Italian Outdoor Championship Round 1 Cava Dei Tirreni, Italy
James Dabill opened the defence of his Italian outdoor title
with a dominant victory at the first round of the 2008 series
held in Southern Italy earlier today. Fresh from his win at
the Brianza two-day trial last weekend, James was in no mood
to surrender his grip on a championship he won for the first
time last season.
The eight round series is regarded as one of the best domestic
championships in Europe, and proved to be a good testing ground
for Dabill last year ahead of his World championship campaign.
Unusually it was James’ younger team mate Andrea Vaccaretti
who followed him home on this ocassion, with the much more
experienced Fabio Lenzi only managing third place this time
out.
Three laps of ten sections greeted the riders, with all the
hazards featuring dry rocks and no variation of any kind.
Dabill’s strategic approach meant he took control of
the event from the very first lap, to hold an early lead,
which he never looked like losing during the six tense hours
of competition.
James needed just a single dab on his first visit to the
sections, his one mark loss coming in the seventh hazard after
he veered off line as he crested the large rock step. The
second lap saw Dabill remain feet up throughout, however he
was to incur his only maximum of the trial when he was deemed
to have knocked out a poorly secured marker early in section
nine.
Slightly angry with this judgement, James completed his third
and final lap with a point to prove, and this he duly did
as he rode all ten sections without being penalised once.
Three near perfect laps saw Dabill run out a comfortable winner
some thirteen marks ahead of his nearest rival Vaccaretti.
Dabill will once again remain in Italy, ahead of his next
two indoor events that will take place on Thursday and Saturday
of the forthcoming week.
A delighted Dabill stated: “Two wins in two weeks is
a great start to the outdoor season, and is just what I am
looking for ahead of the World championship which begins later
this month.”
“To win by such a clear margin again is also a great
confidence boost and confirms that the work we have done as
a team over the winter months is already paying off. The most
important thing now is to make sure that I can continue this
kind of form throughout the year.”
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