Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

vaged third overall, four points ahead of Gas Gas-mounted Kempkes. "I think it (today's loss) was good, because it kind of puts you in your place," Bell said, referring to his dominant performance the previous week in Canada. Peters faired only slightly better on the third loop with 19 points after suffering two fives in easy sections. Kempkes had loop scores of 16, 10 and 22 for a total of 48, while Gas Gas teammate Oliver Clamagirand had three consecutive 16s for 48 also. Kempkes won the tie-breaker and fourth place by virtue of having more cleans than Clamagirand. section 13, the hardest of the day. The section had a long and near vertical climb near the end with a rock face at the exit. Aaron had a one and a clean on his first two rides, but perhaps his best ride was on the third loop. Aaron's rear tire hit a roller near the end of the long climb which stopped him dead just before the vertical rock face exit. With a' blast of throttle, Aaron dumped the clutch and unloaded his tall frame, virtually jumping his bike up the four-foot rock to the exit. "It feels great," Aaron said, of his winning performance. "Obviously, yesterday gave me a lot of confidence." SUNOAY For Sunday's event, the Columbia Observed Trials Association used the same sections that were used on the previous day, but modified them to be more difficult. Some riders considered Saturday's event too easy and were looking forward to the challenge. All eyes were focused on Aaron to see if he could repeat Saturday's perfection. Riding with even more confidence, Aaron would turn in less than half the points of the second place finisher, but Sunday's most impressive story was Kempkes. After more than a year away from the national trials scene, most considered Kempkes a long shot. Kempkes' 18-point first loop exactly doubled Aaron's first loop nine, but was one point better than Peters's score for second place. Kempkes and minder Mark Manniko had decided to try to take some pressure off Kempkes and jump out ahead of the pack. The gamble paid off, but the trade off was that the duo used up twice the energy cleaning the rubble from the sections. "Today the jitters were gone," Kempkes remarked in a post-event interview. "I was a nervous wreck yesterday, it being the first time back and everything. I was just out of control." Clamagirand turned in a 20 to sit in fourth after loop one with Bell in fifth with 22. With the housecleaning out of the way, Kempkes turned in an impressive four-point second loop, which tied Aaron for the best loop of the day. Ray Peters knocked ten points off his first loop for a nine, while Clamagirand cut his first loop score in half to post an 1L Aaron was oblivious to Kempkes' threat and turned in a blistering sixpoint third loop, even though the sections had deteriorated considerably. Making his best rides on the toughest sections, Aaron cleaned the demanding double step in section three on both the second and third loops while most of the top riders posted at least a five in the section. Aaron also had brilliant rides on Aaron was also quick to give credit to his minder Jesse Hoffman. "He probably checked my tire pressure a dozen times each loop. He's out there blowing the dirt off the rock steps and making sure there's no big rocks in the lines. He's spotting me for the big rocks so I will have the confidence to give it my all and not have to worry about falling. That really helps me mentally, That's important, because trials is a mental game." eN AMAINATC National Observed Trials Championship &oldendale, WA Results: April 1 & 2 (Rounds 1 & 2 of 10) Round One (Saturday) Championship: 1. Geoff Aaron 16; 2. Ray Peters 35; 3. Ryan Bell 44; 4.Jess Kempkes 48; 5. Oliver Clamagirand 48; 6. Wilson Craig 79; 7. Dan Johnson 80; 8. Cory Pincock 96: 9. Travis J. Fox 108; 10. Andy Johnson 115. Expert: 1. Lonny Hallsted 15; 2. Dennis Sweeten 20; 3. Chuck Sutton 27. Expert Sportsman: 1. Kip Webb 24; 2. Derek Martinson 31; 3. Daniel Larson 45. Sportsman: 1. Bob Caswell 42; 2. Stephen Olson 45; 3. William Hendrickson 60. Hig~ School: I. Steven Braun 14; 2. William Duggan 20; 3. Brandon Wince 20. Womens: 1. Christy WilJiams 32; 2. Pam deBruin 64; 3. Kerry Williams 72. Sr -30: 1. Barret Deck 47; 2. William Hines 50. Sr -35: 1. David Rohrschneider 8; 2. Ron Lee 10j 3. Bill Ibsen 23. Sr -40: 1. Kenny Mosteller 1; 2. Shan Moore 7; 3. Scott Stewart 28. Sr -45: 1. Howard Galbreath 18; 2. Keith Adams 19; 3. Larry Drawhorn 20. Sr -50: 1. Nils Mantzoros 37; 2. Marvin Edgington 43; 3. David Craig 45. Sr -55: 1. Bill de Garis 22; 2. Dale Malasek 26; 3. Bob Pick 81. Sr -60: I. Bill Thompson 47; 2. Gary Stewart 136. Sr -65: 1. Jack Heminway 117. Sr -70: 1. Hawley Slaton 118. Youth: 6 Yr: 1. Regina Webb. 7 Yr: 1. Bo Ibsen 3; 2. Keith Sweeten 5. 8 Yr: 1. Sabrina Webb 13. 9 Yr: 1. Justin Tollefson 27. 