Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme : FIM Youth Trial Cup 125 cc

Madrid – The Spanish stage is set

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:38:00 +0100

This Saturday evening the impressive Palacio de los Deportes de Comunidad de Madrid stadium set on the outskirts of the Spanish capital will welcome back the SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship. Twelve months ago the same setting played host to the final encounter of the 2009 series, but this time around it marks the penultimate round of the current championship battle.

Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa will be looking to repeat the victory he achieved to reinforce his 2009 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship title, with the dominant Spanish rider having already claimed his crown last year by the time he arrived in Madrid. On this occasion it will be a different story for the now twenty-three year old from Barcelona, with Bou only holding a narrow advantage over Albert Cabestany – Sherco in the current championship standings.

Whilst Cabestany only finished third in Madrid last year, the Sherco teamster will have fond memories of the venue, with this result allowing him to snatch away the 2009 vice champion position from arch rival Adam Raga – Gas Gas at the very last moment. In some contrast, a costly five in the final section of the series may still play heavily on Raga’s mind, as he fights to regain both his confidence and his place in the top three of the general standings.

Although Saturday’s result remains uncertain, in Madrid drama, action and pure entertainment always seem guaranteed.

Fort William awaits the 99th coming

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:46:00 +0100

Just a year away from celebrating its centenary, the World famous Scottish Six Days Trial is set to return to the Highland town of Fort William for its traditional slot during the first week of May. The 2010 event, again organised by the accomplished Edinburgh and District Motor Club, will kick off on Monday 3rd May, with its two hundred and seventy five competitors from all over the World facing what remains, even in the modern era, one of the greatest challenges in the sport of trials. Typically entries for this ultimate test of man and machine were once again over subscribed, with the elect entrants having already survived the initial hurdle of making it through the recent ballot process.

Twelve times FIM Trial World Champion Dougie Lampkin - Beta will return to defend his title, after having narrowly defeated Alexz Wigg – Beta by a single mark during last year’s epic duel. The 2009 event was hosted in some of the worst weather conditions this historic trial had ever seen. Lampkin has won this competition no less than five times, but knows his route to a sixth and third successive win will be as tough as ever, especially with fellow World championship contender Albert Cabestany – Sherco making his Scottish debut this May.

Although all eyes will be focused on the fierce battle at the head of the daily leader board, the Scottish Six Days Trial has many stories to tell, with the riders from nearly twenty different nations from as far a field as Australia and Canada covering a wide range of abilities. This year’s entry list includes fifty-nine new comers, and six female competitors. These mere mortals will uniquely share their week alongside the professional riders who earn their living from the more usual form of this sport, which is broadcast to millions of homes around the globe on a weekly basis during the FIM World championship season.

Whilst the likes of Lampkin, Wigg, Cabestany and 2007 winner James Dabill – Gas Gas will make the journey to the Scottish Highlands with one goal in mind, for many of the other riders their sole aim will be make it to the finish. Covering nearly one hundred miles and thirty sections each day, the event is a real test of endurance, both for the modern trials bike (which is designed for far more compact courses) and the riders.

This is much due to the unique nature of the Scottish terrain and sections that remain the real lure of this great competition. Over the last century many thousands of riders have made the famous pilgrimage to the enthralling and unmatched landscape that surrounds Fort William, but only the select few have the honour of having had their name etched on the famous winners’ trophy.

Only come Saturday 8th May, will the 2010 winner be clear. The latest victor of this classic event will have triumphed after six long days in the saddle and after having endured one of the most mentally and physically grueling week’s of their career. So with the entry list having now been published, Fort William awaits the 99th coming of what remains the most important event in the trials calendar outside of the FIM Trial World championship proper.

