Tuesday October 27, 2009 at 11:07am
MRS Sherco rider Graham Jarvis came out of retirement to take a ninth win at the Scott Trial at Richmond, North Yorkshire.
This is one of the hardest one day trials in the World and Jarvis has made history once again by taking win number nine. He won by two marks from James Dabill which was a stunning achievement.
90 miles of moorland, 76 sections of rocks, woods and streams faced the 34-year-old adopted Yorkshire man. Adding to the nerves and excitement was thick fog and heavy rain all day making the prospect of the challenge ahead even harder.
Jarvis is mentored by Malcolm Rathmell, who has won six Scott Trials. He also managed Rob Crawford who is the only rider ever to win the Scott on his first attempt. With Graham's nine wins that gives Rathmell a fantastic tally of 16 wins under his belt.
In the time and observation trial, which is one of the most unpredictable events, every second counts. So when Jarvis discovered his Sherco wasn’t running right he had to stop and fix the problem sooner rather than later. He had to strip the carb and clear the lump of muck which had lodged itself into the main jet. This lost him around 15 minutes on time which is a massive amount in the Scott Trial plus his main rival, Dabill was on the move so tactics came into play.
The eight times winner knew now that he had to keep up a good speed but he also needed to be the best he could on observation and concentrate through the sections and lose the least marks possible.
Getting back into a rhythm Jarvis got his head down and despite the worsening weather conditions still pushed on and finished 14 minutes behind time-setter Dabill.
Then the long wait followed until the results were announced at around midnight. The hard working MRS Sherco team soon realised that they had secured win number nine. A stunned Jarvis was over the moon to once again collect one of the most prestigious awards in the Trials calendar.
Commenting Graham said: "I am stunned at winning this year as I thought last year would be my last. I've not ridden a trial all year so I wasn't sure what to expect from it all and after the problem I had so early on I really did think this year it just wasn't meant to be. Thankfully I was wrong; I knew I had to go well on observation. Once again I would like to thank all the organisers, land owners and observers who stood out all day in those horrendous conditions for us, it's very much appreciated and a totally amazing event. I would mainly like to thank the entire Sherco team, my parents and all the people that supported me again this year, I'm so pleased to have won it and glad there's still life in the old dog! I've got to try and get myself fully fit for the World Enduro at Sheffield next weekend."
MRS is also celebrating the Best Newcomers award where Jonathan Richardson scooped ninth overall and best first timer in his first attempt in the trial he has had his sights set on since his was a child. In time the youngster is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father Gerald who won two and team-mate Jarvis.