2012 FIM Trial World Championship Round 2

While the sun was shining in the UK, the rain fell in Australia for the second stop of the 2012 FIM World Trials Championship. Held at a brand new venue, the anticipation surrounding the first ever Australian GP was high, and all the riders were eager to impress at the new location. Gas Gas rider, Michael Brown was determined to move up the championship leader-board, but a far from ideal ride on both days of the Australian tour meant Michael would leave in 10th position in the championship having gone into the weekend in 7th.

It wasn't all bad news for the Scarborough rider as Michael started the weekend well. An opening first lap of 55 saw him fend of British rivals, James Dabill (Beta) and Jack Challoner (Beta) and was just nine marks behind Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) in fifth position. Unfortunately, as the sections began to dry, Michael experience over the slippery granite rocks couldn't make up for the sheer size of them and a run of ten maximum penalties on the second and final lap demonstrated just how difficult these sections were. Michael finished day one in tenth position, just one mark behind British rider Jack Challoner (Beta) and three marks adrift from French rider Loris Gubian (Gas Gas).

Day two was just as difficult for the young KX-energy rider who failed to score anything until the eight section of the day, after a run of seven five's proved that the sections on day two were not too much easier. Michael's disastrous start to the final day of the round meant he was playing catch up throughout the second lap, fortunately the experienced British rider was able to make massive improvements though out the final lap to record a score of 33, just one mark from Daniel Oliveras (Ossa) and two from Matteo Grattarola (Gas Gas). This improvement meant Michael would finish in 11th and subsequently settle for 10th in the championship so far.

Speaking about the event, "This weekend has not been great for me, and I'm disappointed not to have found the same form as I had in the opening round of the Championships in France. The sections were good, but incredibly big in places and I struggled to find the body power needed to make those big steps. Fortunately this is only the second stop of the tour and we have nine point scoring rounds to go in the championships.

Michael is tied on 27 marks in the standings with Ossa rider Daniel Oliveras (Spain) and just one mark behind fellow Gas Gas rider, Loris Gubian. Michael will now be heading to Japan for the next two day round held at the famous Motegi Twin Ring circuit next weekend.