British Outdoor Trials Championship
By TMX Archives on 13th Apr 08
James Dabill narrowly missed out on winning the opening round of the 2008 British trials championship, when he was defeated on a most cleans tie break by friend and rival Michael Brown.
The event held in the Scottish highlands on the banks of Loch Leven proved to be a tough start to the series, with the exception of the top three riders in the championship class, everyone else recorded triple figure scores.
Dabill did not begin the day well with three fives in the first four sections after a nervous dab in the opening hazard. Despite this initial set back, James on board his Sandiford supported Future TRW Montesa recovered well to hold a slim lead after the first lap of twelve very slippery sections. Without any further failures on his morning tour, Dabill came in two clear of Brown and seven marks in front of Jarvis and Haslam.
With only one brief shower during the day, sunshine created the perfect backdrop for this scenic venue, where conditions on the ground were wet and often muddy. Dabill produced his best performance of the trial on the second lap to further extend his lead at the top of the table. His loss of just fifteen marks included only one five at the eighth hazard. With just one final visit to the now well bedded in twelve sections, James was some eighteen marks ahead of Brown, and looking comfortable for the victory.
However this was not to be the case, as Dabill suffered a disasterous last lap, which included no less than three maximums, as he closed with his worst lap score, that being twenty-nine marks. This poor finish and time penalties on the first lap would prove to be James downfall, as Brown prouced the best lap of the trial to steal the win from his ex team-mate.
Dabill will travel to Italy later this week, for the third round of the Italian outdoor series, with James having won the first two rounds of the championship to date. This comes just one week ahead of the next round of the World outdoor championship that will take place in the USA during the last weekend of this month.
Disappointed at being defeated in such a late manner, Dabill stated. I started badly and finished badly, and therefore perhaps deserved to be beaten. As with the first two World events, I need to find some level of consistency with my riding, as this is effecting my results.
It's been a tough week, one way and another, and one that I am glad is now over. So all I can do is look forward, and remain positive about the forthcoming events.
British Outdoor Trials Championship, Round 1 13/04/08, Kinlochleven
Results
Total (L1 + L2 + L3+Time)
1: Brown 74
(28 + 32 + 11 + 3)
2: Dabill 74
(26 + 15 + 29 + 4)
3: Morris 83
(33 + 29 + 21)
4: Jarvis 104
(33 + 31 + 37 + 3)
5: Haslam 131
(39 + 48 +42 + 2)
6: Wigg 148
(50 + 47 + 50 + 1)
Current championship standings:
1: Brown 20
2: Dabill 17
3: Morris 15
4: Jarvis 13
5: Haslam 11
6: Wigg 10