close
Trial

European Trial at Zelhem (The Netherlands) – Day 2

British Toby Martyn (Vertigo, in the photo), Italian Manuel Copetti (Vertigo) and German Markus Kipp (TRS) topped the podium in their classes in the first round of the 2017 FIM Europe Trial Championship, held in Zelhem, The Netherlands. After the Youth and Women Series, which occupied the scene on Saturday, it was the turn of the more blazoned riders.
Two loops with 15 sections as tradition. The weather was very variable. Sun and rain came over and over again. So sections gained and lost grip many times in the same day. That meant few differences for sections with rocks but a lot of differences for the ones on big logs, because when they were wet it was quite impossible to overtake them. Sometimes it was wise to wait for a while to let sun dry the logs or rocks before jumping.
Martyn started soon very well scoring 14 marks at the end of first lap, but he was not leading. Better than him did his countrymate Jack Peace (Gas Gas): one point less. The fight was very close, because with 15 points there was Spanish Arnaud Farré (Gas Gas) and with 16 Dan Peace, Jack’s brother (Gas Gas). In the second part most riders rode in sunny conditions and so all the scores dropped dramatically. Martyn’s score of 5 was very good, but still someone did better: Dan Peace, who scored only 3 points. Both racked up the same score: 19, but Martyn had 24 cleans against the 22 of Dan.

tobyMartynPhoto @Phototrial
Farré rode a very good lap, too scoring 5 points and finished third behind the English couple by just one point. The half race leader, Jack Peace, made a disastrous second lap, slipping to fourth place.
Italian affair the Junior class: in one mark at the turning point there were 3 “azures”: 29 mistakes for  Luca Corvi (Scorpa), tied with Sergio Piardi (Beta), one more for Copetti. Quite distant the fourth place occupied by Frenchman Kieran Touly (Sherco), whose score was 38. Copetti jumped to his first victory loosing 13 points in his fantastic second lap. Behid him Corvi (his score was 16), ahead of Piardi (22).
Also very fought the Over 40 class: all the riders on the podium were alternatively leading in some point of the competition. After the first loop, Finn Sami Kymalaien (Scorpa) led scoring 8 points, ahead of Dutch John Van Veelen (Gas Gas), who made 2 mistakes more, and the future winner Kipp. In the second lap Kipp astonished his rivals, delivering his card with just one point. Van Veelen losing 4 marks overtook Kymalaien.
In International 1 Danish Morten Opstrup Andersen (TRS) triumphed, while in the International 2 German Philipp Emonts (Beta) topped the podium.
Next week in Bilstain, Belgium, rounds number 2 and 3 will be held.
Full results on FIM Europe website: http://www.fim-europe.eu/events/321
Tags : Trial