ACU British Championship
I, for one, am thrilled to see we have 2020 ACU British Trials Champions during this very challenging Covid-19 situation. We applaud the efforts of the ACU, in particular, Brian Higgins and his team of helpers. Without Brian, we would have had no championship; it’s a fact! He is quick to make the point that without the support of the clubs who organised the final two rounds no Championship would have happened. Under challenging weather conditions, with driving rain and high winds, at Tavistock in Devon, everyone battled on to give the riders two good days of competition for the double-header that was round two. It was then the move up north to Dudwood Farm and the welcoming face of Barry Burton for the final round. It’s a credit to everyone for supporting the series so they could crown the Champions in all four classes: Trial GB, Iwan Roberts (TRRS UK); Trial2, Ross Danby (TRRS UK); Trial Expert, Sam Yeomans (Vertigo UK); and Trial 125, Jack Dance (John Shirt MCS GASGAS).
Just to put the record straight, we had six riders who did not compete in the Trial GB class at round two, the double-header in Devon. James Dabill (Beta), Dan Peace (Sherco), Jack Price (Vertigo), Toby Martyn (TRRS), Jack Peace (Sherco) and Billy Green (RG Montesa/Honda UK) all opted out. In these difficult and challenging Covid-19 times they were committed to their FIM Trial World Championship. They had to compete in Europe in the final two rounds of the championship in Italy before returning to the UK for the BTC at Matlock. Jack Price was also injured from a crash in Spain so would not have competed anyway in Devon.
KING ROBERTS
As he missed the opening round of the 2020 championship, Iwan Roberts (TRRS UK) returned to the series at round two, and in doing so, he scored maximum points with the other riders opting not to compete. He went to Matlock and round three with the crown already on his head. Not a full-time professional rider anymore, but one who still enjoys his trials riding, he knew he would have a tough battle against the top riders in the UK. The point was proven as he finished battling for the lower positions in this competitive Trial GB class, but history will still record him as the 2020 champion.
MASTER MARTYN
With a wide variety of hazards to test the riders, it was the 2019 champion, James Dabill, who parted with the first marks on lap one, on what turned out to be a very low-scoring event. Everyone stopped amongst the huge rocks in section ten, but this was Martyn’s only loss on the opening lap as he was followed closely by Dan Peace on six, and Dabill on seven marks lost.
An unexpected stop in the opening section at the start of lap two left Martyn with some hard work to do if he was to challenge for the win as Dan Peace took the lead at the close of the lap.
As Dabill had the ride of the day to pass through section ten for the only feetup ride of the event, it was all to play for on the final lap. Raising his game, Toby Martyn was on fire and, encouraged by his minder Matt Dixon, his last-lap score of just three marks lost made him the winner by just a single mark from Dan Peace, with Dabill in third.
FINAL PUSH
With the introduction of the extra mark added to the overall score for the best performance of each lap in 2020, it was the extra two marks from Matlock on the first and last lap that lifted Martyn up into second position overall in the championship in front of James Dabill, who settled for third overall.
As the top three battled for the podium a fight between the other riders, it would influence the final championship positions to finish in the top five. On the opening lap, it was Jack Price who looked the man on form, losing just eight marks, but as the event progressed and still returning from injury, he dropped off the top-three pace. It left Billy Green and Jack Peace to fight it out for fifth in the championship with Price in the middle of it. Neither Green, Price or Peace gave an inch as they matched each other mark for mark. Of the three, it was Jack Peace who came fighting back, but it was not enough to deny Billy Green fifth place in the championship as Iwan Roberts rounded off the results..