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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128234
F IM W orld Championship Trials Series R ound 9 : G r a n d P r ix of E u r o p e eave" IJvue Lampf(in clinches his seventh title, reachine ,' v r d i Tarres in the Wvrld Trials Champivns,.ips bvvf(! (Left) Doug Lampkin bag ged h is seventh consecutive Wo rld Trials Cha mpion sh ip v ia steady 2 -3 f i n ishes at the Grand Prill of Europe in Spai n . (Below l eft) Takahisa Fujinami effectively l ost h i s chance to st ea l the Wo r ld tit l e afte r a d isappointing f ifth on day one. He fin i sh e d f o u rth on day two. (B e l ow) Adam Raga was the man t o b eat in Spain. The Gas-Gas rider went 1- 1 i n front of h is home cou ntrymen. S T O RY A N D P HOTO S BY M A RIO C A N D ELLO N E VALDEMANCO, SPAIN, SEPT, \3·14 " eig ni ng W orld Tr ia l s C hampi on D o u g i e L am pk i n c el ebra t ed a record t y ing sev en th t itl e , t h is on e perhaps t he m o st un c ert ain , at th e Gr an d Prix of Eu rope in Valdema nc o near M adrid, Spain . Althou gh m ain ri val Takahisa Fuj i· nam i has rac k ed up six wi ns in th is cham p ionship cha se aga inst the fo ur of Lampk in , i t w as n ot enoug h to dethron e Lampkin , who k ept his cool in th e c ruci al m om ents of t he fight wh il e Japan ese a p pea red m ore nerv ou s and rode below his norm al s kill l e v e l. T he f igh t bet w een t he t wo p ret end er s, separa te d by o nly 10 p o ints be for e th e e v e n t , e n de d aft e r Fuj in am i o nc e a g a in bu ckl ed f'. und er th e pressure. Lampk in d id not sho w his usual co nfiden ce and co n ce ntra t io n eithe r, but what he did was su fficie nt to k ee p F ujina mi beh in d him o n both da ys . T he GP victo ry w ent to Ad am Raga , w ho was unstoppab le in front o f h i s h om e co u ntry me n on b oth days. Go od performances we re also turned in by the other top Spani sh rid er s, su ch as Marc Freixa ( th ird and second) and Albert C ab est an y , w h o was in good position at half competition on both days. BRIEFLY••• La C abrera·Valdemanco. about 35 miles from M adrid. was chosen as the site of the final round at the last minute bec ause at the beginning. the eve nt w as scheduled for the Jarama ci r- cuit as start and pits. but since some sections were drawn on private areas outsi de the circuit, the owner - for political reasons - changed his mind and retired the permission! S e c t ion s were grouped i n t h ree : Two to fo ur were three miles from the sta rt ; five to 12 a couple of miles more . and the others near the paddoc k. The last two we re indoo r-style . Al so . the show was free . About 300 0 peo ple atte nded on Satu rday and 5000 on Sunday . acco rding to the event organizers. World Junior Champio n Shau n Mor r i s of Great Britain had decided to ride in the to p class for this last round. but havinq seen the sec tio ns on Friday. he changed his mind and too k part as Junio r rider . honoring his title by win ning on both days . W orld Junior runner-up Poland's Tadeuz Blazusiak climbe d up a class and finished in the 15th on both days. Technology for observers? : A com pany from Clermont Ferrand in France has developed a little too l to put on the axis of a rider's rear w heel that is able to tell if it turns backward or not. In case it turns backward, it lights itse lf or beeps . A test of the device will be co nducted at the Trials des Nations in two wee ks. As per usual at this time. many silly season r umors are being heard. The only co nfirmed rider seems to be Adam Raga on Gas Gas. because his co ntract expires the next year. Some words betw een Lampkin and Beta have been spo ken. although at the moment no one wanted to taik about it. Also. in case Lampkin moves to Beta. Cabestany wou ld be on the market. and the Sherco factory could be interested! 46 O C TO B ER 1 , 2003' C