TOUGH TIMES FOR JAMES DABILL
Bangor, Ireland, April 06 2008
 James Dabill once again failed to deliver the result that his ability demands, as for the second week running he finished down in eight place and out of the target top six he has set himself this season. Round two of the 2008 FIM SPEA Trial World Championship took place in severe weather at the Irish coastal town of Bangor. In addition to highly difficult sections, a rising tide, sleet, snow and persistent gale force winds added together to create a tough competition.
Beaten by the forceful waves, Dabill's day got off to a shakey start as he notched up a soft five where most of his close rivals passed with ease. James was soon to have the opportunity to cancel out this mistake, when he brough the large crowd to its feet at section four. Urged on by the defending roars of the enthusiastic fans, Dabill crested two out of the three fearsome rock faces before coming unstuck at a hazard where only Bou made it to the end cards on the first lap.
However Dabill's fightback was to be short lived, as three fives in a row during the later part of the lap, plus another maximum in section fifteen were to put him out of touch of the front runners. His tally of thirty-eight marks, being four more than Freixa, who held seventh place at the end of the first lap.
With sunshine now replacing snow, James also showed signs of warming up with a much stronger start to his second lap. Just two fives, one at the almost impossible fourth hazard and one at the final man made section were low points in an otherwised much improved performance. The scale of Dabill’s fightback reflected in a second lap total that was some fourteen marks better than his morning showing.
James will return to the UK to compete in the opening round of the British domestic series next weekend, before returning to World duities in the USA later in the month.
Dabill was far from happy with his result and stated. "Like last week my lap scores have been too inconsistent. I really struggled with the cold and wind this morning and never got into any kind of rhythm until it was much too late."
"My second lap today has shown that I am on the pace for a top six place, if only I can get it together on both laps. Hopefully I can get some confidence from next weekend, before I travel to America, where I need to turn things around for both me and the team."
(Press release by G2F, Picture by trialscentral.com)
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