James Dabill takes another BTC win to hit 50 milestone
By Colin Bullock on 14th Jun 18
Last Sunday saw the West of England club stage the fourth round of the seven-round (eight scoring days) RT Keedwell British Trials Championship. And James Dabill kept his 100 per cent winning run going nicely, the Beta factory rider looking to regain the title won by Gas Gas rider Jack Price last year as Dibs contested the Spanish series.
The hosting West of England club have the choice of two championship courses within a few miles of each other in deepest Devon but this year it was back to Kelly Farm at Lustleigh.
Lying in wait, big rocky outcrops, plus climbs and drops and as usual for the British Trials Championships the trial consisted of 12 sections to be ridden three times.
The Expert group were the first out. Yorkshires Richard Sadler leads the class but it did not go quite to plan at the Anthony Rew, especially with local rider Joe Baker making his usual guest appearance. Baker took the group by storm with a first lap of just two marks lost. A dab at section one and another at hazard four was all he needed.
Richards pal Guy Kendrew was holding second after the opening lap, having forfeited a stop at section one, a hazard that did not bother him on subsequent visits. One rider who started well was Keiran Child who was in third place early on thanks to a lap of just 11 marks lost. This even included a three and a two at the last two subs which was a little disappointing with what he had done until then.
Sadler reduced his scoring on lap two with only section seven causing him any real problems. This section took marks from many of the entry in all classes. James Fry moved up a few places matching Sadlers effort but no one could make any impression on Joe Baker who got around lap two for only four marks lost. With only lap three remaining Baker held a 14 marks advantage; the Lynton rider was looking good for the win.
The third and final lap saw Baker, Sadler and James Fry all come in with losses of seven marks each. Joe saw three marks go at the uphill climb at the penultimate hazard, Richard had started with a maximum on the deteriorating opening section and James fell foul at number eight. This also caught out Guy Kendrew but he had just enough in hand to take the final podium position with just one mark in hand.
Richard Sadler had to settle for second on the day but he still comfortably leads the Expert title chase with an increased margin.
In the Masters class, which sees riders doing a 50/50 route, half Expert half Championship, TRS mounted Ross Danby was again totally dominant with Sam Haslam second and Tom Affleck third. Ross set the pace on lap one with a single figure score that pulled him way ahead, an advantage he would not give up. Haslam, on the Gas Gas, pulled one mark back second time round but it was nowhere near enough and Danby kept a very polished performance going on his final circuit.
The Elite Youth found the going tough on their smaller capacity 125cc bikes but they all kept at it and finished the event. Charlie Smith came around the opening circuit with a one-mark advantage over series leader Mitchell Brightmore. Mitchell had not started so well but he started to pull things around in the middle of the opening lap.
It was however a day for Gus Oblien to get the win as his second two laps took him past his two main rivals and into a four-mark winning margin by the end.
The British Championship class took the stage last as usual and although his entry into the Rew was fairly late on it was not really a surprise to see James Dabill there as he has won all the rounds to date. It was good also to see Iwan Roberts back and despite an early lap which he would have not been too happy with the TRS ace was going well later in the trial.
Veteran Sam Connor (Beta) was first man through the early subs and he started the event well as did Dan Peace who started with two cleans before section three proved to be a stopper for the Gas Gas challenger. Sherco-mounted Jack Sheppard, whom we have not seen the best of so far this season, also looked good early on.
The two riders currently leading the way in the class, Dabill and Jack Price were playing it slowly right at the backof the field but James had the best of the first few subs as Jack took two on the opener and then needed a dab in the second just after the very tricky rock steps.
Dibs then dropped a dab on the fourth sub but the very difficult section seven was to sort everyone out except Dan Peace on his first visit. His clean was well received by everyone watching. Iwan Roberts got through for a three as did Jack Peace but Toby Martyn took a horrible tumble and clouted his thumb between handlebar and boulder. Jack Price found no grip on the uphill steps and Dibs only just got out for a three. He had jokingly said he should have qualified better and gone though earlier!
By the end of the opening lap the die was cast and Dabill had a one mark lead over Price with Dan Peace third.
The second lap saw James take a good advantage on the sections but lose two on time but as Pricey did likewise no harm was done. They must have got behind at section one as they both spent an awful long time looking at the final rock step exit. They had both seen Dan Peace spin out, and Jack Sheppard get through for a steady single dab. Price then made his attempt and escaped with a dab despite the bike kicking sideways before Dabill nailed his clean.
At the end of the circuit James was looking good for his fourth win and despite Jack P setting the best lap Dibs took a six-mark win. Both riders cleaning the infamous seventh.
So the order at the flag was Dabill from Price while Dan Peace got the final podium place ahead of Jack Sheppard.
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