KX energy Trials Rider Michael Brown (Gas Gas) missed his chance to impress the French crowds in the semi-finals at the Marseille leg of the 2012 FIM X-Trial World Championships. Too many mistakes in the qualifications on Friday evening meant the Gas Gas rider wasn't high enough up the leader-board to make the Saturday night event. The qualification sections however were incredibly challenging with every rider apart from multi-world champion Toni Bou (SPA - Montesa) scoring maximum marks on at least three of the seven point scoring sections.
The Scarborough rider who ranked 6th in the FIM Indoor World Championships in 2009 finished the Marseille event in 9th, his worst result of his 2012 campaign. Talking about the event a disappointed Michael comments, "Of course last weekend was not a good weekend for me. Not to qualify for the semi-finals for the third event in a row is not acceptable. I knew this weekend was going to be tough, and all the riders found the sections hard, but especially me.
"I am riding to challenge Loris [Goubian - FRA Gas Gas] and I know I can beat him, but something just isn't working for me and I need to figure it out. I've been out in Spain training for the last three weeks and I feel good on the bike, but being able to convert that into a decent ride in the arena just isn't happening."
At the top of the leader-board Toni Bou once again stole the show ahead of Michael's Gas Gas team-mate Adam Raga (SPA) and 2002 Indoor World Champion Albert Cabestany (Sherco). Takahisha Fujinami (JPN - Montesa) concluded the four man final.
There is a month break in the 2012 FIM X-Trial World Championships now before the series resumes again in Madrid on the 3rd March. Michael intends to stay in Europe to focus on the second half of the season, "There is no doubt that I need to stay in Europe now, the X-Trial Championships still has four rounds left and I can still make an impact in the final results. I'll be working hard over the February to really understand what isn't working and look at how I can attack Madrid" he concluded.