King James is Torr-ific!
By Colin Bullock on 27th Aug 10
James Dabill is the 2010 ACU British Solo Trials Champion. The Gas Gas UK rider tied-up the title with a round still to go, having won all seven rounds of the series held to date to amass an unassailable points lead.
The seventh round of the ACU Events/ TRW sponsored series saw the riders assemble in deepest Devon for the Rene Pearce Trial just outside Torridge. Last year the organisers suffered poor weather prior to the trial and this year was little different.
The evening before the event a thick mist had descended on the entire area and you could not see the van next door.
The recent weather also meant that the woodlands area which included sections one to five were very slippery.
Brousentor Farm is very much a venue of two halves, as much of the remaining area is high-up on the rocky ‘Tor' which provides the most spectacular of backdrops.
Experts A were first away at 10am last Sunday, with the prevailing conditions looking much more promising than the previous day.
One surprise omission from the entry however was Scorpa's Darren Brice, who was able to miss the day and still retain enough of a points advantage to stay at the top of the Group with just one further event to go.
This left north eastern challenger John Crinson picking up his first Championship win in 2010 and there is now an outside chance of John catching Bricey down in Kent where the series comes to a close.
Crinson put in three very steady laps with only section 10, high up on the Tor, giving him problems on each lap.
Second place went to Guy Kendrew some eight marks behind. Kendrew had his own problems keeping Willenhall's Buster Regan at bay.
Both finished on 63 marks lost and the verdict went to Guy, courtesy of the most cleans.
A podium place was a fitting result for Midlander Buster who has enjoyed a good series and now hols fifth overall.
Local rider Keelan Hancock might be tempted to ride the series more often, after grabbing a fine fourth from Richard Timperley.
Timps reported that he had enjoyed his ride right up to final sub, when arm pump had begun to affect him.
Gary Macdonald is determined to annexe the A Class Championship and made another marathon trip down from Kinlochleven.
Jack Sheppard is his main rival and by the time they arrived at the sixth hazard, the rocky stream section, he was a couple of points ahead of the Scotsman. Gary needed a dab to see him through and at the end of the first lap it was Sheppard from Andy Chilton with Gary third.
Macdonald moved up a gear on lap two riding the wood sections much better. This moved him ahead of Chilton but Sheppard was still leading and that was the order in which they finished.
It was no disaster for Gary who can travel down to Kent with a 13-point Championship lead, but it was a superb win for young Jack on his little 125 Beta.
One side attraction in the Class was the return of local ace Joe Baker on the new Scorpa. Joe, by his standards, made a slowish start which was hardly surprising but his second and third circuits were very much on the pace, as he finished in a solid fourth place.
The non-championship Youth riders also rode the A hazards and this was pretty tough for them.
Chris Stay got home in first place just ahead of Jake Luther-Evans and Chris Short. The Championship entry were last away with James Dabill defending his 100% winning record in 2010.
After the first five subs down in the woods it was all very close with Dibs, Alexz Wigg and Michael Brown all on 10 lost.
Spectators wisely went across to section six where Alexz arrived first. He probably felt that pressing-on was the best idea especially if the rains returned and quickly put in the first clean which was followed by Dabill.
Browny needed two to see him through and then had to do a clutch cover replacement before he could carry on. am Haslam and Craig Robinson both made excellent cleans on the dry rocks at number seven.
It looked a fairly easy hazard by these riders' standards but it was easy to drop a sump on the jagged rockery as both Dibs and Michael found.
Over on the Tor, Alexz fived section 10 as his Beta dropped into a nasty gap near the top of the hazard. He immediately fought back cleaning 11 before the mud and slime made the second step really difficult.
Even Dabiil fived here as the Gas Gas slipped back – he did not make that mistake again.
At the end of lap one it was Dibs and Alexz tied on 16, well ahead of their rivals.
Wiggy then suffered a bad second circuit before rallying on lap three when he had a fine finish. James put in a really special second lap a full 12 points better than anyone else – it was the British number one at the top of his game.
The top three had all got to grips with the Devonshire countryside despite a really heavy shower at the half way stage.
As the trial moved towards its conclusion the tenth section caught out both Dabill and Brown.
Michael had found this to be his bogey section all day and with Alexz getting through for a dab it would mean the runner-up place for the Beta rider.
Sam Haslam had his best Championship result of the year in fourth.
