Dabill do nicely
By John Dickinson on 11th Aug 11
James Dabill is back in full control of the 2011 ACU Events British Solo Trials Championship following a convincing win in the Yeadon Guiseley clubs excellent MacKenzie Trophy Trial at the imposing Brimham Rocks venue near Pateley Bridge, Yorkshire, on Sunday.
Following yet another epic battle with his best pal, Michael Brown, the Beta factory number one just managed to shade the slightly-built Gas Gas rider who just couldn't conjure-up the brilliance that won him the previous round in Devon.
Jack Challoner blew his chance of success with a poor first lap but came back strong to nail third place.'
Jack Spencer, from Bacup in Lancashire, put in a stunning performance to take Experts A, and move within a single point of class leader Ricky Wiggins who finished fourth on the day behind Kinlochleven's Gary Macdonald and Brighton's James Fry.
The Experts B saw an amazing three-way tie as Adam Milner, Guy Kendrew and James Lampkin all finished their three laps on 64 marks lost with the tie-break sorting them in that order.
This gave Milner his first Championship win while Kendrew eased into the series lead by a single mark over a disappointed Richard Timperley who finished fifth on the day behind Dan Hemingway.
The MacKenzie Trophy Trial was an excellent day's sport with the Yeadon Guiseley club making the most of what is a stunning venue for Championship trials to give all classes a thorough workout without being dangerous or – in the Experts classes – not coming up with too many out-and-out stoppers.
And a really impressive and knowledgeable crowd turned out, mainly to witness the battle between Dibs and Browny as the fans eagerly followed the two British Championship gladiators round the compact course set on the near vertical hillside.
There was also the added bonus of occasional Championship rider Jack Challoner (whose target this year is the Italian Championship for his Top Trial Beta team) who mixed it with the leading duo.
Given the terrain – a massive jumble of huge rocks on a near vertical hillside with black earth between them – the sections were all variations on the same theme, but with the cunning born out of years of experience from the course plotters, each section had its own challenge, either individual rocks or steep, tricky climbs.
Following plenty of rain, and even a thunderstorm the day before, Sunday stayed mercifully dry and conditions were virtually perfect to draw the very best out of all riders.
Dabill looked in control virtually all day and made few mistakes as just three fives to his name proved. He did make an error on section 11 on his first lap after possibly choosing the wrong line up to an imposing step.
Browny (as in practise) was more confident with a longer if not quite as direct run-up to clean the section and stay in touch.
Both riders had fived the awkward fourth where Challoner pulled-off a superb single-dab effort, after taking disappointing maximums on the first two sections.
Dabill took the first lap lead with a perfect ascent of the steep, technical 12th and final section, which was fived by the remaining six riders in a disappointing seven-man field, and he maintained that lead from there until the end.
It was a confident performance from Dibs although Browny showed incredible persistence.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX AUGUST 12
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 6 – MacKenzie Trial at Brimham Rocks, Summerbridge, Harrogate, N Yorks (Yeadon Guiseley & DMC Ltd)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 James Dabill (Beta) 13 + 8 + 9 + - = 30
2 Michael Brown (Gas Gas) 17 + 12 + 10 + - = 39
3 Jack Challoner (Beta) 33 + 19 + 13 + - = 65
4 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 28 + 37 + 33 + - = 98
5 Jonathan Richardson (Sherco) 39 + 33 + 35 + - = 107
6 Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 54 + 38 + 37 + - = 129
7 Ben Morphett (Sherco) 38 + 45 + 49 + 1 = 133
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Dabill 117 points, 2 Brown 105, 3 Haslam 71, 4 Danby 71, 5 Richardson 63, 6 Wigg 56, 7 Morphett 43, 8 Challoner 41, 9 Morton 33, 10 Robinson 20.
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Jack Spencer (Beta) 11 + 9 + 11 + - = 31
2 Gary Macdonald (Gas Gas) 15 + 14 + 9 + - = 38
3 James Fry (Sherco) (19x0) 22 + 10 + 9 + - = 41
4 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) (11x0) 16 + 14 + 11 + - = 41
5 Ben Hemingway (Beta) 21 + 16 + 18 + - = 55
6 Richard Sadler (Sherco) 22 + 23 + 15 + - = 60
7 Ian Austermuhle (Beta) 20 + 19 + 21 + 1 = 61
8 Michael Phillipson (Beta) 21 + 17 + 27 + - = 65
9 Jake Evans-Luter (Beta) 27 + 27 + 21 + - = 75
10 Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 27 + 25 + 28 + - = 80
11 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 32 + 28 + 29 + - = 89
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Wiggins 92 points, 2 Spencer 91, 3 Fry 81, 4 Evans-Luter 63, 5 Wibberley 45, 6 Chilton 44, 7 Brain 41, 8 Harries 40, 9 Macdonald 37, 9 Macdonald 37, 10 Sadler 37, 11 Sheppard 34, 12 Phillipson 27, 13 Baker 17, 14 Hemingway 11, 15 Short 11, 16 Austermuhle 9.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 Adam Milner (Beta) (10x0,7x1) 23 + 20 + 21 + - = 64
2 Guy Kendrew (Ossa) (10x0,5x1) 17 + 18 + 29 + - = 64
3 James Lampkin (Beta) (9x0) 20 + 26 + 18 + - = 64
4 Dan Hemingway (Beta) 28 + 18 + 20 + - = 66
5 Richard Timperley (Sherco) 18 + 24 + 28 + - = 70
6 Josh Woods (Gas Gas) 27 + 28 + 23 + - = 78
7 Keelan Hancock (Gas Gas) 26 + 27 + 26 + - = 79
8 Buster Regan (Beta) 29 + 21 + 30 + - = 80
9 Zac Sherwin (Beta) 25 + 26 + 30 + - = 81
10 James Carr (Ossa) (6x0) 30 + 22 + 25 + 6 = 83
11 John Crinson (Beta) (3x0) 30 + 26 + 27 + - = 83
12 Andy Cripps (Gas Gas) 32 + 27 + 30 + - = 89
13 Kyle Hayes (Beta) 28 + 33 + 34 + - = 95
14 Shaun Fox (Gas Gas) 36 + 30 + 30 + - = 96
15 Tom Affleck (Gas Gas) 38 + 22 + 38 + - = 98
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Kendrew 106 points, 2 Timperley 105, 3 Milner 72, 4 Regan 52, 5 Woods 51, 6 Keelan Hancock 50, 7 Hayes 46, 8 Sherwin 41, 10 Fox 27, 11 Affleck 24, 12 Blackman 24, 13 Mark Harries 23, 14 Lampkin 15, 15 Ross Hancock 15.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Bradley Cox (125 Beta) 24 + 27 + 22 + - = 73
2 Tom Dexter (125 Gas Gas) 23 + 27 + 26 + - = 76
3 Chris Stay (125 Gas Gas) 34 + 18 + 27 + - = 79
4 Dec Bullock (125 Gas Gas) 39 + 33 + 28 + 2 = 102
5 Jack Stones (125 Gas Gas) 41 + 39 + 41 + - = 121
6 Sam Yeadon (125 Beta) 49 + 48 + 48 + 1 = 146
NEXT ROUND: September 25 – Mitchell Memorial Trial at Morlais Quarry, Merthyr Tydfil (East South Wales Centre).
