Next weekend – 28 / 29 April - will see the opening round of the 2012 FIM Trial World Championship take place in the small mountain town of La Bresse in north-east France.
Situated in the idyllic Vosges National Park, La Bresse has a population of little over five thousand people, but will very soon swell in numbers as this year’s riders and teams descend on the town for the first in a series of events being held right across the globe this season.
The 2012 FIM Trial World Championship will take place over three months and will be enacted over seven rounds, including six two-day events. In addition to touring Europe, 2012 sees the Trial calendar go intercontinental, making its now usual stop in Japan as well as visiting Australia for the very first time. The addition of this new destination is one that has been welcomed by the riders and teams, as they look to play their part in developing this emerging market. All of this year’s Trial stars will also be hoping to make history by winning this first ever Australian round.
Commenting on the addition of Australia to this year’s schedule, FIM President, Vito Ippolito, said: “As with all its main World Championships, the FIM is doing its utmost to be present on the largest possible number of continents. We are also working on expanding the television coverage so that this competition can reach a potentially huge global audience across five continents, thereby providing a great platform for all the groups involved - the FIM, the organisers, the sponsors, the teams and the riders - for the promotion of this exciting sport.”
Following this weekend’s opening round in La Bresse, France, there will then be a five-week pause in proceedings to allow officials, supporters, teams and riders sufficient time to make the long journey 'down under’ to Mount Tarrengower in Australia which will host round two of the 2012 FIM Trial World Championship. The series will then head straight to Motegi, Japan for the third stop of the 2012 tour a week later, before returning home to Europe where the remaining four rounds will be held. Spain and Andorra close out the busy month of June before the title will be finally decided in July as the series concludes in Italy and Great Britain. This year the riders will be fighting it out in four classes - World Pro, Junior and Youth, plus the newly introduced Open International category. As in previous years, the 2012 FIM Trial World Championship, FIM Junior Trial World Cup and FIM Youth Trial Cup 125cc will run alongside each other, taking in the same locations on the same dates, as will the newly introduced FIM Open International Trial Cup. The winners of the respective classes will be crowned at the end of the final round of the series, which will be held in Penrith, Cumbria in the heart of Britain’s picturesque Lake District on 28 / 29 July.