Rapley Towers has been devoid of its Lord and Master for much of the past couple of months as the Lady of the towers has been left to her own devices as he spends his time visiting trials (and a bit of sidecarcross) in a pursuit of the latest information for one of these now rare Trials Central columns.
Beginning with the most recent ventures into the great outdoors, Rappers has just returned from a two week road bike trip that took in the Andorran and French rounds of the World Trial GP series (as it’s now formally known), an experience that I have not been able to indulge for a good number of years.
It’s no secret to anyone who knows me that my real passion in life is the sport of trials so the opportunity to visit two iconic events was eagerly approached and very entertaining they were too.
Without going into intimate detail about each event in particular, lets look at the overall scene as I see it today. The three class structure – Trial GP, Trial 2 and Trial 125 is now a well established format that allows any rider with ultimate World Championship ambitions to work a way through the ranks without taking a step too far, too early.
There’s only a small number in Trial GP, variable depending upon the event of between 15-20 riders of whom probably three or maybe four are actually capable of winning an event. Bou, Raga, Fujinami and Cabestany on form or just possibly Fajardo are the ones, but ultimately it’s going to be Bou or Raga who will end up World Champion for a number of years yet as I can’t see anyone remotely capable of taking their place at the top. Dibsta is the only Brit in the series and whilst he is definitely there on merit with the capability of snatching an occasional podium place, it is nevertheless a massive expect for him to achieve much more.
The problem, if you consider it to be a problem, is that the ask from those who plot the sections is for bravery at a titanic level. Quite frankly, to look at the size of the steps before you see a rider tackle them, makes one wonder how can such a hazard be possible. They are of course, but there is no holding back and without a brilliant minder massive crashes are inevitable.
Moving on to Trial 2 now, Britain has a brilliant star in the form of Jack Price, currently the runaway leader of the championship, and a rider who is visibly in a class above that of his nearest challengers from other lands. He rides with a confidence that belies his age and barring a disaster should comfortably win the series this year.
Which begs the question, what happens if and when he moves into Trial GP? He has bags of confidence, good support from Gas Gas and Tony Kaye’s Road and Trials business, but the stuff asked of riders in the class is different altogether, with walls of rock to be faced (against jumbles of rock where he is now). Iwan Roberts (currently second in the series) is almost as good and Dan Peace is good for the occasional podium, so the future is definitely looking bright from these championship chasing Brits.
Young Jack Peace is almost as dominant in Trial 125 as his namesake Jack Price is in Trial 2, where there is a lower standard of section severity. He too may well find a move into Trial 2 a big step, but with brother Dan already there and doing well, he should slip into the requirements quite easily and whilst others, like Toby Martyn and Tom Hooper are not currently doing the world series, there’s no doubt the future for British riders is looking very strong.
This brings me to the very latest news with regards to the British Trial GP on July 16/17. Parkwood Off Road Centre, Tong is the new venue for this year and I paid a visit to the site last Sunday to inspect the sections along with FIM Section Advisor Jordi Pascuet. I’ve been to Tong in the past for Fast Eddy Extreme Enduros, but much has changed in the past six months. New, hard surfaced roads have been created and since the venue was homologated back in January for use as a world trial venue, the Kirwin/Jarvis promoting team have been hard at work designing a 12 section, three lap course. Despite being sceptical about the venue prior to my visit, I now eagerly await my visit over the weekend as I reckon it will be a cracking, and highly entertaining event. The first seven sections are all natural hazards, with the bare minimum of rock steps added. If you want to see riders tackle monstrously steep and slippery climbs where grip is at a premium, rather than a never ending series of massive rock steps, then this is the trial for you.
The final five sections, (the first seven are down in the woods) are easily accessible next to the fishing lake on the level, and have all been manufactured with a series of big rock steps on a steep banking, so if that’s your required viewing, you will be equally well catered for.
Even though my visit was three weeks prior to the trial, all 12 sections were set out, with sections cards and tape in place and only minor titivating was expected before the trial starts, the level of alteration being primarily weather dependent.
The entry is expected to be approaching 100 riders as for this trial there is a fourth class with it being the first round of the Womens Championship where Emma Bristow is the defending champion. It promises to be a superb venue and very definitely a “British” style trial.
And what else has Rapley being doing to ensure Mrs R remains happy by my being absent? Well, of course there were 9 days in Scotland for the Pre 65 trial followed by the Six Days where Stewarding duties were undertaken where virtually nothing was untoward due to the excellent way the trial is run and together with pals I went to Brou in France for a world sidecarcross round and also to Oss in Holland, primarily to see Stuart Brown and Josh Chamberlain in action, being the number one crew from the UK in this toughest of tough motorcycle sports – and they delivered once again with some superb results.
Add in a few steward duties plus a few rides and there has been barely a minute to spare. Now, the Lady of the house needs to be kept happy, especially during this hectic tennis season, so I need to be off again – but where next?