Trials Torque: X-Trial off to a flyer
By Team TMX on 13th Jan 16
SO, with the conclusion of another successful Sheffield X-Trial last Saturday, thats the first big International trial of the year completed and we can now have a look at what we learned after several eager months of waiting.
The two main points of the evening of course were the Championship debuts of Adam Raga on the TRS and Jeroni Fajardo on Vertigo.
Raga, as we know, turned in one of the best rides of his life to deny Toni Bou an 11th straight win in the event.
And while Jeroni's performance may have been less stellar than his fellow Catalan he certainly showed that the Vertigo is right on the pace.
There's no doubt he will bang in some great results as the season progresses, certainly when the outdoor campaign gets underway.
Both the TRS and Vertigo impressed in the performance stakes.
Adam's TRS is of course very much a development production machine and probably not as trick as his custom-built Gas Gas factory specials.
The TRS though, like several other bikes out there, owes much to the Gas Gas design and development programme down the years – as you would expect.
Jordi Tarres was heavily involved with the whole Gas Gas project while Raga, until now, has ridden nothing but Gas Gas since he was 12 years old.
So any TRS resemblance to Gas Gas is certainly not accidental. Why would you waste all that intimate experience.
You can bet that the suspension is exactly as used by Adam last year and I would bet a week's pay (steady!) that the geometry is a dead ringer.
The engine is the heart of any bike and while Raga used to use motors that were very powerful and revvy, in recent years he has re-invented his style to use more torquey motors, making them pull rather then rev.
The TRS engine sounded very torquey, almost mild compared to the screamers Raga used to turn up with, and this bodes well for production versions. It sounded and looked a very rideable machine.
The Vertigo in contrast is a genuinely all-new machine, pushing the boundaries with an all-new fuel-injected motor, electric water-pump, trellis frame, low mounted fuel tank, etc, etc.
When James Dabill gave the Vertigo its competition debut at Sheffield last year it was every inch a prototype. This time, with a year's hard development behind it, the Combat was a very different proposition.
It sounded totally different – they have worked their way through many exhaust systems and who knows how many electronic maps for ignition and efi – looked torquey, very rideable and was very much a production-ready article.
Being honest, the remaining riders and machines performed almost exactly as expected.
Young Eddie Karlsson frankly looked out of his depth and fived all the sections, while Dibs and Ferrer showed plenty of skill but made mistakes.
Of the none qualifiers it was Takahisa Fujinami who surprised.
Fuji was relaxed, fully fit and looked sharp and who knows what surprise results the ever-popular Japanese ace may spring as the season progresses.
The TMX Best Suspension award would go to the Repsol Hondas, the Showa kit looking unbelieveably plush on both Fuji's and Bou's superbly prepped machines.
Half-time entertainment this year was courtesy of Youtube cycling sensation Danny MaCaskill and his Drop & Roll tour pals and there's no doubt that Danny's inclusion added greatly to the crowd, with a lot of young fans keen to see Danny perform live.
Danny is a surprisingly reserved lad for someone with such a high public profile but he made many young fans happy signing autographs and handing out promo gear after the show.
Celeb spotters may have noticed former F1 ace turned commentator Martin Brundle enjoying the show, while other media guests included MotoGP commentators Matt Roberts and Gavin Emmett.
In short, with Bou proving to be human after all and the hugely popular Raga win, the whole event – in its 21st year - proved to be what The Sun would undoubtedly headline a Super Soaraway Sheffield!
