COSTA INTERNATIONAL BRAVA
This year’s trip to the international Costa Brava Classic Two Day Trial started earlier in the year – in February to be exact. For our sister publication, Trial Magazine, I was invited to the press launch of the Montesa 4Ride model. This was a super trip, and one I enjoyed immensely as the press launch took us riding out into this beautiful part of the world. I mentioned what a superb area for trials it was. and was introduced to Joan Comas who had helped Montesa organize the press launch. We started talking trials and he told me about the Costa Brava Classic Trial with the words “You are very welcome to attend in November”.
And so my wife and I found ourselves on a flight from Manchester to Barcelona, where in a hire car we would make the easy ninety-minute journey aided by the easy-to-follow Satnav. Driving in Spain is pretty straightforward these days with the aid of modern technology! We arrived in good time and soon found the hotel and start area. The paddock and the race office are located in the Hotel S’Agaró at Platja de Sant Pol, Sant Feliu. As always, on our visits to Spain, a warm welcome came from Joan Comas and his organizing team from the Moto Club 2d Trial Costa Brava.
History
Close to this area in the early seventies the three main trials manufacturers Bultaco, Montesa and Ossa produced motorcycles by the thousands. They were a part of everyone’s life, during the week used on the farm and for a multitude of tasks including going to work, and of course trials and off-road riding at the weekend. All the great Spanish and English riders came to this area such as Jamie Subira, Manuel Soler, Toni Gorgot, Miquel Cirera, Albert Juvanteny, Javier Cucurella, Mick Andrews, Dave Thorpe, Rob Shepherd and the Lampkin brothers, to name a few.
It was in 1972 that the first two-day events were organised by Sant Feliu’s ‘Moto Club Tres per Hora’ and its success would lead it to be a three day event in 1975. Three day trials were very much in demand such as the Santigosa and Cingles. The Costa Brava competition lasted until the eighties before it disappeared along with the organising club.
Over twenty years later a handful of motorcycle enthusiasts made the decision to revive the event and form a new club. Using the website: www.solotrialclassico.com as a source of inspiration, a small team of four people decided to invest their time to bring the event back to its former glory. The huge task of making the event happen was not easy as many changes had occurred with new ecological regulations in Spain which had been implemented since the seventies.
With a vision of the event’s future, everyone involved from all the different areas of the club had to pull together to make the event happen. After a long process of meetings, discussions and negotiations with local land owners and farmers, many who were motorcycle enthusiasts, the revival of the Costa Brava two-day trial began to come together.
Primarily the area is a holiday resort, and so out-of-season months would have to be used such as November or December. The locals embraced this as they knew it would bring in extra tourism revenue in the low season. Another major factor was the fire risk as many of the tracks and hazards were in the forest. In the winter months this risk is much lower.