Wayne shares this latest report from the Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club. Ed
The second round of the IOWmcc’s Winter Championship was held at Lee Copse, Bouldnor, on Sunday 21st January courtesy of Ann Gustar. The Club would like to thank Ann and her family for making us so welcome and allowing us to pretty much take over their property for the afternoon.
Thanks are also due to course setter, Mark Coombes, who was faced with an impossible task given the recent, very wet weather – but never the less he managed to provide us with a very entertaining trial. The Observers and Viki Taylor, who was on hand to capture some top images.
Rain-soaked Bouldnor course
Four laps of eight sections awaited the riders at the rain-soaked Bouldnor course. The sections held up remarkably well for much of the first lap but with the rain continuing to fall – conditions soon deteriorated into a bit of a mud fest!
We would like to welcome two new members; Andy Bedwell and Dan Locke. Not the easiest of trials to make a debut but we hope they enjoyed themselves and we look forward to seeing them signing on again soon.
Expert riders
The Expert class attracted five riders, and there was just seven marks between the top three. Rob Howard (pictured below) managed to take the win finishing with a total of forty-two from in second, James Stay with Will West in third on forty-nine.
This is Rob’s first time out for a while but he clearly managed to keep his composure and kick start his season off to an excellent start – top riding by all three. Andy Steele (pictured below) proved to be the clear winner in the Intermediates, with a thirty mark cushion from Malcolm Hawkins. Malcolm did well to recover from a heavy fall on the difficult section one (third lap) to complete the trial. Andy Scott-Jackson blasted his way through the tricky ground to secure a good third place finish.
The Novice group of riders produced another clear winner, this time for Dan Flux. Dan should be really pleased to have finished with a total of thirty-seven. The battle for the minor placings was much closer, just four marks between second and fourth. Rob Baker just about held on for second with Steve Chase in third. Rob Herzberg was the fourth place rider.
Ben Brodie and Keith Jacobs (Clubman class) were separated by only two marks, Ben held his nerve well to take the win by the smallest of margins. Phil Chase ended up a distant third after sustaining an injury to his hand following an acrobatic dismount on an earlier section.
Lone Twin Shock rider, Nick Symes finished with the joint lowest total of the day on fourteen. Despite the lack of competition Nick still put in a very competitive performance. Another lone rider, this time in the British Bike class, saw a determined effort from John Townsend who battled the mud well to complete the trial.
Simon Newnham (Sportsmans) proved to be the lowest scoring rider on the ‘B’ rout (pictured above), managing to restrict his total to fifty-two – very good effort in the conditions.
Adult Beginner class
The Adult Beginner class was taken by Ellie Attrill who just edged Joe Taylor into second place with Kevin Smith in third.
Ellie equalled the lowest score of fourteen, Joe was only three more adrift, some confident riding here.
Younger riders
Harvey Grieve found the mud hard to deal with but never the less added another ten Championship points to his seasons tally in the Youth Experts. Alfie Haydon (Youth Novice) should be happy with his efforts – only section four defeated him, otherwise a really good performance.
New youth rider Dan Locke (pictured above) did very well, taking part in his first ever trial. Riding in the Youth Beginner class, which must have seemed like a ‘baptism of fire’, nevertheless, he soldiered on to some very well earned points.
Next meet
The Club next meet on Sunday 11th Feb for the Spring Cup. The venue is still to be confirmed but will be made available on the Club Website once finalised.
The Club’s Annual Awards evening is fast approaching, Sat 24th Feb – again all the details can be found on the Website.
Image: © Viki Taylor
