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►Last July thousands of people hooted and
hollered as Suzuki's Mark Barnett mastered Goodwin's Gorge, the Grand Tetons and
the Toyota Power at the Superbowl of Motocross in the Los Angeles Coliseum.
Network television couldn't have cared less. Sports Illustrated couldn't spare a
sentence. Yet in that same
month, another form of stadium motorsports became a three-segment miniseries on
British television and finished ninth in the national ratings. What was it?
Stadium trials, a sport that several foreign nations have nurtured
enthusiastically. Just as with American stadiumcross, spectators can see every
bit of this indoor offshoot of observed trials without leaving their comfortable
seats.
The action finds the world's
best trialsmen tackling an odd amalgam of challenges that would have Jules Verne
scratching his head.
Obviously, the sections are
man-made. The traditionalists are turned off by their artificial nature, yet the
European go-slow-for-dough shows offer an assortment of visually stimulating
tests. Logs are piled and skewed at weird angles. Jumbled tangles of tractor
tires bounce and toss a bike and rider precariously off-balance. Elevated logs
demand that riders hop up and ride their length. Huge oil drums block forward!
progress. Steel water tanks douse straining engines. Log pyramids beckon the
riders 20 feet into the air. Volkswagens beg to he climbed.
As might he expected, those
riders with finesse and flair—circus riders as the English call them—are the
most successful stadium trials riders. So naturally the most successful rider in
Europe's stadium trials last year happened to be American Bernie Schreiber. The
1979 World Champion triumphed in all three stadium events he entered. And unlike
the world championship trials events, the stadium tests actually paid prize
money.
Schreiber first triumphed in
a Spanish stadium event sponsored by Solo Moto, a Spanish weekly motorcycle
magazine. He missed the next round in France because of a schedule conflict. But
in July, Schreiber appeared at the Kickstart Trial held at Donington Park in
England. The roadrace circuit actually was closed to spectators to facilitate
television coverage. Start money was about $220, and Schreiber ultimately
received $1100 for winning the event.
The organizers structured the
Kickstart Trial like equestrian dressage—the Olympic sport in which competitors
must urge their horses over barricades and water jumps against the clock while
simultaneously being evaluated for form. Sixteen riders were invited. Two
eight-rider heats eliminated half of the entry. Each finalist assaulted the loop
twice, forward and backward. Schreiber dropped only 20 points in the sections.
The next stadium trial was
held at a soccer park near the Italian Riviera. It drew about 4000 people and
paid $1000 to the winner. The emergence of the SWM factory as a trials power has
stimulated interest in the sport and a six-round stadium trials circuit now is
being planned for next year.
It's clear that despite the
protestations of the traditionalists, stadium trials quietly is taking root on
the continent. The riders might be skeptical of being paid as stunt riders, but
one fact never leaves their minds: Stadium trials offer prize money as well as
start money. The events on the world championship schedule do not.■ |
Competition 
