Dabill's a tRew winner
By TMX Archives on 20th May 10
THE third round of the ACU Events sponsored British Trials Championships went down to Devon last weekend for the Anthony Rew Trial, and the event was back at Kelly Farm, not far from Bovey Tracey. The series, which has attracted additional support from Truck Rental Ltd and Michelin, has seen defending British Champ James Dabill win the opening two rounds and the Gas Gas UK rider kept-up his 100 per cent record with a dominant win from his challengers in what was a pretty tough event.
But it was the popular Experts B class which got things under way at 10am on Sunday with a mighty 32 competitors. Some minor changes to the sections had been undertaken by the West of England club after the practise lap and the opening section had been shortened to allow the one minute 30 time allowance to be possible. The more pressing problem for the B group was half way through the sub where a double step was causing all sorts of problems. Harry Harvey was the only rider for ages to get through the hazard until John Crinson floated his Beta through for a well deserved clean. He was followed through by Guy Kendrew and Anthony Blackman but these were the only three to escape unpenalised on lap one. Blackman led the class at the end of the opening circuit, despite problems on the tough and tight subs at sections five and six. Darren Brice and Robert Harries was best at these two hazards.
For once, Bricey was not having things all his own way and it was not until the final lap when he put together an amazing loss of just seven that he managed to get his Yam-powered Scorpa to the front and it took him comfortably clear of Crinson and Kendrew who simply couldn't match Brice's amazing effort.
There may only be ten riders contesting Experts A but the competition is pretty fierce with Gary Macdonald and Ian Austermuhle so far having taken one round each. Both started with four straight cleans until the dreaded section five extracted a maximum from Ian while Gary escaped with a one. Jack Sheppard and Jonny Walker both proved it could be mastered with brilliant cleans first time round. The only other rider to nail a successful ride here was Andy Chilton on lap two.
The rest of the sections turned out to be odd-mark stealers rather than feature any major stoppers and Jack Sheppard came in for his punch card change with a loss of just eight to put him one in front of Gary Mac and five clear of Ian Austermuhle. It was all very tight at the top of the leaderboard with Sherco's James Fry up there only a couple of marks back.
Gary on the Gas Gas then moved up a gear and he was looking very relaxed with his riding as he put in two more circuits for losses of six and five which no one could match. Jack Sheppard's second lap cost him dearly before he finished strongly to finish third behind Austermuhle and Jack seemed a little disappointed with this result.
With the Championship class last out, most of the good crowd of spectators hung on at section one where a nasty sting in the tail awaited them over a huge granite boulder. Shaun Morris got out for two with more than one eye on the clock as the seconds ticked away and then Sam Haslam had a steady three. Michael Brown had obviously sorted out his line following Saturday's practice as he cleaned it superbly as did Championship leader James Dabill and Scottish Six Days Trial winner Alexz Wigg.
It was after this that Browny took-off and went on to ride the opener way ahead of his rivals, having one eye on the weather which had forecast rain. That could have changed the sections - and the outcome - completely.
The tactic certainly worked early on as he looked superb all the way to section ten where he maxed-out on the long uphill climb. Dabill by contrast had a five on the old favourite second section where the run-up to the exit was as wicked as ever. It only saw one clean all day with Michael doing the honours second time around. There were no dramas on section three with the turns and drops over an old walled area not being a problem.
Section four was a different proposition, the early steps looked spectacular but once again it was the exit that was the problem. George Morton got his day well on track here exiting for a dab which was well appreciated by the spectators. Dibs and the long-gone Browny matched his ride but there were no cleans first time around. With the second half of the lap riding a little easier, Michael came home in the lead on eight to James' nine with Shaun Morris next on 17.
With the Championship and Expert classes now getting mixed-in together any thoughts of pressing-on were not possible and the odd drop of rain kept riders aware that conditions may well change. Dabill stamped his authority on the trial with a second lap of just seven and a third of ten which no one could match. This gave him three wins out of three and a healthy lead in the 2010 Championship although Browny has finished second each time. Lancastrian Shaun Morris took a really safe third and has settled down since his British Championship comeback but Alexz Wigg must have had a reaction to his excellent Scottish Six Days win as he was well off the pace in Devon ahead of George Morton who well deserved his fifth place.
The award of the Michelin tyres went to Andy Blackman and Nick Baker for their efforts in the Experts B class. Chris Stay won the none-championship Youth group and well done to Brian Higgins and Colin Dommett for the roving microphone work which kept spectators aware of what was happening at all points of the course.
