James Dabill Report

James Dabill made his first competitive outdoor appearance of 2008 at the Brianza two-day event held in Italy earlier today. Repeating his performance of last year, James once again cruised to an easy victory against a field of quality opposition. Aboard his Future TRW Montesa Dabill was never headed throughout the weekend, winning both individual days to take the overall victory.

Saturday saw the riders tackle ten sections in the morning and another ten in the afternoon. It was during the later part of the first day that Dabill incurred his only five of the trial, as he failed at a section that halted the entire entry. Despite this slight set back, James still held a healthy seven mark lead over his friend and rival Michael Brown at the halfway point.

Sunday brought a new challenge and thirty more sections, split equally over the two parts of the day. The majority of the hazards throughout the weekend featured a vast array of dry and grippy rocks, with some stream sections offering a good variation for the many competitors taking part in this classic Italian trial.

Knowing that Brown had been in good form back in the UK, James left nothing to chance and continued to apply the pressure and extend his lead during the closing part of the two-day event. The youngster from Leeds confirmed the extent of his intensive winter training programme as he became the only rider to complete day two in single figures.

After fifty sections and two days of riding Dabill came home an impressive sixteen marks ahead of Brown to record his first outdoor victory of the new season, and just a week after the team’s official launch. James will remain in Italy at the team’s headquarters ready for the opening round of the Italian Outdoor championship next weekend.

Justifiably pleased with his initial win of 2008, Dabill spoke with some delight. “It is always nice to get the first outdoor event out of the way, as we have done so much work over the winter and there has been so much anticipation about putting it into practice on the build up to this weekend.”

“I have been watching Michael’s results with great interest, and knew he could be a real threat this weekend. However as it has happened, it could not have gone better and in the end it was quite a comfortable win.”

“I am confident that we can build from here and have a great season, as the team and bike are even stronger than last year.”

Results –
Day 1 + Day 2 = Final
1: Dabill 11 + 7 = 18
2: Brown 18 + 16 = 34
3: Lenzi 18 + 19 = 37
4: Bosis 27 + 24 = 51
5: Orizio 29 + 28 = 57
6: Maurino 20 + 40 = 60