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/128620
A MA,/NAT C Natio nal C h a m pions h ip T ria ls S eri e s R ou nds 5-6 : Sadd lebac k P a r k E a s t Canadia n Ryo n Bell shined in th e wet conditions at th e National Trials rounds in Ke nt ucky. He fi ni shed se cond ove ra ll on Saturday but cam e ba ck to win Sunday's event . S T O RY AND PH OT OS BY SH A N M OO RE BEDFORD, KY, J(]NE 17-18 h e n the 20 0 0 Na t io n al T ria ls schedu le was a nno unced last No v emb e r , th e m ai n qu e s ti o n o n e veryone's mind was "will it ra in in Kentuc ky? " Not tha t rai n is ba d , but every year that a big event is sched uled for Ken tucky it ha s ra ine d . The Bedford area was h o m e to s ever a l brick m anufac t u ring p lants in the 19 60s and '70s and the s a me qualities that make Ke ntucky ' s red cla y ideal for stu rdy b ric k also m ak e it extremel y slip pe ry wh en wet. Two da ys of hard rain forced orga nizers to make maj or mod ifications to the cou rse for rounds five a nd s ix of the AMA/N ATC Nati on al Tria ls Ch ampionships held in Bed for d , Kentu ck y. Rising creeks e liminated th e ba ck portion of the co urse on Su nda y le aving only eight of the orig inal 15 secti o ns available . Threate ned by the possibility of c anc e llat ion , organizers worked late into th e night on S aturday in order to sa lvage Sunday's event. Des pite the W 58 JULY 5 ,2000 ยท e ye I e weather , both da ys went off witho ut a hitch . Th is was a major trib ute to the o rg a n ize rs (T ria ls Inc. , a nd S ad d le ba ck East) for turning a disa stro us s itua tion into a ve ry rida ble event. Bul t a c o USA ' s Ra ym o n d Peters tig htened up th e Na t io n a l series poin ts race b y b e c om in g th e th ird winner in five ro unds wit h a runaway win in Saturday's sli m e -fest. Canadia n Ryan Bell , o n a Mon tesa , gained v a lu a b le p oints o n se r ies le a d e r Ge off Aar on b y ta k ing s ec o n d o n S aturd a y a nd then com ing ba c k to tak e a we ll-d eserve d win o n S und a y. Aaron we nt 3- 2 o n the weekend and n ow h old s a 14- p o in t le a d in th e series ( 161- 14 7 ) ove r Bell with four ro u n d s to go, wh ile Pet e rs s its in third with 13 1. S ATURO A Y Hop ing to jum p o ut ahe a d of the com petition befo re the s ections dete rior ate d , Ray Peters had to rethink his s t ra te g y wh e n a s lice d re a r tire in s e ctio n o n e fo rced t h e Ne w Yo rk native ba c k to the p its for fresh rub ber. Add itio nal fives in sectio ns two n e vv s a nd th ree put Peters in a se rious ho le a nd pla ying c atc h- up fro m the sta rt. ERE /Ga s Ga s- m ou nted Ge off A aron had a mu ch b et ter s tar t , whic h includ ed a brilliant ride in t he ve ry difficult th ird sectio n . T he high lig ht o f th is sec tio n wa s a log s u s pe nd ed fo ur fe et o ff th e gro u nd . A tight t u rn im med ia tely b efor e t he of fend ing o bst ac le me an t that t h e ri der had to fi n d e no ug h t rac tion fr om a d e ad s to p t o ge t over. Aa ron 's two -p oi nt ride h e re was the b e s t sco re o f th e d a y and p rov e d th at he co uld ride the mud with th e be st of th em . Ryon Be ll had a go od sta rt as well a nd was one of the few riders to get t hroug h s e c t io n numb er t wo . He ba c ked that up with a so lid thre e in . the s us pe nd ed -log sectio n . Pe t er s se tt le d in to a groov e b y m id lo op a n d s t a rt e d to re e l o ff a series of im pre ss ive rides. "I never really got frustrate d with the way things were happenin g , " Peters said of h is slow start. "I kn ew t h a t no matte r what , as lo n g as I turn e d consisten tly improv ing lo o p sco re s, th a t it