10 Yr: 1. Will Ibsen O. 11 Yr: 1. Mark McGregor 0; 2. Kevin Scott 9.12 Yr: Jana Davis O. Round T_ (Sunday) Championship: 1. Geoff Aaron J 9; 2. Jess Kempkes 34; 3. Ray Peters 39; 4. Oliver Clamagirand 43; 5. Ryon Ben 56; 6. Wilson Craig 68; 7. Cory Pincock 91; 8. Travis Fox 97; 9. Dan Johnson 97; 10. Andy Johnson 116. Expert: 1. Dennis Sweeten 17; 2. Ron Commo 37; 3. Chuck Sutton 40. Expert Sportsman: 1. Derek Martinson 22; 2. Kip Webb 25; 3. Eric Tidmore28. Sportsman: 1 William Hendrickson 55; 2. Bob Caswell 62; 3. Lee Pennington 67. High School: 1. Steven Braun 18; 2. Brandon Wince 20; 3. Keith Wineland 28. Womens: 1. Christy Williams 39; 2. Kerry Williams 76; 3. Pam deBruin 89. Sr ·30: 1. William Hines 61; 2. Barret Deck 61. Sr -35: 1. Robert Schwenke 23; 2. Bill Ibsen 27; 3. David Rohrschneider 30. Sr -40: 1. Kenny Mosteller 15; 2. Shan Moore 28; 3. Scott Stewart 36. Sr -45: 1. Howard galbreath 25; 2. Larry Drawhom 26; 3. Keith Adams 29. Sr -50: 1. Nils Mantzoros 39; 2. David Craig 44; 3. Marvin Edgington 64. Sr -55: 1. Dale Malasek 20; 2. Bill de Garis 26; 3. Bob P;ck 100. Sr -60: 1. Bill Thompson 73; 2. Gary Stewart 151. Sr -65: 1. Jack Heminway 133. Sr -70: 1. Hawley Slayton 164. (Above left) Jess Kempkes may have spent all of last year off the circuit, but that did not stop him from placing second in round two, On Saturday Kempkes placed fourth. (Above right) Wilson Craig hopped to two sixth place finishes throughout the competition. BRIEFLY • • • Defending National Trials Champ;on Tommi Ahvala w;(l mis the west coast swing of the national series, wh;ch includes the first four rounds of the series. in order to Fulfill his military obligat;on to his home country of Finland. Ahvala will return to the states ;n the summer, but has not determined if he will contest any rounds in 2000. If Geoff Aaron continues his winning ways and claims a sixth national title it will tie him with Ryan Young for the most national trials titles. Aaron is also creeping up on Young's record of 50 ind;v;dual national event w;ns. Aaron has 37 after the Goldendale event. Team Montesa' s Ryon Bell prepared For the 2000 season by spend;ng the month of February ;n Spain as a house guest of World Champ;onsh;p contender Amos Bilbao. Bell contested the first Span;sh National event of the year in Almaria and spent three weeks practicing with the Spanish Montesa team. The Washington event also served as rounds three and four of the newly formed North American Motorcycle Union (NAMU) continental championship. a joint venture by the CMA, AMA and the NATC ;n accordance with the FIM's requ;rements. Ryon Bell of Victoria, British Columbia won the first two rounds ;n loco, British Columb;a. Bultaco USA surprised the ranks by bringing ;n last minute entry David Chaves of Spain. The 23-year old from Malaga. Spa;n is the top rider from Southern Spain. Accord;ng to Bultaco USA team manager Ryan Young. Chaves will contest the entire national series as an exhibition rider only, meaning his points will not count towards the series championship. The small town of Goldendale, Washington, which is located 80 miles south of Yakima, welcomed the trials community with open arms. "The city council voted unanimously to support a national event this year and a world round event in 2001," said event organizer Mike Erland. The Columbia Observed Tr;als Association hosted event was held in and around the town with part of the loop runn;ng through the c;ty streets. The local fa;rgrounds served as the start;ng area and p;ts. Assistant trials marshall John Isherwood, who was responsible for the course layout. added that local landowner David Telford also donated the use of his land for a number of the event's sections. Even the local Sheriff helped with score keeping. Extreme Riding Entertainment's privately sponsored team for 2000 consists of five-time national champ Geoff Aaron, It-year old Cody Webb ;n the High School class and Kerry Williams in the Women' s divis;on. Jared Malmquist will contest the Southern California events and Jesse Hoffman will return as team mechanic and Aaron' 5 minder. Team ERE will contest the ser;es on a Gas Gas with support from.AXO, Renthal. Galfer. Elf. Race Tech, Alpinestars, Pro Choice, Hebo. Smith. Motoworld and Bender. Of the 136 riders entered in the Goldendale event. 125 were Support class riders including nine riders under the age of 12 competing in the Ryan Young Products sponsored youth series. Because of the close proximity to Canada, many of the entries were from north of the border. The High School class was dominated by Canadians with Steven Braun of Canada taking his Gas Gas to the win on both days. W;(Ilam Duggan and Brandon Wince, both of the Great White North. took the second place spots on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Christy Williams of British Columb;a won the Women's division each day while Pam DeBruin of Cal;fom;a and Kerry Williams. Christy's sister. traded second and third places over the weekend. Wyoming's Kenny Mosteller was the low-scoring rider in the Support classes each day and took the Senior 40 class w;n as well. cue I e n e _ S • APRIL 19, 2000 23

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