
Reports
The latest event reports are listed below. Many thanks to Bretton King for taking the time to craft these and send them in to TMX News!
- Members Cup Trial - 10 July 08
Location: Speight, Devizes
Rain, rain, rain and… sunshine?
A brief spell of dry weather enabled Swindon & DMC to stage the fifth
round of their club championship last Thursday evening at Speight near
Devizes. In a change to the season’s script so far, this new woodland
venue offered the 36 entrants the chance to really open the throttle, as
a refreshing mix of big climbs and root-strewn cambers was set to test
them. The four lap – 8 section course proved extremely fair, despite a
little deterioration in a couple of subs and only 2 retirements proved
the point.
Premier
Michael Johnson 3 marks lost
Best A
Jason Welland
8 m.l.
Best AB
Ross Thurlow 16 m.l.
Best B
Andy Perry 2 m.l.
Best C
Michael Maslin 8 m.l.
Best Youth B Will King
30 m.l.
Best O/50
Graham Lavis 12
m.l.
- Layton Trophy Trial - 12 June 08
Location: Wootton Bassett
The fourth round of the Swindon & District MC club
championship took place on Thursday evening when 43 competitors arrived
to do battle for the Layton Trophy Trial at a new location on the
outskirts of Wootton Bassett.
Richard Crapper and his family provided the 130 acre
venue for 3 laps of 11 sections based in woodland and on bankings, ably
marked out by c-o-c Keith Wooster and assistant Lyndon Jack. Early
evening sunshine greeted the riders and club stalwart Martyn Wilmore set
his stall out straight from the off as he proceeded to drop just 5 marks
over the course, all in section one where turns in and out of the gully
yielded very few cleans. Clearly, the new Gasser (both him and the bike)
were in harmony throughout as he won comfortably from previous round
winner Michael Johnson who dropped 9, a five on section four wrecking
his lead on the last lap. Rob Scott finished on 12 marks, including two
5’s, and would have offered a real challenge for the win, were it not
for stops on sections two and four. In the AB class, Mr Consistent (aka
Ross Thurlow) cleared up again although he didn’t have it all his own
way as Tim Wheeler recovered from a first lap deficit of 5 to close
within 2 marks by the end.
Ultimately, thanks must go to Richard and his
family for providing a new venue to the Club at a time when securing new
ground for off-road motorcycling is increasingly difficult. Once again,
our gratitude to the observers who manned the sections and the work
party that cleared the sections – see you in July.
Results
Premier
Martyn Wilmore (250 Raga Gas Gas)
5 m.l.
Best A
Michael Johnson (270 Beta)
9 m.l.
Best AB
Ross Thurlow (250 Beta)
10 m.l.
Best B
Andy Perry (250 4t Beta)
2 m.l.
Best C
Michael Maslin (250 Beta)
11 m.l.
Youth A
Leo Rochfort (125 Beta)
8 m.l.
Youth B
Jack Pontin (125 Sherco)
52 m.l.
Best Old Codger Graham Lavis (250 Gas Gas)
6 m.l.
- Hoult Cup - 22 May 2008
Location: Wootton Bassett
The ever-active Swindon and District club held the Hoult Cup trial on
Thursday evening at club-stalwart Michael Maslin's land near Wooton
Bassett, where a very respectable entry of 45 turned out for round 3 of
the club championship.
Three circuits of twelve sections proved enough of a test for everyone
(especially the slow starters) as the gloom and darkness descended
before the last section could be closed. This made spotting errant
dabs somewhat tricky for the resilient observers but in the case of
Michael Johnson, very little difficulty ensued as he kept his feet
firmly on the pegs for 31 of the sections. The rider from Oxfordshire
made a mockery of the tight and technical sections as he waltzed to a
comfortable 9 mark win over Jason Welland. Michael dropped only one mark
on the opening lap when he failed to exit the stream of section 11 with
sufficient speed and a precautionary dab was cast to ensure he rose onto
the level and this put him a mark behind Jason who cleaned the lap.
However, it all unravelled for Jason when he fived the steep banking of
section 7, the water from the stream being dragged up onto the exit and
making the surface treacherous. This handed the advantage to Michael and
he retained to the end.
The AB class rode the same route as the experts and evergreen Ross
Thurlow carried on where he left off in the previous round, taking a
clear win over the ageing and creaking Bretton King while Swindonian-winner
Keith Wooster skipped his Sherco into third place.
The easier route provided the sport for the lion's share of the entry and the B class was won by Andy Perry as he remained unpenalised all evening although this was by no means a walk-in-the-park as he was tied with Abingdon's Adrian Steele until the 35th section. At this point it looked like a tie was going to occur, but sadly for Adrian he slipped on the greasy exit of number 12 and the win was Andy's... nail-biting stuff ! A very well-stocked C class witnessed another win for Michael Maslin as he annihalated the oppostion by 22 marks - much more of this and he'll have to move up a class !! The Youth A and B riders provided a glimpse of what lies ahead and 13 year Bradley Cox rode extremely well aboard his 125 Gas Gas on the hard route. Meanwhile, Jack Pontin scored a narrow 4 mark win over Justin Barrett in the B's and both deserve credit for sticking to the task.
As dusk enveloped the start field, thanks were expressed to Mr. Maslin
and his wife for providing the venue, plus some very welcome post-event
food and drink, afterwhich similar thanks were given to the trusty band
of observers before the sun finally set on a cracking evening's
trialling.
