The championship starts on Sunday. Here we look at the report from the 2009 event which James Dabill won from Dougie Lampkin.

DABILLS DELIGHT

Wow! The 2009 ACU Events Ltd’s British Trials Championship opened with a bang at the superbly organised event at Low North Park, Harwood Dale in North Yorkshire. What an event to open the series; Michael Brown had moved to Sherco, James Dabill to Gas Gas, and we had the new Beta “Evo” in action in the capable hands of Dougie Lampkin. With a bright but cool day on offer the spectator turn out was incredible, as they showed that despite the economic doom and gloom Trials are alive and well. What they witnessed was a stunning display of Trials riding skill.

Words: John Hulme

The much anticipated opening round of the 2009 British Trials Championship got underway with the next generation of young riders hoping to emulate last year’s Champion Graham Jarvis. With Jarvis now retired from serious Trials competition, the young guns, namely Michael Brown and James Dabill, would go into battle with Brown showing he meant business, after beating Dabill the last time they met at the non-championship National Cliff Collinson Trial earlier in the year on similar territory. Throw in the experienced Shaun Morris and youngsters Alexz Wigg and Jack Challoner, and an exciting display of talent was guaranteed. When the announcement was made a few weeks previously that Dougie Lampkin would be competing in the odd Championship round, the pressure levels rose one hundred percent for all the riders as he is still the man to beat! When the riders’ draw was made for the starting numbers Dabill pulled the number two out of the hat - George Morton was the unlucky recipient of number one. This would mean Dabill would have to ride each hazard as second man. Section number one was a very gentle opener, with all the Championship riders cruising through it - section two would certainly open their eyes though!  The hard-working club officials had made this section into something special: up a bank, drop in a gulley, line yourself up and then fire the machine up a ten foot bank with a log across the top: sounds easy? Then drop down the bank ride up a muddy gully turn right and fire up a six foot bank with a large rock on the top against a tree! Yes the pressure was definitely on. After the usual 20 minute wait Dabill fired the Gas Gas into life. With a very impressive large crowd watching he gently lined up the machine for the lunge up the bank. With maximum revs he traversed the bank but got the log totally wrong, abandoned ship and jumped from the machine as it followed him back down the bank - minder Jack Lee apologising for not catching the machine; not a good start! As he moved up the gulley to the next section he could hear the echoes of the crowd in his ears as Lampkin brought the spectators to their feet with a superb ride. This was quickly followed by the other Championship contenders who mainly rode the first part of the section okay before floundering on the final step. Dabill was straight back into the action with a confident clean on section three. Michael Brown had set off quite confidently and was putting some smooth riding together and along with the home support was looking very impressive.

Pick a Winner

When Lampkin took an unexpected five mark penalty on section 12 an upset looked on the books, although Dabill had also picked up another five when he ran out of time on section 13. Young “Browny” took a mature single dab on the difficult section 12 to put himself right back in contention at the close of the first lap. The scores were Brown and Dabill 15, with Lampkin looking good on 18. The second lap was all about keeping cool under the immense pressure. The first rider to crack was Dabill, taking a five on section five. Lampkin under pressure is good and a safe two mark ride on this difficult hazard showed why he is so good. He would take single mark penalties on sections seven and eleven applying the pressure to his younger rivals. Michael Brown had cast away too many marks and was just off the pace, and when Dabill took another two on section 13 the win looked as though it was going Lampkin’s way. Section 15 was set on the bank side with large rocks put in place to create a fitting finale to a good day’s sport. Dabill had earlier cleaned it to sign off his Trial for the day on a total of 23. Had Lampkin done enough to win? He was just in front of Dabill, with Brown behind and out of the equation. With a cool calculated approach a clean looked on the cards – but then a five on the steps took the win away. Standing on the top step of the podium the sense of elation was written all over a worthy winner’s face; “Dibs” had arrived. In the other classes the competition was more open with equally worthy winners found. Ian Austermuhle and Gary Macdonald had dropped down a class this year to the A class. Along with past British Championship contender Sam Connor a good day’s sport was on hand. Nobody had an answer though to Austermuhle’s two consistent laps of three marks lost, and he ended the day a very pleased winner. The expert B class would see the much travelled Ricky Wiggins take the win, with another youngster Jonny Walker taking the 125cc Cup.

Results round 1 (Scarborough & District MC)

Championship Class

1: James Dabill (Gas Gas) 23; 2: Dougie Lampkin (Beta) 27; 3: Michael Brown (Sherco) 27; 4: Shaun Morris (Beta) 60; 5: Alexz Wigg (Beta) 65; 6: Jack Challoner (Beta) 81; 7: Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 84; 8: Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 86; 9: George Morton (Beta) 89; 10: Craig Robinson (Gas Gas) 109.

Expert Class

1: Ian Austermuhle (Beta) 6; 2: Sam Connor (Beta) 11; 3: Gary Macdonald

(Sherco) 17; 4: Ben Hemingway (Beta) 24; 5: Lee Sampson (Gas Gas) 25; 6: Liam Walker (Gas Gas) 31; 7: Chris Pearson (Sherco) 43; 8: Dan Thorpe (Gas Gas) 43; 9: James Fry (Sherco) 50; 10: Jonny Walker (Gas Gas) – 125cc Class Winner.

Expert B Class

1: Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 29; 2: Sam Ludgate (Scorpa) 37; 3: Guy Kendrew (Sherco) 37; 4: Dan Hemingway (Beta) 47; 5: John Crinson (Scorpa) 49.

 Youth

1: Jack Sheppard (Beta) 49; 2: Richard Sadler (Sherco) 80; 3: Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 84.

Picture: 2009 British Trials Champion James Dabill (Gas Gas)

Credit: www.trialmag.net - John Hulme