The second round of the ACU Events sponsored British Trials Championship took place last weekend at Kinlochleven in the Scottish Highlands and it was James Dabill who came away the victor.
The course was made up of 12 sections that had to be ridden three times and many of them were right on the edge of Loch Leven with big spectacular rock steps being the order of the day. Wet weather on Sunday mixed with high winds made riding some of the exposed sections even more difficult.
The pressure was on James Dabill after he got the better of Dougie Lampkin in the season opener. Despite the hugely difficult sections Lampkin posted a totally clean opening lap which was a superb start to his event. Dabill by comparison lost 11 points and was putting himself under pressure but minder Jack Lee and sponsor John Shirt kept encouraging him.
The second lap didn’t go just so well for Lampkin when he posted two maximums on sections eight and nine. He had cleaned both on his first visit so the crowd was stunned when he lost drive first on the big rock and then on a slippy uphill climb.
Dabill’s confidence was improving and he really took off on his final lap losing just one dab on section five. Michael Brown took third on the Sherco however he is still looking to find the form that nearly took him to the Championship last year. He improved on each of his three circuits but it was not enough to put any pressure on the top two.
The new Experts B group turned into a four way Scorpa battle with Darren Brice grabbing the win from John Crinson and Sam Ludgate. Brice was away quickly and after two laps both Brice and Crinson were 12 marks down which was enough of a margin to keep Ludgate at bay even though he put in a great last circuit it was not quite enough. The winner of Scarborough opening event Ricky Wiggins had to settle for 6th place this time out.
The Expert A Class was once again superb with the top three riders finishing within three marks of each other. In fact Sam Connor and local ace Gary Macdonald tied on 44 points apiece but it went to the Southern ace on a tie break with Ian Austermuhle third. Jonathan Richardson came home in fourth place and was best of the 125 cc machines also.
The series now takes a short break before returning to South Wales for The Saint David’s Trial near Neath on the 19th April.
For further information please contact
Alison.devine@acu.org.uk or call on 01788 566400.
2009 ACUE British Solo Trials Kinlochleven results
1 James Dabill Gas Gas 20
2 Dougie Lampkin Beta 17
3 Michael Brown Sherco 15
4 Sean Morris Beta 13
5 Alexz Wigg Beta 11
6 Jack Challoner Beta 10
7 Sam Haslam Gas Gas 9
8 Ross Danby Gas Gas 8
9 George Morton Beta 7
10 Craig Robinson Gas Gas 6
2009 ACUE British Solo Trials Championship standings
1 James Dabill Gas Gas 40
2 Dougie Lampkin Beta 34
3 Michael Brown Sherco 30
4 Sean Morris Beta 26
5 Alexz Wigg Beta 22
6 Sam Haslam Gas Gas 19
7 Jack Challoner Beta 19
8 Ross Danby Gas Gas 16
9 George Morton Beta 14
10 Craig Robinson Gas Gas 12