So the series goes down to Kent in four weeks' time for the finale, with Dabill already having enough points in the bag for a second number-one plate.
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 7 – Rene Pearce Memorial
Trophy Trial (Torridge & DMCC)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 James Dabill (Gas Gas) 16 + 12 + 16 + - = 44
2 Alexz Wigg (Beta) 16 + 34 + 18 + - = 68
3 Michael Brown (Sherco) 28 + 24 + 18 + - = 70
4 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 32 + 27 + 26 + - = 85
5 Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 37 + 36 + 44 + - = 117
6 Craig Robinson (Gas Gas) 48 + 46 + 45 + - = 139
7 Ben Morphett (Beta) 47 + 41 + 49 + 3 = 140
8 George Morton (Beta) 58 + 45 + 49 + 2 = 154
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 James Dabill 140 points (CHAMPION), 2 Brown 111, 3 Wigg 99, 4 Haslam 75, 5 Danby 73, 6 Morris 72, 7 Morton 62, 8 Richardson 53, 9 Morphett 49, 10 Robinson 39, 11 Challoner 30.
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Jack Sheppard (125 Beta) 20 + 16 + 17 + - = 53
2 Gary Macdonald (Gas Gas) 24 + 18 + 16 + - = 58
3 Andy Chilton (Sherco) 23 + 20 + 26 + - = 69
4 Joe Baker (Scorpa) 32 + 17 + 24 + - = 73
5 Jack Spencer (Beta) 35 + 24 + 21 + - = 80
6 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 29 + 30 + 25 + - = 84
7 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 37 + 32 + 28 + - = 97
8 James Fry (Sherco) 40 + 36 + 26 + - = 102
9 Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 48 + 39 + 39 + - = 126
10 Robert Harries (Gas Gas) 45 + 43 + 42 + - = 130
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Macdonald 126 points, 2 Sheppard 113, 3 Spencer 88, 4 Wiggins 76, 5 Chilton 75, 6 Fry 68, 7 Austermuhle 54, 8 Wibberley 54, 9 Jonny Walker 45, 9 Jonny Walker 45, 10 Brain 41, 11 Hemingway 19, 12 Thorpe 16, 13 Baker 13, 14 0 6, 15 Phillipson 6.
SERIES STANDINGS (Exp A 125cc) after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Sheppard 120 points.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 John Crinson (Scorpa) 20 + 18 + 17 + - = 55
2 Guy Kendrew (Sherco) 21 + 18 + 24 + - = 63
3 Buster Regan (Beta) 22 + 20 + 21 + - = 63
4 K Hancock (Gas Gas) 18 + 25 + 21 + - = 64
5 Richard Timperley (Sherco) 22 + 26 + 17 + - = 65
6 Steve Martin (Beta) 28 + 23 + 25 + - = 76
7 Adam Milner (Beta) 24 + 24 + 28 + - = 76
8 Shaun Fox (Beta) 26 + 28 + 23 + - = 77
9 Andrew Blackman (Gas Gas) 31 + 25 + 25 + - = 81
10 Nick Baker (Sherco) 29 + 27 + 28 + - = 84
11 Dan Farrer (Gas Gas) 28 + 32 + 28 + - = 88
12 Ross Hancock (Gas Gas) 29 + 29 + 32 + - = 90
13 Ben Sprigg (Beta) 36 + 24 + 31 + - = 91
14 Josh Woods (Beta) 25 + 27 + 41 + - = 93
15 George Pollard (Beta) 33 + 34 + 29 + - = 96
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Brice 112 points, 2 Crinson 102, 3 Kendrew 97, 4 Farrar 67, 5 Regan 66, 6 Timperley 64, 7 Woods 58, 8 Blackman 42, 10 Gamble 31, 11 Milner 30, 12 Baker 25, 13 Fox 25, 14 Sprigg 22, 15 Carr 15.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Chris Stay (125 Gas Gas) 47 + 42 + 39 + - = 128
2 Duncan MacDonald (125 Gas Gas) 42 + 46 + 42 + - = 130
3 Chris Short (Gas Gas) 39 + 49 + 47 + - = 135
4 George Gosden (125 Gas Gas) 46+54 + 54 + - = 154
FINAL ROUND: September 25/26 – Kent Youth British Trial at Sandfields Farm, Cowden, Kent (Wickham & Kent Youth TCs).