JAMES DABILL
Since we last spoke I have competed in the remaining World Trials Championship rounds, the Trial-Des Nations and the British Championship. In the WTC I have kept my sixth place in the world rankings for another year, finished runner-up with Team Great Britain in the TDN and now have a total of five BTC crowns to my name after winning again in 2014. Throw in the superb arena type ‘Super Trial’ run by Stuart Robinson and his team and the Cahors Urban Trial in France, and you can see life has been pretty busy to say the least. I still have to remain focussed though for my last major event of the year the Scott.
The world championship events have not all gone to plan and I would have liked better results. The high altitude in France at the Ski resort of La Mongie did not suit my Beta and the factory acknowledged that the machine setup could have been better, and if I am honest I was very disappointed to finish tenth.
Day one in Spain was a disaster for myself as I could not find any rhythm in my riding and once again I finished disappointed in tenth position. For the second day I felt more relaxed and confident and the whole day went much better, finishing in sixth but so close to fourth.
On reflection sixth position in the world once again is not progress and I know I can make the top five but riding against such strong opposition you cannot make any mistakes and so it’s a case of working harder during the winter months.
At the TDN we had a good team of riders with me, Michael Brown, Alexz Wigg and Jack Sheppard. In truth though, when you are up against a team which boasts the top four riders in the world, you are always going to be riding second place for Team GB.
In the British championship we have had some very different types of events in 2014 scattered throughout the country. Once again it has been my friend and rival Michael Brown who has kept me on my toes and who last year denied me a run of successive champion titles. But where are the younger riders, I ask? Despite the odd win from other riders both Micheal and I have dominated the championship for quite a long period of time now with both of us expecting some stronger opposition!
My son Archie continues to grow at an alarming rate and my wife Emma and I have had him attending the BTC with us. His next big event is the Scott so let’s hope I can hear him cheering me to another win in this tough event which celebrates 100 years this year.
Speak Soon – Dibsta!