Dabill puts the Gas down Low!
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 09
JAMES Dabill chalked up a sensational victory for his new JST Gas Gas team on Sunday, at Scarborough, where he won the opening round of the 2009 ACU British Trials Championship from hot favourite Dougie Lampkin (Beta) and European trials champion Michael Brown (Sherco).
Scarborough Motor Club staged the trial at Low North Park where the former WW2 military camp, with its concrete roads and gun sites, was packed to overflowing. Every one of the 15 observed sections attracted huge numbers of spectators and the steep climb at the twelfth was lined by about 200 voluble enthusiasts. Every car park was full and the camp access roads were stacked with vehicles. Unbelievable.
For 23 year-old Dabill, from Leeds, it was a real showcase event for his first winning championship ride. Dibs was the early hot news though, when he failed the second section at Low North Park where hundreds of spectators gasped when man and machine cartwheeled down a vertical climb. Dabill and his minder, Jack Lee, righted the surprisingly undamaged machine which just about landed on JST boss, John Shirt Jnr, who watched intently as Dibs and Jack inspected what turned-out to be an unscathed Gas Gas.
James carried on as if nothing had happened but there must have been turmoil under the frowning brow. It could have spelt the end of his hopes but both Brown and Dougie Lampkin made uncharacteristic mistakes later in the day.
The first section, in the legendary Aubrey's Gully, featured a rooted climb which all ten championship riders cleaned, on both laps. The real villain in the gully was the second section. Up a narrow steep-sided gully with a two-foot diameter fallen tree at the summit, then a right turn back down, into space. Dabill hit it hard and got too much airtime with the GG which hung for a second on the tree trunk then fell back with a sickening crash. Brown did it just about right but the Sherco just leaned over to the right and a dab was the only alternative for The Atom to get it on line for the descent.
Jack Challoner was dead on the spot with a brilliant attack and landing, then he failed the second step in the gully, five yards up from the first hard part. This was Lampkin country and Dougie gave it the full treatment on both laps, and the spectators really applauded him. None of the other championship riders mastered this section, on both laps, but Dabill got it on lap two. Sam Haslam and Brown footed on lap two, and that was it.
FOR FULL STORY AND PICTURES, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009
Jumping for joy: Gas Gas convert James Dabill repaid John Shirt's faith in him with a cracking win on Sunday.