James Dabill pulled out of the Scottish to prepare for the first world championship round in Spain. Presumably he thought the wonderful Scottish sunshine wouldn't prepare him for Spanish hailstorms!

Edited May 15, 20179 yr by neils on wheels

More likley Gas Gas would not support the effort and wanted him for the Worlds.

To be fair what were the odds on it being like Spain in Scotland and Scotland in Spain?

Even if he had completed and the weather was normal for the Scottish, Toni admits he is not at his best in mud in commentary, but still destroys field.

I suspect that James was disappointed with his result and also potentially Jack Price ( although clearly Jack is still very young and on steep learning curve and still improving rapidly)

Big question is who will be next trials superstar to threaten Toni.

I would be interested in thoughts.

 

 

There are some really good kids around here ...eg. Hugo Dufressi   only thing is most discover girls and beer around the age of 16 ! so forcasting is not an exact science.

Look at Toni's legs in the podium ceremony. Until some other kids start training like he does and also happen to have the natural talent he does, no one is going to touch him. I suspect Toni retires before anyone threatens his dominance.

lets hope mr raga keeps going too because if he gives up Toni will win it on a ty 175! 

If busto doesn't up his game this year then there's no one else will even come close. It's a strange one!

Remember Toni was a sleeper until he suddenly became the monster he is. No one predicted the dominance he would have over the sport. Same for Jordi and Dougie. 

It does point to one thing though and that is the lack of young riders being fed into the sport and staying with it. For the same commitment you can make many millions thowing a baseball or kicking a football. Not to mention the difficulty of finding training ground that isn't highly regulated or illegal. In the state I live in it's illegal for any rider under 10 years old. So much for the land of the free.

Oh yeah you can still put a toddler on a Clydsdale though.

5 hours ago, dan williams said:

Remember Toni was a sleeper until he suddenly became the monster he is. No one predicted the dominance he would have over the sport. Same for Jordi and Dougie. 

 

That's not true Dan. Toni Bou was well known as a rising star from the age of 14 or 15, he'd be at Spanish world rounds and practicing with the top guys of the day. Doug Lampkin has told the story of seeing Bou around this time attempt stuff that Lampkin and the other top riders didn't fancy.