Dibs is three-mendous
By Colin Bullock on 7th Oct 11
THE eighth and final round of the ACU Events sponsored 2011 British Trials Championship took place at Back Cowm Quarry, Rochdale, last Sunday.
With all three classes still to be decided, the event promised lots of drama and tension. And that is exactly what happened with hard-fought battles over the unforgiving Lancashire rockery.
Just as he did in the penultimate round Michael Brown took the narrowest of wins on the day, but it was not enough to stop his arch-rival James Dabill being crowned British Trials Champion for a third consecutive year.
Ricky Wiggins bagged the Experts A while Guy Kendrew just shaded Experts B following a fascinating season-long battle with Richard Timperley.
The 2011 ACU British Trials Championship started out at Sheffield way back in early March with a brand new venue.
And the finale at Back Cowm Quarry – a rocky stunner of a Red Rose Trial that last saw Championship action back in 2004 – was every bit as demanding in 2011.
With all three championship classes still to be decided the spectators came along in plentiful numbers and were treated to a cracking day's trials riding.
The Championship class started their three laps of 12 sections in dry conditions although the threat of rain later in the day was a consideration.
Reigning champ Dabill was odds-on for his third consecutive British crown, but Michael Brown has been back at his very best recently and he was in no mood to give Dibs a free run-in.
Dabill did not have the best of starts going one-two-five on the opening three subs, but it seemed that the five – on a section where Sam Haslam produced the best effort on a two – was enough to galvanise the reigning champ into cleaning the rest of the lap.
Two fives, dropped at sections seven and eight spoilt the look of Browny's first lap but the big two were well clear of Jack Challoner in third place.
Jack was not too unhappy as he set out on lap two and even a crash on the tricky rocks of section three did not deflect his concentration.
Browny – The Mighty Atom – started out with three cleans on his second lap, but even he had to give best on the waterfall sub. which was even tougher once the water pump packed-up and it got very slippy.
After the opening lap Dibs enjoyed an eight-mark cushion over Browny, but Michael pegged the
advantage back by a single mark as he dipped into single figures on lap two.
As the rain came down on the final lap it all got interesting as conditions deteriorated with the rockery becoming incredibly slippery and Dabill suffered four maximums in the last six sections. His total for the lap was 28 while Michael drew level with a lap of 21.
The drama wasn't over yet though because James then dropped one on time and Michael got the verdict on the day.
For the second event running Michael got the verdict by a single mark and his third British Championship win from the last four rounds.
In the end though it just wasn't enough and James nailed his third consecutive British crown and his first for Beta. Behind the top three on the day there was a big battle going on between Sam Haslam, Ross Danby and Jonathan Richardson.
Danby needed to finish in front Haslam to finish the season with the number three bib for 2012 and he was well in the running after two laps.
But the third circuit scuppered things for the Midlands rider and with conditions deteriorating, Ross saw it slip away.
Haslam eventually got home fourth and Jonathan Richardson fifth as things got really tough, but for Sam it was the result that mattered and he shaded overall third in the series by a single point from Danby.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX OCTOBER 7
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS
CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 8 – Red Rose Trial at Back Cowm Quarry, Whitworth, Lancs (Rochdale & DMC)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 Michael Brown (Gas Gas) 16 + 9 + 21 + - = 46
2 James Dabill (Beta) 8 + 10 + 28 + 1 = 47
3 Jack Challoner (Beta) 21 + 12 + 47 + - = 80
4 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 38 + 42 + 47 + - = 127
5 Jonathan Richardson (Sherco) 45 + 34 + 49 + - = 128
6 Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 33 + 40 + 56 + - = 129
7 George Morton (Beta) 47 + 42 + 52 + - = 141
8 Craig Robinson (Gas Gas) 55 + 38 + 55 + - = 148
9 Ben Morphett (Sherco) 55 + 44 + 53 + 1 = 153
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 James Dabill 151 points (CHAMPION), 2 Michael Brown 145, 3 Sam Haslam 97, 4 Danby 96, 5 Richardson 85, 6 Morphett 60, 7 Wigg 56, 8 Challoner 56, 9 Morton 42, 10 Robinson 28.
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Jack Spencer (Beta) 22 + 12 + 19 + - = 53
2 James Fry (Sherco) 28 + 19 + 32 + - = 79
3 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 28 + 28 + 24 + - = 80
4 Gary Macdonald (Gas Gas) 31 + 27 + 28 + - = 86
5 Jake Evans-Luter (Beta) 29 + 31 + 37 + - = 97
6 Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 34 + 29 + 36 + - = 99
7 Richard Sadler (Sherco) 30 + 37 + 38 + 1 = 106
8 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 37 + 35 + 40 + - = 112
9 Robert Harries (Gas Gas) 34 + 41 + 53 + - = 128
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Ricky Wiggins 127 points (CHAMPION), 2 Jack Spencer 121, 3 James Fry 115, 4 Evans-Luter 87, 5 Brain 66, 6 Wibberley 64, 7 Harries 56, 8 Macdonald 50, 9 Sadler 46, 9 Sadler 46, 10 Chilton 44, 11 Sheppard 34, 12 Phillipson 27, 13 Baker 17, 14 Hemingway 11, 15 Short 11, 16 Austermuhle 9.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 Guy Kendrew (Ossa) 16 + 12 + 9 + - = 37
2 Richard Timperley (Sherco) 15 + 8 + 15 + - = 38
3 James Lampkin (Beta) 15 + 10 + 16 + - = 41
4 Dan Hemingway (Beta) 23 + 8 + 18 + - = 49
5 Adam Milner (Beta) 18 + 17 + 15 + - = 50
6 Mark Harries (Montesa) 19 + 14 + 18 + - = 51
7 John Crinson (Beta) 17 + 18 + 24 + - = 59
8 Josh Law (Gas Gas) 23 + 20 + 18 + - = 61
9 Zac Sherwin (Beta) 26 + 15 + 23 + - = 64
10 Buster Regan (Beta) 22 + 21 + 22 + - = 65
11 Tom Affleck (Gas Gas) 26 + 20 + 20 + - = 66
12 Kyle Hayes (Beta) 29 + 19 + 23 + - = 71
13 Philip Kettlewell (Gas Gas) 32 + 26 + 22 + - = 80
14 Josh Woods (Gas Gas) 34 + 24 + 22 + - = 80
15 Andrew Blackman (Gas Gas) 37 + 21 + 28 + - = 86
FINAL SERIES STANDINGS after 8 rounds: 1 Guy Kendrew 139 points (CHAMPION), 2 Richard Timperley 137, 3 Adam Milner 89, 4 Regan 78, 5 Keelan Hancock 67, 6 Woods 64, 7 Hayes 60, 8 Sherwin 55, 10 Fox 36, 11 Mark Harries 33, 12 Affleck 31, 13 Lampkin 30, 14 Hemingway 26, 15 Blackman 26.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Bradley Cox (125 Beta) 40 + 35 + 29 + - = 104
2 Tom Dexter (125 Gas Gas) 54 + 41 + 49 + - = 144
3 Chris Stay (125 Gas Gas) 46 + 53 + 51 + 1 = 151
4 Dec Bullock (125 Gas Gas) 58 + 54 + 58 + - = 170
