Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128176
Trial des Nations The rest of the Group A teams were quite a ways off of the first three. Fourth place was the Italian team, a full 46 points behind Japan. The points margins in Group B were much more consistent, as Norway won by five over the United States, which in turn had two more points on Ireland. Australia was only nine behind Ireland in fourth. The United States lost the competition in a heartbreaker, leading until the last section of the second loop, only to falter and allow Norway the victory. STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARIO CANDELLONE PACOS DE FERREIRA, PORTUGAL, SEPT. 29 T hree years ago, in 1999, Great Britain emerged victorious at the end of the Luxembourg Trial des Nations. However, since then, it has belonged to Spain. When this year's Trial des Nations rolled into Portugal, Spain's westerly neighbor, many assumed the Spanish dominance would continue - but it was not to be. The facilities were organized well, with a sports center within the city serving as a hub for many of the concessions and services available to the public. The spectators were aided in their ability to follow the on-course action by buses, which transported the masses to the surrounding trials sections. A few of the top riders deemed said sections too easy, but that was mainly because there were forecasts of rain (though ultimately unfulfilled), so many of the harder obstacles were removed from the course. Of the 18 featured course sections, the four most difficult sections proved to be where the event was won or lost, as was evidenced by the winning margin. One point separated the winning Brits from the second-placed Spaniards, and a mere four kept the Japanese team back in third. All GROUP A three teams deserve recognition for finishing with such low points totals (eight, nine, and 12 points, respec- refusing to attend the podium ceremony. They were protesting a possible one-point mistake in favor of the tively), although the Spanish team might deserve less applause after British team, which would have forced a run-off to determine the winner. (Top) Doug Lampkin, the current King of World Trials, led the British team to Its first victory at the Trial des Nations since 1999. (Left) Marc Freixa and the Spanish team wound up second, bu1 felt the Brits got a lucky break when one of their riders may not have gotten a point deducted that should have been. The Spaniards lost to the Brits by one. (Right) Takahisa Fujinami and his Japanese compadres were penalized a lot on the first loop, bu1 the whole team almost made up for it with a near-perfect second loop, cleaning 16 ofthe 18 sections as a group. 34 OCTOBER 16. 2002' cue I e n e _ 51; The Japanese team was disappointed to find out that they would be the first to start, but they decided to warm up on some rocks near section one before entering it, which allowed Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy and France to overtake them on the course. It turned out to be a good tactic, because the only challenging sections were the ones with grass and rocks together, and the grip would improve after the portion was ridden a few times. Section four was the first that proved tricky for the top three teams. After a difficult descent, there was a 180-degree bend (which often caused riders to stop, which causes penalties) before a rock in a narrow pas-