Australian round of World Trials Championship report

More than three years in the planning, the Australian stop-off for the WTC served as rounds 3 and 4 of the 2012 championship. More than thirty of the world's best trials riders came to Mt. Tarrengower (near Maldon in central Victoria), along with a strong contingent of local trials talent.

Leading the international brigade were some of the sport's best riders, namely multiple WTC champions Adam Raga and Toni Bou, along with Albert Cabestany, James Dabill and Takahisa Fujinami to name a few. Junior classes were also well represented, with the likes of Francesc Moret, Alexandre Ferrer and Pol Tarres in action on the granite outcrops of Mt. Tarrengower. Overall, competitors were spread across four classes: World Pro; Open International; Youth; and Junior.

Australians competing in this round included multiple Australian Trials champion Kevin Zarczinski, who along with brother Colin and Neil Price, were riding in the Open International field. In the Juniors, Kyle Middleton, Boyd Willcocks, Tim Coleman and Chris Bayles represented the locals, while Sam King and Jonathan Chellas were Australia's representatives in the Youth class. World Pro was limited to international competitors.

The event kicked off on Friday, May 25, with a survey of the course by competitors, minders (who assist riders in negotiating the course) and officials. Damp conditions on this and the following day proved to be no real barrier to some of the world's best, and fortunately for spectators, the skies cleared late on Saturday for Round 3 and were perfect for Sunday's Round 4.

ROUND 3 - Saturday, May 26
Saturday's Round 3 started under leaden skies and intermittent rain, which made the Tarrengower boulders slippery and particularly difficult for some competitors to negotiate, but Toni Bou showed why he's a 5 time World Champion, accumulating only 24 points over both circuits of the 15-part course. Bou scored only 17 points on the first lap, and 7 on the second. In Trials, points are accumulated each time the rider puts his foot down to balance, falls, or needs the assistance of minders, so the fewer the points the better.

"I'm very happy to win in Australia for the first time," Bou said afterward. "I think it was a fantastic race for me. Tomorrow should be more easy, which is good for me, but which will make it a lot more close, I think".

Behind Bou, Adam Raga finished second, with a score of 54 points, followed by Albert Cabestany on 65, making it a Spanish lockout of the podium for Round 3. Fujinami also scored 65 points, but lost the final podium spot on a countback.

The combined Junior and Open International field saw France's Ferrer win the day with 52 points, ahead of Spaniards Tarres and Moret, who finished with 54 and 68 points respectively. Great Britain's Jack Sheppard was fourth with 71 points, while New Zealand's Jake Whitaker finished an impressive seventh.
Best-placed Australian for Round 3 was Middleton, who finished 8th overall with 117 points, followed by Coleman (126) and Price (133). Outside the top ten, Willcocks finished on 142 points, followed by Colin Zarczynski (144) and Bayles (145).

In the Youth class, round 3 honours went to French rider Steven Coquelin, who finished the day with an impressive 20 points, 17 ahead of second-placed Bradley Cox. Norway's Sverre Lundevold completed the top three, with Australians Jonathan Chellas, Sam King, and Blake Fox finishing fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

For Colin Scott, one of the key organisers of the event, the success of the opening day of the first-ever locally held WTC round was particularly satisfying.
"We had 2,500 spectators yesterday (Saturday)," Scott said ahead of Sunday's action. "The course is certainly at world standard - it's taking a lot of points off the best riders in the world, so were pretty happy we have hit it right on the head. Unfortunately, the weather hasn't been that good, but today (Sunday), round four is going to be absolutely fantastic!"

ROUND 4 - Sunday, May 27
Sunday's Round 4 started under near-perfect skies, with the drier, warmer conditions a welcome treat for the 2,000 odd spectators who came to the event. The course was mildly modified from Saturday's layout, as some of the underclasses were struggling to complete the course without massive penalty points.

In the World Pro class, the battle of the Spaniards again went the way of Bou, who improved on his Round 3 performance to only rack up 10 points across both laps this time around. The Spaniard accumulated only 3 points on lap one and 7 on lap two. Second place went to fellow Spanish rider Jeroni Fajardo. Amassing 79 points on Round 3, Fajardo bounced back to score only 19 for Round 4. After coming agonisingly close to the podium on Saturday, Fujinami got the better of Raga on Sunday to take third, but the margin was close again, 31 points for Fujinami and 33 for Raga.

