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F IM World Championship Tri a ls S e r ies Sa turday was C olomer - that is unt il he h it section four. There, he f ived , hurtin g hi s c ha nce s si gnifi cantl y . Lam p k in was leadin g until secti on 11 , w here h e tou c h ed a fl a g a n d w a s d o cked the m ax imum f ive point s b y t he strict o bse rve r. That mad e th e w aterfa ll in t he last zone. He o n ly had 11 points aft er the first loop, whi ch wa s go o d eno ug h for th e lead . In se c o nd wa s M a rc Freix a, who f ive d secti on s nine and 10 but rod e very well everywhere e lse . H is score w as 14, o ne a head o f Albert C abest an y , wh o had fi v ed sect io n nine . Lamp kin w as mad about his sec ti on - 15 mistake from the f ir st loop, but unlik e many riders, h is anger only seem ed to make him more foc used. In fact, h e en ded the se c o nd loop wi th an incredible 14 cleans, with a si ngle t h ree b e in g h is o n ly devia tion fro m perfection . That meant no c ha nce fo r a w in b y his rivals , thoug h F uj in am i despite a b ad c ra sh in easy sec t io n 12 - scored th e loo p 's seco n d -best performance wi th an II. T h is earned h im second p lace on t he d ay , w h ile Freix a a nd Ca besta ny st u m b le d an d sl ipped to sixt h a nd ei g hth, res pect iv ely . T h at left th e th ir d step of the po d ium for Sp an iard M a rcel J ust rib o . CAY2 E v eryth in g is m o re diffic u lt in th e r a in , a n d a l t ho ug h t h e org a n iz ers S T O RY A N D PHOTO S B Y M A RIO C AN D EL LON E MOTEG!, JAPAN, JUNE 10-11 e r h a p s the gre at e st tria ls r id er ever fi n ally got what h e d es erved : perhaps the g rea te st -e ver tri als c o m - P p eti t ion , as th e se rie s t ook a r a r e n on-Eu r op ean detou r a n d v i s ited Jap a n f o r t h e f i r s t t i m e eve r. Th e J ap an e s e w e re up t o th e t a s k of putting on a n event w o rth y of world c ha m p D oug ie L amp k in , with g re at org an ization , hug e c ro w ds, road - ra c in g- sty le p its and a ge nerally im p res sive facility . W ith th e Japanese riders r i d i n g w ell o f lat e, there wa s a real c ha nce o f a ho m e wi n , but Lampkin saw to it th at t his didn't h a p p e n . The B r iton made m istak es in the earl y parts of both da ys, b ut was always best when it m atte red . Takah isa Fuj in am i an d M arc Colomer continu ed th e ir battle fo r t he runner-up sp ot, with Fujinami getting t h e nod for now . As fo r the J un io r class , t he t itle ha s now b ee n d ec id ed , w ith Adam Raga taking the W orld ti tle . C A Y ... Lampkin showed immediately tha t h e is not dau nted b y h uge crowds , but the Japa nese ride rs w ere understandebly affected by the pressure o f t ry ing to w in in their h ome co untry. Lampkin was st ill clean throug h t he firs t se ve ra l se c tions , b ut he d abb ed in t he difficu lt n int h section and th en c r as he d ba dl y b efo r e t h e art i f i c ia l 48 JUNE 2 8 , 2000 ' c u e I e (Above) Dougie Lampkin got to show his considerable skills to a huge crowd of spectators in Japan, The im p re ssive venue was new, but the result was the same, with Lampkin w inning both days. m ade fi ve sec t io ns ea sier , t he prec ip ita t io n m ad e Sunda y h arde r. In th e f i r st , i n d o o r - s t y l e se ct ion near th e s ta rt , F uji na m i f i v ed , w h i le K en ich i K u ro ya ma lo st two p o ints. One r id er w ho st a rted o ff m u c h better t ha n on BRIEFLY. •• Japan welcomed the World Trials traveling circus for the first time ever. and the event was held in the Honda-owned Motegi Twin Ring circuit - a two-hour drive' north of Tokyo . Using the road-race circuit enabled organizers to assign a large garage for each team. along with the tools to work on the bikes. Also appreciated by the series regulars were showers. restrooms, food services , bike-washing facilitie s. etc . The t w o pre s s r o o m s we re also better than could have been hoped for. Each was like a school room. with at least 50 desks. Eash desk was supplied with an electri· . cal conne ction and a phone line. On 16 monitors (four for each wall in the two rooms). it was also possible to follow the competition live. thanks to video cameras placed in many sections. Japanese lunch was also included for the many jou rnalist s · three