World Indoor Trials Championship Round 1 Marseille, France
James Dabill opened his 2008 World indoor campaign with a
respectable sixth place, in this his first season as a permanent
rider on the tour. Dabill was just a single mark away from
recording a sensational fifth position, as he pushed the far
more experienced Spanish rider Fajarado right to the finish
of the qualifying heat.
With his previous appearances on the World indoor scene limited
to just a few wild card outings, James has a tall task ahead
of him as he attempts to compete against a far more established
field over the six round championship that will come to a
close in mid March.
Dabill made a convincing start to the indoor season by dropping
just two single dabs in the opening two sections, before cleaning
the tough third hazard. However two fives later in the lap
dented what otherwise had been a fantastic start for the youngster
from Leeds.
The first of his mistakes came as he over shot the ‘cotton
reels’ in the fourth section, before dropping short
in the square concrete tubes in the very next hazard. Four
time penalties for running over the eleven-minute time limit
imposed to complete the seven sections, left Dabill in a head
to head duel with Fajardo.
Although James beat his Spanish rival in the dual race, it
was simply not enough for him to claim fifth spot after what
had been a spirited performance by the young pretender. Having
just missed out on a top five finish, Dabill took some comfort
in having demoted his compatriot Dougie Lampkin into seventh
spot.
Dabill now has a two week break from competition, to resume
his training schedule, before he returns to the main arena
for the second round of the series in Barcelona.
“Fifth would have been a fantastic result, so I should
really be happy with sixth, but I can’t be when I was
so close to beating Fajardo. Compared to the other permanent
riders I am by far the most inexperienced indoors, so each
event is a steep learning curve for me.”
“With what I have learnt tonight I am now looking forward
to Barcelona, which is one of the biggest, toughest and most
famous indoor trials in the World. To get a good result there,
would be a real achievement for me at this early stage in
my indoor career.”
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