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 Sheppard
victorious in AndorraRound 4 - World Trials Championship St Julia - Andorra - 26/06/11
The fourth round of the series proved to be the toughest so far, with ten of the fifteen sections being located on the steep valley mountainsides that overlook the small town of Sant Julia de Loria, heat and attitude have both made for intense competition. The final five sections were no less challenging as all but one offered little shade from the searing summer sun, section fifteen was located in the town centre acting as the only man-made hazard. With five of the sections changed from the previous day's competition, Jack started the day with his wits about him, intent not to drop any unnecessary marks early on. Clearly suffering with his ongoing wrist injury, aggravated further by yesterday's competition, the teenager from Suffolk dug deep to finish his first lap on thirteen marks, taking an early lead in the process. Revelling amongst the ultra steep hazards Sheppard found himself starting his second lap four marks in front of Tempier and five ahead of Italy's Giacomo Saleri. Without a single failure to his name the Jitsie Beta factory rider was keen to keep it that way as he commenced his second tour. Once again producing a strong and determined showing, Sheppard matched his performance from the first lap, finishing his second tour on thirteen marks once again. By taking an eight mark victory over Tempier and finishing ten marks ahead of third placed Eddie Karlsson, Sheppard is leading his class with four counting days remaining. "Today was a good event for me. The organisers changed some of the sections overnight so I couldn't afford to relax at all. Each of the fifteen sections were good, although difficult and just as yesterday it was easy to go from a clean to a five, so I had to concentrate hard." "I'm pleased to have finished both laps without having a five. Andorra is a fantastic venue, but demanded every bit of energy I had, especially in this heat. There were some massive steps in some of the sections and despite the high altitude my bike coped well," continued the Beta teamster. "My wrist injury has meant I've totally stopped practicing and as soon as I got on the bike yesterday I could tell. Although I was in quite a bit of pain today I put it to the back of my mind and just focussed on winning. I'm really pleased with how today went and can't wait to ride Italy in two weeks time," concluded Jack.
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