National Treasure...
By John Dickinson on 16th Sep 11
THIS weekend sees the International outdoor trials season come to a close with the staging of the annual Trial des Nations which this year will take place at Tolmezzo in Italy. The Ladies will hit the sections on Saturday and the men go into action on Sunday. And the British teams will both be in the thick of podium action on both days!
There's an impressive 10 teams lining-up for the Ladies event with the British squad of Emma Bristow (Ossa), Becky Cook (Sherco) and Hannah Styles (Gas Gas) going hunting for a win with Emma's other half James Fry hoping to take them to glory as team manager.
The opposition of course is headed by last year's winners Spain which is basically 11 times World Champ Laia Sanz on the factory Repsol Montesa backed-up by Mirea Conde and Sandra Gomez. Emma and Becky have been on top form this year as they have battled good-naturedly against each other and this competitive element will give our girls a great chance to stand on the top step of the podium.
The German and French teams are also pretty strong in depth and the final podium placing should be between these two.
When the men line-up on Sunday the overwhelming favourites will of course be the Spanish. Led by five times World Champ Toni Bou on his Repsol Montesa the squad of Adam Raga (Gas Gas),
Albert Cabestany (Sherco) and Jeroni Fajardo (Ossa) looks pretty formidable.
But if one team can cause an upset there is only Britain in the frame and the squad comprises Dougie Lampkin (Gas Gas), similarly mounted Michael Brown and Beta's James Dabill and Jack Challoner.
Doug always rises to the occasion and will do a great job of urging his fellow team members. There's sure to be a great Team spirit and it is this that can overcome the Spanish riders' individual skills.
There are just six teams in the Champions Group with Italy, France, Japan and Norway making up the numbers. Japan is led by long-time Repsol Montesa teamster Takahisa Fujinami who is joined by Honda's Akira Shibata and Beta mounted duo Yoshi Nomoto and Tsuyoshi Ogawa. Possibly not the strongest team they could field but Fujigas will hope to inspire them onto the podium. The French and the host Italians look similarly matched but the plucky Norwegians will be up against it in the sections.
As ever, the lower tier, the International Trophy Group, has attracted the largest number of entries with no fewer than 16 countries represented.
The Irish squad comprises Gareth Andrews (Beta), Sean Doyle (Gas Gas), Jonny Lunney and the experienced Andy Perry (both Sherco) with Frank Blackbyrne as team manager.
With teams from as far afield as Australia, America and Canada it is a tough class to call but the Czech Republic looks strong and could take some beating. A lot depends on the severity of the sections. If they are relatively easy then suddenly a lot of tams are in with a shout as it all becomes a battle of nerves!
We'll have a full report with pics in next week's paper.
