World Trials is off Down Under
By TMX Archives on 25th May 12
THIS weekend is a notable one for World Championship Motorcycle Trials as it is the first time since it was created back in 1975 that the series has visited the continent of Australia.
THE FIM have allocated two rounds of the 2012 series to the Trials Club of Victoria and they will run over this Saturday/ Sunday at a venue at Mt Tarrengower, Malden, which is to be found some 135 kilometres north west of Melbourne.
The area is located in the heart of Victoria's historic goldfields.
The top 10 World Championship contenders are all signed-up which of course includes Michael Brown, James Dabill and Jack Challoner, ranked six, eight and nine respectively while 12th ranked Alexz Wigg is also making the trip.
Ossa's Dani Oliveras and Gas Gas privateer are also making the trip from Europe.
In the Junior class Britain's sole representative will be Jack Sheppard.
The Beta rider was initially not going to make the trip after his hand was still displaying a lack of strength but has improved considerably over the last few weeks and Jack is keen to get back into World Championship action.
In the Youth class Britain will be represented by Bradley Cox who recently created quite a stir with his excellent showing in the Scottish Six Days Trial.
In total there are 13 World Championship challengers, a dozen in the Juniors and seven Youths.
There are no Aussie challengers in the full World series but several have signed-up in the two support classes plus more in the International Open class.
In order for the trip to offer value for money the Australian round will be followed a week later by the usual double header in Japan so riders and teams will fly straight on rather than return to Europe.
Reigning World Champ Toni Bou commented on the significance of the historic trip to Australia.
Said Toni, "Although I know very little about the venue for the all new event I am actually very excited to be travelling to a new country. We have an important opportunity by going to Australia as we can really help to develop trials in this region.
"By taking the FIM Trial World Championship to new countries we can lift the profile of the sport in general and hopefully encourage more people in Australia to ride and follow trials.
"It also makes good sense for the team's budgets to combine Australia and Japan in the one trip. I am really looking forward to the next two weeks.”
