South Islander Blake Fox has been making waves on the New Zealand moto trials scene for several years, but now he’s spreading his wings to tackle much bigger and more significant events overseas.

The Dunedin rider contacted BikesportNZ.com to let us know how he went at round nine of the World Trials Championships at Kramolin, in the Czech Republic.

“We arrived on Friday after a five-hour drive from Germany to the trial held at Kramolin, Czech Republic. We had a look around the pit area and found a park. Next we went to the supermarket (shopping is not easy). We managed to buy sour milk for a cereal. We then found some accommodation, which wasn’t easy either because there was the trial on and a ‘beer fest’ in the area as well.

“I had sign in and scrutineering Saturday morning, and then practise.

“The rocks were very grippy I discovered in practise, and the hills weren’t as steep as the previous events I have had in Europe. I then walked the sections and they involved large steps up grippy moss-covered rocks.

“There were also a number of difficult drop-offs and technical sections.

“Some of the sections had some large banks and all the sections were set under larch trees. The sections, we feel, were not set very well for non-stop as there was not a good flow to some of the sections and some had very tight turns before large steps.

“Race day we arrived early and got set up, my start time was 9:52:30am. I got a 5 on the first section which wasn’t a good start, but I cleaned the second section which I was very happy with as I seen it as a difficult section.

“However, the rest of the lap didn’t go to plan as I got too many 5s.

“Everything was going good, apart from me simply not performing to the level I can ride at. I felt my balance was good but my technical riding was not as good.

“I lost my confidence on the large steps, and even steps I felt confident on, I managed to 5, which was very frustrating for me.

“I got in front of the top riders on the second lap which was good and an improvement on Italy as this meant it would be unlikely that I would exceed the five-hour time limit.

“My second and third laps were similar to my first with too many 5s and silly points lost. I also got some 5s for stopping within sight of the end of the sections, which is extremely frustrating as a rider. The non-stop rule is very inconsistent and hard to read for both rider and observer.  I finished the day in 16th on 116 points in total.

“My bike ran well, Dad was great minding and Mum was a great support, but I am disappointed in my personal performance as I know I can do much better.

“So now I have a week end off and then off to Great Britain. I will be spending that time training hard so I am ready to put it all together and get a good result in Great Britain and France after some more training.”

© Photo by Andy McGechan, www.BikesportNZ.com