World Trials Championship, Wagner Cup, USGP

Dan Seacat from Southport, Indiana sent these photos. Click to enlarge.

Also:

• V-Mar Racing has a gallery of 84 Champ class photos and a gallery of 39 Junior Class photos, both with a nice slide viewer.
• Adventure Rider Val B has an album of dozens of photos on SmugMug.
• Cmancraig has 2 YouTube videos posted: here and here.

Section captain (left photo) from Indiana, Bill ??,  had a couple of tough calls to make on World Champions Toni Bou and Takahisa Fujinami on Sunday at “House Rock.” (Bou and Fuji were the only riders to even attempt this section the first loop.)

• Bou had taken one point till he was given a five for his rear wheel going outside the marker near the exit (center screenshot). Watch the video carefully at the 1:20 mark.
• Fujinami ran out of time. Did he five it anyway before time ran out? Watch the video carefully at the 2:25 mark. And watch how Fuji gets over the large, angled pointy rock (right screenshot) prior to the final obstacle at the 2:15 mark.

Attach a comment with your opinion.

Click play to watch.  3 minutes.

U.S. 2007 National #2 rider Cody Webb reflects on the comments of a startled minder, Neal Storz. (Click to enlarge.)

In motorcycle trials, one often sees fierce competitors hamming it up with each other in the middle of an event.

Left: U.S. Pro competitors Cody Webb (Nat’l #2) and Will Ibsen (Nat’l #4) in Section 11, Lampkin Falls.
Right: Youth Class competitors Andew Oldar and Eric Storz in Section 9, House Rock.

TTC’s Catherine Bedley displays the Montesa Trial Team kerchief that Women’s World Champ Laia Sanz autographed and gave to her this weekend. Laia is the only woman competing in the World Junior Championship class.

Eric Storz competed in the Youth class this weekend, assisted by his able minder and older brother, Neal Storz. Their dad, Steve Storz (Storz Performance, Inc.) was in demand whenever an Italian translator was needed.

2007 U.S. High School Trials Champion Alex Bedley rode the Youth class this weekend, assisted by his able minder, Charlie Roberts. Both Alex and Charlie work here at the Trials Training Center (TTC). 

I blogged about the origins of the Wagner Cup yesterday but failed to mention that the winner is determined by the lowest score over the combined two days of competition.

 
NATC head honcho Brian Behling presents Takahisa ‘Fujigas’ Fujimani with the 2008 Wagner Cup. He edged his Repsol Montesa HRC teammate Toni Bou by two points, 47 to 49.

Championship Class
1. Toni Bou - 33
2. Takahisa Fujinami - 38
3. Adam Raga - 54

Junior Class
1. Loris Gubian - 56
2. Alexz Wigg - 59
3. Sam Haslam - 67

Youth Class
1. Jack Challoner - 19
2. Adrian Pastoriza - 24
3. Patrick Smage - 26

Day 2 complete results at Trials Central.

10 PM update: The FIM has complete results for both days posted, too.

I parked myself at Section 12 at the end of the day and got a few good shots of Fujigas, Albert Cabestany, and Toni Bou. See the album of 10 photos or this slideshow.

Once again, Andy Greig at Trials Central has the Day 2 results for all classes posted.

I caught these members of the U.S. Men’s and Women’s 2007 Trials des Nations team hanging out after the event yesterday.

L to R: Pat Smage, Cody Webb, Louise Forsley, and Sara Duke.

The big ledge out of the creek in Section four took a huge number of points from the Championship class riders yesterday. Here’s a 4-minute video clip of loop 1 rides by Cabestany (2 points), Raga (5), Bou (1), and Fujinami (1). Fuji nearly runs over his minder on the ledge… and nearly loses it on the big rock at the exit.

8 am update: I’ve got a glitch with this video clip. Will fix ASAP!

10:15 am update: I’ve fixed the video but now we’ve got a slow internet connection and I can’t get it uploaded. Will fix when I get back mid-afternoon. Apologies!

2:35 pm update: The upload finally went through and the video should now be viewable. Thanks for your patience!

I didn’t take many action shots today but of those I did, here are my favorite four:

Left: Takahisa Fuginami
Center two: Dougie Lampkin
Right: Marc Freixa

Here are a couple dozen photos from today’s podium ceremony. Included are photos I used in the previous blog posts on the winners. See the album or this slideshow:

Results for Day 1 in the Championship class:

1. Takahisa Fujinami - 12
2. Toni Bou - 16
3. Albert Cabestany - 28

The rest of the Championship results:

4. Adam Raga - 30
5. Marc Freixa - 37
6. Jeroni Fajardo - 38
7. Dougie Lampkin - 45
8. James Dabill - 73
9. Daniel Oliveras - 95
10. Michael Brown - 111

Results for Day 1 in the Junior Championship:

1. Loris Gubian - 35
2. Ross Danby - 45
3. Matteo Grattatola - 46

The rest of the Juniors:

4. Sam Haslam - 49
5. Alexz Wigg - 49
6. Alfredo Gomez - 52
7. Guillaume Laniel - 62
8. David Millan - 63
9. Cody Webb - 67
10. Fredrik johansson - 71
11. Will Ibsen - 74
12. Laia Sanz - 90
13. Ewoud Lalkens - 132

Results for Day 1 in the Youth Championship:

1. Patrick Smage - 6 (25 cleans)
2. Jack Challoner - 6 (24 cleans)
3. Alexandre Ferrer - 17

Pat Smage (Sherco USA/Ryan Young Products) took home a win in his first World event on home soil. He made the USA crowd happy, and apparently, some of his relatives, too.

The rest of the Youth:

4. Pau Botella - 20
5. Benoit Dagnicourt - 22
6. Francesc Moret - 24
7. Adrian Pastoriza - 25
8. Jonathon Richardson - 33
9. Pere Borrellas - 38
10. Jake Whitaker - 54
11. Ron Commo - 79
12. Josiah Mizell - 106
13. Andrew Oldar - 108
14. Alexander Bedley - 114
15. Eric Storz - 129

The first loop involves a lot of analysis of the sections, especially by the riders in the Championship class. See the album of 17 photos or this slideshow:

• Left: The Youth go out first today, starting with Andrew Oldar at 9:44 am. Subsequent riders depart at two-minute intervals.
• Right: Juniors go out next, starting with Cody Webb at 10:16 am. Championship class follows, with Daniel Oliveras departing at 10:42. Last rider out is Adam Raga at 11 am, finishing at 4:30 pm.