Pedro

PEDRO

Pi is the Spanish Factor in Trials...

SAMMY MILLER is up here–I am down here," said the small Spaniard, holding his left hand at eye level, his right at chest height. The Spanish Trials Champion, Pedro Pi, will tell anyone who'll listen that he's really not that good, that there are much better trials riders in the world. Few of those listeners, if they've seen Pi ride, put credence to his words.

Why? Pi is fantastic. His balance and control of a trials motorcycle are nothing short of phenomenal. He plays his machine as does a concert musician his instrument.

Sammy Miller, winner of the initial European Trials Championship and uncountable other prizes in British and international trials competition, recently toured the U.S. for Bultaco. Likewise, the personable Spanish champion was brought to the United States to display his skill in behalf of Montesa.

And, his skill was very much apparent in a Southern California Trials Association event at Saddleback Park-the identical venue for one of Miller’s trials school/exhibition weekends. Pi lost only 22 marks over the rugged sections, whereas the top three riders in the association were penalized more than 50 marks each.

Many of those who have watched both Miller and Pi could not refrain from making comparisons, then drawing conclusions. Some of the comparisons are: Miller rides with straightforward determination. Pi performs with a distinct graceful flair. Miller has 12 years of trials experience. Pi has three. Miller is 34 years of age. Pi is 28. Miller eschewed road racing and motocross to enter trials competition. Pi also has been a road racer, but has ridden to repeated national championships in motocross competition.

The conclusion drawn from these comparisons always seemed to contain an element of “If.” The section-side observers stated the belief that if Pi had acquired a number of years of trials experience equal to Miller’s, and that if Pi had the freedom to practice to the extent that Miller does, the Spaniard could surpass the Ulsterman in trials capability. That’s a broad statement. In six years time, if Pi becomes European Trials Champion, it will become a true statement.

Pi’s own view of Sammy Miller is that he’s “Superman.” Asked if he thinks he can beat Miller, Pi replied, “I can beat Sammy Miller if Sammy is 60 years old, and Pedro Pi stays 28 years old.”

Speaking in rapid-fire Catalan, a dialect that is comprised of some fast French and some speedy Spanish, and some sounds unique to the language, Pi told how he became a contender for the European Trials Championship, the championship of championships in trials.

At 14 years of age, Pi was apprenticed to the Derbi factory near Barcelona-as a clerk. Soon, he learned to ride motorcycles and asked to become a test rider for new machines just off the assembly line. His wish was granted. With experience gained in testing, he became a Derbi factory team rider. Only

two years later, he had ascended to 100-cc class road racing champion of Spain.

Not content to be a road racing champion, Pi began to compete in todo terreno, which means, literally, all kinds of country. The event Pi likens to California desert racing—with a variety of other challenges thrown in. The todo terreno features a cross country course of six or seven miles, interspersed with hillclimbs and stopping distance tests.

Todo terreno, Pi said, while popular in Spain, is of little value as a means by which to win international recognition. And, he added, the Spanish National Federation of Motorcycle Clubs long has favored road racing and, by reason of lack of familiarity, has in the past paid little heed to motocross and trials events. The situation is improving, Pi said.

However, in the few motocross events contested at the time, Pi earned the Spanish national motocross championship at age 20. Immediately, he was spirited away from Derbi by Montesa, the marque for which he has continued to win in motocross and trials competition.

A list of his national and international victories is too lengthy to be included within the framework of this article. Suffice to say that in 1968 he was able to lock up the Spanish motocross championship on points well before the final events of the season. With the championship in the bag, Pi was able to take the time to visit the U.S.

“Another world,” is how Pi described the United States. “I’ve been in all the other countries of Europe—America is completely different.” The Hollywood area, where Kim Kimball maintains the offices of Montesa Motors, Inc., Pi thinks is fantastic, but with parking problems equivalent to those in Barcelona.

Pi said he is delighted at the rise of motocross racing in the United States, and in his native land. However, he said, as a husband and father of a year-old daughter, he has come to prefer trials competition, which is as demanding as road racing or motocross, but “slower, less dangerous.”

In addition to displays of his skill, a purpose of Pi’s visit to the United States was to assess the North American motorcycle market for his firm. Because he is directly engaged in development of new machinery, Pi said his trip had greater importance than simply trials exhibitions. “We are building new machines with which we hope to compete on the world market-and we hope to make the best in the world.”

He said he anticipates great growth in the Spanish segment of motorcycle manufacture, because Spanish bikes are coming on strong in all sorts of competition the world over, and specifically are supplanting English made machinery as leaders in trials events.

“Best in the world” is a big order. If Pedro Pi attacks his tasks for Montesa with the skill that he employs in the sections of a trials course, the Spanish motorcycling industry could very well approach that goal.