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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128104
F IM W orld C h a m p ionsh ip Tria ls Series R o u n d 2: M . C . do P o rtO STO RY A ND PHOTOS BY MARIO C A N D ELLONE PACOSDE FERRERA, PORTUGAL, APRll. 28-29 o u wouldn't know it from looking at the results , but Brit Dou gie L am p k i n ' s t itle defense ma y be a tough one this ye ar. Yes, the Montesa rider had won both d ay s at the first sto p , and he did likewise at th is ev ent in Portugal, but his ri vals seem cl oser than last y ear. And - dare we say it _ Lampkin hasn 't been displa ying h is dom inance as c ons istentl y as i s usual. Day one saw the champ having to fight for his win, as the Japanese riders (especi ally Takahisa Fujinamil and sev eral young Spaniards are improving the ir rid ing (Lamp k in 's c ountr ym an G raha m J arv is is also s t r o n g e r , n ow t ha t he 's o ver h is injury). Of course La m pk in did find a way to w in, as he a lmost invari ably d o es , an d h i s d a y - t w o v i cto ry was m ore convincin g. Cl ea rl y , his hard working riva ls still ha ve a bit more of that hard work ahe ad of th em . y l o w in g sect i o n (th e .m o st diffi c ult, w ith small , wet rocks and n arrow turns di stributed over its cons iderable l ength) , the fi rst rider to g o was Spaniard Marc Freixa, scoring three. After him. more threes - no less. In the group of top ri de rs, all m ore or less were pr oc eed ing together, with li ttl e d ifference in t he sc o re s. Onl y Colomer wa s very nervous, collecti ng po in t after point. At ha lf co m pet it ion , Ja rvi s wa s l ead in g with 15 m a rk s; be h ind h im were ti ed Lamp k in and Fre i xa with 16 , and Fu j inam i w as fourth wi th 18. Both Lampkin and Fuj inam i tu rned in superb second loops. The former scored onl y 1 1 marks and cl inched the v ictory, and the latter ( Wi t h a score of 13) was able to tie up the run ner-up position . In th ird plac e was F r e i x a , w hile J a rv is d r o pp e d t o fou rth . For t he first t ime in man y years, Colomer was out of the po intspa y ing pos itions. Ja rv is started Saturday off on the right foot. After the first fiv e section s (all quite easy for the top riders) , he and Lampkin were the only ones to arrive with less then thre e po in ts _ both scoring popular twos. In the fol - In the Junior classification (r iders aged 20 o r youn ger, an d exc luding sections fi ve, 10 , 1 1 and 13) Eng lis h m an Sam Conn o r wo n aft e r a b i g fi ght agai n st Josep Ma nza no (with tw o poi nts more) and Ta ich i Ta naka ( w ith thre e m a r ks mor e ) . B e h ind th em wa s th e ne w Span iard entry , 15-year-o ld J eroni Faja rdo. 54 nevvs CAY 1 MAY 1 6, 2001 • IC U IC I e BRIEFLY••• The poor results of Marc Colo mer are somewhat surprising. as he performed quite well last year. The fact that he' s riding a new bike (a Gas Gas) may have some thing to do with it. The Spaniard finished 19th and 12th in Port ugal. This round was held in the same location as last year, in a small Village near Porto in the north of Port ugal. The event enjoy ed great organization and very good sections . All of the zones except for the last one, were situated on a hill three miles fr om the start area, and featured big stones and stre ams, Some of the sections were very technical. wit h enough challenging obstacles that riders couldn't affo rd a moment of distraction. The press office was also well-organized. wit h five computers connect ed to the interne t available to the joumalists. as we ll as two fax machines and four telephones. M any free buses were provi ded for the spectators, and the competition was also free to watch . Paco s de Ferreira is famous for its Portugese furniture . and its town hall was a major sponsor.