The Championship will resume in just two weeks when it heads into Wales for the fourth round, the Mitchell Trial, on Sunday, May 30.
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 – Anthony Rew Trial (West of England MC)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 James Dabill (Gas Gas) 9 + 7 + 10 + - = 26
2 Michael Brown (Sherco) 8 + 13 + 19 + - = 40
3 Shaun Morris (Gas Gas) 17 + 27 + 24 + - = 68
4 Alexz Wigg (Beta) 23 + 39 + 25 + - = 87
5 George Morton (Beta) 40 + 44 + 35 + - = 119
6 Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 40 + 45 + 44 + - = 129
7 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 38 + 45 + 51 + - = 134
8 Jonathan Richardson (Sherco) 43 + 46 + 45 + 3 = 137
9 Ben Morphett (Beta) 54 + 60 + 56 + 3 = 173
10 Craig Robinson (Gas Gas) 58 + 60 + 60 + - = 178
SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Dabill 60 points, 2 Brown 51, 3 Morris 37, 4 Wigg 37, 5 Danby 31, 6 Haslam 30, 7 Morton 29, 8 Richardson 26, 9 Morphett 19, 10 Robinson 18, 11 Challoner 15.
NEXT ROUND: May 29/30 – Mitchell Trial at Morlais Quarry, Merthyr Tydfil (ES Wales Centre).
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 3 – Anthony Rew Trial (West of England MC)
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Gary Macdonald (Gas Gas) 9 + 6 + 5 + - = 20
2 Ian Austermuhle (Beta) 13 + 9 + 14 + - = 36
3 Jack Sheppard (125 Beta) 8 + 22 + 8 + - = 38
4 Jack Spencer (Beta) 16 + 17 + 11 + 1 = 45
5 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 20 + 13 + 13 + - = 46
6 James Fry (Sherco) 14 + 17 + 16 + - = 47
7 Andy Chilton (Sherco) 17 + 8 + 26 + - = 51
8 Jonny Walker (Gas Gas) 15 + 18 + 20 + - = 53
9 Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 17 + 25 + 21 + - = 63
10 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 29 + 22 + 21 + - = 72
SERIES STANDINGS (Exp A) after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Macdonald 55 points, 2 Austermuhle 54, 3 Sheppard 43, 4 Spencer 36, 5 Jonny Walker 34, 6 Wiggins 33, 7 Fry 26, 8 Wibberley 21, 9 Chilton 20, 9 Chilton 20, 10 Thorpe 16, 11 Brain 16, 12 Hemingway 8.
SERIES STANDINGS (Exp A 125cc) after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Sheppard 60 points.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 Darren Brice (Scorpa) 20 + 22 + 7 + - = 49
2 John Crinson (Scorpa) 21 + 16 + 18 + - = 55
3 Guy Kendrew (Sherco) 24 + 16 + 19 + - = 59
4 Andrew Blackman (Gas Gas) 18 + 22 + 22 + - = 62
5 Robert Harries (Montesa) (12x0) 28 + 19 + 19 + - = 66
6 Richard Timperley (Sher) (10x0,9x1) 23 + 22 + 21 + - = 66
7 Ross Hancock (Gas Gas) (10x0,8x1) 23 + 21 + 22 + - = 66
8 Buster Regan (Beta) 26 + 18 + 23 + - = 67
9 Josh Woods (Beta) 26 + 21 + 19 + 2 = 68
10 Adam Milner (Beta) 25 + 25 + 21 + - = 71
11 Nick Baker (Sherco) 23 + 22 + 28 + - = 73
12 Chris Curtis (Montesa) 30 + 24 + 21 + - = 75
13 Dan Farrar (Gas Gas) 27 + 26 + 23 + - = 76
14 Danny Gamble (Beta) 24 + 25 + 29 + - = 78
15 Mark Harries (Montesa) 32 + 24 + 24 + - = 80
SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Brice 60 points, 2 Crinson 42, 3 Kendrew 34, 4 Farrar 33, 5 Regan 31, 6 Timperley 25, 7 Blackman 24, 8 Robert Harries 18, 10 Gamble 16, 11 Milner 16, 12 Carr 15, 13 Sprigg 12, 14 Sherwin 11, 15 Fox 11.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Chris Stay (125 Gas Gas) 40 + 39 + 28 + - = 107
2 Jake Evans-Luter (125 Beta) 40 + 39 + 33 + - = 112
3 George Gosden (125 Gas Gas) 37 + 41 + 35 + - = 113
NEXT ROUND: May 29/30 – Mitchell Trial at Morlais Quarry, Merthyr Tydfil (ES Wales Centre).
