Monday May 17, 2010 at 9:50am
Report and pictures by Colin Bullock
ROUND three of the ACU Events sponsored British Trials Championships went down to Devon last weekend with the Anthony Rew Trial back at Kelly Farm not far from Bovey Tracey.
The series which has attracted additional support from Truck Rental Ltd and Michelin has been dominated so far by James Dabill in the Championship Class. Could he carry on from where he left off in Kinlochleven?
We would have to wait a little later in the day to find out as Experts B got things under way at 10 am. Some minor changes to the sections had been undertaken by the West Of England Club and Section 1 had been shortened to allow the 1 minute 30 time allowance to be possible.
The more pressing problem for the B group was half way through the sub where a double step was causing all sorts of problems. Harry Harvey was the only rider for ages to get through the hazard until John Crinson floated his Beta through for a well deserved clean. He was followed through by Guy Kendrew and Anthony Blackman but these were the only three to escape unpenalised on lap 1.
Blackman would be leading the Class at the end of the opening circuit despite problems on the tough
and tight subs at sections five and six. Darren Brice and Robert Harries was best at these two hazards. For once Bricey was not having things his own way and it was not until the final lap when he put in an amazing loss of seven that he managed to get to the front which took him comfortably clear of Crinson and Kendrew.
There may only be 10 riders contesting Experts A but the competition is pretty fierce with Gary Macdonald and Ian Austermuhle so far having taken one round each. Both started with four straight cleans until the dreaded section five had a maximum from Ian while Gary escaped with a one.
Jack Sheppard and Jonny Walker both proved it could be mastered with brilliant cleans first time around. The only other rider to get a successful ride here was Andy Chilton on lap two. The rest of the lap turned out to be a mark stealer rather than have any major stoppers and Jack Sheppard came in for his punch card change with a loss of eight to put him one in front of Gary Mac and five clear of Ian Austermuhle. It was all very tight at the top of the leader board with James Fry up there only a couple of marks back.
Gary then moved up a gear and he was looking very relaxed with his riding as he put in two more circuits for losses of six and five which no one could match. Jack Sheppard’s second lap cost him dearly before he finished strongly to finish second to Austermuhle and he was a little disappointed with the result.
With the Championship class last out most of the good crowd of spectators hung on at Section One where a nasty sting in the tail awaited them over a huge granite boulder. Shaun Morris got out for two with more than one eye on the clock as the seconds ticked away and Sam Haslam had a steady three. Michael Brown had obviously sorted out his line following Saturday’s practice as he cleaned it superbly as did James Dabill and Alexz Wigg.
It was after this that Browny took off and went on to ride Lap One way ahead of his rivals. Perhaps he had more than one eye on the weather which had forecast rain. That could have changed the venue completely. The tactic certainly worked early on as he looked superb all the way to Section 10 where he maxed out on the long uphill climb. Dabill by contrast had a five on the old favourite Section Two where the lead up to the exit was as wicked as ever. It only saw one clean all day with
Michael doing the honours second time around. There were no dramas on Sub three with the turns and drops over an old walled area not being a problem.
Section Four was a different proposition, the early steps looked spectacular but once again it was the exit that was the problem. George Morton got his day well on track here exiting for a dab which was well appreciated by the spectators. Dibs and the long gone Browny matched his ride but there were no cleans first time around. With the second half of the lap looking by the scoring to ride a little easier Michael came home on eight to James nine with Shaun Morris on 17.
With the Championship and Expert classes now getting mixed in together any thoughts of pressing on were not possible and the odd drop of rain kept riders aware that conditions may well change.
Dabill stamped his authority on the Trial with a second lap of just seven and a third of 10 which no one could match. This would give him three wins out of three and a good lead in the 2010 Championship.
Michael Brown took second comfortably clear of Shaun Morris who has looked very consistent this season. Alexz Wigg took fourth ahead of George Morton who well deserved his fifth place.
The award of the Michelin tyres went to Andy Blackman and Nick Baker for their efforts in the Experts B class. Chris Stay won the Youth group and well done to Brian Higgins and Colin Dommett for the roving microphone work which kept spectators aware of what was happening at all points of the course.
(Picture: John Crinson)