Previous winners*

2009 - Dougie Lampkin - Beta
2008 - Dougie Lampkin - Beta
2007 - James Dabill - Montesa
2006 - Graham Jarvis - Sherco
2005 - Sam Connor - Sherco
2004 - Graham Jarvis - Sherco
2003 - Joan Pons - Sherco
2002 - Amos Bilbao- Montesa
2001- Cancelled due to Foot + Mouth

2000 - Steve Colley - Gas Gas
1999 - Graham Jarvis - Bultaco
1998 - Graham Jarvis - Scorpa
1997 - Steve Colley - Gas Gas
1996 - Dougie Lampkin - Beta
1995 - Dougie Lampkin - Beta
1994 - Dougie Lampkin - Beta
1993 - Steve Colley - Beta
1992 - Steve Colley - Beta
1991 - Steve Saunders - Beta

1990 - Steve Saunders - Beta
1989 - Steve Saunders - Fantic
1988 - Steve Saunders - Fantic
1987 - Jordi Tarres - Beta
1986 - Thierry Michaud - Fantic
1985 - Thierry Michaud - Fantic
1984 - Thierry Michaud - Fantic
1983 - Toni Gorgot - Montesa
1982 - Bernie Schreiber - SWM
1981 - Gilles Burgat - SWM

1980 - Yrjo Vesterinen - Montesa
1979 - Malcolm Rathmell - Montesa
1978 - Martin Lampkin - Bultaco
1977 - Martin Lampkin - Bultaco
1976 - Martin Lampkin - Bultaco
1975 - Mick Andrews - Yamaha
1974 - Mick Andrews - Yamaha
1973 - Malcolm Rathmell - Bultaco
1972 - Mick Andrews - Ossa
1971 - Mick Andrews - Ossa

* 1971-2009 inclusive

Madrid ready for the penultimate showdown

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:08:00 +0100

Reigning champion Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa will be looking to consolidate his five-point lead over countryman and closest rival Albert Cabestany - Sherco in the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship as the series heads to Madrid for its penultimate round this weekend.

As the circus lands in the Spanish capital on Saturday evening all eyes will be on the showdown between the country’s top two performers, the irrepressible Bou and the rejuvenated Cabestany. Bou’s cool head, technical ability, previous experience and unshakable confidence means he is the favourite to take overall honours. However, he would be a fool to dismiss the challenge laid down by round two victor Cabestany, who has put his composure and silky skills to good effect this year and looks likely to take the series to the wire.

While the Spanish fans’ attention will undoubtedly centre on the two title contenders, their focus will also be shifted onto the seemingly out-of-sorts Adam Raga - Gas Gas. The Catalan, whose performances this year have been below par given his usual high standards, will be hoping to get his season back on track when the action kicks off inside the cosmopolitan city’s atmospheric Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad de Madrid stadium.

It would be all too easy to concentrate solely on Raga and the leading Spanish duo, but one rider whose results this season deserve recognition is twenty-three-year-old James Dabill - Gas Gas. The current British outdoor trials champion is lying third in the standings and is improving at every round as his skill, composure and confidence grows.

Another rider to look out for in Madrid is wildcard Alfredo Gomez - Montesa, who is making his first appearance in the series this year and will want to make an impression on the World’s elite. Likewise Takahisa Fujinami - Repsol Montesa, who made the final at round three in Barcelona, but has yet to make the podium in 2010.

A year ago Madrid played host to the championship’s final round and it was Bou, who had already wrapped up his third consecutive indoor crown, that raised the roof. Toni signed off with a superb win, which confirmed his superiority over Cabestany who was runner up on the night, with Bou being in vintage form en route to the fourth victory of his 2009 campaign.

Raga, meanwhile, was still in with a shot of finishing second overall in the series right up until the final hazard in Madrid last year. However, nerves got the better of him and he failed critically in the last section, thus allowing Cabestany to pounce. The mistake saw Raga relegated to third in the season standings behind the Sherco teamster.

This year’s event is sure to be even more exciting as Bou and Cabestany lock horns and stake their claims for the title, while Dabill will attempt to fend off all-comers, most notably his team-mate Raga, in a desperate bid to protect his podium position in the series.

Raga hoping for revenge in Madrid

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:32:00 +0100

It is fair to say that Adam Raga - Gas Gas has not started this season the way he, his team, fans, or even rivals expected. So now, with only two rounds of the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship to go, the amiable Spaniard is intent on making amends for his mediocrity.

A four-time SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World champion, the normally consistent Raga is not used to dropping off the rostrum. His 2010 campaign began with a disappointing fourth place in Sheffield, and although his poor result at round three in Barcelona, a lowly seventh place after he failed to even qualify, was sandwiched by a podium visit in Marseille. It is fair to say that his season so far has been defined by uncharacteristic performances.

