British Championship Sidecar - Youth
It just got ‘Beta’ for James Dabill, which is the clear message he has sent out as he cruised to another emphatic win at round three of this year’s ACU British Trials Championship. He had taken round two literally by storm a few weeks earlier as bad weather once again affected the event in the north of the country among the Lake District hills. In truth he is dominating the championship, with clear wins at all three opening rounds. In the Lake District he set off with a small advantage after the opening lap, but built on this over the last two laps to take a clear victory. He repeated this in round three in South Wales and has already opened up a good advantage at the head of the championship table. Riding the Italian Beta with a very confident style, it remains to be seen which one of the younger riders can take the challenge to him.
It may be the fact that James Dabill has already won seven British Championship titles that gives him the confidence to firmly remain Great Britain’s undisputed number one rider. The young riders including the 2017 champion Jack Price are queuing up to push Dabill off the top spot, but still, he refuses to go. Despite some strong riding from Dan Peace and Toby Martyn they along with Price have at this present time no answer for Dabill’s sheer consistency. With these three riders fighting over the remaining podium positions, James Dabill remains loud and proud on the Beta at the head of the championship with a clear advantage.
Round Two: Westmoreland Motor Club
This very exposed hillside venue overlooks the Morecambe Bay harbour and is exposed to the worst of the weather. On the lead up to the event, the rain had never stopped, but it did recede for the start of round two of the championship. With a very wet and sodden wheelbase, the grip was always going to be at a premium, but James Dabill made it all look so easy. On the opening lap, he was head and shoulders above the rest with only himself and eventual secondplaced rider Dan Peace never conceding a five to post a score of just two.
On the second lap, the 2017 British champion Jack Price recovered from a poor opening lap of fifteen to lose just eight, but the damage was already done as Dabill’s second-lap score of three pulled him further ahead of the field. As the rain came and covered the area, Dabill had three stops in his score of sixteen. Dan Peace came fighting back into an eventual runner-up position, parting with just one five in his lap score of fifteen, one less than Dabill, as Price slipped back into the third position after a string of fives. Third position was open all the way until the final lap as the younger of the two Peace brothers Jack pushed all the way for a podium position, only to lose out right at the final hurdle with a stop in section ten.
Getting more used to the four-stroke Montesa Toby Martyn rounded off the top five as he out-pointed Jack Sheppard on the tie decider ruling. Finishing in eighth behind Scorpa-mounted Andy Chilton was Jack Challoner, who made a welcome return to the championship after being away for a few seasons.
Round Three: Neath Motor Club
On an overcast day on the hills above Neath in south Wales, James Dabill on the Beta was in a class of his own, once again putting on a winning show to consolidate his clear advantage at the top of the points table. No other rider was in the same class as Dabill as he opened his score with a lap of twelve marks lost to throw down the gauntlet. On his second and third laps he kept his scores low and accepted three marks on time on each lap to give him more time to concentrate on the hazards, and it paid off.
Coming home in second was Toby Martyn, who is looking more at home on the four-stroke Montesa with every ride.
Jack Price was expected to challenge for the win, but it never came, as he dropped to third on the day but remains in the second position in the championship. Close behind was his fellow Gas Gas team rider Dan Peace who, no doubt along with Price, will be disappointed with his lack of form.
Proving that on a good day he can mix it with the best was Andy Chilton (BMS Scorpa AG Andy Bikes Metcalfe) TrialMag who 0717.pdf came home 1 fifth. 10/07/2017 This was 23:47 mostly achieved with a superb second lap score of just thirteen marks lost as everything fell into place. With Dabill now having stretched his championship lead to a clear thirteen marks, the championship is looking like the battle for second could be the most interesting as we have Jack Price, Dan Peace and Toby Martyn all separated by a handful of marks.
The next round at Kelly’s Farm in Devon is a total change of terrain from what has been ridden so far, but the question is who can challenge Dabill. We will see!