TrialsUSGP.com, the web site for the 2008 Wagner Cup, is now up.
The event, also known as the United States Grand Prix (USGP), World Trials Championship, will be held on April 26-27, at the Trials Training Center (TTC) in Sequatchie, Tennessee.
See the right sidebar on the site to subscribe to the Wagner Cup blog via RSS feed or email.
Congratulations to the U.S. Men’s and Women’s TDN teams, each of whom had an excellent result and finished 6th overall in the 2007 Trials des Nations held at the Isle of Man. Our men’s team has a very youthful look, with veteran Chris Florin (GasGas) leading three teenagers including Cody Webb (Sherco) and newcomers Pat Smage (Sherco) and Will Ibsen (Scorpa). The U.S. Women’s team was represented by Louise Forsley (Sherco) and Sara Duke (GasGas).
See the FIM reports on the Men’s results and Women’s results on Trials Central.
Photo by Bill Ibsen. Click to enlarge.
It’s a little tricky to find the MavTV shows on trials that have been archived. They currently have the indoor national posted, plus NATC rounds 1-6.
I’ve found that the best way is to:
1. From the homepage, click the Watch Now navigation tab at the top
2. At the bottom of the Watch Now page, select the Motors channel.
3. Click the ’search’ link in the right sidebar and type ‘trials’ in the search box
4. Select one of the trials shows on right sidebar; use the internal scrollbar to see them all.
Show #9 (July/August, 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Patrick Smage clinched the 2007 NATC Pro class national championship on Saturday in New Mexico. Dan Salton of Wisconsin Moto blogged it here and submitted a more complete write-up for the Sherco USA site. Click photo (courtesy of Ryan Young Products and Sherco USA) to enlarge.
Cody Webb (Sherco) took 2nd place and Chris Florin (GasGas) took 3rd. Year-end results for all classes here (PDF) on the NATC site.
MavTV has coverage of the Indoor national championship archived on their website. Color commentary by TTC’s Dan Brown. Here are some of the folks they interviewed.
Here’s the press release by Dan Brown (click photos to enlarge):
Sherco-mounted Cody Webb rode with a combination of precision and daring to capture the 2007 AMA/NATC Indoor Trials National Championship.
With the retirement of Geoff Aaron, the field was wide open and unpredictable. Eight contenders tackled the Ted Gansberger-designed course of man-made blocks, pipes, steps, and jumps with varying degrees of success in their attempts to qualify for the four man final.
Team ERE-Montesa rider Keith Wineland challenged Webb with a close ride in the qualifier, followed by a surprisingly strong performance by 17 year old Latin American champion Diego Ordonez of Guatemala on his Sherco and pre-race favorite Chris Florin of Florida on a GasGas. The more difficult layout used in the final separated the field with several spectacular crashes to the floor of the arena.
Webb rode with great confidence, using bold maneuvers including a leap from a steep incline across a large gap onto an elevated landing platform and a no-stop attack up a series of steps onto a tower section that stopped most of the riders. The enthusiastic crowd was treated to an exciting finish as the podium field was decided in the final two side-by-side race sections, which added the pressure of the race for points to a series of obstacles that were already difficult on their own.
These races were the motorcycle equivalent of a gunfighter showdown and lead to crashes in the first race by Ordonez and Wineland. Wineland suffered a race-ending injury to his hand as he was hit by his flying Montesa after a trip over the bars, handing third place to Ordonez. The more experienced Florin kept a cool head in the race sections and rode through the carnage to sneak up from fourth to take the second place podium spot. Webb had established his lead in the previous sections and rode confidently through the races to take the win and his first AMA Pro national championship.
Report by Dan Brown
Photos by Bill Ibsen
Show #8 (June 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Show #7 (May 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Show #6 (Special Guatemala World Round Edition, April 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Show #5 (April 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Show #4 (March 2007) of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
See the blog post/shownotes for complete details.
Show #3 of the podcast, On the Pegs, Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
Show #02 of the podcast On the Pegs: Motorcycle Trials World Radio is now available. It includes:
* News with OTP managing editor Dan Brown (US Indoor Nationals, AMA Rule Changes, and the US Regional Series
* Pro rider interview with Will Ibsen, US Scorpa team
* Local club interview with Jim Watson, Trials, Inc.;
* Interview with Brad Baumert about land acquisition and Saddleback East.
The TTC has a new podcast:
On the Pegs: Motorcycle Trials World Radio
A podcast featuring news from the world of motorcycle trials,
produced by the Trials Training Center
I’m the host and producer for the show, and Dan Brown is the managing editor.
The first episode is posted to the TTC weblog here.