“I know that I have not ridden well enough,” said the likeable twenty-seven-year-old, who is more used to battling Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa for top honours than fighting for fourth or fifth place. “In Barcelona I had mechanical problems and I was not able to qualify, but at the other rounds I suppose that yes, I have not done well enough. It is disappointing.”

Mechanical problems aside, the fact that Raga failed to make the grade in Barcelona in front of his home fans must have been devastating for the cool-headed Catalan. “It was a strange feeling and yes, it was made worse because it was in Spain. At the moment when I was about to enter the final section, my rear axle just failed and I was not able to qualify. It broke in half and I could not believe it. It was more disbelief than any other feeling.”

Since then, Raga, who finished third overall in last year’s indoor series, claims that he has done nothing differently in his bid to get his season back on track. Instead, he has continued to train hard and hopes his dip in form is merely a blip: “I have not changed anything and I am doing nothing different than I used to. After Barcelona I have just been training as usual.”

Given that Raga is working closely with his new Gas Gas team-mate, James Dabill who is currently sitting ahead of Adam in the overall points standings, some may wonder whether he feels any animosity towards the fast-improving British rider. “James is a good guy and, like everybody else, he is doing his best. The good thing about trials is that you are always fighting against the section and not an individual.”

The big question that one has to ask is whether the Spaniard can turn his season around at the penultimate round in Madrid? “I hope I can return to my place on the podium, however with the new rules it is difficult to predict, so who knows?” As for his ultimate hopes in the series, Raga is unapologetically blunt with his response when asked. Where do you hope to finish? Adam simply replies “I would be happy with third place.”

Increased and extended TV Coverage for the 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:33:00 +0100

The hotly anticipated 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship, which kicks off in the medieval town of Baiona, Spain, on Sunday 18th April, will be broadcast into 168.4 million households by some of the World’s leading terrestrial and satellite television channels.

Each stop of the eight-round series, which travels from Spain to Portugal, then on to Japan, Great Britain, France, San Marino and Italy before ending its journey in the Czech Republic on Sunday 5th September will be condensed into an hour-long highlights package. In Spain, this sixty-minute round-up will be broadcast on the same day of each event by terrestrial channel TV3 de Catalunya, while in other territories it will air on satellite TV channels during the following week.

Televised to 46.3 million households across Europe by Eurosport 2, Canal Plus and TV3 de Catalunya, and 122.1 million households internationally by ESPN, Eurosport, Ten Sports, and the Abu Dhabi Sport Channel, the 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship will touch a huge global audience across five continents. This gives the FIM, and the series’ sponsors, teams and athletes, a fantastic platform in which to promote the sport of Trial to a large and culturally diverse collection of interested viewers.

The FIM’s Marketing and Communications Director, Olivier Godallier, is delighted with the outdoor series’ newfound global reach. "In 2009, Eurosport and the FIM secured the international broadcast of the SPEA FIM Trial World Championship for the first time.”

“We were very happy with the relationship and coverage during the first year of this collaboration, and in 2010 we are expanding the championship’s television coverage even further to include the Middle East region through the Abu Dhabi Sports Channel, and the South Asian region (India) with Ten Sports." Said Godallier.

Tune into this year’s television coverage to see if three-times consecutive SPEA FIM Trial World Championship winner Toni Bou - Repsol Montesa can fend off the challenge from his closest rivals Albert Cabestany - Sherco and Adam Raga - Gas Gas when the season begins in the Spaniards’ homeland this April.

Raga looks back in some anger

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:55:00 +0100

Just over a week after making a welcome return to the podium, Adam Raga – Gas Gas suffered one of his worst results ever during his recent career when he failed to make it even to the semi final at round three of the SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World championship. Looking to build on the result he gained in Marseille, Raga arrived in his home city of Barcelona with some good expectations, but in the end it became a real nightmare.

Fifth after qualification Raga was forced to go to the last chance qualifier in his attempt to join Bou and co in the semi final. However his bad night was to become even worse as a broken rear spindle in the deciding section ruled him out of the main competition much to the disappointment of the home fans.

