Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Fujinami Takes U.S. Victory Lampkin sla mmed almo st cartoon-like into the lace 01 "the wall ," the resulting impact severe enough to break the lork yolks on his lactory machine and caused Lampkin to crash. As he lay motionless on the heap 01 rocks below, the w orst was feared, but alter a lew worrying minutes the gritty Yo rks hireman rose to his feet and limped away from the scene lo r furt he r treatment . Although re pai rs we re quick made both to himsell and his bike , Lampkin never fully recovered H Irom this crash, and this showed directly as he frved the very next section. His day was finally finished when he had his chain derail in another section later in the lap. With Lampkin out of the picture, a new three-way battle developed among Fujinami, Jarvis and Raga. While Raga posted the best second lap score and the best lap score 01 the day, Fujinami only dropped one more mark than his Spanish rival as he visited the now-sticky hazards lor RC rider Takahisa Fujinami recorded yet another double victory, this time at the USA Grand Prix in Duluth. Minnesota. June 5-6. Just two weeks after pulling off a similar fea t in his home round in Japan , Fujinami's run of four wins puts him 10 points clear 01 his RepsoVMontesalHRC teammate Dougie Lampkin, who endured a mixed weekend with a 4-2 result in Minnesota. The long haul to the United Sta tes marked the second and final fly-away eve nt lo r the 2004 World Trials Championship and also marked a return to Dulut h afte r a with the previ ous day 's alterations presented the riders with a suitably tough course. With a relatively easy opening section situated just behind the ski cha let, the real action began at section two. M arc Freixa was the only rider in the eventual top 10 to clean this hazard, his bike co ntro l on the final ascent, which leatured an undercut rock face lollowed by a muddy ledge, was simply exceptional. Fujinami, Lampkin and Gas Gas ' Adam Raga all needed a steadying dab he re , wh ile Sherco's Graham Jarvis needed two hefty dab s to reach the end cards. The continued heavy rain resulted in motivation. " Fujinami said. Oi l am very. very two-yea r hiatus from the area . Friday's pre-event course inspection extremely wet and muddy conditions, w hich pleas ed with t his partic ular victory, especial ly when [Dougie] Lampk in has finished fourt h, altho ugh I am no t happy with the way he cras hed , and I am glad t hat he is okay. I want to be World C hampion, and I ree l t hat I am o n cou rse to do t hat now, althou gh I by unfortunatefy ma de some sections impos si- the ride rs revealed that the sections w ere perhaps too easy lor the statu s of the trial ble, so me o nly passa ble by pushing ou t for scrappy threes , and section nine was can- and caused the top riders and factories to celed on t he seco nd lap for safety reaso ns as make a united req uest for th e hazar ds to be stiffened up. Th is request was me t w e ll by the o rganizers and the FIM jury, and their response was both immediate and positive. Even with 2 1 days 01 rain in the weeks prior to the tr ial, the gro und on the mountain was su rp rising dry on the surface, although a few inches below t he conditi on was stillgreasy. As predicted, to rre ntial rain arrived ea rly o n Satu rda y morning; this co upled water levels in the rive r rose rapidly. D espite the weath er and the heavy go ing, Lampk in still loun d sufficien t o pport unity to ride himsell back to t he head of t he fie ld to ho ld a two-mark advantage over Jarvis at the midpoint; Jarvis in tu rn was just a single ma rk ahead of Fujinam i. Lampkin's charge was to be halted as early as section three on his second visit. Failing to find grip at the po int 01 launch , Reynolds Hurt, Rutter, Emmett Win aSB With Rizla Suzuki 's British Supe rbike Championship points leader suffering a br oken collarbone during the second 01 two races in the Thruxton round, Michael Rutter and Sean Emmett took full advantage by sp litting victories on June 6. Race one at Thruxton was won by Rutter, the Honda ride r finishing ahead of John Reynolds in race one, with Emmett finishing third. Gregorio Lavilla finished fourth, the Spaniard filling in on the Rizla Suzuki team lo r 8 the injured Yuko Kagayama. In the second race , Emmett beat Rutter to the line by .783 01 a second, with Lavilla finishing third, just over two seconds beh ind. Reynolds