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/143876
(Clockwise from top left) Eddy Lejeune's win in Finland clinched his first world championship. Toni Gorgotscored a second, five marks behind Lejeune. Former world champ Yrjo V~sterinen placed sixth. American Bernie Schreiber, bothered by an arm injury, could only muster a 10th. Gilles Burgat took a third and could challenge Schreiber for second in the points standings with two rounds left. (File photos.) World Championship Observed Trials Series: Round 10 Lejeune crowned World Champion in Finland By Mike Rapley T AMM ISSAR I, FI NLAND , SE PT. 5 Eddy Lejeune, th e 20-year-old Belgian , clin ch ed the fi rs t Trials Wo rld Cha mpions hip for Honda and h i mself when 14 h e took a co nvin cing victory in th e ten th ro und o f the 12 round seri es a t Tamm issari, on Finl a n d ' s so u th coast. . Lej eune' s win was hi s seventh of this year' s ser ies, and even tho ug h ... there are still two rounds to be held in Sweden and Poland, Lejeune can 't be beaten in the point standings. Am eri can Bern ie Sc hreiber. L ejeune's closes t r iva l. had a poor da y a nd fin ish ed tenth, due p rimaril y to an inj ured arm sus tai ned in an area tri a l. Even if Sch reib er wi n s th e n ex t two rounds o n his SWM. and Lejeu ne fa ils to sco re. with bo th riders finish ing o n the same nu m ber of points, then Lejeune would still be the winner fo r h e has th e gr ea ter n um ber o f wins. But Schreiber, eve n though he has no chance of regainin g th e title, still has every chance of maintaining hi s second place. He has to keep ahead of defending champion Gilles Burgat, who is just ten points behind the Califo rnian. O nce aga in. th e tria l in Fi nland was hard wit h 22 sections set out over a 13 m ile ro ut e..At the co m pletio n of the first of the two la p s. Burgat was the clear leader with a h andy five marks in han d over Toni C or go t, who in tu rn was just one ahead of Lejeune. Bu t wh en rai n came dow n a nd tu rned th e a lr eady difficult tri al into a much harder aff air, L ejeune came into hi s own, finding the four-stroke Honda's ability to find grip in gripless situations so much better than his two-stroke rivals. Lejeune pulled out a clea r lead . lea ving Corgot and Burga t to dispu te seco nd place on th eir o wn. They in fact tied on th e sa me num ber of m arks lost, wi th Spa niard C orgot ga ini ng second p lace over h is Fr en ch rival with the gre a ter nu m ber of sect io n cleans. • Results 1. Eddy Lejeune (Hon) 97 ; 2. Toni Gorgot (M on) 104; 3. Gilles Burgat (Fan) 104; 4 . Danilo Galeazzi (SWM ) 116; 5. Ulf Karlson (M on) 121 ; 6. Yrjo Vesteri nen (Bul) 121 ; 7. Jose Tabarelli (Fan) 125; 8 . TimoRyysy (Fan) 131 ; 9 . Thierry Michaud (SWM) 134; 10 . Bern ie Schre iber (SWM) 137. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINT STANDINGS: 1. Lejeune (139); 2. Schreiber (1091; 3. Burgat (99) ; 4 . Gorgot (69) ; 5 . Michaud (381; 6 . Galeazzi (35) ; 7. Karlson (30) ; 8. Coutard (241; 9. (TIEl Vesterinen l John Lampkin (231.