Premier Michael Johnson (270 Beta) 5 m.l.
Best A Jason Welland (250 Fantic) 14 m.l.
Best AB Ross
Thurlow (250 Beta) 29 m.l.
Best B Andy Perry (250 Rev 4)
0 m.l.
Best C
Michael Maslin (250 Beta) 8
m.l.
Best Youth A Liam Wooster (125 Gas Gas) 93 m.l.
Best Youth B Jack Pontin (125 Sherco)
120 m.l.
Best T/Shock Jason Aylett (200 Honda)
10 m.l.
Best Over 50 Graham Harris (250 Montesa)
26 m.l.
- Swindonian - 11 May 2008
Location: Wanborough
Long distance trials staged in the Wessex centre are something of a
rarity, but when they do appear on the calendar they attract a very
healthy entry and the Swindonian LDT proved it as 114 riders assembled
at Chiseldaon last Sunday to tackle a 75 mile, 20 section lap on
Wiltshire downland.
Superb sunny weather didn't ease the severity of the sections too much,
so going clean for the day was no mean feat and the eight riders that
achieved this were split only by the special test times. Traditionally,
modified trials or trail bikes win this event, so even more credit
goes to Premier winner Keith Wooster who skillfully negotiated the route
on his mammoth 525 KTM and in the process beat a handful of top riders,
none more so than ex-Welsh champion Paul Davies who went home a very
unhappy man after dropping a very slack dab in a very easy section.
Another notable ride came from "virgin-victor" Rich Peaker who took the
silverware home in class 4 on his tweaked KTM. This was his first ever
win and the brightness of the smile that beamed across his face was only
matched by the glare that shone of his riding companion's head... well
done Mr. Peaker! The hard luck story of the trial went to Michael Maslin
who lost the Class 3 award to gavin Moore by a mere 0.77 seconds.
In the team event, it is extremely rare for the marauding trophy-takers
from Cheltenham to go home empty-handed and for the pot-hunters from
across the Severn to leave with a blank. However, this year's winning
team was home grown as the "Wiltshire Wobblers" picked up the award, led
ably from the front by ex-British trail bike champion Graham Lavis.
Steve Venn and his merry band ran in a close second, but the clean sheet
from the Wobblers was enough to seal it.
Last but by no means least, thanks must go to Eric Mulraney who plotted
the route (With the help of his band of retired Teenagers) and created
some imaginative sections where line-picking was critical.... At the
close of a fantastic days sport, the overwhelming view was that trials
this good will always be popular and attract full entry lists so well
done to the organisers for gauging things so well.
RESULTS
Premier K.
Wooster
0 m.l. 20.29 sec.
Class 1
P.Farley 0 m.l.
Class 2
P.Studley
0 m.l.
Class 3
G.Moore
0 m.l. 21.59 sec.
Class 4
R.Peaker 20 m.l.
Class 5
T.Jones
44 m.l.
Class 6
S.Venn
0 m.l. 21.73 sec.
Best Team "Wiltshire Wobblers" (G.Lavis,
G.Moore, K.Wooster) 0 m.l.
- Maslin Trophy - 17 February 2008
Location: Hannington
Round two of the Swindon & DMCC Club Championship was the Maslin Trophy
Trial and it attracted a very healthy 62 riders to The Old Station Yard
at Hannington last Sunday on a cold and frosty morning.
The "white crystals" certainly gave the more able people a chance to
show their skills, as grip was at a premium, the bankings quickly
becoming polished as spinning tyres proceeded to glaze the hard packed
soil. Nevertheless, riders enjoyed a good variety of subs including
climbs, cambers and streams and as the scores give testament to, nothing
was too severe.
The overall win went to centre regular Rob Scott as he ran out a
comfortable winner by 17 marks from Wessex centre AB contender Ross
Thurlow who finished on 39 marks and consequently took the class award.
These two riders showed great control on the tough sections of 4 and 7
where the combination of glassy cambers and slick roots meant most
mortals were dabbing like millipedes. As the four laps progressed it
soon became clear that Rob was just that little bit better in the
conditions and his mastery gave him a worthy win. Next best in Rob's
class was Reynard Norris, whose total of 46 marks was sufficient to give
him the A Class award, despite it being more than double Rob's total. In
the Youth classes it was very much "as you were" in the first round with
Chris Wicham and Sam Turner repeating their class wins in A and B
respectively. Similarly, Nigel Tomkins continued in the same vein as he
was in back in January, as he took a solid win on 20 marks lost in the
Over 50 class (he's not really that old is he??) as his steady throttle
control retained grip where others floundered.
The Club would as ever like to thank the hardy observers who turned out
on a truly bone-numbingly-cold morning to mark cards and to thank
Michael and Geoffery Maslin for their efforts in marking out and result
production. Finally, gratitude goes to Sandra Wooster, a rock of an
event secretary, who resembled complete grace under pressure, as the
unexpected influx of riders swallowed the more entry forms than she was
in possesion of. Last but not least, the riders... "Thank you for coming
and we hope you will return to round 3 in the Spring".
Premier Rob Scott 22 marks lost
Best A
Reynard Norris 46 m.l.
Best AB
Ross Thurlow 39 m.l.
Best B G.Faulkner 32 m.l.
Best C N.Toms 24 m.l.
Over 50
Nigel Tomkins 20 m.l.
Best Youth A
Chris Wicham 154 m.l.
Best Youth B
Sam Turner 60 m.l.