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AMAINATC National Championship Observed Trials Series Rounds 3-4: Texas National SATURDAY Freddie Crosset, the defending AMA champ, won both clays of competition in north Texas. Here, he adds a point to his 76-point winning total during Saturday's quagmire. worked its way into every opening on the bike. Most of the teams had depleted their entire stock of brake pads and air-filter elements by day's end. STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE/TRIALS COMPETITION NEWSPAPER MUENSTER, TX, APR. 13-14 fter posting a pair of determined W wins, while riding under a lot of pressure, at rounds three and four of the U.S. National Trials Series in Texas, Belgian Freddie Crosset moved to within four points of series leader Geoff Aaron in the 2002 title chase. Aaron, who was on a roll after taking a similar double win at the first two rounds in Florida, dogged Crosset in the mud on Saturday and took an early lead in dry conditions on Sunday, but Crosset refused to give up, despite having problems, and moved back into contention for the championship. On Saturday, the Gas Gas-mounted Crosset returned to the pits midway through loop one and spent almost an hour replacing a muddamaged carb and throttle assembly, but eventually caught up with the pack. Torrential rains on Saturday wreaked havoc with the participants and organizers, as 38 of the 117 entries failed to finish, mostly due to the gritty, sand-based mud, which On Sunday, Crosset's problems were mostly mental - missing a marker in one section and surpassing the time limit in another. However, the four-time Belgian Champ never gave up and answered Aaron's strong early advancements with phenomenal second- and third-lap scores each day to take comfortable wins. Spaniard David Chaves made Sherco USA extremely happy with a third place on Sunday - his best-ever National finish - while Scorpa-mounted Ray Peters grabbed the third-place position on Saturday. With six events remaining, Aaron leads the series standings with 110 points, followed by Crosset with 106 and Peters with 79. Canadian Ryon Bell and Chaves round out the top five with 73 and 67, respectively. The competition was held on a iii 88 MAY 1, 2002' cue I e At 8:30 a.m., just as the first rider was scheduled to start, the skies darkened and a North Texas monsoon moved in over the area, bringing high winds, torrential rains, and a regional tornado warning. Large amounts of water were dumped on the local farm-land and in a very short period the pit area was turned into a small lake and the loop trails became fast-moving mini-streams. Event organizers (the North Texas Trials Association) scrambled to modify sections while the factory teams hurried to pull down banners and canopies before they were torn to shreds by the strong winds. With lightning popping all around, round three of the series got under way. Hoping the rain would move on, Aaron tried to wait out the bad weather and actually went back to his team trailer for about 45 minutes after picking up his first loop card. However, when the rain didn't ease up, Aaron headed out, eventually catching up with the slow-moving main group by midlap. Section one was a series of offcamber dirt turns and root-infested vertical climbs that were made virtually impassable by the deluge. It was here that Crosset set the tone for the day, becoming the only rider to see the exit cards on lap one. Ray Peters made a great ride as well but faltered just short of the exit. Chaves was the only other rider to complete section one, doing so on the final loop when the soil was somewhat drier. If section one was to be an indicator of things to come, it would be a very long day, but the NTTA did an excellent job of altering the traps to compensate for the rain. The setup crew ran just ahead of the first rider, making changes along the way. Section three, which had been set up in a creek, had to be thrown out when the water rose to waist-high. Chaves had the misfortune of dropping his bike in the creek while trying to cross. For a moment, only his rear fender was visible and he and minder Curt Comer lost several minutes pumping water out of the Sherco's engine. Because of the heavy rain, most of the riders were relegated to just surviving. The majority of the sections were "three-or-five" propositions, with the score depending on how well you could push. Other sections were more ridable, especially the ones situated high on the guJlies, where the water had a chance to drain. By the final lap, the sun began to peek out and offer a small bit of relief for the spectators, but it was too little, too late for the riders. Eventually. the event boiled down to whoever scored the best in the rid- small German farming community in North Texas near the Red River, and the trials featured 15 sections and a six-mile loop each day, which snaked up and down the rocky gullies situated next to the river. n • wv s Points leader Geoff Aaron was leading on Sunday after an excellent first loop, but he faltered on the second loop and slipped to second behind Crosset. He maintains the points lead after two rounds.