Brit pack do the business at home GP
By John Dickinson on 20th Jul 16
THE two day British round of the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship was staged in Yorkshire for the first time since 1993, billed as Trials is coming home and despite reservations by many before the event the Park Wood Off Road Centre venue at Tong, near Bradford, proved to be a massive hit.
And they had plenty to get excited about over the weekend starting on Saturday when 19 year-old Gas Gas mounted Jack Price won the Trial2 class and by doing so won the FIM World Cup. It doesn't get better than winning on home soil.
In the blue riband TrialGP class Vertigo factory rider James Dabill pulled off the result of his trials career with a clear second place, beaten only by the genius of nine-time World Champion, Repsol Honda's Toni Bou.
On Sunday, Scarborough's Dan Peace on the JST Cloburn Gas Gas stood on the top step of the Trial2 podium, with newly crowned Price second while Welsh Champ Iwan Roberts was on the podium both days in second and third places respectively.
Dan's brother Jack Peace rode at Tong as newly crowned Trial125 World Cup Champ, having achieved his goal in the Belgian round the previous week and took a double victory in front of the home fans.
On Sunday the Peace boys became the first brothers to score World Cup victories on the same day!
Then in the Women's series opener the top two riders in the world, Sherco's World Champion Emma Bristow and vice champion Becky Cook on the TRS, delivered a straight one-two both days to get their Championship season off to a brilliant start.
This was the first time that the Women's series had visited the British mainland and Emma was pumped to be beginning the defence of her World title on home soil.
The British round was also a milestone event as the FIM introduced an Electric class for the first time.
Run over the Trial125 sections the class saw just three entries, all riding Electric Motion machines.
But the winner was Yorkshire's Chris Pearson from French visitor Bastien Hieyte and Lancashire's Matthew Alpe.
It was a low key beginning but who knows what the class holds for the future.
