FRENCH NATIONAL CHAMPS July 23, 2007
Posted by paulwalton in : Kona Factory Team , add a commentThe French National champs were held in Mongenevre last weekend. 21 and 22 July. As a contrast to the British champs the week before, it was dust, not mud that covered everything! It was a hot dry weekend and the track was loose and dusty, with some high speed sections, steep shoots and technical turns. This was not the type of terrain that suits Fabien’s riding, every corner was a lottery, there was very little grip and nothing solid to turn against. The track was short and physical which made it difficult for Fabien with his broken ribs and Injured foot. Training was difficult as it was very limited due to the different catagories that had to share the track, getting a full run was near impossible. Fabien had decided on an unorthodox tyre choice of wet screams and we setup his suspension pretty stiff to carry speed.
The seeding run was on Saturday and Fabien was the last man down due to his No1 plate, he managed a good clean run and posted the fastest time, however the top five were all very close, so he needed to make sure he could go quite a bit faster in the final to be sure of the victory. Sunday’s final was going to be tough for all the riders, the track had deteriorated and the wind had picked up, making hitting the last few big jumps like running the gauntlet!Fabien had regained his confidence after battling a bit in the training and having a crash that worsened his foot injury. He was ready to take the start!I watched him fly out of the gate and knew he meant business, he really attacked and started over jumping and blowing through turns, he was pushing hard for the top section and was already 2 sec up at the split. Shortly after the split he over shot a turn and lost traction, he went down! But in true Fabien style he stayed firmly attached to the bars and managed a quick recovery.He decided to attack the last section like his life depended on it and hit the last few turns like he was on rails. He crossed the line 0.7sec up and took the win! He was really pleased to retain the title. He commented after the run, that he did not ride very well, but that he passed a big step by being able to attack 100%, he also said that this was the first time since his injury that he was back in his race mind set. The preparations for the worlds are now well underway and with a few more races to come and some bike and component improvements, he is going to ready for another world champs title…..