of which we re Europ ean. On Friday evening in the Hotel Twin Ring. located inside the circuit. there was a presentation. followed by a big party for all the peop le involved · riders. minders. mechanics. jo urnalists . etc . Ni ce plates of every kind of food (including spaghetti cooked by an Italian chef) were available to everybody. Inside the pits. two garage·rooms were dedicated to a small m useum of vintage trials bikes. On display were rare examples from Merlin-Cagiva. Armstrong-Hiro. JJ-Cobas. plus bett er-known bik es like old Bultaco. Ossa. Montesa. BSA. Triumph models. and c ha m p ri de n e r v ou s l y for th e n e x t se ve ra l sections , d abbing twic e at the end o f th e f irst lo op . In fact, he wa s o n ly in third at th e first loop ' s com p l et ion - p rac t ic a ll y unhe ard of for Lampkin. Having scored 17 points , he was better ed by both Fujinam i and Co lomer , wh o had 15 eac h . While Lampkin wa s sti ll angry, Fujinam i failed to ca p italize, falling badly in section sev en and inj urin g his thigh. Colomer bobbled as well , fiving sec ti ons four and nine . Lampkin , m ean while, assuaged his anger by riding a superb loo p , dabbing here an d th ere w here necessa ry a nd p i c k in g up a th ree in difficu lt sec t io n n in e . His total was j ust five, g iving him his 12 th victo ry in 14 roun ds. Fujina m i , d e sp it e t h e p ai n from h is c ras h, sco re d 15 points fo r th e ru nner- up p osit ion, w ith Co lomer ta k in g th ird . eN Twin Rin g Moteg i, Japan Results: June 10-11. 2000 DAY 1: 1. Dou gie Lampkin (Mon) ; 2. Marc Freixe (G ·G) : 3 . Albe rt C a besta n y ( Be t ); 4 . Takahisa Fuji nami (Hon); 5. Kenichi Kuroya ma (Bet): 6. Da v id Cobos (Sh e) ; 7. Marcel J ustrib o (Mon ) ; 8 . Am os Bilbao (Mon) ; 9 . Jo se-Man uel A lcaraz (Mon ); lO. Marc Colem er (Mon ). DAY 2: 1. Dougie Lampkin (Mon) ; 2. Takahisa Fuji nam i (Hon) ; 3. Ma rc Cole me r (Mon) ; 4. Marcel Ju stribo (Mo n) ; 5 . Marc Freixa (Mon ); 6. Adam Raga (G -G): 7. Kenich i Kuroyama (Bet) ; 8. David Cobos (She) ; 9. Tomoy uki Oga wa (Bet); 10. Steve Colley (G·G). WO RL D C'SHIP T RIALS S ERI ES POINTS ST AN DIN GS (A ft er 14 of 2 0 roun d s) : 1. Do ug ie Lam pk in (268/1 2 wins); 2. Tak ahi sa Fuj inami (205) ; 3. Marc Colomer (193) ; 4 . Marc Freixe (158/1 win); 5 . Ken ichi Kuroyam a (139/1 wi n ); 6. Steve Colley ( 135 ) ; 7 . Marc el Just ri bo (124 ) ; 8 . A da m Raga (101): 9 . David Cobos (99 ); 10. A lbert Cabestany (93 ). was shown to the public. .Japanese Takumi Narita. well known on the World circuit for his strong showings in the early '90s. planned to ride it in the Japanese Championship the following week. Narita didn't campaign this World round because he was the co urse designer. and it would have been unfair. There were 15.000 spectators on Saturday and · incredibly for a trials more than 20,000 on Sunday. As with everything in Japan. the entry ticket was quite expensive (the yen equivalent of $9 on Saturday and $14 on Sunday). Each different group of sections could be reached bybus. The sections were split into four groups . lndoor-style numbers one and 15 were near the start : two through fi ve were together. as we re s ix t hrough nine and 10 through 14. Conditions were a bit wet on Saturday from the rain dropped the day before. but the real rain came on Sunday. The top woma n rider in Japan is a prof essional named Aya Hagiwara (pictured). The 24·year·old puts on demonstrations around the country for sponsorYamaha. Adam Raga won the first-ever Juni or World t itle after finishing third on Saturday. Raga won Sunday. but the overall winner for the weekend wa s J osep M anzano. Taichi Tanaka is second in the point s standings. Japanese Tomoyuki Ogawa. who q uit the World c ircuit in '9 5. showed he still is quite skilled. Despite the disadvantage of an early day-one start. he performed quite well. and he finished ninth on Sunday. He is currently the number-three rider in Japan. more current Fantic . Ho nd a fo ur-s tro ke . Yamaha TY and Beta Zero models. This marked the first time that the ScorpaYamaha (the trial s bike with the lowe st claimed weight in the world. pictured) n e vv s There were only 26 riders at the start. and nine of them were locals. Only 17 European riders could afford the expensive trip. which is why the Japan round is not scheduled eve ry year.