Andy

Guys (and girls) - As Mark says - many readers of these forums merely lurk and don't like to make comments, but you have the man who is in overall charge of the world's most famous Trial asking you for input so they can shape the event. Take this unique opportunity to have your say. It's never happened before and, if nobody says anything about how they feel, it may never happen again.

Many thanks to Gary Jenkins and this motley crew for giving myself and Kinell with his sore leggy weggy's a lift on Saturday night

Just been having a look at the results for this on the front page. Major kudos to Donna Fox for riding and finishing the SSDT then the next day going and riding a ladies round. Blimey.

It wasn't as nasty as it could have been. The bike came straight down then just tipped onto me - at least that's what I think happened as it was so fast I've no idea. Wouldn't mind seeing the pic. Can you email to trialscentral AT trialscentral.com Cheers

Anybody got video of me being twatted by the bike that flipped upside down? I'd really love to see what the hell went on as I was looking at the screen on the camera at the time and didn't even realise anything had happened till I got this sudden pain in my shin where the bash plate hit it.

FIM MX1 / MX2 World Motocross Championship Round 5 of 15 - Sunday May 13th 2007 Grand Prix of Germany, Talkessel, Teutschenthal Crowd: 32,000 (weekend figure) Weather: Bright, breezy, warm Saturday - Windy, cloudy, occasional rain and sunny spells, 15 deg C Sunday - High cloud, sun, some light showers 21 deg C Leuret marks Martin debut with fourth place New Martin Honda recruit Pascal Leuret gave a very positive result to his team with fourth position overall in the MX2 class of the Grand Prix of Germany at the Talkessel circuit. The meeting represented the fifth round of fifteen in the fast moving Motocross World Championship and for the fifth time this season Antonio Cairoli triumphed while David Philippaerts became the first Italian to win in MX1 and the first in the premier class since 2001. The historic course located in eastern Germany yielded a slightly different surface in places as the dark mud had been mixed with sand for a softer terrain, while construction of a new set of curves and rutted sandy straight helped extend the lap-time to beyond two minutes. The speed was still pretty high with precious few technical sections and many riders circulated at the same pace restricting any major movements in the classifications after the starts. As Josh Coppins and Philippaerts gained MX1 moto wins - the second race was a thrilling battle between a cast of six riders - PAR Honda's Gordon Crockard was the manufacturer's top performer overall with sixth place. It was the Irishman's best result of the season at the circuit where he enjoyed his last World Championship podium in 2003. He rode to seventh and fifth positions and joined in the scrap for the top three in Moto2. Crockard is suffering slightly with an injured knee that forced him to miss the Portuguese round, but was on form today. CAS Honda riders Ken de Dycker and Mike Brown filled eighth and tenth spots in the final standings respectively. De Dycker got out of the gate quite well in the first moto and held a top five position in the opening stages. On the fast course he was unable to make an attack before gaps of several seconds started to separate the field. In the second race he gated badly and then struggled to make an impression from the back of the pack, eventually crossing the line in a disappointing fourteenth. Brown, who slipped off yesterday and tweaked his shoulder, again started well in Moto1 but experienced a few problems, including a bike stall that dropped him to twelfth. As he has done on several occasions this year he gave a better account of himself in the second moto and hole-shotted to lead at least twice; once before being passed by Coppins and then again when the Kiwi crashed. Holding second position behind de Reuver later into the sprint he was unlucky when he slipped off the machine and down to a final ranking of eleventh. Philippaerts won the GP from Steve Ramon and Coppins. MX2 was once again won by Antonio Cairoli, this time from World Champ Christophe Pourcel and Tyla Rattray in third. Pascal Leuret was up with the spaced-out leading group in both affairs and looked confident and quick on the Martin-tuned CRF250R. The Frenchman, who had qualified in third position yesterday, rode to sixth place in the first moto after featuring among the leaders but being unable to close down the distance to warring pair Kenneth Gundersen and Davide Guarneri. In the second race he started better and passed Guarneri for fourth even though he was some distance from Rattray ahead. Countryman and fellow Martin