The second round of the FIM Trial World Championship in the Czech Republic saw factory Vertigo rider James Dabill produced his bests results of the series to date on the prototype Combat as he placed fifth and eighth respectively over the two days of competition. This was a marked improvement compared to the opening GP in Japan and included another first for the Vertigo team as Dabill led the Saturday Trial during the initial stages to put the project literally on top of the World even if was only momentarily.
Rain through the night into Saturday morning saw several forced changes to the sections as conditions in the dense wooded area close to the paddock became slippery due to the added moisture. With little in the way of variety all of the twelve sections featured steep bankings, loose dirt and greasy moss covered boulders.
The almost British conditions suited Dabill and his prototype Combat well with the factory Vertigo rider finding himself at the top of the leader board after an outstanding first lap. James was to maintain his form throughout lap two and only an unbelievable score from Toni Bou was to demote Dabill into second spot with just one lap to go. Unfortunately consecutive fives in the ninth and ten hazards on his closing lap and four time penalties were to see James lose out on a top four finish and have to be content with a still superb fifth place come the end of day one.
Sunday’s Trial was played out under blue skies and sunshine with the ground being much drier than twenty-four hours earlier and even becoming dusty in places. In the changed conditions Dabill placed sixth at the end of lap one with four of the hazards having been modified to reflect the change in the weather. Matching his earlier performance James again dropped twenty-six marks on his second tour and remained in sixth spot going into the final lap of the 
weekend. However with only an hour to ride the last twelve sections, Dabill was forced to rush and saw his score rise as a direct result leaving him in eighth place come the end of day two.
Vertigo Sports Team Manager Dougie Lampkin gave his first hand account of the Czech Republic GP. “Each time we compete we make progress which is the main thing. For James to be leading on the first lap on Saturday and to be so close to a podium place come the finish just shows how far we have come since the start of the year. Fifth position in the end on Saturday was still a good result both for James and the team.”
“Day two was not just as good unfortunately. James rode well again in a lot of places, but even by his own admission just made too many mistakes. Overall it has been a positive weekend and the best GP so far for James and the team so let’s hope we can continue to improve again next weekend in Sweden.”
Dabill had this to say after at the end of day two. “After yesterday, today has been a bit disappointing really. I never seemed to find the same feeling as I had yesterday in the drier conditions and my last lap was a disaster as I rushed to try and finish in time. The positives are that on Saturday I showed what both me and the bike are capable of when everything clicks. I now need to take that same confidence into the next event and to avoid the silly mistakes that cost me a podium place on Saturday and another top five finish today. All in all it has not been a bad weekend and I am now really looking forward to seeing what we can do in Sweden.”
Dabill and the Vertigo team will now head to Sweden for the next round of the FIM Trial World Championship this coming weekend.