Wayne shares this latest report from the Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club. Ed
The Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club held the tenth round of the 2017 Winter Trials Championship at Hawthorn Manor Farm, Chale, courtesy of Mr Fred Colson. The Club would like to thank Fred for welcoming us back to this excellent venue. Very many thanks also to Mark Coombes who set six top sections, making good use of the hilly terrain and of course to the Observers that trekked up to the sections to ensure the trial ran smoothly – top effort by all.
The weather was mostly favourable, just a few blustery showers to contend with, but storm Brian had already left its mark, with a deluge of rain on the Saturday, making for some tricky conditions for the riders to contend with.
There were just two Youth riders taking part today, headed up by Jos Wright (pictured above) in the Youth Expert class. Jos managed to negotiate the challenging ground conditions to complete the trial. His result from today sees him crowned as the Youth Expert 2017 Winter Champion – very well done Jos, brilliant achievement.
Young Alfie Haydon put in another top drawer performance in the Youth Novices. Alfie completed the trial for a loss of just thirty-one marks, beating all but one of his Adult counterparts – keep up the good work Alfie.
The Expert class was emphatically won by Will West, who dropped only thirteen marks, thirty-six clear of second place finisher James Stay. James did however have problems with his bike and a few lost spanners to deal with. Third spot was taken by Mick Brown with Simon Newnham finishing in fourth on this occasion. The well contested Intermediate group of riders proved to be another clear win, this time from Ben Read, Ben managed to complete the trial with a cushion of nineteen – from Andy Steel in second. Geoff Taylor should be very pleased with his third place on today’s challenging sections.
It was great to see course setter – Mark Coombes back on his bike, on leave from his British Championship, support duties. Mark rode the B route as a Sportsman (no championship points) with what was the third best score on this route – good stuff Mark, we hope to see you at the next trial. Scott Milton (pictured above), the sole Clubman rider, finished the trial with an excellent total of forty – superb effort by him.
The Novice class once again proved to attract the largest entry and was won this time by Ben Brodie (pictured below), the clear winner from second place rider, Phil Chase. Martin Moore should be pleased with his efforts to take the third spot, only two more behind Phil. Dan Flux should also be pleased with his ride, finishing in fourth, only one more mark adrift.
Nick Symes found things quite lonely (as the only Twin Shock competitor) despite riding unopposed he finished with the second lowest total of only sixteen dropped marks.
Next meet
The Club next meet on Sunday 5th of November at Godshill Park Farm. The usual start time of twelve noon applies.
The Club is pleased to announce that the 2018 Wight Two Day Trial will take place on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of April next year. All the details can be found on the Club Website. Please make a note in your diaries as you will not want to miss this top South Coast trial which attracted one hundred and thirty-five riders earlier this year.
Image: © Viki Taylor
