Trials Torque: Tong’s in groove for GP weekend
By John Dickinson on 29th Mar 17
THERE is a whole host of major changes taking place in the FIM Trial World Championship this year.
And work on the Trial GP of Great Britain, which will take place on the weekend of July 8/9 at Tong, Bradford, in deepest Yorkshire, for the second consecutive year has already been gathering pace.
This year, the organising team has enlisted the help of the much respected Hemingway brothers, Dan and Ben, whose day job includes sculpting golf courses, to work on the existing sections and also with a brief to create three new ones.
Graham Jarvis, who did such great work creating the hazards for last year's inaugural World round at the venue, has a busy schedule at the top of extreme enduro as he competes in more events around the world.
This year's TrialGP Great Britain will see a subtle change in section style with less man made and more use of the natural muddy terrain and steep bankings.
After all, the trial is in the UK so why not include some typical UK sections to challenge the world's best. Trials isn't all about vertical six foot rock steps.
With the all-new format for 2017, with just one day's trial, Saturday morning offers spectators the opportunity to check out the sections, browse around the extensive trade village, watch the Yorkshire Classic Trial and/or Oset electric trial.
And there is a special meet the riders for autographs before getting down to enjoying what ought to be a spectacular Qualification session where riders compete for starting position on Sunday.
That day of course sees the British World Championship trial with the first rider starting at 9am and facing two laps of 15 sections.
With a short, 20-minute break between laps, this will allow spectators to move to different sections without missing any of the action.
The British event represents the fifth of the eight round 2017 series and things should be warming up nicely in both the TrialGP and Trial2 classes.
This is the first year that Trial2, now effectively an open series for 250cc machines (300cc four-stroke) has been awarded full World Championship status.
If you book early you can save a few pennies and discounted tickets, including camping, can be purchased by logging on to worldtrialuk.co.uk