Raga explained. “It’s been a real disaster tonight, everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong and that's just how it has been. In qualifying my rear wheel twisted in the first section and although I also made some mistakes this problem did not help. Then in the last chance I could not believe what was happening. I am so sorry for my family, friends and fans who have come here tonight.”

Barcelona has begun

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:27:00 +0100

Sharing the stage with the closing round of the FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup, qualification for the third counting event in the SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship took place behind closed doors earlier today. With many of the World enduro stars looking on, Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa delivered an exhibition style performance as he romped through qualifying totally unpenalised.

Proving that his win in Marseille last weekend was no fluke, Albert Cabestany – Sherco almost matched Bou apart from one five early in section three. Making amends for his two poor showing thus far in the series, Japanese rider Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa looked far more like himself as he booked his place in the semi final behind his two Spanish rivals. Jeroni Fajardo – Beta completed the automatic qualifiers, leaving Adam Raga – Gas Gas with work to do in this evening’s last chance if he is progress any further in this event.

Raga is up against, James Dabill – Gas Gas, Loris Gubian – Gas Gas and Alexz Wigg – Beta as he attempts to be one of just two riders who will transfer to the semi final via this tense route. With no wild card entrants on this occasion, all eight fixed have survived the opening round ahead of the main show in front of what promises to be a packed arena later today.

Barcelona – Who will be King of the city?

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 09:39:00 +0100

Just over a week after the World’s elite trials riders did battle in France, the fight to be champion continues this Sunday with round three of the SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship taking place in Barcelona, Spain. The eight fixed riders from four different nations will assemble at the Palau Sant Jordi arena, which is part of the ex Olympic complex that sits high on the hill that looks over the great city.

Across town Barcelona FC might be the giants of the Spain’s top football division – ‘La Liga’, but on Sunday afternoon come evening it will be the likes of Toni Bou – Repsol Montesa, Albert Cabestany – Sherco, Adam Raga – Gas Gas and Jeroni Fajardo – Beta who will be home heroes on this occasion. The mighty Spanish quartet will have to resist the foreign challengers in the form of Takahisa Fujinami – Repsol Montesa, James Dabill – Gas Gas, Loris Gubian – Gas Gas and Alexz Wigg – Beta if they wish to be King of the city for one night.

Barcelona will be big, as the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship will combine with the final round of the 2010 FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup, for an incredible evening of off-road entertainment.

Cabestany’s French connection

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:56:00 +0100

Albert Cabestany – Sherco is not quite sure what it is about Marseille, it could be water, the weather or even the sea, but whatever it is, it is clear he is very fond of the French city. Twelve months ago, Albert inflicted Bou’s only defeat of his 2009 World indoor campaign in the very last section, and this time around it was a case of déjà vu.

At twenty nine years old, Cabestany is not often excited these days. However by the way that he celebrated his victory over the reigning SPEA FIM Indoor Trial Champion when he out smarted him in the last hazard, it would suggest that he still has the stomach for the fight. With a wide smile on his face Albert explained.

“Yes I am not sure what it is about this place, I could say it was the local wine, but I have never tested it. I really like the sections in Marseille, they are very technical and suit my style well. I felt really confident tonight and I have to say I have never been more confident on a bike than I do with this model. It is going to be difficult to match Bou in the rest of the championship, but at least after tonight I know I can still beat him.”

Raga ready to return to winning ways

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:33:00 +0100

Adam Raga – Gas Gas has arrived in Marseille, France for the second round of the 2010 SPEA FIM Indoor Trial World Championship, in a confident mood and ready to fight for the victory once again. Despite only placing fourth at the opening event in Sheffield two weeks ago, Adam is not disappointed with his progress since returning from injury to his knee, which troubled him most of last season.

Raga explained. “It may be strange to say, but I was happy after Sheffield. OK, yes I would have preferred to have been on the podium or challenging for the win, but in the end it was just nice to be back riding in a competition. It has been a difficult time both for me and the team coming back from this injury, but finally things are beginning to return to normal.”

“My knee is about 80 to 90% correct, but this is not the biggest problem. The big problem is having been off the bike for so long. It takes a lot and I mean a lot of work and training to return to same level as you had before when you have been away for such a long time. Anyway, things are good now and I feel if I can ride well tonight and without any big mistakes, I can be somewhere near the top again.” Ended Adam.