THE Spanish dream team of Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany, Toni

Brits setae for second
TH E Spanish dream team o f A dam R aga, A lb ert C abestany, Toni Bou
and Jeroni Fajardo gave the o th er eig h t team s in the W orld cham p i­
o n sh ip class o f the m e n ’s Trial Des N ations a m aster class in riding
as they rom ped hom e clear w in n ers at B real-sous M ontfort, France,
as had been w id ely predicted.
W ith the loss of just 18m arks for the two laps of 18
sections, Spain finished well
clear of a British team that
had Initially lead the event,
but eventually had to settle
for a safe runners-up posi­
tion as their challenge faded
late on the first lap and never
recovered. Looking to repeat
the success of the W om en’s
team twenty-four hours earli­
er, the British men sim ply
had no answer to the might
of the Spanish quartet.
G reat Britain, represented
by Dougie Lampkin, Graham
Jarvis, Jam es D abill and
Shaun
M orris,
put the
S panish fa vo urite s under
p ressure
as
th e y
first
m atched th e ir E uropean
co u n te rp a rts with faultless
rides through the first six
hazards of the day before
m oving ahead of them at
section seven. R aga’s team
responded, but could not
shake the Brits off their tail
until much later in the lap.
Holding a m ere four m ark
lead after 15 sections, Spain
was about to show its
suprem acy as it added no
further m arks to its score
through the three much more
difficult closing hazards. In
contrast Britain’s campaign
fell a p a rt as it recorded
heavy losses at this decisive
m om ent to trail Spain by 16m arks at the halfway point.
S pectacular action from British team ster Jam es Dabill as he helps the squad to second overall in France.
Despite this quick change
in fortunes, Britain’s eventual
second position was alm ost
secured at this stage as they
held a 44-m ark lead over the
Japanese squad lead by
Takahisa Fujinami, who cur­
rently held third place just
ahead of Italy. W ith the best
th re e sco re s co u n ting in
each section, Japan make
their plight a touch m ore dif­
ficult by only fielding a three
m an team w ith Fujinam i
being su p p orte d by two
Report: G2F
Pictures:
ERIC KITCHEN
younger team m em bers in
the form of S corpa m ounted
Fum itaka
N ozaki
and
Tsuyoshi O gaw a on an
Italian-backed Montesa.
The Italians had opted for
a blend of old and new with
D iego Bosis m aking his
tw e n ty second Trials Des
Nations appearance beside
current W orld cham pionship
regulars,
Fabio
Lenzi,
D aniele
M au rin o
and
Michele Orizio. The scrap for
third, fourth and fifth places
provided perhaps the most
interest, as Japan, Italy and
homeboys France fought it
out for the last podium spot.
W ith an im proved second lap
pe rfo rm a n ce Japan fin a lly
secured a w ell-earned place
on the rostrum as they came
hom e
ju s t
e ig h t-m a rks
ahead of Italy, who in turn
defeated France by the same
margin to com plete the top
five.
The purpose developed
trials park at Breal Sous
M on tfo rt near R ennes in
France is sim ply trials para­
dise.
T he
steep-sided,
wooded valle y that sits
directly in front of the many
recently constructed clu b ­
house buildings, hides some
of the best trials terrain in
Northern Europe. Based on
the course that had been
used when the W orld cham ­
pio n sh ip last visite d this
venue back in 2003, the loop
had been slightly extended
to allow for the increased
en try size and the three
extra sections that is part of
the m odern TDN form at.
Both Spain and G reat
Britain arrived in the large
open quarry area without
having lost m arks, w here
they found the first real test
of the day.
Both the severity and
length o f section seven
played havoc with m ost rid-
Shaun Morris looks at home on Back Cowm type rockery.
Shaun M orris, Jam es Dabill, G raham Jarvis apd Opugie Lam pkin line-up alongside rivals and TdN w inners Spain and third place finishes Japan, the latter just sporting a three-m an team.