By Colin Bullock
ROUND SEVEN of the ACU Events/TRW sponsored series saw the riders travel down to deepest Devon for the Rene Pearce Trial just outside of Torridge.
Last year the organisers had suffered some poor weather prior to the trial and this year was little different. The evening before the event a thick mist had descended on the entire area and you could not see the van next door. The recent summer weather also meant that the woodlands area which included section 1 - 5 were very slippery. Brousentor Farm is very much a venue of two halves as much of the second area is high up on the rocky ‘Tor’ which provides the most spectacular of backdrops.
Experts A were first away at 10am with the prevailing conditions looking much more promising than the previous day. One surprise omission from the entry however was Scorpa’s Darren Brice who was able to miss the day and still retain enough of a points advantage to stay at the top of the Group with just one further event to go.
This left John Crinson picking up his first Championship win in 2010. There is now an outside chance of him catching Bricey down in Kent. Crinson put in three very steady laps with only section 10 high up on the Tor giving him problems on each lap. Second went to Guy Kendrew some eight behind. Kendrew had his own problems keeping Willenhall’s Buster Regan at bay. Both finished on 63 marks lost and the verdict went to Guy courtesy of the most cleans. A podium place was though a fitting result for Midlander Buster who has enjoyed a good series and now holds fifth overall. Local rider Keelan Hancock might be tempted to ride the series more often after grabbing a fine fourth from Richard Timperley. Timp’s reported that he had enjoyed his ride right up to final sub when arm pump had begun to affect him.
Gary Macdonald is determined to annexe the A Class Championship and made another marathon trip down from Kinlochleven. Jack Sheppard is his main rival and by the time they arrived at the sixth hazard the rocky stream section he was a couple of points ahead of the Scotsman. Gary needed a dab here to see him through. At the end of lap one it was Sheppard from Andy Chilton with Gary third. Macdonald moved up a gear on lap two riding the wood sections much better. This moved him ahead of Chilton but Sheppard was still leading and that was the order in which they would finish. It was no disaster for Gary who can travel down to Kent with a 13 point Championship lead.
One side attraction in the Class was the return of Joe Baker on the new Scorpa. Joe by his own standards had a slowish start which was hardly surprising but his second and third circuits were very much on the pace. He would finish in a solid fourth place.
The youth riders also rode the A hazards and this was pretty tough for them. Chris Stay got home in first place just a head of Jake Luther-Evans and Chris Short.
The Championship entry was last away with James Dabill defending his 100% win record in 2010. After the first five subs down in the woods it was all very close with Dibs, Alexz Wigg and Michael Brown all on 10 marks lost. Spectators wisely went across to Section six where Alexz was to arrive first. He probably felt that pressing on was the best idea especially if the rains returned. He quickly put in the first clean which was followed by Dabill. Brownie needed two to see him through and
then he had to do a clutch cover replacement before he could carry on.
Sam Haslam and Craig Robinson both made excellent cleans on the dry rocks at number seven. It looked a fairly easy hazard by these riders standards but it was easy to drop a sump on the jagged rockery as both JD and Michael found.
Over on the Tor Alexz fived section 10 as his Beta dropped into a nasty gap near the top of the hazard. He immediately fought back cleaning 11 before the mud and slime made the second step really difficult. Dabill even fived here as the Gas Gas slipped back, he would not make that mistake again.
At the end of Lap one it was Dibb’s and Alexz tied on 16 well ahead of their rivals. Wiggy was about to have a bad second circuit before rallying on lap three when he had a fine finish. James put in a really special second lap a full 12 points better than anyone else. It was the British number one at the top of his game.
The top three had all got to grips with the Devon shire countryside despite a really heavy shower at the half way stage. As the trial moved towards its conclusion Section 10 caught out Dabill and Brown. Michael had found this to be his bogey section all day and with Alexz getting through for a dab it would mean runner up place for the Beta rider. Sam Haslam had his best Championship result of the year with fourth.
So we go down to Kent in four- weeks for the season finale with James Dabill already having enough points in the bag for a second successive Number one plate. There will be some pressure however as he will try to win every round of the year.