A packed house of motorcycle trials enthusiasts packed Sheffield Arena to witness yet another four hours of scintillating trials action. 20 times World Champion Toni Bou headed up the show, supported by world number two and last year’s King of Sheffield Adam Raga, world number five Jeroni Fajardo, world number six Jamie Busto and world number 10 Miquel Gelabert made up the quartet of Spanish riders. Our very own multi British Champion - Yorkshireman James Dabill and Junior World Champion and fellow Yorkshireman Jack Price took up the home challenge to see who would be the 2017 King of Sheffield.
The evening kicked off with a solemn start as we remembered Martin Lampkin co- founder of Sheffield who sadly passed away last year. Martins’ co-founder Neil Crosswaite invited the audience to mark the occasion with a round of applause, which they did enthusiastically.
The qualifying round kicked off with Jack Price riding the first section, they then took it turns to ride a section first. The Lampkin family had certainly assembled six formidable sections, each looking extremely difficult, the LSS Skip section looked impossible until Toni Bou rode it without loss. At the end of the qualification lap we had to say goodnight to both Jeroni Fajardo and Jack Price, Jack struggled a bit on the challenging Lampkin sections but looking forwards the experience should stand him in good stead.
The four remaining riders Toni Bou, Adam Raga, Jamie Busto and British Champion James Dabill would now ride for the spoils, riding the same sections in reverse. Almost immediately controversy ensued as World Champion Toni Bou rode outside the permitted boundary of Mertrux section and was awarded a five-point penalty, he wasn’t amused. But when Raga picked up a five on section three Bou caught the smell of victory. It was nip and tuck right to the very end between Bou and Raga, but Bou regained his King of Sheffield status, Raga was runner up and our man James took third place. Jamie Busto put up a spirited fight and did well to reach the final on his first visit to Sheffield, he’ll be welcome back anytime!
The 2017 Sheffield Arena Trial as set the bar high for arena trials, this year’s event ran without the constraints of the FIM World Championship series. This format as proved yet again to be an outstanding success, the event flowed seamlessly and yet again everyone went home with a smile on their faces.
We look forward to seeing you again next year.