COOKRIDGE’S James Dabill will be the sole wildcard when the FIM X-Trial World Championship get under way at Sheffield Arena on Saturday.

The 2016 FIM X-Trial World Championship will be contested over four rounds in four different countries from early January through to late March.

After the initial encounter this coming weekend in Sheffield the fixed riders – Dabill is no longer one – will then move on to warmer climes with the second round set to play out in the Spanish city of Barcelona.

Following the visit to Catalonia in early February the riders and teams will then be able to enjoy a short break ahead of the third counting event in Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

The French city of Marseille will bring to a close the series just six days after the riders have battled it out in Austria.

This season’s seven fixed riders are Tony Bou, Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany, Jeroni Fajardo, Takahisa Fujinami, Alexandre Ferrer and Eddie Karlsson