At the conclusion of Rounds 3 & 4, Bou sits at the top of the championship table with 77 points, 16 ahead of Raga, with Fajardo a further three points back on 58. A poor result from Cabestany on Sunday drops him to fourth in the championship, with Fujinami completing the top five. The British contingent of James Dabill, Jack Challoner, Adam Brown and Alex Wiggz all struggled at Mt. Tarrengower, finishing outside the top five on both days.

In the Junior/Open International class, Round 4 again belonged to Ferrer, who finished comfortably ahead of Moret, but Benoit Dagnicourt almost made it a French 1-2 after finishing one point behind the Spanish rider. Dagnicourt's result was all the more impressive given he was carrying a foot injury into this round. Sheppard and Whitaker completed the top five, while Middleton was again the best-placed Aussie in eighth place, followed by Coleman, Willcocks and Bayles.

Sherco-mounted Ferrer has won all four Junior rounds this season, with the only real competition coming from the Spanish pair of Moret and Tarres, who occupy second and third place respectively in the championship. The good news for Aussie Trials fans is that Kyle Middleton will head overseas to compete in the next six rounds of the Junior WTC, where he'll no doubt improve his skills against the world's best.

The Youth class saw a much closer contest for Round 4, with only three points separating the top three finishers at the end of the day. Coquelin scored a single point victory over Cox (19 to 20), with Lundevold third on 22 points. The New Zealand pair of Blake Fox and John Haynes were the next best, followed by Aussies Sam King and Jonathan Chellas, who finished sixth and seventh. Championship order was reflected the finishing order from round 4, with Coquelin leading from Cox and Lundevold.

Given the success of this round, organisers and local Trials enthusiasts are hoping to make Australia a permanent part of the WTC calendar. Given the reaction of most competitors, this may well be a possibility. From Australia, the WTC internationals next head to Japan, with Honda's heartland of Motegi hosting rounds 5 and 6 of the championship on June 2nd and 3rd.

FIM World Trials Championship - Rounds 3 & 4, Mt. Tarrengower, Victoria, AUSTRALIA

WORLD PRO - Top 5 (round 3 & round 4 position)
1. Toni BOU ESP Montesa (1-1)
2. Adam RAGA ESP Gas Gas (2-4)
3. Jeroni FAJARDO ESP Beta (5-2)
4. Takahisa FUJINAMI JAP Montesa (4-3)
5. Albert CABESTANY ESP Sherco (3-5)

WORLD PRO Championship points - after 4 of 13 rounds
1. Bou - 77, 2. Raga - 61, 3. Fajardo - 58, 4. Cabestany - 56, 5. Fujinami - 52, 6. Dabill - 39, 7. Challoner - 32, 8. Gubian - 28, 9. Oliveras - 27, 10. Brown - 27.

JUNIOR/OPEN INTERNATIONAL - Top 5 (round 3 & round 4 position)
1. Alexandre FERRER FRA Sherco (1-1)
2. Francesc MORET ESP Montesa (3-2)
3. Pol TARRES ESP JTG (2-6)
4. Benoit DAGNICOURT FRA Beta (5-3)
5. Jack SHEPPARD GBR Beta (4-4)

JUNIOR Championship points - after 4 of 13 rounds
1. Ferrer - 80, 2. Moret - 59, 3. Tarres - 53, 4. Dagnicourt - 50, 5. Sheppard - 39, 6. Tempier - 30, 7. Pedersen - 27, 8. Warenghien - 23, 9. Whitaker - 20, 10. Casales - 17.

YOUTH - Top 5 (round 3 & round 4 position)
1. Steven COQUELIN FRA Gas Gas (1-1)
2. Bradley COX GBR Beta (2-2)
3. Sverre LUNDEVOLD NOR Beta (3-3)
4. John HAYNES NZL Beta (4-5)
5. Blake FOX NZL Gas Gas (7-4)

YOUTH Championship points - after 4 of 13 rounds
1. Coquelin - 75, 2. Cox - 68, 3. Lundevold - 57, 4. Noguera - 28, 5. Haynes - 24, 6. Cabrini - 24, 7. Fox - 22, 8. Chellas - 20, 9. King - 20, 10. Carles de Caudemberg - 18.

For full results and championship points, go to www.trials.com.au