I'd 'thwaited long enough!
By John Dickinson on 21st May 09
JD went to the British World Trial last weekend, which had been kindly arranged close to home, and came back with the following....
IT'S not often that I have the privilege of attending a World Championship event actually on my Cumbrian doorstep – previously never in fact – but they do say everything comes to he who waits and last weekend I had obviously waited long enough and the impossible happened with the SPEA FIM World Trials Championship round at Armathwaite, near Penrith. It was of course advertised as taking place at Carlisle but that was the organisers quite rightly picking out the biggest place in the area that non-Cumbrians may actually have heard of! So I luxuriated in the fact that it was a mere 30-minute commute from home each day.
Now, I'm the first to admit that, having ridden club trials at the venue in the past, I didn't really think it had the natural potential for a World Round. What I didn't take into account was the sheer amount of hard work that certain individuals were prepared to put in to actually MAKE sections not only fit for a World Championship competition but also with spectators very much in mind. It wasn't just the digger work on the hazards I noticed but all the rock-moving that had been done to facilitate viewing. And I am sure that anyone who travelled to the event, especially those who had made the effort from much further than my relative stone's throw, fully appreciated the work that had gone into making it as good as it could possibly be for spectators.
As with any International sport while we appreciate the skills shown by athlete's of any nationality it is the British boys and girls that we really go to cheer-on. Which was graphically illustrated by the huge ovation given to Dougie Lampkin who nailed a superb podium on Saturday. He's been around a long time now has Doug, although to me it doesn't seem five-minutes since he scored his very first World Championship points in Andorra, but he still has that special something that galvanises a crowd. I think it's called star quality...
There was of course plenty of support for all the British lads and the progress of Alexz Wigg and Jonathon Richardson in particular was noticeable, without putting too much pressure on the lads. There's no doubt that at the moment Britain is matching Spain virtually man for man in the up-and-coming stakes and our boys (and girls) have lots of potential.
The big problem, as we are all aware these days, is once you have gone through the Youth and Junior levels – how do you progress into the full World Championship? None of the factories are particularly flush these days and supported rides really are few and far between. This year we are fortunate that James Dabill and Michael Brown have good support from Gas Gas and Sherco but they know only too well that they have to make an immediate impact – or they will be replaced by next year's ‘New Kid on the Block'. This isn't being hard or judgemental on the lads, it is simply facing facts. And this regrettable state of affairs isn't just restricted to British lads, the young Spanish hopefuls are just as disposable. They do get good support from the RFME (Spanish Federation) but if they don't make the grade then they are out and the next teenage wannabe is in the saddle. I can think of dozens who have come on the scene, showed lots of promise, flowered briefly, and then, once the support has been removed, simply disappeared. It is harsh but at least they do get their chance, one shot at the bigtime. One such Spaniard was riding the Scottish Six Days just the other week, Gabriel Reyes who was European champion back in 1996. I asked him at the Scottish if he rode many trials these days. "None!” he laughed, "My friend wanted to ride and he asked me if I would go with him!” He was also in Cumbria for the World Round – acting as minder for Dani Oliveras, so the passion for trials hasn't been lost.
It is only a very tiny percentage of riders who actually make the grade as we can all see from the World Championship positions over the last few years. Raga, Cabestany, Lampkin, Fujinami have all been around for a long time now. They are not easily elbowed aside. Jeroni Fajardo threatened as did Marc Freixa but they stand just outside the elite. The only recent arrival has been a truly big one, the extraordinary Toni Bou. No-one who saw him for the first time last weekend will forget what they saw. "Watch this guy, he's amazing!” was a comment I heard over and over.
One last point. The crowd was particularly supportive of ‘Fujigas' when he turned out to ride on Sunday after his horror-crash on Saturday. I know how much he appreciated that – it made me proud to be British.