Trials Torque: X-citement is building
By Team TMX on 6th Jan 16
THE 2016 FIM World Indoor X-Trial Championship kicks-off this weekend to be precise on Saturday, January 9 with the legendary Sheffield Indoor and, amazingly, this will be the 21st consecutive year this must-see event has been promoted.
And there's still time for you to get yourselves into gear and enjoy this unique event!
Come on what could be better, with the Christmas holiday season sadly behind us, than to enjoy a World class motorcycle competition while sitting in a comfy seat in a warm and recently refurbished arena, with all its facilities, while the weather does whatever it likes outside.
And we've all had more than enough rain. If you haven't experienced the Sheffield X-Trial then it's way past time you did.
It's all well and good watching these events on television but like all live action there's nothing that compares to actually being there.
Year on year the event throws up surprises as the evening builds towards the finale, with all its atmosphere and tension before the victor is crowned.
Of course the star of the show in recent years has been the phenomenal Toni Bou, who in 2016 is looking to nail an amazing tenth consecutive World X-Trial title.
Repsol Montesa's 18-times World Champion (9 Indoor – 9 Outdoor) will take on seven contenders including Britain's Vertigo factory star James Dabill, who this year has been awarded the sole wild card ride allowed under the rules and this could well be James' sole appearance in the 2016 Championship.
Bou is, of course, contracted for the series, as are Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany, Jeroni Fajardo, Takahisa Fujinami, Alexandre Ferrer and Eddie Karlsson.
Raga was by far Bou's closest challenger throughout 2015 and the former Indoor and Outdoor World champ will be giving the all-new TRS machine – the latest project of the legendary Jordi Tarres – its British debut.
Raga competed for most of 2015 on privately entered Gas Gas machines but now has a long-term TRS contract and will be more determined than ever to take the fight to Toni.
Meanwhile, new Vertigo signing Jeroni Fajardo will be making his debut on board the Combat machine at Sheffield alongside team-mate James Dabill.
The pair were previously team-mates at Beta so there is no animosity between them and they will hopefully urge one another to a higher level.
2016 sees the return to the series of ever-popular Barcelona-based Japanese star Takahisa Fujinami. The Repsol Montesa ace opted out of the 2015 series as he recovered from injury and the veteran rider has been a real crowd pleaser throughout his long and distinguished trials career.
Fujigas is assured of a rapturous welcome to Sheffield.
Another vet, Albert Cabestany, is a long-time Sherco factory rider and will be campaigning the all-new 2016 model.
Cabes is always so consistent it will be a surprise if he doesn't make the final.
Also Sherco-mounted will be French representative Alexandre Ferrer, while young Swedish challenger Eddie Karlsson will be looking to capitalise on his 2015 debut year with some good X-Trial results in 2016.
Martin and Dougie Lampkin have been devising and overseeing the construction of the sections at Sheffield since the very first event and all the courses have been universally popular with fans and riders alike.
The riders love the variety and change compared to the Spanish hazards which tend to be exactly the same, year on year.
We will just have to see what the experienced Yorkshire build team, led by Doug's brother Harry, conjure up for Saturday evening's competition.
Whatever hazards they come up with, they will test the World's best riders to the limit.
There's something pretty special for the half-time entertainment at Sheffield this year as Scottish cycle stunt ace Danny MacAskill is previewing his "Drop & Roll” World Tour at the arena.
It's a dead cert that most of you have watched those amazing YouTube videos where Danny performs his spectacular feats in amazing locations and the number of hits for each is numbered in the tens of millions.
Danny and his pals are the World's No.1 cycle stunt team, they perform all around the world and this is a rare opportunity to see this inventive star in live arena action.
As we've said, there's still a chance to grab yourself tickets – and they have been held at last year's prices – for the longest running show at Sheffield Arena.
Just contact the box office on 0114-256-56-56 or log on to www.sheffieldarena.co.uk or turn up on Saturday night (although if you are leaving it that late I'd ring first to make sure there are still tickets left).
A fabulous evening's sport and top entertainment is guaranteed – you really don't want to miss it.
