The quiet man
By TMX Archives on 12th Jan 04
ALL THINGS considered, 2003 was a pretty stellar year for factory Sherco star Graham Jarvis. ALL THINGS considered, 2003 was a pretty stellar year for factory Sherco star Graham Jarvis. A British trials championship whitewash, joint top performance at the Trial des Nations and fifth in the world rankings - despite a form-threatening bout of food poisoning.But Graham - better known as Grimbo to his fans and the dirtbiking gutter press (that's us!) - is quite possibly the world's most unassuming professional sportsman. "Overall there have been a lot of positives and I'm pretty happy with it," is his modest assessment of the '03 season. See what we mean about being unassuming?Admittedly, after marrying into the Rathmell clan, if Grimbo got too big-headed he'd swiftly be beaten to death by dry Yorkshire wit. But even when he was based in his hometown of Canterbury, the young Graham was just about as grounded as grounded gets.An Aprilia ride for Malcolm Rathmell Sport dragged Grimbo away from the roots and mud of Kent and up to proper trials country. And when Malc switched to importing the French-made Scorpa, Graham stayed put - a blossoming romance with the boss's daughter Sonia helping to tip the balance in favour of life in the White Rose county.Slamming what was a fairly uncompetitive machine into huge steps on the world trials circuit earned Grimbo plenty of admiration - if not the results he was capable of - and when a split at the Scorpa factory resulted in original partner Marc Teissier breaking away to start up Sherco, Malc and Graham followed. All of which brings us pretty nicely up to speed on the machine front...As well as possessing more than his fair share of modesty, Grimbo has also picked up an extra portion of injuries - much rarer in trials than in the speed-freak world of motocross.The first biggie was a serious knee injury sustained at the Hawkstone Park world round in 2000, resulting in two ops and three months of physio before he could swing his leg over a bike again. Then, after a gutsy comeback the following season that saw him take his - and Sherco's - first world outdoor day win and claim fourth in the world, he dislocated his shoulder at an end-of-season French indoor trial.That injury dropped him from being a serious contender for the '02 outdoor crown to someone struggling to find his fitness and form. "It took nearly three months to get over so that spoilt my winter preparations and I didn't really get a decent result the following year."Despite not getting a 'decent' result, Grimbo ended the season a close second in the Brit champs to Dougie Lampkin and sixth in the world. Again, modest to a fault...But after a solid winter training programme in preparation for the '03 season, Graham was all set for a big push up the world rankings. A 4-6 result in Ireland set the ball rolling before he got on the podium with a day one third in Luxembourg at round two, followed by a day two win in Germany and a fantastic 2-1 card in Japan. Then it went tits up..."I picked up some sort of food poisoning - it was just after Japan but I could have picked it up anywhere. I was really bad for a week but didn't feel right for a couple of months." Another understatement! "Didn't feel right" translates as a ninth on the opening day in Spain followed by a DNF on day two and a trip to hospital where dangerously low blood sugar levels and an irregular heartbeat were discovered that could be traced back to his original bout of food poisoning.The head of steam he'd built up with four podium finishes out of a possible six from rounds two to four was lost. "It set me back a bit but my results started to pick up towards the end of the year," shrugs Grimbo, who's still undergoing tests as doctors think some trace of the bug may remain in his system.At the end of the season Graham finished fifth in the world, just one mark shy of fourth-placed Adam Raga - but he was to exact sweet revenge over his young Spanish rival at the Trial des Nations.Alongside killing bulls and footie, trials is right up there when it comes to Spanish national pastimes. But after a period of almost total domination thanks to Jordi Tarres and Marc Colomer, outdoor world titles have been non-existent since the rise of Dougie Lampkin and, subsequently, there's been little love lost between Spain and Britain over recent years.The Spanish certainly have more strength in depth than us Brits who can only really boast Dougie and Grimbo as world-class riders. Obviously, as a nation of bulldogs with stiff upper lips, we take defeat on the chin and remain magnanimous in victory - but the same cannot always be said of our Iberian counterparts. So when Britain won the TdN in '02 and retained in last year this didn't go down too well in south western Europe!In '02 the Spanish team refused to mount the second step of the podium (although super-nice team manager Amos Bilbao filled in for them) and last year they lodged not one but two protests - both of them speedily rejected by the FIM jury.Grimbo, in a very uncharacteristic outburst, shouted ''ave it!' when he climbed onto the podium at last year's event - and the memory of the famous victory is still enough to get him breaking into a big grin. "We couldn't believe we won the TdN - to be honest we didn't think we had a chance as on paper they should have won easily. We just wanted it more. It was bloody sweet..."So doesn't this sometimes ill-tempered rivalry cause problems for a Brit riding for a Spanish-based factory team? Not at all! "I couldn't be happier where I am really. Anyway, Sherco's not 100 per cent Spanish - the boss is French and I've known him a lot of years and have a good relationship with him. He's helped me since I was 19 years old and has been a big influence."Grimbo being Grimbo, most of this Anglo-Spanish rivalry goes right over his head. For starters, he rents a flat in the mountains a couple of hours north of Barcelona as a base for some serious practice sessions - and he also uses a Spanish minder in the WTC. "He's called Xavi Vilalta and he's got a lot of experience - he's minded for Cobos and Freixa and was a good rider in his day and can still ride a bit. And he speaks good English which helps as my Spanish is terrible."When it came to last year's British championship, Graham relied on the services of his father-in-law Malcolm as minder and together they formed a formidable team. "He still knows what it's all about," he says of the legendary Rastus. "I've got a lot of experience now with riding techniques so I don't need too much advice in that area but Malcolm knows everything about the competition side of things and the philosophy needed to win is still the same today as it was back then."With Dougie skipping the '03 Brit champs to concentrate on the Spanish national series, Grimbo started the series as a clear favourite. "In the end the British championship looked pretty easy for me but I had to work for it. I know some people will say I only won because Dougie wasn't there but I was putting a lot of pressure on him in '02 and won two rounds."I'd probably rather have won it when he was there but at the end of the day it's a British championship and it counts."It can't be easy being one of the greatest ever British trials riders during an era when Britain boasts the world's greatest ever trials rider but Graham's got no complaints about Dougie Lampkin taking centre stage."Some people may see me as being in Dougie's shadow but I think it's been a really positive thing for me to ride against him. Obviously, I'd have won a few more British titles if Doug wasn't there but maybe I wouldn't have improved as much - I'd have probably got a bit complacent."I think I've learned a lot from him and he's probably learned a bit from me. We've pushed each other in the British championship and in the world. There's always been a bit of friendly competition there and I think it's been good for me."For his '04 campaign Graham hasn't set himself any end-of-season goals. He just wants to perfect his technique and that, he readily admits, will take plenty of hard work - both on the bike and in the gym where he tries to build muscle as he tends to lose weight during the season."I'm not naturally the biggest of blokes so I have to really work on that side. I also have to try and build the strength up in my joints because after a couple of injuries you really have to keep on top of them."During the winter if there's nothing on I'll be out on the bike five or six times a week, three or four hours a day - but with indoor events it gets difficult because of all the travelling."The travelling does get on top of you sometimes, especially as you get older. The first few years was all a bit exciting but after that it gets boring. But I'm still motivated and still enjoying my riding. I'm enjoying the indoors events as well - it's been a bit of a steady start but I'm going to try and improve my results."I'm just going to concentrate on improving my riding. You never know what's going to happen but I think indoors is going to keep me on the pace, riding with the top riders week-in, week-out."I don't really set myself a target for the season ahead. I've had five wins in the last few years so I'm just looking for the next win and that buzz you get - it's a great feeling."Sean Lawless