Dabill dominates at the St David's Trial
By TMX Archives on 21st Apr 09
The sun shone for the third round of the ACU Events British solo Trials Championship at Llety Farm in Wales where James Dabill on his Gas Gas machine took the top honours. The Neath Club laid out 15 sections around the well known venue which had to be ridden twice.
The Championship Class produced a few surprises early on as Jack Challoner started his day with three fives on the trot. Section three was proving a real problem where the muddy climb and rocky gully took three points off the majority of competitors except for Michael Brown on the Sherco who was riding supremely for a superb clean.
Many of the spectators headed for section five the sting here was in the tail as the final rock step had a tendency to throw the back wheel off to the right. Dabill managed it but had taken a single prod on the previous lap. It did extract maximums from many but Brown and Ross Danby heaved their bikes up for two mark losses. Brown then lost two more on the next hazard a climb with steps and turns. Once this blip was out of the way he was in the groove totally as he finished the rest of the lap clean which was pretty unbelievable stuff.
Over the years the last two sections high on the skyline have caused plenty of problems but this year they didn't cause an issue with George Morton's spectacular clean at 14 being a joy to watch.
At the punch card change there were gasps as the scores went up. Brown was on four, Dabill seven and then it was Sean Morris on the Beta running third on 27. No one was going to catch these two but which one would win?
The answer was ‘Dibs' as he cut out all serious errors and went safe with just five single mark losses. Brown by comparison took a maximum at section one and despite a fantastic exit jump to clean the fifth it would be second place for him on the day as Dabill extended his Championship lead with three straight wins.
Morris improved his second lap to give him third from Alexz Wigg who had two identical scoring laps for fourth. The best improvement however on the second circuit went to Challoner who turned his day around completely and although it did not improve his overall finish it was nevertheless an impressive ride on a day otherwise totally dominated by Dibs and Brown.
2009 BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
1 James Dabill Gas Gas 60
2 Michael Brown Sherco 47
3 Sean Morris Beta 41
4 Alexz Wigg Beta 35
5 Dougie Lampkin Beta 34
6 Sam Haslam Gas Gas 30
Connor takes the honours
The Expert A group and all its main contenders took to the sections. Sam Connor and Ian Austermuhle on their Beta's were starting out with one win a piece in the series so far and there is a real depth of ability in this class. Connor started out well before he also took a five on the fourth section, it must have hit his confidence as he had a dab on five.
Hazard four was making a nuisance of itself by taking plenty of marks with Gary Mac taking two and Dan Thorpe a three. It was cleanable however with Lee Sampson, Matthew Jones and Jonathan Richardson all making good cleans. Jones especially was showing the form displayed from the previous weekend and he would be leading the group at the end of the opening circuit. There was no scope for mistakes as Connor, Austermuhle, Thorpe and Richardson were all within two marks of the leader.
Connor then went into miserly mode from the start of lap two loosing just a single mark at sections seven and ten and taking the overall win.
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Sam Connor Beta 57
2 Ian Austermuhle Beta 52
3 Gary Macdonald Sherco 41
4 Lee Sampson Gas Gas 32
5 Jonathan Richardson Sherco 28
6 Liam Walker Gas Gas 24
Ludgate leads Expert B
The Expert B Class has turned out to be a great addition to the ACU Events sponsored series. With Ricky Wiggins winning at Scarborough and Darren Brice at Kinlochleven the competition was wide open.
It was however Sam Ludgate who started out well this time with three subs and three cleans before he fived section four and then took two dabs on section five. This left Josh Woods into an early lead and after his disappointment of a non finish in round two he was showing really well.
John Crinson was also going well and he seemed to settle into a consistent run in this and the Novegar series putting in a first lap of 16 placing him fourth just behind James Carr who was running third. Sam Ludgate having made the joint best first lap score with Woods was determined to take his first series win and on his second circuit he would drop just two marks, dabbing only at hazards nine and eleven. The Experts B win was his with Woods coming home second and Crinson third.
The fourth round of the ACU Events British Solo Trials Championship event will be the Mitchell on the 31st May in South Wales.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 Sam Ludgate Scorpa 52
2 Ricky Wiggins Gas Gas 43
3 John Crinson Scorpa 43
4 James Carr Scorpa 29
5 Darren Brice Scorpa 20
6 Josh Woods Beta 20