representative Gautier Paulin scored seventeenth overall with a personal best ever finish of twelfth in the first moto. The French teenager is now likely to contest some more rounds of the World Championship after impressing at the Italian Grand Prix last week and also having the speed to qualify. The 17 year old is highly rated by the team and is currently under the wing of former World Champion Jacky Vimond. Antoine Meo has an appointment with a specialist in Paris tomorrow to determine how the Frenchman's left knee problem can be fixed and whether he will miss the rest of the season. The first round of three in the Women's World Cup also took place today. Overall honours were earned by Honda's Larissa Papenmeier. The 17 year old German won a thrilling first moto of 20 minutes and 2 laps and survived an attack from World Champ Katherine Prumm on the last two circulations to earn her spurs on the international stage. She then finished fourth in the second outing to confirm her triumph on home turf. It marked Hondas first victory in the competition and also the first time that the CRF250R has been placed on the top step of a Grand Prix podium. The teenager leads the series by three points over Maria Franke. The next meeting for the ladies will be at the GP of Sweden on July 1st. From the rest of Honda's off-road riding fleet James Noble was holding ground solidly in the top ten of both races; taking eighth in the first but then was unlucky to have some gearbox trouble that forced a DNF later in the afternoon. The World championship standings now show that Leuret has moved back up to fourth in the MX2 table and is 37 points from third. De Dycker is also fourth in MX1 and 25 adrift of Ramon. Noble is ninth with Brown tenth. After back-to-back events the World Championship now has a free week to pack units for the trip to Japan. The Sugo circuit will host the Japanese Grand Prix and the sixth round of the series on May 26th/27th. Gordon Crockard, PAR Homes Honda: "For once I didn't have to ask who won the race I could see for myself! It was a hard race. The track was tough and quite tiring. I tried to save as much energy as I could and I had a hard time being down in gate 23 so I was going for gold on the starts and just had to dive in and take a risk. It takes time to ride at that level but in general I'm pleased with seventh and fifth. I have had problems with my right knee and I have a small piece of bone broken off as well as some cartilage damage but I am glad that I haven't chosen an operation yet. We will see how it goes from here. France will be the next race for us." Ken de Dycker, CAS Honda: "The first race was OK, I got a good start and could make a decent speed. Fourth was a good result and I wanted to build on that. In the second moto I was last off the start. I timed the gate badly and then got boxed in. It was hard to come back from there because you get stuck behind people and many are going the same speed so to make up ground to the next rider is difficult. The second heat was not good so I hope for better in Japan. Sugo is much more technical and better for me." Mike Brown, CAS Honda: "I had a pretty big crash the first lap of practice. I hurt my shoulder in January and while this fall did not make it as painful it was still sore and bothered me a little bit. The track was fast and everybody was close. I got a good start in the top three but had a few problems. I stalled the bike in the dip before the start straight and it took a while to get going. It wasn't a good race and I ended up twelfth. In the second one I got the holeshot and was feeling fine. My arms were OK and I was making the speed. Josh had a crash and I was in the lead for a little bit. De Reuver went around me and I tried to stay with him but the front end just washed out on one of the uphill cambered turns. Again I lost a lot of places getting the bike started, and that's about it really. I just wished I hadn't have crashed because things were going well." Pascal Leuret, Martin Honda: "Everybody has been great with me in the team and they have worked 100% to support me and I am very happy. We all worked hard this week in terms of testing and getting the bike ready so I am pleased for them. The second moto was better for me. I made a better start and pushed hard to pass Guarneri. I tried to catch Rattray but I did not want to go too crazy and crash so I made sure of fourth. I want to take as many points as I can every GP. I made a mistake last week in the second moto and I did not want to repeat it today." Gautier Paulin, Martin Honda: "I am really happy with this GP and to score my first points is of course an important thing for me. I felt good on the bike at this track and I was happy to be able to compete with people like Searle and