Aussie Mens team claim 6th place in the hotly contested and largest ever International Trophy division, and 11th place overall in Trial des Nations.Australia’s four man national team had a strong run in the remodeled International class of the Trial des Nations, which saw incredibly close-fought competition throughout the 15 nations in the class, and several new top flight teams that had moved out of the elite World class.
The team of Trevor Campbell, Kyle Middleton, Dylan Rees and Colin Zarczynski had been preparing in Italian mountain village of Darfo Boario Terme for the week leading into the event, and were well prepared for the two lap journey over the long 18 section course.
While the Aussie girls team schedule officially supports the team trying their hand at a few world level lead up events, the Aussie mens program does not include any pre des Nations competitions. Only Kyle Middleton had ridden in the Spanish and French world rounds the weekends before, not in the outright world championship but in the under 21 Junior division.On the eve of the main event, Saturday’s section inspection lap allows the team to walk the sections in preparation for the main event. This year the team would have Australian team manager Dennis Fitpatrick as their official minder, but also had the committed support of Ross Middleton and Kevin Zarczynski as minders, who joined the riders on the course inspection so as to be fully prepared for the event. Sunday would also see Aussie ladies rider Kristie McKinnon backing up after her event to take on minder duties in a fantastic show of professionalism and national spirit.
As in the past the Trial des Nations was divided into two classes, the World and International divisions. For this year the FIM had re-organised the teams to have only the top five nations in the World class, which should have been Japan, France, Italy, Spain and Great Britain, and all the remaining nations with a very good riding level such as Finland, Germany and Sweden moving into the International class, where Australia had been a regular podium finisher in recent years. Due to the current economic situation Japan did not enter a team this year, and their place in the World division was taken by the USA.
With the sections featuring a mix of mostly dry rock climbs, switch-backing lines along rocky shoulders, the Aussies were well suited to most of the course. The Italian course also included several super slippery rock climbs at sections 6, 7 and 10, and steep earth climbs on 17 and 18 that looked challenging, and would ultimately decide the fortunes of those teams hoping to win the International trophy.For the men there would be seven hours to complete two laps of the 18 sections, and the Aussies had drawn fourth last team away which would see the course in prime condition for their first lap. The opening hazard was a bit slipperier than it looked, and claimed a cautious two points from the Aussies. The team total for each section would be the total of the best three scores of the four team riders, and individual rider scores are never released in this trial for nations.
Section 2 was the first chance to blast up some Darfo rock, and the Aussies hit it full throttle, but lost four marks for the section. This cleared the nerves, and it was cleans all the way through the next dry rock hazard.
European section setters are never afraid to put ugly sharp jutting out hillside steps into the course, and section 4 was a perfect example of this kind of section, where a five can happen in the blink of an eye. The Aussies nailed the first part, and scrapped through the rock and log exit climb with the odd dab for a loss of four marks.
The first of the slippery hazards awaited at section 6, which would take a excellent ride to earn a clean, and carried four slip zones that could quickly leave a rider with a five point maximum.
Colin Zarczynski was by this stage riding as lead, and put in a great ride. He then called out back to the minders and the other Aussie riders, to tell them how he thought the section had ridden, and to give any pointers that might help the team. This would be repeated on any hard section throughout the day, as the Aussies rode each section as a team, trying for the best result. The Aussies would lose 7 marks on this section, where perennial rivals Norway had gone clean. Section 7 was set in a wet rock crevice, and while the organizers had improved the approach to the steep wet granite rock rut climb, this would be the hardest segment of the International course. The observing was brutal, just a centimeter slip back while the riders straddled the bike and pushed up the 30 metre groove was immediately stung with a sharp five point maximum. Team Oz would leave with a best of two threes and a five for a loss of 11 marks, our equal worst loss of the opening lap. Minders Kevin Z and Kristy M would swap riders after this section, as the team tried whatever it took to find the advantage over their rivals.
While section 7 was a push effort all the way, section 10 had just five metres of really hard stuff, with three slippery rock edges at the exit. Throughout the trial none of the riders had problems with the 90-second per section time limit, as the sections were set in a free flowing manner that allowed riders to battle the obstacles and not the stopwatch. Australia watched the Irish team take a total of just three points on what is very familiar territory for that team, but this would be the Aussies second bogie section with another loss of 11 marks.
The dry rock wall sections from 11 through 16 saw the Aussies in their element, with just a few points lost. The steep grassy climb on section 17 saw Australia take the only clean team score for this section of the entire day, so it was clear all of the Aussies were riding well in the dry sections.
Situated right back near the start area, section 18 was another soft bank section, with the observers anxious to give a five for touching the blue card which was poorly positioned in just the wrong place. Trevor Campbell put in a brilliant ride as the final rider to help keep the team score down to 8 marks on this zone.Lap one saw the Aussies total 55 marks, which put them mid field in their class, behind Czecho, Germany, Norway, Belguim, Finland and Sweden. The team was doing fine for time, having used just four hours of the seven hours allowed, and had not been passed by any of the teams starting behind them.
For lap two the Australians come out firing, with three straight cleans, and the loss of just nine marks coming into slippery section 7. Thirteen marks lost here was the best the Aussies could do, the incredibly slippery rock groove offering no grip for the Aussie riding style.
Despite this setback the riders never let up, continuing their second lap drive by improving on the next two sections. Section 10 had gotten slipperier, with all the best teams losing more marks on the second lap, with only our best rider getting out with a two, and the team taking 12 marks.
Again the second part of the lap saw the Aussies riding well, with a long string of six perfect cleans on the rock sections, and just four marks on the tricky final two sections.
A much better final lap with 39 points was competitive with the podium finishers, but with the addition of the first lap saw Australia finish on 94 points and in sixth place. Aside from the slippery hazards at sections 7 and 10, Australia was competitive with the best nations in the International class, and enjoyed a trouble-free run throughout the event without any injuries or machine problems.
Germany and the Czech republic would tie for the International win, with Germany winning on countback, Czecho second and Norway third.
The Australian Trials des Nations team would like to thank Motorcycling Australia, Sherco/Trialzone, Gas Gas Australia, and Betamotor for their support for the 2009 des Nations. The riders also thank team manager Dennis Fitzpatrick, and the fantastic patriotic minders Kristy McKinnon, Ross Middleton and Kevin Zarczynski for all their efforts in this event.