The trials world was shocked with the announcement by the reigning and seven times British Trials Champion, James Dabill that he has withdrawn his entry from the 2017 Scottish Six Days Trial in May.

Dabill broke the news via his own social media account today, 1st February. He recently changed camps from Vertigo to Gas Gas and is contracted to compete in the Spanish National Trials Championship plus the World series.

James broke the news as follows: “So this was a very long and tough decision of mine and after speaking with some of my close friends, family and Team Manager, I have decided to withdraw from taking part in this years’ SSDT.
It was not an easy decision as it’s one of my favourite events but I feel it’s the best way for me to really concentrate on having a good year at world championship.
With the first TrialGP being only a week after the SSDT, I don’t want to lose precious time training and preparing myself and my bike at the highest level possible.
I would like to thank everybody who respects my decision and I will see you up in Fort William for the first weekend and I would like to take this opportunity to wish all competitors a great and enjoyable week, Cheers Dibs”.

Dabill’s announcement once again brings into question the tactics of the manufacturers who were always keen to win the prestigeous Scottish Six Days Trial, seen by many to have an impact on sales, in the UK at least, of trials machines. However, the World Championship does carry an equally prestigeous tag, that of World Champion.

James Dabill does value highly a win at the SSDT, he has achieved this twice in his career, 2007 and 2011, so this was clearly not a decision he wanted to have to take. However, he is a professional rider and his job is to satify his contractual obligations first and foremost.

Trials Guru’s John Moffat commented: “This must have been a very tough decision for James to take. I have interviewed him up at Fort William on the local Nevis Radio and been on stage at the presentation of awards when he picked up his wins in 2007 and 2011. He is always quite relaxed in the mornings before the off and really enjoys riding the SSDT. While it’s a great shame for SSDT fans that James will not be riding in 2017, but we wish him well in his World series, TrialGP endeavours and hope that he will return to ride the SSDT in the very near future.”