Vertigo Mark End Of First World Championship

Two days of competition in Teo, Spain saw the 2015 FIM Trial World Championship come to a close and marked the end of the first season for the prototype Vertigo Combat competing at the highest level. Following this initial campaign, factory Vertigo rider James Dabill can count an almost career best equaling fourth place as his best individual result in the series and eighth spot in the final general standings.

For his younger team mate, Francesc Moret who only competed in selected rounds during the latter part of the season, it was an equally successful year as he twice secured career best ninth places in both Andorra and Portugal.

At the final round in Spain, substantial rain on Friday evening and into the early hours of Saturday forced changes to five of the twelve sections prior to the start of the Trial on day one. The moisture added extra severity to the hazards that were set on the hills surrounding the small Spanish town and meant that conditions on the ground were slippery at best.

The two stroke fuel injected prototype Combat coped and performed well on this type of going with the smooth power delivery meaning that the factory Vertigo riders had plenty of grip to hand. Despite a big crash mid way through the opening lap that forced running repairs to replace handlebars and other parts, Dabill recovered well to slot into an interim sixth spot. In contrast Moret was unable to convert many of his promising attempts and ended the lap in thirteenth place.

With conditions continuing to dry with the warm but overcast weather, James produced an improved performance on his second visit to the rocky tests and managed to shave seven marks off his first lap total to keep himself in contention for a top five placing. Moret followed in a similar fashion as he reduced his lap tally by nine marks and in doing so climbed the rankings.

Francesc continued the same form through the last twelve sections to take a well eleventh position come the finish having learned much ahead of day two. Dabill left his best to last with his final lap total being enough for to claim seventh spot and end the day thirteen marks clear of Repsol factory rider Jaime Busto.

Unfortunately, neither Dabill nor Moret were able to match their opening day performances as the second day of competition was impacted by more heavy overnight rain that also returned repeatedly during Sunday's event. James and Francesc rounded out the 2015 series with an eleventh and thirteen place respectively.

Vertigo Sports Team Manager Dougie Lampkin remarked. "Overall in terms of bringing a new prototype bike to the top level championship it has been a big success with no major technical problems throughout a nine round and eighteen trial series. It is fair to say that we have learned much about both the bike and team, which was always going to be the case and the idea behind making this big step. The soon to be launched production version of the Combat will reflect all the work and development that has been done this year and is sure to create a great and well proven bike for the end user."

Dabill said. "After yesterday's ride I was hoping to be able to finish off with another reasonable result, but unfortunately I was not at my best today. I would like to thank the team for all their hard work this year and to say how proud I am to have been a part of this very special and exciting project. Based on what we have gained this season, I am sure 2016 will be a strong year for both me and Vertigo."

Moret ended by saying. "I was hoping for some better results this weekend. My riding was OK, but I made too many mistakes. I would like to end by saying a massive thanks to the team and to Vertigo for giving me this chance."