Looking for a Tougher One?
By TMX Archives on 14th Mar 11
2011 BRITISH Championships get underway for trials and motocross while the Tough One extreme enduro is next-up...
AS they say, you wait hours for a bus and then three come along at once. Or in the case of British Championships, two. Yes, after a winter of waiting the ACU Maxxis British MX champs and the ACU Events sponsored British Trials Champs kicked-off on the same day although to be fair there was virtually the full length of England separating them last Sunday. The MXers kicked-off with a very fast track at Little Silver in deepest Devon while the speed gun was at the opposite end of the scale for the feet-up boys in downtown Barnsley, Yorkshire.
Apart from the fact that both events require the use of two-wheeled vehicles designed to do their thing off-road there's actually little to compare between the two disciplines. What is interesting - and exciting - is that both events got 2011 off to a cracking start by drawing really good crowds. Genuine estimates (as opposed to the fantasy we are often treated to when it comes to crowd figures) centre on 4000 at Little Silver and around 2000 for the trial. The former is heartening to say the least while the trials figure is almost a shock.
You can read all about Little Silver in the following pages. I was pleased to see that the MX1 was packed with battling Brits and that Shaun Simpson, plus the CCM crew of Stephen Sword and Tom Church were all up there. Tom seems to have been around forever but can still show a great turn of speed and leave the kids behind.
MX2 was a different story with three of the top four in the overall being non Brits. I'm not taking sides on this one. We have been here before many times. Some reckon that the British Champs should be for British riders born and bred, the opposite side of the argument is that it should be open to allcomers and that the ‘foreign' riders add to the excitement are a big spectator draw. Given that there was no shortage of spectators at Little Silver you would at least have to admit they have a point!
Whatever, a great start to the MX season and here's hoping that it follows on at the Hawkstone International next weekend. Hawkstone has become an early season institution. Not only does it draw a healthy entry of top Continentals, for the British lads to check their early-season speed, although there'soften plenty of sandbagging going on, it also takes place on a truly historic track and it is for that reason that I always make an effort to attend.
Sure, its been sculpted and bulldozed and played around with but in essence Hawkstone is as it always was, a big bruiser of a track - and by the end of the day the riders know that they have put in an honest day's toil.
Meanwhile, up in Yorkshire former multi British champ Graham Jarvis had marked-out a very different opening round for the trials championship chasers. A heavily man-made set of a dozen sections, lapped three times on a short course, made it easy for spectators to get around and follow the action. And as we said a host of fans turned-out.
Obviously the all-new event proved a curiosity - some of the venues used haven't changed in years - but there was also the attraction of many of the leading contenders having switched machines, especially reigning champ James Dabill who was all-conquering on the domestic front last season on Gas Gas. But would he continue his winning ways on Beta. The sad answer for his rivals was - yes.
Next on the list of events high on the ‘must go' list, even if you only go once, is the WOR Events Tough One extreme enduro. For the first time the event moves from its north Wales Namtmawr Quarry venue into Lancashire and Cowm Quarries. As someone who has thrown - literally - a trials bike at the odd Red Rose National trial back in the day, I know exactly what a sod of a venue Back Cowm can be as does my esteemed colleague, Dirt Bike Rider editor Sean Lawless, and he has the scars (mental and physical) to prove it - and believe us, there is scope for it to be the Tough One to end all Tough Ones.
Finally, moving on, good to see Beta joining-in with the limited edition 300 Factory trials model which you can see on page 2 this week. This is actually Beta's first foray into this type of market which Gas Gas has done very nicely out of thank-you for quite a few years with their always eagerly awaited Raga Replica, followed by Sherco and their Cabestany and Six Days special editions. The all-new Ossa is special enough in its own right but they are not letting the grass grow with a Fajardo Rep already on the stocks. And with the recently announced newcomer from Spain, the Jotagas (JTG) aiming at a very hi-spec as standard, I would argue that Beta has acted not a moment too soon.
Trials is a highly specialised sport and the sales are hard-fought for by all manufacturers. No single factory can rest on their laurels and simply by the act of coming out with the Factory model, Beta is making a very positive statement of intent.