Billy Green
The fact that Billy Green is the FIM TrIal125 World Champion is a credit to himself and his family. Mixing school education to secure his future with competing in the world championship would make for testing times for any family. With support from dad Colin as minder and number one mechanic the Beta has not missed a beat all year, while mum Louise has kept the team fed and watered. Billy, as a rider, is maturing all the time and in 2019 he will move up to the Trial2 class as definitely a name to watch.
During a summer away from school before he moves to the sixth form to further his education he has been working for his uncle’s fencing company and also putting in the hours of practice on a 250cc ready for 2019 — yes, he is that keen! Here we look at Billy Green’s 2018 Trial125 season in his own words.
ROUND 1: CAMPRODON, SPAIN
QUALIFYING 1: 11TH, QUALIFYING 2: 6TH, RESULT: 1ST I arrived relatively fresh and well prepared for the trial in the campervan with my parents after the overnight drive from England. Mum Louise does all the cooking on the trip and keeping water bottles filled and food cooked for the weekends, while dad Colin keeps his eye on me and the machine. Friday was a day of photos, signing on and a brief section walk, and a ride into town as part of a display for the locals. I also had to get used to the 125cc after riding the 250cc in the BTC in the weeks prior to this event. I was very nervous in Q1 and parted with a mark as I was stupidly pushing on a bit, but in Q2 I moved up to 6th which I was happy with as I was worried about starting first on Sunday. On race day the sun was out, but rain was forecast later in the day. My opening lap went well apart from one five-mark penalty but I soon found my rhythm again to hold a good advantage over my rivals. On the second lap the rain did come, but I won by a handsome margin and so it was a happy ride home.
RESULTS: 1: Green 25; 2: Robo 44; 3: Rovery 45; 4: Poirot 49; 5: Dufrese 51. CHAMPIONSHIP: 1: Green 25; 2: Robo 44; 3: Rovery 45; 4: Poirot 49; 5: Dufrese 51.
ROUND 2: TWO DAY COMPETITION MOTEGI, JAPAN
DAY ONE: QUALIFYING 1: 1ST, QUALIFYING 2: 3RD, RESULT: 5TH Having competed in Japan in 2017 this experience was not as new and exciting to me; instead, being in the week off between four weeks of GCSEs it was going to be stressful. Colin and I flew from Heathrow on Tuesday morning on a direct flight to Haneda International airport near Tokyo. The 13-hour flight was not the ideal time for revision! We arrived in Japan and collected our hire car, and headed for Twin Ring Motegi. We were slightly jet lagged and fell asleep when we arrived very easily. In the morning we woke up a little late and rushed downstairs just in time for breakfast. In the paddock we ‘fettled’ the 125cc Beta to my liking. Feeling comfortable, I set a decent time in qualifying that sat us in the top three, ready for race day number one. It was a very easy trial, demonstrated by my single mark on the second lap which was let down by stopping twice on a steep, loose hill on my first lap. It was totally my fault and I got back to the hotel and cleared my head ready for day two.
RESULTS: 1: Robo 7; 2: Dufrese 9; 3: Suarez 11; 4: Miquel 11; 5: Green 13. CHAMPIONSHIP: 1: Robo 37; 2: Green 31; 3: Dufrese 28; 4: Suarez 25; 5: Rovery 21.
DAY TWO: RESULT: 1ST After a night of revision and some solid sleep we headed down to the paddock. I warmed up on the obstacles in the car park and felt good for day two. It was a slightly harder trial and I took the win on the ‘most ones’ tie-decider, which was a relief! After the trial dad spent his time stripping the machine of my own parts while I made my way with fellow Brit Toby Martyn to the podium – Happy!
RESULTS: Green 12; 2: Miquel 12; 3: Suarez 17; 4: Rovery 17; 5: Poirot 19. CHAMPIONSHIP: 1: Green 51; 2: Robo 47; 3: Suarez 40; 4: Miquel 37; 5: Dufrese 37.
ROUND 3 SANT JULIA, ANDORRA
QUALIFYING 1: 4TH, QUALIFYING 2: 3RD, RESULT: 1ST Friday morning at 09:00 as my last exam was starting, it was about a similar time as the paddock opened – great! This was the tightest trial this year with exams, and in theory we had just enough time to get there on Friday evening. Colin’s job was to get the Beta though scrutineering. We flew from Bristol to Barcelona and landed about 21:00 but it wasn’t until 22:30, when mum had bitten all of her nails off, that we headed for Andorra arriving at 01:00 Saturday morning. At 05:30am dad woke me to go and walk the sections, which was a beautiful experience. Qualifying on the Main Street was tight and technical, a section where it was easy to make mistakes. In Q2 I thought I had made too many mistakes but I got 3rd. Race day, and again another relatively easy trial with me picking up a five and two single ‘dabs’ on the opening lap. On the second lap I felt on fire and I cleaned the entire lap. It wasn’t until the end of the last section that I realised I had won and everyone wanted my photo, a superb feeling! RESULTS: 1: Green 7; 2: Miquel 10; 3: Suarez 11; 5: Rovery 16; 5: Riobo 20
CHAMPIONSHIP: 1: Green 71; 2: Robo 58; 3: Suarez 55; 4: Miquel 54; 5: Dufrese 47.
ROUND 4: GOUVEIA, PORTUGAL
QUALIFYING 1: 5TH, QUALIFYING 2: 4TH, RESULT: 1ST It was a very hot and dry venue, and that suited me very well. In Q2 I didn’t feel so fast but it still put me into 4th position. I felt really good for the trial and the first six sections went well until a little mistake – catching my clutch lever on a rock – cost me a one, and then on the next section the tape was pulled right and others were caught for snapping it, so I went a bit closer to the double step but failed to reach the summit. This was followed by another failure later. On the second lap I dug really deep and fought it until the very end on every hazard and completed the lap losing just one mark to take a well-earned victory.
RESULTS: 1: Green 14; 2: Suarez 17; 3: Riobo 20; 4: Miquel 21; 5: Dufrese 27. CHAMPIONSHIP: 1: Green 91; 2: Riobo 73; 3: Suarez 72; 4: Miquel 67; 5: Dufrese 58.
ROUND 5: PIETRAMURATA DI DRO ITALY
QUALIFYING 1: 4TH, QUALIFYING 2: 4TH, RESULT: 3RD I rode qualifying with the trial in mind and rode it at my own pace. It was very much the same in the trial. I should have ridden better and it would have been good to close the season with a win, but I am the World Champion – I am so happy! RESULTS: 1: Riobo 13; 2: Rabino 13; 3: Green 16; 4: Dufrese 22; 5: Suarez 23. CHAMPIONSHIP: : Green 106; 2: Riobo 93; 3: Suarez 83; 4: Miquel 77; 5: Dufrese 71.