World Trials Championship Round 6 Myslenice, Poland
 James
Dabill finished the sixth round of this year’s championship
in seventh place, after a typically gritty ride at the Grand
Prix of Poland. The youngster from Leeds finished the first
of the day’s two laps in joint sixth place with the
far more experienced Marc Freixa, but dropped a single mark
more than the Spaniard on the second lap to hold seventh at
the conclusion of the event.
In contrast to his usual style, James was less than impressed
with his first lap, picking up a dab in the first of the day’s
sections, which saw numerous climbs from streams and back
down again. Although the sun was shining and the temperature
was in the high twenties, heavy rain in the run-up to the
event ensured that the ground was soft and in places, slippery.
He went on to pick up the first of four maximums at section
two, when he got slightly off line. Like many of the riders,
he was also faced with time pressures, as to ensure accuracy,
the riders were forced to spend considerable time studying
the conditions and the right lines.
His second lap started better than his first and he felt
far more at home than earlier in the day. He once again failed
at the second section, this time due to not carrying enough
speed into a tricky climb. However, he would only pick up
one more five on the lap, but did admit to an unnecessary
two marks gained at the penultimate hazard. He complained
of tired arms on the particularly long section, which resulted
in the additional marks and the loss of sixth place overall.
“The sections this weekend were very similar to those
used last year,” James explained. “They were mainly
up and down, into and out of riverbeds and streams. Section
fourteen in particular was very long and by the end of it
surprisingly tired my arms. I’m particularly disappointed
by the two marks on this section, as without them, I would
have taken sixth place.”
“Overall, I felt quite good about today; I just didn’t
start very well. That’s unusual for me, as I tend to
have a better first lap and then lose marks on the second.
Now the event is finished, I’m going to spend the day
tomorrow going back over the sections to understand what went
wrong today and try to ensure that I make less mistakes next
weekend in the Czech Republic.”
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