Dabill strikes gold on debut ride...
By TMX Archives on 9th Aug 07
JAMES Dabill made his 2007 British Trials Championship debut on Sunday - and the Sandiford Future TRW Montesa rider promptly took his first-ever British Champs victory, by just two marks from fellow young-gun Michael Brown (Beta) with Shaun Morris (Gas Gas) just six marks in arrears.
champ Graham Jarvis's ride fell apart following apromising start on the four-stroke Sherco and he eventually finished adistant fourth and then only on a tie-break from an on-form Sam Haslamwho led a Gas Gas trio comprising his nemesis Alexz Wigg and a far fromconfident Steve Colley, down in a sad seventh.
The sixth round of the Colin Appleyard-supportedBritish series was a triumph for the organising Yeadon Guiseley clubwho took-on a new venue at Brimham Rocks, near Pateley Bridge, Yorks,and came up with a fresh, testing venue that kept the riders on theirtoes and entertained a good-sized crowd all afternoon. The woodlandsections were all similar in concept, large rocks, slabs and steps yeteach had an individual character - and none were easy!
Three laps of 12 sections was the order of the day as the field got under way at 11am following the morning practise session.
The opening section, out in the open, wasrelatively easy, as was the second with its big, vertical steps beforethe course disappeared into the steep slopes of the wood. TheChampionship runners hung around for a while at the third, whichfeatured a tricky uphill turn onto a narrow ledge but ultimately hadfew problems although Brown and Morris slacked a dab each.
It was the fifth and sixth sections that were toprove the toughest of the day. Section five was through a long, nastyjumble of slippery rocks with a steeply climbing double the tricky bit.Brown and Jarvis both showed superby technique to edge out for singleson the opening lap as Dabill needed two and Sean Morris a five. Thiswas the only section that didn't see a single clean all day.
The immediately following sixth was by far themost spectacular hazard featuring a massive, steeply angledsmooth-surfaced slab of rock that appeared to offer no grip whatsoever.The Expert class at least got a smooth run-up, Championship runners hadto pre-jump onto the slab.
A long succession of fives, with bikes and riders sliding back down if the minders, hanging from a rope, failed to catch them.
Graham Jarvis looked like he had it bossed, onlyto run out of time as he crested the slab - Malcolm Rathmell coppingthe blame as he failed to set his watch as he was concentrating on thehazard so hard. This left it to Michael Brown to confidently nail asingle dab ride that effectively nailed him the first lap lead on justsix marks.
Shaun Morris looked like he had the sectionwell-beaten, only for his handlebars to snap while he was actuallycresting the slab, resulting in a huge crash back down the section.Shaun bounced back from the incident though to claim two subsequentcleans on the section, only matched by eventual winner Dabill - thesebeing the only clean rides. Browny went 1-5-1 with the only other riderto see the Ends cards being Gary MacDonald on the opening lap.
As they finished the opening loop Mighty AtomBrown, encouraged vocally by Shaughan Galway, was on six marks from thefour-strokes of Dabill and Jarvis with Sam Haslam looking strong andconfident on 13 and the unlucky Morris 14.
COLIN APPLEYARD BRITISH TRIALS CHAMPS Rd 6 - MacKenzie Trophy Trial (Yeadon Guiseley & DMC)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 James Dabill (Future Montesa) 7 + 5 +7 = 19
2 Michael Brown (Repsol Beta) 6 + 8 +7 = 21
3 Shaun Morris (Gas Gas) 14 + 10 + 3 = 27
4 Graham Jarvis (MRS Sherco)(24x0) 7 + 22+ 15 = 44
5 Sam Haslam (JST Gas Gas)(16x0) 13 + 14 +17 = 44
6 Alexz Wigg (JST Gas Gas) 23 + 13 + 17 = 53
SERIES STANDINGS after 6 (of 7) rounds: 1 Jarvis 110 points, 2 Morris 103, 3 Brown 92, 4 Wigg 68, 5 Haslam 58, 6 MacDonald 55.
EXPERT CLASS
1 Dan Thorpe (JST Gas Gas)(29x0) 1 + 10+ 5 = 16
2 Ross Danby (125 JST Gas Gas)(27x0) 7 +4 + 5 = 16
3 Joe Baker (Birkett Scorpa) 10 + 3 +7 = 20
4 Mika Vesterinen (Beta) (23x0) 14 + 11 +5 = 30
5 Craig Robinson (JST Gas Gas)(16x0) 10 + 10 +10 = 30
6 Chris Pearson (MRS Sherco) 12 + 16 + 10 = 38
EXPERT STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Baker 112 points, 2 Thorpe99, 3 Danby 97, 4 Vesterinen 67, 5 Pearson 56, 6 Robinson 52
EXPERT 125cc STANDINGS after 6 (of 8) rounds: 1 Danby 120 points, 2 Andrews 68, 3 Shankie 45.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS
1 Ben Morphett (JST Gas Gas) 8 + 13 +9 + - = 30
2 Adam Jones (Haven Sherco) 26 + 17 + 25+ - = 68
3 Jonathan Richardson (Gas Gas) 21 + 23 + 23+ 2 = 69
4 Jack Challoner (Repsol Beta) 25 + 32 + 25+ - = 82
5 Ricky Wiggins (RCM Gas Gas) 40 + 26 + 37+ - = 103
NEXT ROUND: Sep 16 - Thames Trial (Thames MCC).
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, August 10, 2007.