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There is no doubt that the Scott Trial attracts a great deal of interest, as proven by the number of visits to the results page on this site – over 5000 visits in less than 24 hours, and for those who were not at the trial on Saturday, they will have seen that finally, James Dabill snatched the win which he has been threatening for some years now, which to my mind rounds off a cracking season for him.
And it has to be said that the trial was once again a cracker of an event, on a day that was inclement, meaning it was very wet and very cold – especially for the observers in exposed places!
With all due respect to Dibs, but I was rather hoping to be writing about Graham Jarvis claiming his tenth Scott Trial victory, but it was not to be and though Graham claimed a brilliant second place, that tenth win has eluded him and perhaps time is now running out for the most successful rider in the history of the Scott.
All credit to Dabill – at last year’s presentation he was convinced he had done enough to win, equally Graham Jarvis was equally convinced he had been beaten; this year I guess neither was banking on too much, preferring to hedge their bets until the results were finally announced.
As I travel to trials around and about folks say to me that there seems to be no young blood in the sport; they say that it’s all about the veteran classes, but as far as Saturday’s trial is concerned, it was all about youth. It’s not easy spectating at the Scott – at least it’s not if one is also an observer. The best my little group was able to do was to see the entire entry through Goats, section seven, then rush off to our sections at Black Hills, before catching all bar the first few fast men as they tackled the two subs on the homeward loop at Cold Knuckles.
Our overwhelming opinion was the quality of the riders. There are no strugglers in the trial these days, they are all “doers” and whilst not all make it to the finish, they all give of their best – and Saturday’s trial was to my mind, a particularly tough version of this classic event.
Everybody will have their high points from Saturday – at least those who were there will – and for me it was finding out from the results that just three marks separated Katy Sunter and Emma Bristow. Katy lost one mark more than Emma in the sections, but was four minutes faster round the course – you can’t get much closer than that, whilst the other three girls, Saskia, Robyn and Harriet all had to give the trial best until another time.
Want a little known fact? How about this. Devonian Chris Shorey was riding his 30th Scott, and as far as I’m aware, he has ridden them consecutively. This is unlikely to be a record as I’m sure there are any number of Yorkshiremen who have ridden more, but to travel all the way from Plymouth each year to battle round is a rare commitment.
Earlier in this column I passed a remark about Graham Jarvis perhaps running out of years to snatch another win, and I certainly can’t let pass the fact that Dougie Lampkin was once again let down by electrical troubles. Following his early puncture which was soon sorted, the bike broke down again, and whilst I know that Doug needs no reminding of the fact that he has now suffered such troubles in two Scotts and a Scottish. John Lampkin ensured I knew that Doug’s factory bike has non-standard lightweight electrics and he had been assured by the factory that they would be trouble free. For a professional rider with such a reputation for meticulous preparation, these are failures that are simply unacceptable. Is he too running out of years? Who knows but with a gaggle of younger riders eager to win, missing a victory over the past three years, may well have been expensive.
Further to the Scott, once again the organising Richmond Club do a fantastic job. The trial runs like clockwork, observers are in place – and who wants to get observers for 76 sections, there are any number of marshals doing their bit, plus course closers, a brilliant results team,l in fact all in all a rare package that donates all the proceeds to local charities, which to date have benefitted to the tune of more than £100k since Richmond took over the trial from the Darlington Club.
Another great day in fact, but by heck it was cold!
Congatulations to James on winning his first Scott.