Monni, riders who have been doing the World Championships a lot longer than me. In the second moto I had a bad start but tried hard to at least get one point. I heard some strange sounds from the bike so I decided to stop because I did not want to wreck it. I hope I can take this experience and confidence into the European championship now and make some more wild-card appearances later in the year." Larissa Papenmeier, Women's World Cup winner "I never thought I would win here at my home Grand Prix so I am really happy. The first moto was great. I thought I would make the top five but to win was fantastic. The track was very hard and it was difficult to stay on the bike." Results Motocross MX1 Race 1 ( ) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 41:33.823 2 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 41:40.769 3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 41:45.066 4 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 41:47.772 5 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 41:48.688 6 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 41:51.263 7 / Crockard, Gordon / IRL / Honda / 42:00.331 8 / Noble, James / GBR / Honda / 42:02.919 9 / Nagl, Maximilian / GER / KTM / 42:08.077 10 / Priem, Manuel / BEL / TM / 42:19.499 11 / Anderson, Bradley / GBR / Yamaha / 42:20.419 12 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 42:23.479 13 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 42:24.987 14 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 42:27.029 15 / Desalle, Clement / BEL / Suzuki / 42:35.188 MX1 Race 2 ( ) Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Philippaerts, David / ITA / KTM / 39:49.343 2 / Pourcel, Sebastien / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:51.351 3 / Ramon, Steve / BEL / Suzuki / 39:53.072 4 / Strijbos, Kevin / BEL / Suzuki / 39:53.564 5 / Crockard, Gordon / IRL / Honda / 39:57.061 6 / Coppins, Joshua / NZL / Yamaha / 40:01.317 7 / Barragan, Jonathan / ESP / KTM / 40:14.164 8 / de Reuver, Marc / NED / Yamaha / 40:18.697 9 / Mackenzie, Billy / GBR / Kawasaki / 40:20.666 10 / Leok, Aigar / EST / Yamaha / 40:23.802 11 / Brown, Mike / USA / Honda / 40:25.719 12 / Renet, Pierre A. / FRA / Honda / 40:29.801 13 / Allier, Thomas / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:39.472 14 / de Dycker, Ken / BEL / Honda / 40:43.085 15 / Leok, Tanel / EST / Kawasaki / 40:44.731 MX1 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Coppins, J. 234, 2 Strijbos, K. 191, 3 Ramon, Steve 156, 4 de Dycker, Ken 131, 5 Pourcel, S. 130, 6 Barragan, J. 121, 7 Philippaerts, D. 115, 8 de Reuver, M. 115, 9 Leok, Tanel 112, 10 Noble, James 104, 11 Brown, Mike 100, 12 Priem, Manuel 81, 13 Nagl, M. 80, 14 Mackenzie, B. 73, 15 Nemeth, Kornel 66 MX2 Race 1 () Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:32.155 2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:34.850 3 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:18.484 4 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:19.941 5 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Yamaha / 40:25.099 6 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:35.519 7 / Schiffer, Marcus / GER / KTM / 40:48.057 8 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:51.193 9 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:51.956 10 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 41:06.990 11 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 41:08.380 12 / Paulin, Gautier / FRA / Honda / 41:10.430 13 / Simpson, Shaun / GBR / Kawasaki / 41:12.896 14 / Verbruggen, Dennis / BEL / Yamaha / 41:13.500 15 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 41:14.751 MX2 Race 2 () Pos / Rider / Nat. / Bike / Time 1 / Cairoli, Antonio / ITA / Yamaha / 39:29.074 2 / Pourcel, Christophe / FRA / Kawasaki / 39:31.585 3 / Rattray, Tyla / RSA / KTM / 40:12.146 4 / Leuret, Pascal / FRA / Honda / 40:19.769 5 / Guarneri, Davide / ITA / Yamaha / 40:29.455 6 / Aubin, Nicolas / FRA / Yamaha / 40:35.594 7 / Searle, Tommy / GBR / KTM / 40:39.678 8 / Seistola, Matti / FIN / Honda / 40:40.977 9 / Avis, Wyatt / RSA / KTM / 40:43.571 10 / Nunn, Carl / GBR / Yamaha / 40:44.445 11 / Boissiere, Anthony / FRA / Kawasaki / 40:45.524 12 / Monni, Manuel / ITA / Yamaha / 40:51.215 13 / van Horebeek, Jeremy / BEL / KTM / 40:54.935 14 / Gundersen, Kenneth / NOR / Yamaha / 40:57.812 15 / Swanepoel, Gareth / RSA / Kawasaki / 40:59.798 MX2 World Motocross Championship Standings Pos Rider Total 1 Cairoli, A. 247, 2 Pourcel, C. 181, 3 Rattray, Tyla 180, 4 Leuret, Pascal 143, 5 Searle, Tommy 137, 6 Aubin, Nicolas 121, 7 Gundersen, K. 118, 8 Swanepoel, G. 113, 9 Seistola, M. 104, 10 Schiffer, M. 86, 11 Boissiere, A. 67, 12 Frossard, S. 58, 13 Monni, Manuel 55, 14 Eggens, Erik 54, 15 Church, Tom 53.

