As the curtain fell on the 2016 RT Keedwell sponsored ACU British Trials Championship today, it was once again James Dabill – Vertigo who very much dominated proceedings at the final round hosted at the Bob MacGregor Trials Academy in Ayrshire, Scotland. In a repeat of the previous day’s results, Jack Price – Gas Gas took second position with Jack Sheppard – Beta completing the podium line-up.
With the first frosts of the year being reported in local areas, it was once again a bright, but very cold day at the former quarry where the focus turned not to who would win the Championship as Dabill already had his seventh title in the bag, but who would win the battle of the Jacks – Price or Sheppard to claim second place overall. Whilst Dabill was totally dominating the day with single figure scores on all three laps, the two Jacks were having their own personal battle.
It was Price who took the early lead on the opening lap, dropping sixteen, but it was by no means a safe margin with Sheppard just a single mark behind. The second lap saw Price improve slightly, dropping twelve, but with Sheppard performing his best rides of the day and a single figure score of seven, the Suffolk rider edged into the lead with a four point buffer moving into the final lap.
Not giving up by any means, the recently crowned Trial2 World Champion came back fighting strongly as Price saved the best for last, dropping just five marks over his remaining visit to the twelve sections at the compact venue. Sheppard, on the other hand, saw it all go somewhat pear-shaped and three fives along with marks on sections he’d previously cleaned left him with a lap score of nineteen, giving Price second in the Trial and, more importantly second place in the Championship. Sheppard, however can take some consolation at being the only man who has beaten Dabill all season, taking victory at the Guisborough & District hosted Round 8 back in August.
In the Expert Class, with Champion Tom Minta – Gas Gas moving up to the Championship class, where he finished 12th, it was Rob Waite – Beta who took top spot by a narrow two mark margin over James Stones – Sherco with Richard Sadler – Beta not managing to repeat his second place of the previous day having to settle for third.
With Minta already declared Champion in the Expert Class, Dan Thorpe – Gas Gas confirmed his runner-up spot, despite just missing out on the podium today with Tom Affleck – Sherco completing the Expert Class Championship top three.
The Youth class also saw changes as another already-declared Champion, Jack Peace – Gas Gas, elected to ride the Championship route, where he finished in a very respectable 8th position. Today’s competition saw Kieran Child – Beta on the top step of the podium with Josh Hanlon – Beta making the trip across the Irish Sea worthwhile taking second and Toby Churchill in third. Today’s final results make Child Championship runner-up with Hanlon third overall.
Ed: Our thanks once again to Dave Willoughby, ably assisted by Elizabeth, for the usual fast and efficient results service all season.
Results
pdf Download Championship Class Results (214 KB)
pdf Download Expert Class Results (24 KB)
pdf Download Youth Class Results (19 KB)
pdf Download Championship Final Standings - All Classes (46 KB)
Photo Coverage
Trials Central Supporters - another jumbo gallery of images, all hi-res and unwatermarked can be accessed by clicking here