352/16 win:,, ; 2. Takahis a Fu jinami ) (257); 3. Mar k COIOO1t. r (22t / 1); 4. Steve Colley (:!O2/1); 5. Graha m Ja rvis 09-1) 6. Marcel [u stribo (55); 7. Amos ; Bil ba o (15 3); 8. A lbe rt Ca bes tan y (4 3 ); 9 . Bruno Camozzi ( 37) ; to. M.,,(' Freix 0 23t a Upcoming Rounds: Rounds 19 & 20 - lavarone, Italy, September 11 · 12 each - all quite close to the start. Still. a minibus was provided for spectators too lazy to make the one-kilometer hike to the farthest sec tio n. Food w as available eve rywhe re. and the press office was wellsupplied. Englishman Grahani .Jarvis, second in a strong ride . on Sa turday , was c o mpe ting in Switzer- land on a new 2000·model Bultaco. The Spanish - dominant in trials just a few years ag o - are now se c on d fi d d le t o Great Britain . Bnts hold three of the top five positrons in the point standings . while thirdplace Marc Colomer is the top S paniard. Takahisa Fujinani i represen ts Japan in the run - ner-up spot. D avid Cobos wa s mak ing his re turn fo llowing i n g Tiern o regio n. nea r th e It alian borde r. . an acci de nt in an indoo r ev ent las t w inter. Many Italiail riders were therefore on hand. Cobos finished t Oth and 16th inSwitzerland. and should be next week for the circuit's h~ al stop in Italy itself. Five years ago. the Biasca ve nue had been used as the series ' final sto p . With the championship locked up and second place nearly so. the final stop will be rather anti -climac tic as far as competition go es . At Organization was strong in Bia s ca . There was plenty of room in the pits. and the Champ Dougie Lampkin won both rounds - again. tri als w er e div ided into five grou ps of three sec tions least unfam iliar bikes will likely be on hand. with Beta. Gas Gas and Montesa ailexpected to unv eil new models .

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