James Dabill Remains Unbeaten In British Championship

Image: trialscentral.comLess than a week after recording his second podium finish in the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship on the second day of the German Trial GP, Vertigo factory rider James Dabill continued his great run of form as he won the fourth round of the British Trials Championship this weekend. Still unbeaten in the current series to date Dabill has now extended his lead in the general standings to twenty-six points and looks very much on course to claim a straight seventh domestic title. 

Despite the dry and warm weather at the renowned Low North Park venue at Harwood Dale close to the seaside town of Scarborough, conditions on the ground and under the trees remained greasy throughout as the riders tackled the established format of three laps of twelve sections. Beneath overcast skies Dabill perfectly illustrated the smooth and useable power of his fuel injected Combat as he cleaned the entire first lap to put himself in the initial lead despite him incurring a single time penalty as he just failed to meet the interim time limit. 

James took a single mark advantage into the second lap as Trial2 class leader in the World series Jack Price maintained the pressure on the reigning and already six times British title holder. By the close of lap two Dabill had stretched his slim lead to five marks as Price slipped up on the awkward tree roots in section nine. 

The same ninth hazard was to prove Price's undoing on his third and final visit as he again collected a maximum score on a section where Dabill was unpenalised all day. Adopting a calculated approach on his last lap James dropped just three marks on his closing performance to make it four wins from four starts in the 2016 series by taking victory on this occasion by an eventual eight marks at what proved to be a low scoring event. 

Price is now James' closest challenger in the overall championship standings, but with Dabill extending his series lead at each event thus far he has already opened up a healthy gap at the head of the points table with seven counting events still remaining. 

Speaking after yet another visit to the top step of the podium James said. "It's been pretty much a perfect day in what have been tricky conditions really. With the recent good weather, we have had at home I thought the sections would have been dry and dusty, but in places they were very slippery and were waiting to catch you out as they did with many of the other riders." 

"Jack (Price) has ridden well today and pushed me hard, and despite being under pressure I was pleased with the way I rode. My bike was awesome in these type of conditions, as the power is just so smooth and predictable. It's been a good couple of weekends, a podium in Germany and my fourth win in the British series today, let's hope I can keep up the same form in Andorra next week. Finally, I want to say a big thanks to Dougie (Lampkin), having him in my corner over the last couple of events has made a big difference, it's great to have him back at the races again." 

James and his factory Vertigo teammate Jeroni Fajardo will be back in action next weekend as the 2016 FIM Trial World Championship moves on to the mountains of Andorra for round four of the current campaign.