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World Trial Championship


cota kid
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A comment was made on another topic that people were losing interest in the WTC. Whilst I disagree with this statement I'm curious to know other people opinions. The proffessionalism of the sport and the TV coverage has increased dramatically in the last few years, probably brought about by the likes of Tarres and Dougie but what next?

From a British perspective, we all know Dougie best years are behind him but he is still an outstanding rider, up there with the leading pack. Dibs is looking stronger than ever, Browny is doing the business in the Junior followed by one Britains true hopefuls, Wiggy and there are numerous other young British riders, such as Danby, Sampson etc having a determined go. There is certainly a future for British trials at the top level.

Outside of the British ranks, Bou has made an amazing impact on this years championship raising the bar to a new height, Fujigas will always be a crowd favourite and you cannot discount Raga's and Cabestany enormous talents.

A weekend trip to Europe is more affordable than ever so there's no excuses.

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Totally agree CK

Went to Italian round in 2005 when it was a two day job. Absolutely brilliant weekend.

went to Spa last year, not quite as good but still well worth going

just booked the flights last week for Andorra this year, cant wait

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Totally agree CK

Went to Italian round in 2005 when it was a two day job. Absolutely brilliant weekend.

went to Spa last year, not quite as good but still well worth going

just booked the flights last week for Andorra this year, cant wait

I went to Andorra last year and it was excellent. Andorra itself was no big shakes but the sections and trial itself were first class. Was considering the trip myself.

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I went to Andorra last year and it was excellent. Andorra itself was no big shakes but the sections and trial itself were first class. Was considering the trip myself.

Andorra is always a good Trial. The downside is the distance it is from Barcelona and the crap road up. Other than that, yup I'd recommend it.

As I've said before, Spa features too much man-made stuff for my liking.

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Totally agree with Cota Kid on this - no way is world trials losing peoples interest.

Sure there are less riders competing in the entire series these days due to the large financial needs of competing and travelling, but I personally agree with that.

A World Championship should have only the very best 10-15 riders in the world competing - you dont see 80-90 cars in each Formual 1 race do you??

I started going to WTC rounds in the late 80's when there were lots of riders, however 99% of the crowd wanted to watch the top 10 or so riders at each section.

If I was an outsider who was considering taking up trials in the late 80's / early 90's and I was watching 70 people attempt and fail a section at a W.C round and only 5-10 get anywhere near completing the section then I would think 'this is too tough'

However if there are fewer riders and they are the best of the best and they are completing these sections then it makes it a more attractive proposition to a prospective new starter.

I also fully agree with the Junior and Youth Championship travelling along with the W.C circus.

It not only allows spectators to see the amazing talent that is emerging within trials from the UK, Spain and thankfully more French and Italian riders but it will no doubt improve those who are competing abilities and riding as they will be with the best of the best all the time and constantly learning.

Sure something needs to be done with the financial side to enable the factories to offer more support to more riders, or for more private teams to set up - ideally not having rounds in Guatemala and other bizarre locations - but it wont be an instant fix.

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Agreed with everything you had to say Nick, up until your last paragraph. Doesn't the "World" in World Championship mean anything? How is Guatemala a bizarre location when its one of the few locations outside of Europe? If anything you need more like Guatemala.

Here's an idea... trials could take a page from the US Supercross series, where they run the big bikes and top riders at all rounds, but the "Lites" championships are split up between East and West coasts.

So along the same lines, at least in the Youth class, you could split the world into Hemispheres, like Europe-Africa, Americas and Asia. Have an equal number of World rounds in each hemisphere, but run separate Youth series (and maybe Junior class?) in each Hemisphere, so you'd end up with a European Youth Champion, Americas Youth Champion and an Asian Youth Champion. The rider wouldn't have to be from the hemisphere they compete in (a European could compete in the Asian Youth Championship), but they could only compete in one of them each year. With the age limitations already in place in the Youth series you don't need to worry about having the "pointing out" rule they have in the SX series.

At the end of the season you have one final round where the top riders from each hemisphere are invited to compete against each other, with the winner being declared the World Champion. This final round is held in conjunction with the final round of the full-blown World Championship.

Anyways, there are probably thousands of reasons why this wouldn't work, but the current series sure doesn't seem like a World Championship to me.

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Or do you mean the American version of World, as in the baseball World Series.

Yeah, that's what he means.

Cota kid, we're just a bit antsy. The beginning of a new revolution for America will happen this weekend. Dan and I are really revved up. This weekend's 125 class is stacked to the gills and we're looking to see if Patrick can handle a full field of challengers gunning to take him down.

In Central America the field wasn't as large. From the looks, every other country has multiple riders, so Patrick's gotta fend for himself. Hope Noel doesn't go soft on him if it gets to frustrating.

A couple years ago I did a article for Trials World on the 125 class - and how important it is for American riders. Well, in my mind, this weekend is that beginning. You can bet the 125 class will be the most important class for us across the pond to pay attention to.

Edited by City Trials
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I would agree with you whole-heartedly if you are implying that the baseball "World Series" is misnamed. What a joke that is.

I'm talking about geography here, and the costs to attend every event. If the vast majority of the events are held in Europe, then doesn't that put non-Europeans at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to adding up the costs to attend all the different events? A true "world championship" shouldn't give a large advantage to someone living in one geographic location.

And yes, Craig is right, I'm thinking mostly about Patrick Smage. Here's a kid who's still in school, so he can't just pick up and move to Europe yet. He'll have that option in a couple of years, but at least for now he's lucky that there are three rounds like this all lined up back-to-back during his summer break. And in addition, at least there was one other round being held in the America's in Guatemala, so don't go getting rid of that one yet. Just add a North American round in Tennessee next year. That's what I meant by "If anything you need more like Guatemala".

I'm off tomorrow for four days of family camping, including 2 days of trials competition (Wauzeka - yeah baby!). I hope when I check back here Monday afternoon that there's lots of info on how Patrick did and how he looked, etc, from people who were there. Come on you guys, tell us Yanks what you think of our hero! He's just a farm-boy from Wisconsin, so go easy on him, introduce yourself, and don't be put off by his quiet nature... he's really a great kid. Give him an equal chance - let's see what he can do. If he does well, and moves on over the next couple of years to be a full-on World Championship contendor, well... just think what that would do for the popularity of observed trials in the USA -- a not-insignificant potential market. And I'm not talking about a potential market for trials bike manufacturers, though there is a bit of that, but rather for sponsors and TV rights, etc.

Go Patrick!!

Edited by DanSalton
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  • 2 weeks later...
 

Bernie Schrieber was never a house-hold name, but I would say that trials itself was bigger in the USA then than it is today. I say that based on two datum. One, I've read that the number of entries at US Nationals were much higher back in the 70's then they are today, and two, I remember I was given a choice in 1976 as a 12 year old as to which bike I'd like as my first motorcycle, a YZ80 or a TY80 (at least I think it was a TY... it was a mini trials bike from Yamaha). I carried around both brochures for about a week, and while in the end I chose the YZ, it was a surprisingly difficult choice given that I lived in the desert at the time and had never ridden a trials bike. Something about the pictures held a major attraction to me.

Anyway, I don't think many kids are today trying to make the same decision, if only because there are very few dealerships in the USA today where you can see both trials bikes and off-road/mx bikes side-by-side.

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For trials to go ballistic in the US, there needs to be big money in the sport. If you have a son/daughter growing up with some talent, you will steer him/her towards a sport which will earn enough money to pay the bills in future. Unfortunately with trials, its the other way round, its more about paying bills just to compete including money to live :thumbup:

IMHO :P

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