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/146679
Gas-Gas factory. rider Amos Bilbao tied Avahla with 50 dabs, but h~d more deans. gave up 20 points, and Bilboa stepped off his footpegs 22 times. Also carding a 22 in the second loop was' Colome. The third loop was where it all fell apart for Torres, and - to his dismay . came together for Avahla. Tarres began the loop with a vengeance, cleaning the first five sections, but suffered a five in the tridey sixth section. Section six routed riders up and down a series of ledges in a rock waterfall and ended with a nearly vertical climb up a slippery rock wal~ Most riders tackled the majority of the section with ease, but fell victim to the final wall. Tarres had cleaned the section in his first two tries, but parted company with his machine on the third effort. Tarres went on to suffer two more fives- in the final loop, the second coming in section nine. Like six, section nine challenged riders with a steep climb to the finish. Tarres lost traction on the wall and tumbled to the ground below. Angered, Tarres shouted at his chase rider, who failed to catch his machine at the top when he faltered. After that, Tarres crashed again and didn't clean another section until the 14th and final stop. Tarres ended the loop with a score of 26. Avahla, on the other hand, enjoyed his best loop of the day and cleaned eight of the 14 sections to come in with only 14 points. Avahla's only five of the loop came at the 12th section. "It was a bad section; the hill was impossible to climb," said Avahla. Like Avahla, Bilbao carded only 14 points on the final loop and cleaned eight sections. No fives marred his scorecard, though, as he managed to struggle up section 12 without crashing. With 26 cleans to Avahla's 22, Bilbao was declared the overall winner, and celebrated his second World Cham- pionship event win. Avahla, though, was undoubtedly' the happiest man in the pits as he celebrated his first World Championship with a slew of his fellow countrymen. "I felt thiH I rode well today," said Bilbao. "I liked the course and I rode very smart. This is a beautiful place for a trial." "I expected the sections to be harder, and when I saw that they weren't, I was worried," said Avahla. "I followed ]ordi through most of the sections and I just tried to concentrate. I had a very good last lap and I knew that I was the winner." Tarres was gracious in defeat, and was among the first to congratulate Avahla. "I, am not too sad, because I know that you cannot win all the time," said Tarres. "Tommi rode very well and he deserved to win. I did not ride good today, but I will be back next year." American Geoff Aaron finished the day with only' five cleans, but was satisfied with his 30th-place performance. "I rode all of the sections at least once," said Aaron. "On the first loop, I was one of the first riders to hit the sections. On the second loop I waited and watched the top guys. I couldn't believe some of their lines - some that I w0uld've never thought of. I think I rode well; the sections were a lot tougher than they are at the Nationals and I learned quite a bit." CN Conneticut's Geoff Aaron was tHe top American rider and finished 30th overall. Spanish Montesa rider Marc Colome earned fourth overall with 57 points. Results O/A: I. Amos Bilbao (G-G) 50 points; 2. Tommi Avahla (Apr) 50; 3. Jordi Tarres (Bel) 54; 4. Marc Colome (Mon) 57; 5. Diego Bosis (Fan) 60; 6. Sleve CoTTey (Bel) 68; 7. Bruno Camozzi (Fan) 70; 8. Donato Miglio (Apr) 71; 9. Joan Pons (Bel) 72; 10. Takumi Narlta (Bel) 75; II. Thierry Michaud (Apr) 75; 12. Jean·Luc NiclOU (Bel) 76; 13. Robert Crawford (Mon) 78; 14. Piero Sembenini (Bel) 83; 15. Philippe Berlalier (Bel) 84; 16. Sleve Saunders (Bel) 84; 17. Marco Reil (Bel) 103; 18. Alex Van Den Broek (Mon) 105; 19. Angel Garcia (G·G) 108; 20. Thierry Girard (G·G) 109. 19