still leads the title chase, 227219 , over Rutter, and he hopes to be fit for the next rou nd of the series in two weeks. "I have broken my lelt collarbone," Reynolds said. "I am planning on seeing a specialist tomorrow and do ing everything in my power to be fit enough to race at Brands JUNE 16, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS a second time. "W inning three trials in a row, especially when it has been as difficult as it has been today, has given me extra confidence and realize that to achieve this I must mainta in th is leve l throughout the season, witho ut on e single slip-up ." Jarvis ma de his first visit to t he podium and was suitably pleased . "Th is is a gr ea t result for me and follow s on Iro m the results I achieved in Japan," he said. "I made a re ally poor start to the sea so n, so I am pleas ed now to have the op po r- Hatch and the next round 01 British Superbikes. I have two weeks to heal and recuperate and will be foc using on nothing else. O n a positive not e, my Rizla Suzu ki GSX-R I000 was o n the pace to w in races today, and it remains the bike to beat. I will be back to win races and fight for the championship title ." Lavilla meanwh ile, was pleased with his , res ult in his BSB debut . "Racing in British Superbikes has been an excellent experience," Lavilla said. "I thought maybe in the second race I could win, but a 40th Anniversary tunity to recover; I have not really changed anything , but things seem to be go ing much better just recently. I just hope I can now keep this kind of form up for the rest o f the year. The wet and muddy conditions really suited me , so I will be look ing for a similar result tomorrow, although I appreciate it will not be easy." Sunday morning brought brilliant sunshine, and the rapid and extreme change in weather had been we ll anticipa ted by the organizers. so by sunrise thei r alterations had been made . Th ree o f t he sections had been made more difficult, and lour haza rds had been eased based on Saturday's results. Their work was well received and created another good eve nt des pite t he changi ng conditions. Th e conditions changed, but the winner did not . Fujinami could hardly be lieve his luck as he collected his lourt h victory in a row. "Today I must thank my ange l, as I have en joyed more th an just good luck ," Fujinam i said. "Dougie has handed me the tro phy. I am aware 01 that fact, but it does not sto p me being very happy with yet another victory. II I had not seen Dougie make his error, I would have do ne exactly the same, as the marker had been changed since yesterday. I am pleased to be ten po ints ahead, but the champio nship st ill has many trials still to run . I am in the best posi tion ever to become World Champion, but I know that it will still be a fight right until the very last round." Kicking himself for having gifted away the win , Lampkin remained in a reflective mood. "Let' s start with the positives - I am more than happy with th e way I rode today and can once again count myself unlucky to not have won," Lampkin said. "I have n't made a mistake that ba d since I was a Bclass school boy. The pr o blem was , we were rushing for time, and I never really loo ked at the secti o n pr operly, w hich is to tally ine xcusab le at th is level, and as a resu lt I have paid a ve ry heavy price . Losing 10 po ints to Fuji this w ee kend is not good, but th e champio nship is far from ove r. I need to start winning again and put th e pr essure on him. I know he has won the last four t rials, but it's not as if I have been far away from do ing the same . Fuji has definitely got th e run of the luck at the momen t, but that is what happens when yo u are rid ing well. I need to start creating my own good luck again." backmarker got in the way when I was leading, and by the time I overtook him, I was too lar behind to get to the front. I am pleased with a podium result and for the opportunity to join RizIa Suzuki this weekend, but I am very sad that John has an injury. I had planned to try and help him in race two, but Icould do noth ing but stand my bike up on the entry to the chicane when the leading riders slowed so suddenly, and Joh n clipped my bike. Thank you to Rizla Suzuki for all its hard work and support; I really hope Joh n can get fit quick enough and challenge lor the tide. This team dese rves to win."

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