Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

G a s G a s U S A F a ll T rials S e ri e s R o u nd s 5 -6 : D c t o b e rte s t T w o -Da y Tria l Davi d Chaves dominated on th e grippy rocks that co ver th e off-road area below Pe nsacola Dam. He's t oo fa r out of the championship to be a co ntender. th ough. Third p lac e bel ong s t o Ca rp enter 's brother, Scott, with 12 1 poi nts, while Da vid Black sits in fourth w it h 106. T he t wo -day event was contested b y 1 10 r iders an d hel d o n a hot , 'A ug ust . like weekend in Oct ober. The ven u e fo r the event, w h ich i s a lso k nown as Octobertest and is hosted by the No rtheaste rn Ok lah oma T ria ls Team , was an off -road park locate d in the wa sho ut area below the lak e' s m a in d am , w hich has b e c om e a haven for trials ri ders , Jeep clubs and rock craw lers . Wie land started Saturday 's eve nt on the wrong foot by fiv ing the fi rst section , while J ason Carpent er began with a clean ride . Later , Jason was th e first rider to claim a cle an in th e tr icky "wate r hole" secti o n , while W iel and went ove r th e bars in th e deepes t portion there and to ok a bath. "Today I broke a ribb on , k illed m y eng ine and went swi m mi ng , " sa id Wieland , des cri bing just a few of his leas t favo rite m oments o f the day . "I brok e th e rib bon in th e very first sec t ion, and from there it j ust went dow nh ill :,\, -, j ust go t in too S T O RY AN D PH O T O S BY S HA N M O O RE/ T RIA LS C O M PETI TI O N NEW SPAPER LANGLEY, OK, OCT. 18·19 ~ herc o USA' s D av id Cha ves took a • doubl e victo ry at ro unds five and six o f th e Gas Gas US A F a ll Tria ls Series , held on be autiful Gr and Lak e near Lan g ley , Okl ah om a, w h ile Gas Gas rid ers J ason Carp ent er and J ak e Wieland co ntinued th eir seesaw battl e f or th e top p os iti on in th e o ver a ll champi on sh ip stand ings. Carpenter an d W ieland entere d the Oklahoma e ve nt t i ed fo r t h e l e a d i n o ve ra ll po in t s , but aft er two da ys of t ou gh c om petition in the unforg iving rocks below Pensaco la Dam, Carpenter left wi th a se ve n- p o int advanta g e o ve r Wieland w it h only tw o rounds left in th e ser ies . Chaves had effec t i v el y eliminat ed himself from the ti tle rac e wh en h e sk ip p e d t he two Kan sa s roun ds held last m onth, leav ing Carp enter and W ie land alo ne t o battl e o ver the cha m pionshi p. ---A ft or ~ I " ro unds , Ca rpe nter leads t h e p ro v ision al st a ndi ngs with 165 po in ts, fo llowed by Wieland w ith 158. 34 N OVEM B ER 5 , 2 0 03 ' cue I e ne""s b ig of a h u r r y and d idn 't ta k e m y tim e." Eve n Ch av es, w ho th ri ves on the bi g, g ri p py ro ck s, ha d a coup l e of discou raging m oments in the uneven terrain, d rop pi ng a one in the waterh o l e a nd go ing o ut o f boun ds i n another section to fi n ish la p one w ith a tota l of six po int s. J a so n C a rpe nter w a s t h e m o st c onsist ent of th e to p co m pe tit or s on la p o ne , drop p ing a t rio of twos t o end th e lap tied w it h Chaves for th e l ead at si x p o in t s. Sc o tt Carp en t er was t h i r d with n i n e p o in t s wh ile Wi e l a n d fi n i sh ed t he lap w ith tw o fiv es, a th ree and a one and hel d the fourth -p la ce' po siti on w ith 14. Ch av es w ou ld need o nly a sing le da b , taken in section three, to rega in his bal anc e in a jum b le of rocks to co mplete a m uch m ore foc used sec on d l ap. M ean whil e , Jasond ro p ped nine fo r th e lap - a five on the log in secti on six , a th ree on the loose roc k s of section five an d a one in the wate rhol e sectio n . Wi el and c o ntin ued h is downwa rd trend , d roppin g th ree f ive s, a three a n d a o n e f o r a t otal o f 19, w h ile Sc ott so lidified hi s thi rd spot with a 12 -p oi nt lap . C h ave s st a ll ed h is engine in the log secti on on the third and fi nal la p before posting seven c lea n rid es to take the wi n wit h 12 tot al po ints fo r the d ay . Jason dro pped a si ngle t hird -lap poi nt for a tota l of 17 and se co n d o veral l , w h ile h i s br o th er cla imed the third spot w ith a 12 -po int performa nce on h is fina l la p, givi ng him a to tal of 33 . W iela nd was fo urth w ith a tot al of 40 after tu rn ing in his best c ard of the day - a seve n. On Sunday , Cha ves was as sha rp as he has been all year and dropped only one poi nt all day - a support dab in sec tion eight of his second lap . '" ne ve r took my foot off the footpegs, but m y toe tou ch ed a rock , and they ga ve m e a po int for t ha t , but that's okay ," said Chaves wit h a grin. The Span iard used his dry -terrain ex pe rienc e t o sk irt th e ma rke rs and skip across the t o p s of t he rip - rap roc ks used in most of th e sectio ns en rou t e to his one- po int effort. J ust two poin ts behi nd Cha ves came W ieland, who w as o n a miss io n after his disappointing ride on Saturday. " Today w as 1DO- p er c en t better." said a relieved Wieland , who , wi th the finish, m ov ed bac k into seco nd ove rall in the standings after briefly d rop p ing beh ind Scott at the concl usio n of Satu rd ay 's com peti tion . '" th in k eve ry ri d e that I pu ll ed ou t of the hat this

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