Grasse hoppers
By TMX Archives on 26th Mar 08
THE three-round 2008 Women's and Youths European Trials Championship got underway at the weekend at Grasse in France and there was a strong British presence, especially in the women's class where British girls packed the top 10. Winner of the Women's was seven-times Champion Laia Sanz who went absolutely clean through two laps of a dozen sections on her Repsol Montesa. The Spanish star is eager to win back the title she lost to German Iris Kramer last year. Scorpa-mounted Iris was not on top form as she is recovering from a recent arm operation which will limit her strength for a few weeks yet. Britain's JST Gas Gas contender Becky Cook put the pressure on Iris - and kept Laia honest - with an excellent effort and her second lap, on which she lost just a single mark, closed the gap to second-placed Kramer to just a single point as the pair both notched-up 20 cleans to the full-house 24 of Laia. Joanne Coles posted an excellent effort and after an opening lap of 15, really turned the screw on her rivals to leap-frog up to fourth place thanks to a five mark loop. Emma Bristow enjoyed two similar lap efforts for sixth place while Donna Fox roared back from a below-par opener of 18 to post seven marks on the final lap and seventh overall and make it four Brits in the top 10. Sasha Turkington claimed 11th for the MCUI. There were a dozen challengers in the Women's Inter class but only one winner and that was Sherco-mounted Kate Bullock. The One-off Sherco rider from Doncaster took a clear win thanks to a cracking second lap when she easily outpointed all her rivals after languishing behind German girl Franzisca Lohfink. Emma Morphett was the other Brit in the mix and Emma made a bright start holding fifth place at the end of the first loop but unfortunately faded to eighth at the end. In the well represented Youth 125 class, which boasted over 30 starters, Jack Sheppard on the MRS Sherco finished a fighting second behind home rider Tanguy Mottin. Jack posted an OK opening lap, spoiled by two maximums, and was holding joint fourth place but a stunning second loop, when he matched the eventual winner on a single dab, boosted him to a well-deserved second spot. Ben Morphett bagged a top 10 place as too many fives, five in total, stopped him finishing further up the scoreboard. Richard Sadler nailed points for 14th. Chris Short was top Brit in the popular Inter class, which saw almost 30 starters and Chris was right on the pace of his fellow contenders, only just losing out on a podium on a course where one five would put you right down the order. The series continues on July 27 in Italy.
EURO LADIES TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 1 – Grasse, FRANCE
1 Laia Sanz (E - Repsol Montesa HRC) 0 + 0 = 0
2 Iris Kramer (D - Scorpa) 3 + 2 = 5
3 Becky COOK (GB - JST Gas Gas) 5 + 1 = 6
4 Joanne COLES (GB - Ace Sherco) 15 + 5 = 20
5 Rosita Leotta (D - Beta) (13x0) 13 + 8 = 21
6 Emma BRISTOW (GB - JST Gas Gas) (11x0) 12 + 9 = 21
7 Donna FOX (GB - RPM Sherco) 18 + 7 = 25
8 Sandrine Juffet (F - Gas Gas) 19 + 14 = 33
9 Maryline Journet (F - Gas Gas) (10x0) 18 + 17 = 35
10 Carla Calderer (E - Montesa) (9x0) 22 + 13 = 35
11 Sasha TURKINGTON (IRE - JST Gas Gas) 26 + 20 = 46
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Sanz 20 points, 2 Kramer 17, 3 COOK 15, 4 COLES 13, 5 Leotta 11, 6 BRISTOW 10, 7 FOX 9, 8 Juffet 8, 9 Journet 7, 10 Calderer 6, 11 TURKINGTON 5,
12 Blandine Guillaud 4, 13 Ina Wilde 3, 14 Pauline Schmitt 2, 15 Corie Comba 1.
UEM YOUTH 125cc CUP
Rd 1 – Grasse, FRANCE
1 Tanguy Mottin (F - Gas Gas) 8 + 1 = 9
2 Jack SHEPPARD (GB - Beta) 13 + 1 = 14
3 Pol Tarres (E - Gas Gas) 10 + 8 = 18
4 Cedric Tempier (F - Gas Gas) (16x0) 14 + 5 = 19
5 Guillaume Pot (F - Sherco) (14x0) 8 + 11 = 19
6 Alexandre Berlatier (F - Gas Gas) 13 + 9 = 22
7 Romain Rigaud (F - Sherco) (11x0) 16 + 13 = 29
8 Jan Schaefer (D - HM Future) (10x0) 18 + 11 = 29
9 Ben MORPHETT (GB - Gas-Gas) 18 + 16 = 34
10 Alexandre Dissey (F - Gas Gas) 24 + 19 = 43
14 Richard SADLER (GB - Sherco) 35 + 22 = 57
SERIES STANDINGS: 1 Mottin 20 points, 2 SHEPPARD 17, 3 Tarres 15, 4 Tempier 13, 5 Pot 11, 6 Berlatier 10, 7 Rigaud 9, 8 Schaefer 8, 9 MORPHETT 7, 10 Dissey 6, 11 Jimmy
Faure 5, 12 Matteo Poli 4, 13 Gianluca Tournour 3, 14 SADLER 2, 15 Giacomo Saleri 1.
INTERNATIONAL CLASS (Non Champs)
1 Fabien Menard (F - Gas Gas) 4 + 2 = 6
2 Alexandre Pernot (F - Sherco) 6 + 1 = 7
3 Antoine Chantegret (F - Sherco) 6 + 3 = 9
4 Chris SHORT (GB - JST Gas Gas) 7 + 4 = 11
21 Jack STONES (GB - Gas Gas) 33 + 31 = 64
INTERNATIONAL LADIES CLASS (Non Champs)
1 Kate BULLOCK (GB - Sherco) 15 + 10 = 25
2 Franziska Lohfink (D - Sherco) 11 + 18 = 29
3 Marine Cordera (F - Gas Gas) 20 + 17 = 37
8 Emma MORPHETT (GB - Gas Gas) 21 + 29 = 50
NEXT ROUND: July 27 – Crodo Verbania, ITALY.