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Gas Gas USA Pro Extreme Trials Series Rounds 7-8: Pesacola Dam STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE/ TRIALS COMPETITION NEWSPAPER DISNEY, OK, OCT. 20-21 herco-mounted David Chaves (;) proved that he is a showman as well as a National Championshiplevel trials competitor after posting a double win at the final two rounds of the Gas Gas USA Pro El(treme Trials Series in Langley, Oklahoma. With the pressure obviously off after wrapping up the Pro Series Championship the week before in Muenster, Texas (and a majority of the purse that goes along with it), the 25-year-old Spaniard rode to win in Oklahoma but, in the process, took every opportunity to play to the large crowd on hand. Once Saturday's competition was completed, Chaves and Gas Gas USA's Jason Carpenter obliged the crowd even more with an exhibition on several large boulders located in the shadow of Pensacola Dam. A very large contingent of spectators, mostly from the nearby lakefront community of Disney as well as hardcore trials enthusiasts from surrounding states, gathered below the dam to witness Chaves, along with some of the top riders in the U.S., perform on the grippy outcroppings left behind after years of water spilling from the dam. The run-off area offers the perfect terrain, albeit mostly rock, for offroad vehicles - particularly trials motorcycles - and the Northeastern Oklahoma Trials Team set eight very t 16 NOVEMBER 7, 2001 • cue spectacular, and sometimes wet, sections for the series finale. Chaves' win on Saturday was comfortable, but he was pushed hard on Sunday by Carpenter and Betamounted Ron Commo of Vermont, who traded second- and third-place finishes over the weekend. Carpenter finished second overall in the Gas Gas Pro Extreme Championship final standings, with Wichita's David Black third. SATURDAV Saturday's sections were the mo~t challenging set so far during the series and the final results reflected the difficulty level in everyone's scores with the exception of the top three or four Pro riders, who found the local terrain to be deceiving but not intimidating. "There is too much traction here," Chaves said of the very porous rocks. "Even more than in California. I went to six pounds in the front [tire) and five-and-a-half in the rear to keep the front tire from grabbing too much." Chaves was delighted in the fact that he could leap larger gaps with a shorter run because of the extra traction and looked somewhat like an astronaut in low gravity bounding along the moon's surface as he hopped his Sherco from rock to rock in the sections. Sections number two and five were considered the most challenging of the day with number two consisting of several trips in and out of a pool of water onto jagged rock steps. The transition from good traction to bad was deceiving here and this factor gave Carpenter fits all day. Section five was one of the crowd pleasers and ended with a 12-foot climb up a large rock slab, which sat at a near vertical angle to the ground. Several attempts at the slab ended in heaps at the bottom of the section making it the primary photo "op" of the day. Carpenter started loop one on a sour note when he five'd section two with a slip in the water. Commo went to school on Carpenter's ride and escaped with a well-placed one. Chaves did one better with a clean. (Left) Ron Commo finished second on day one and third on day two at the Pro Extreme Trials finale. (Right) Jason Carpenter traded finishes with Commo, finishing third on day one and second on day two. At five, Commo took another safety dab - this at the top of the steep slab - to help get himself out of the exit. Carpenter took two points to get out, while Chaves used two smooth throttle blips to get up the slab for a crowd-pleasing clean. Chaves took his only point of the loop on the entrance of section six when he misjudged a step and needed a dab to recover his balance. Commo had a similar dab in section seven. After one loop, Chaves led with one point, Commo followed in second with three and Carpenter sat in third place with seven. On loop two, Carpenter bettered his ride in section two, getting through the watery mess with a three but gave it all back when three'd the exit slab in section number five. A one in section seven gave him a second loop score of seven. Commo had two single dabs, one in section four and one in number seven, while Chaves again had a onepoint loop, taking a solitary dab in section seven when he got wedged between two rocks and had to foot to free his bike. Going into the final lap, Chaves held a three-point lead over Commo (two points to five) with Carpenter a ways back in third with 14. David Black sat solidly in fourth with 23, while Gabe Mizell and Ron Lee battled over the fifth place position. Carpenter saved his best loop for last, taking one's in sections three and four and a two in section five. In contrast, Commo had his worst loop,