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FIM World Championship Trials Series Round 6: M. C. Lazzate conclusion obvious: The more difficult the trial, the more of a gap the champ will put on the others. As for Albert Cabestany, the Spaniard was unable to replicate his inspiring performance of the previous French round, where he won the overall. He was only able to secure a fifth and a third, so his goal to overtake Fujinami in the standings' (another Lampkin title is almost a given now) suffered a major blow. but three through 12 were all in the woods, where traction was a big problem. Almost all the riders fived the high wall of section two, and in the natural sections, the differences were minimal. Marc Colomer proceeded quite well in the first loop, riding ahead and thus finding some sections in better condition, but in loop two he threw away a possible strong finish. Lampkin and Fujinami were the best in loop one, posting a 35 and a 39, respectively, with Taichi Tanaka and Adam Raga tied for third at 45. In the typically quick second loop, only Lampkin was able to nearly repeat his performance, picking up 37 marks. Fujinami made many mis- CAY 1 As early as Friday, every rider who saw the sections was worried about their feasibility. The zones were just too muddy - especially the ones that were situated in the woods (most of them). On Saturday, the weather only worsened the conditions, so the average score was very high. Sections one and two were on rocks along the river, (Left) Doug Lampkin won saturday's World round in Italy, but he couldn't repeat on Sunday. (Right) Takahlsa Fujinami spoiled Lampkin's bid for a perfect weekend by taking top honors on Sunday. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO CANDELLONE CHIESA VALMALENCO,ITALY, JULY 6·7 he fans who turned out at the Minnesota World Trials round ear· lier this year got to see a Saturday win by the established king and a Sunday victory by a tenacious chal· lenger, with the challenger getting the edge on the overall. The scenario was identical at the most recent round in Italy, with the same two riders (challenger Takahisa Fujinami and king Doug Lampkin) doing the honors. The only difference was that more people got to see it, as heavy preevent promotion resulted in more than 10,000 fans attending on day two alone (about 5000 showed up on day one, but that was mainly due to inclement weather). The hosting club once again had a superlative performance, with an entire village completely dedicating itself to the event. Even a national television station dedicated about an hour of airtime to each day' unheard of in the niche segment of trials. The same venue hosted the Trials des Nations in 1998, and it's situated at about 3000 feet in a mountain area with typically unpredictable weather. This weekend was no exception, as T 52 JULY 24, 2002' cue I e clouds and rain marked Saturday's competition, while Sunday lived up to its name. Attention was paid to detail, with a terrific pit area located around a swimming center; buses available for the spectators to access the more distant sections; entertainment provided by the Show Action Group; and two announcers following the top riders and explaining the rules of the trials game to the spectators. Unfortunately, despite all this effort to cut a fine image to outsiders, someone forgot to tune the hazards to the proper level of difficulty, and the first day was entirely too difficult (the rain didn't help mattersl). Of course, the top riders didn't mind, as the setup allowed them the possibility of recovering from early mistakes, but the bulk of the field was in over its head. Organizers intelligently made the decision to simplify 11 sections for day two, and the complexion of the competition changed completely, taking on a much more human element. On Saturday, Lampkin pretty much schooled his competitors, with only Fujinami managing to resist for one loop before surrendering to the superiority of his British teammate. The Japanese rider won on Sunday, but only by a single point, making the nevvs BRIEFLY••• While the Italians wait for their riders to reach the elite level of the top competitors, al least they can take pride in their ability to organize an impressive international event. The competition, which was held near Sondrio in northern Italy, offered fantastic scenery and top-notch organization, and it was truly a wonderful event. The sections were mostly in the woods, and they were spilt into three groups. Zones three through seven were at Caspoggio (another mountain village): eight through 12 were in yet another village called Lanzada: the remainder were near the start, with most being beside a river (two, an indoor-style section with a big wall, was the exception). Sam Connor retumed to the World Trials scene after having deserted the last two rounds for an accident occurred in a transfer section at a British Championship round. Connor's retum to the competition was sealed by a wonderful victory in the first European Championship round. held at Senez, France, the previous weekend. Several times this season, Italian champ Dario Re Delle Gandine has been forced to drop out due to small crashes. Here, a 13th-place finish on Saturday earned him three points, but he was unable to start on Sunday because of pain in his ankle, which he hit hard on a rock. Marc Colomer was unlucky on Sunday when, at section five of the first lap, his bike blew a gasket and lost all its coolant. The Gas Gas mechanics did their best to fix it quickly, but the Spaniard still had to ride alone at the back of the pack, Despite this disadvantage, Colomer had the best second-loop score, with his 11-point tally being better than the two contenders for the victory! Part of Marc Colomer's success under duress on the weekend may have been thanks to teammate Bruno eamoni. The Frenchman was unhappy with the level of the competition on Saturday, and he rode listlessly. On Sunday, he rode along with Colomer and -opened" the sections for him. Taichi Tanaka is very close to winning the Junior title. The Japanese rider won the class on Saturday and was runner-up on Sunday (his rival Fumitaka Nozaki won on Sunday, but was only eighth on the first day). During the awards ceremony. one of the organizers who delivered the trophies was a senator in the Italian Parliament, named Cesarino Monti. Monti and his assistants have been spotted at other foreign rounds, studying how to best organize a top'notch event.