would wo rk o ut. T h in g s e v e n t u a lly s t art ed to fa ll tog eth e r.' Pete rs ' fortunes beg an to turn fo r th e bet te r in sectio n seven whe re he was one of only a few to even s ee the exit cards. The n , in s ectio n eig ht, a n up and dow n a ffair a lo ng a steep , s limy creek b an k , Pe t ers sco red a one while Aa ron a nd Bell took fives. S e c tion n in e was a n all -out , s t ra ig h t-o n hillclimb w it h a ledge thr e e -fourths of th e wa y from th e to p. Peters m ana ged three c le a ns h ere , th e o n ly rid e r t o d o s o . In fa ct, no other rider eve n got thr ough this sec tion on th e la st loo p. Aaro n finis he d lap o ne w it h a thre e - p o in t le ad ov er Bell , 36 -39 . Peters wa s o ne po int beh ind Be ll with 4 0 , in s pit e of the poor sta rt. Th e ra in stop ped as the second lap beg an a nd without th e ra in to wa sh th e mud fr om the ro ot s a nd lo g s , m o st of t he sec t io ns b e ca me mo re d iff icu lt. T h is lap w as rela t ive ly une ventfu l for Aa ron a nd Be ll. Aaron bett e red h is first- lap s c or e b y th re e po ints for 43 , wh ile Be ll kn o cked two fro m his first lap of 39 . Ray Peter s , a master at find ing wa ys to get through im possi b le s ectio ns, d ro p pe d 12 fe wer po ints t han h is first la p fo r a 28 -point loop. "The re is no do ubt th at Ra ym ond Pete rs kn ows how to ride m ud ," Ra y m ond 's minder Gary Jac ks o n sa id of a rgua bly the bes t m udder in the U,S, Raymo nd g rew up ridin g the s lippery ve nues of upst ate New York a nd is at home in the st uff. "I th ink riding mud is re all y a mental thing . Pe opl e who like it, do well a nd peopl e who do n' t a re beat rig ht o ff the ba t. Ra ym on d ma ke s up h is m ind to like it." Pete rs hel d a o ne- point le a d over Aa ron go ing into th e fina l loo p of the da y a nd , o nce aga in, he posted th e low es t s core with a 2 7 , giving him a tota l of 95 a nd the win. Aar on took a c oup le of fives in th e ea rly s ectio ns , wh ich ca used his fina l-loop s core to balloon to 4 3 . Bell dr op ped 35 points to s q ueak past Aa ron by on e poi nt for s e con d wit h a tota l o f 1 11 fo r the da y. Ne bra s ka ' s J ess Kem pk e s , o n a Ga s Ga s , finis he d fourth with 126 , followed by Can adi an Wils on Craig a nd Travis Fox in fifth a nd s ixth , re spectively . S UN OA Y Sunday's sections were ea sed up considerably a nd it was obvi ous that a m ista ke -fre e day wo uld be n e ces s ar y to win. Be ll came th e closest to th at form ula wh en he turned in a five point first loop th at consiste d of a two and thre e o nes . Sa tu rd ay's win ne r, Peters , entere d s e cti on 15 o ne poin t be tt e r th an Bell , b ut s c o red a five when he misjudged th e ex it a nd rolle d backwa rds , g iving him a to ta l of nine for the loo p. Gas Gas -mou nted J e ss Kempke s and Bultaco's Dav id Chaves of Spa in were also in contention with eight- and nin e -point first loo ps, res pectively. Aaron's da y we nt sou th wh e n he missed a m arker in a relatively ea sy s e cti on. Th e lo s s of co nce nt ra ti o n and th e resu ltin g five pretty much put Aaron o ut of conte ntion for th e win. Aa ro n finish ed th e first loop with 16 . Be ll ke pt it consiste nt o n th e sec o n d la p , turni n g in a se ven , whil e Kemp kes a nd Pete rs turned in identic a l 12s. Aaron was sta rting to ma ke a m o ve with o n ly fou r p o in ts o n th e seco nd loop. "I kn ew it wa s going to be a low s coring e ve nt a nd I thought that I had blown th e wh ole thing; I was just try ing to put m ys elf ba c k o n the m a p a nd sta rted riding better," Aar on said of his s econd -loo p c omeba ck.