Invited to ride at the Francueil Trial (Centre Region Championship) in Saint Roch there were demonstration shows given over a man-made course on the Saturday, before the trial on Sunday.
Old cars, pallet boards and cement barriers formed part of the arena on Saturday, with temperatures of 25C adding to the challenge of the more ‘natural’ course on Sunday.
Consisting of three laps of the 12 sections, the Jersey youngster lost only 11 points on lap one, which was, as is usual in France, taken slowly. He led Jean Christophe by three points, but the French rider’s experience shone through on lap two, where he only dropped five points. Troy suffered a big fall on section 12, tumbling some 12 feet and losing 15 points for the lap in total.
He regained composure on lap three and only Jean Christophe headed him at the end of the day, with seven other adult riders finishing behind him in the category.
The Jersey rider cleaned 17 of the 36 sections.
Troy also had to endure high temperatures at Chateauneuf, in the fourth round of the Championatt de France, with 33C making it hot work. He lost only six points over the first seven sections
Joshua rode the first seven sections very well, only losing six points, but got caught on a large tree root which he could not pass. Losing five points for that, he rode the rest of the lap well and looked well-placed for a place on the podium. A series of unfortunate events, however, led him to losing 15 points in the first three sections of the second lap.
Despite recovering in style and only losing nine points over the remaining seven sections, he was off the podium.
Troy is in fourth place overall in the championship, with three more rounds left, starting at Pra Loup on 29 July.