I must admit Nevis Radio was compulsive listening last week. Highly entertaining and having someone with John's knowledge not only of the event, but also knowing virtually everybody in the paddock helped greatly. The ongoing coverage of Malcolm Rathmell's toilet habits and which trap he was in had me in stitches Big John even cornered me for an interview John: "That's a very fancy camera you've got round your neck. Tell me, what does that do?" Me: "Errr, it takes photos John"

Well done not just to Dibs, but to ALL the riders who finished. It was VERY tough this year - as you'll see when I post Rapper's column later

Oops - I didn't actually look at the pic, just noted the comment about the guy giving the finger. My bad

Pre-65 results now on front page

Only supporters can see that. That's Shaughan - Michael Brown's minder and expert pie-eater

Yes. You will

The trials world is kinda focused on the Pre-65 and SSDT right now. Traditionally the forums do go a bit quieter in terms of technical knowledge during this period as they're two of the biggest international events in the calendar and many of our members are either riding, observing or spectating at one or both of them. Brain drain I think they call it! Might take a week or so till everybody's home and caught up, but I'm sure somebody can answer your question.

But you can navigate by the sun...

I seem to recall one year in the not too dim and distant past when the back markers couldn't get back to Fort William because of snow and had to take shelter overnight. I daresay Overthehill is now up to his ears in it, but maybe he can clarify?

You may well wind up being thankful for that. From the Met Office Website: "UK Outlook for Tuesday 8 May 2007 to Thursday 17 May 2007: Much more unsettled weather is signalled for most places for much of this period Rain or showers will affect most areas at times, with probably quite heavy rain at times especially in parts of the north and west up to and including the weekend. However, elsewhere, the rainfall may not be sufficient to make up for the recent very dry conditions. Temperatures mostly near normal and iit will often feel cool in the wind. Indeed it may be cold enough for snow over higher ground in the north and local overnight frost. Strong winds or gales may occur especially in exposed northwest locations. Some brighter spells are still likely between the rain and showers and there are signs that drier weather may return to many parts later."

Can we assume you have written your Last Will & Testament?

I've just washed and polished the car. It is not permitted to rain until Sunday 13th May. If it does I will hold you personally responsible.

Back when I had the "Members Gallery", I used Coppermine, but that requires PHP and MySQL support. I dumped it because of security issues. For your needs Jack, the external hosting suggested by other members is spot on. You don't have to worry about storage costs etc. TC is lucky in being able to afford a dedicated server with what used to be ample storage, but now even I'm having to think about the future as it's fast running out. Photobucket seems to be the one recommended by most forums I visit.

You clearly have too much time on your hands

If there was a cash prize I'd bet on him

I've been through the whole Pre-65 thing many, many times. They're more secretive than Mossad. They DO get coverage on here. Last year two days of photos (which were later used by YOU HAVE USED WORDS OR A PHRASE WHICH ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THIS WEBSITE. PLEASE DELETE YOUR POST/TOPIC. DO NOT TRY TO CIRCUMVENT THE FILTERS IN PLACE ON THIS WEBSITE in Spain to further publicise the event). The year before I could only make one day, but still gave coverage. Last year the results (thanks to VinnieD) were scanned and published on here and the year before totally re-typed, by me, from a printed copy. If I could get that printed copy in a timely manner then I could retype, but firstly it's getting hold of a copy that's the problem. They are rarer than the droppings of the proverbial rocking horse and nobody wants to give theirs up. Secondly, I don't fancy spending a chunk of my week retyping results. I don't have to do that for any other event and fail to see why I should have to because the organisers won't move with the times. If HL could maybe get hold of a copy and photocopy them then, I could pick them up and maybe do something faster, but that's not what she's there for.

Erm... just how many memory slots does this supercomputer have?

We were four minutes late for dinner (yes, FOUR minutes) and we got a load of crap from a gobby bitch waitress for being late. As if that weren't enough for her to launch on we dared to ask if it were possible to fit two more people in. Despite the table being more than capable of handling the extra two she launched on us again. Never mind the extra revenue, it was inconvenient for her. Customer service? Sorry - don't do that. The Alex used to be THE place to be during SSDT week when Ian Milton owned it. It was bouncing every night of the week. Since he sold it to Strathmore Hotels the attitude sucks. There is no interest in the customer and they insist on closing the bar at 11pm - even to residents (WTF?!) I know some of the staff who have been there long term and they can't understand it. It's a place I tend to avoid these days. The West End seems to have taken over as the place to be. Best to leave the Alex to the coach tours.

Bloody hell - how long did it take to upload that lot?!!!!!!! Mind if I add a linky to the front page article?