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/128238
G a s G a s U SA Fa ll Trials S e r ie s R o u n d s 3 -4: F lint H ills Wh il e W i e la nd w a s t he ma st er o f sec t io n two, J ason ex celled at sectio ns four and e i g h t , whi ch ul t im at e l y w e r e W ieland 's undoin g . S ecti on f our was a ro c ky, uphi ll creek bed w h ic h c la imed fou r points tota l fro m Wi eland on the d ay, co m p ar ed t o o n ly o ne fo r J aso n , and sec t ion n in e co n si st ed o f a series o f ro ck ste ps p rece ded b y lo o se t errai n , wh ich claim ed se ven to ta l poi nt s fro m W ielan d and only two fro m J ason . (Left) A c lean sweep in Wi ch ita put Jason Carpenter into a ti e w ith Ja ke Wieland in the Gas Gas USA Fa ll T rials Series. (Below ) Weiland finished second both days, ri ght behind Carpenter. /f as Gas USA ' s J aso n C arpe nter U go t a leg up o n the co m petition m ast ery of ad vanc ed skill s. S ec t i o ns o ne a nd t w o w ere th e t o ugh est of Sa t urd ay 's co m petit ion , a nd W ie land em erged with a cl ear adv an tag e over t he field afte r d rop - b y posting a pa ir of w ins at ro unds three and f our of t he Gas Ga s US A Fa ll Trial s Series he ld ne ar Wichita, Kansas. In an eve n t tha t t urn ed out to b e a two- ma n co ntest, C a r p e n t e r t o p p ed K ans an J a k e W ie lan d , w ho rode a Gas Gas , by a sc an t two po ints on Satu rd ay and by a single point on S u n d a y to m o v e i nto a tie with Wi el an d in t he overall series standi n gs . Ab s e n t from the event was ro und-one win ner David Chaves , who d ec id ed to skip the Kansas rou nds whe n his 20 04 m od el Shercos didn 't ar riv e in time to ma ke the trip. T h e two - day event, a.k .a. the F li n t hil ls Two -d ay Tri al, wa s ho st ed by th e A rk Vall ey Trials A ssoc iation and held in an abandoned rock quarry near Wi ch ita . It feat ur ed an abundan c e of rock l ed g es an d outcrop pi ngs to chall enge the 80-rider fiel d . Sections were tight and t ech nical and r e w a r d ed th o s e ride rs w ho h a d a ping a one and a cl ean on his open ing tw o rides . Ca rp enter took a tw o in t he first section but kill ed h is m otor and fail ed to get over a large bo ulder in th e seco nd sect ion and carded a five. Jason 's br other , M ar c , clai med a five as well in the second sec tion , but in a m uch m or e spectacular fashion. The younger Ca r pe nter elected to jump from one large boulder across a deep gap to the second boulder, but he wa s too ge nerous with the th rottle and nea rly en ded his weeke nd with a ho rrific crash . After t aking a while to shake off t he effects , Marc was able to co ntinue but was o nly able to bri ng up th e rea r. J ason and Wi eland match ed poi nts on the rem ain ing sections , each dropping an ad dit io nal three m ark s, and after one loop, Wieland led with fou r points, followed by Jason with 10 and Mo ntesa- m oun ted Dav id Black with 20 . STOR Y AN D P HOT OS BY SH A N M OO RE/ T RIA L S C OM PETITIO N N EWSPAPE R WICHITA, KS, OCT. 4ยท5 44 O C TO BER 29 , 2003' eye I e n e vv s B y da y 's e nd , Carp ent er had amas sed a t otal of 18 po ints fo r a narrow win o v er Wie la n d , w h o d ro p pe d 2 0 ove r t he 10 - s e cti on , t h ree - loop c o urs e. B l a c k finished th ird w ith 68 po in t s, wh ile th e third m ember of t he t ria ls -r iding Carpente r brothe rs , Sc ott Carpen ter (Gas Ga s) and Ga s Ga s-moun t ed Bi ll Sanderson ro unded out th e to p five wi t h 77 and 78, resp ectively, " I p ut m yse lf in a hol e w ith th at fi rst lap , but I j ust hun g in there an d luckily J ak e had a few m ist ak es and every t h ing wo rke d out ," said J ason . "T hese sec t io ns were reall y tight and it was ea sy to m ak e a fatal erro r. " O n Sun d ay , neither Wiela nd nor J ason seemed to encount er a section