Th
e 2014 FIM Trial World Championship will get underway this coming weekend with the Australian Grand Prix opening the new season. This will be the fortieth edition of the series that first gained its World status back in 1976. Over the last four decades fourteen different champions have been crowned, with the reigning title-holder Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa looking to open his title defence at the stunning Mount Tarrengower venue, which hosted the continent’s inaugural GP back in 2012. Absent from last year’s schedule, Australia’s second ever FIM Trial World Championship event marks the start of an eight round campaign that will eventually decide who will be the 2014 FIM Trial World Champion.
The riders will face back to back days of competition in Australia, which is the first of two fly away events to open the series. With hardly time to unpack their cases and crates the teams will only have a short turn-around period before they then head off to the second round in Japan, which will take place two weeks later. The almost equally long trip to the well-appointed facility at Twin Ring, Motegi will mark the fifteenth consecutive time that the series has visited the famous permanent tarmac circuit. Whilst the weather at Motegi has been unpredictable over the years, the warm welcome from the Japanese fans has been ever consistent over the last decade and a half.
With the opening two rounds completed before the end of April, the riders will then have the chance to regroup before they travel to Ile Rousse, Corsica late the following month. This will be the first time that the championship has ever visited the scenic French island, which last year hosted the opening days of the Tour de France cycle race. The rocky and undulating nature of the landscape in Corsica should provide an ideal setting for the third round of the series that will stop off at eight different countries before it comes to a close in early September.
June will see the 2014 FIM Trial World Championship arrive on mainland Europe for the first time in the season, as the Italian town of Alagna hosts round four that will mark the mid-point in the six month tour. By the time the Belgian GP takes place in July the main title contenders will have already s
tarted to make their mark, and will be only too aware of the importance of performing well during the most intense part of the campaign. The event at Comblain au Pont marks a welcome return for the small European country, with Belgium having last been a part of the series back in 2006 when the Trial took place then at the famous Spa Francorchamps circuit.
From northern Europe, the championship will then hop across the English Channel and make the journey north to Penrith, Great Britain for round six. After single day events in Italy and Belgium, the riders will again be faced with back to back days of competition at the British GP with the compact hill top venue sure to attract a healthy crowd as it has done in the past, in a land where the sport has a long and rich history. By the time the riders depart from Penrith they will have completed ten of the thirteen counting days that will decide who will eventually be crowned the new King.
The French town of La Mongie close to the Northern Spanish border will be the penultimate stop of the 2014 FIM Trial World Championship. A single day of action at the French Grand Prix will bring to an end three rounds on the bounce before the series then takes its traditional summer break ahead of its September finale. Arnedo, Spain will host the final two days of the championship, when the home fans might just get to witness history in the making as Bou looks to become the first ever rider to claim eight FIM Trial World Championships. So all in all there is much to play for as the 2014 season kicks off down under this coming weekend.