Wednesday August 31, 2011 at 3:51pm
Worcester’s Martin Robins dominated the NHCA contenders at Torbay Motor Club’s Gerry Pickard Memorial Hill-climb weekend at Mamhead in South Devon, taking Fastest Time of the Day on both Saturday and Sunday, 20th and 21st August.
Saturday morning brought persistent rain, with occasional heavy downpours, restricting riders to cautious practice runs as they struggled on the soaked and twisty hill. As the afternoon brought fairer conditions and intermittent sunshine, they gradually found more grip on the drying track, with times improving on every one of the three timed runs. Robins was pushed hard by previous multiple Mamhead winner Peter Short (Honda CRF), both riders breaking into the 24 second bracket, and several others with sub-26 second runs. Robins finally clinched FTD by the narrowest of margins on his final run in 24.19 seconds, eclipsing Peter Short’s best effort by just 1/100th of a second.
Sunday dawned fair and increasingly hot, and riders needed no encouragement to take advantage of the warm and well-rubbered asphalt. Almost all of those entered on both days bettered their Saturday times immediately and the first and only sub 2-second 64-foot split times (the equivalent of 1G acceleration!) set by Paul Jefferey (Honda CR) rivalling the powerful class A4 4-wheel drive cars, bore testimony to the dramatically improved track conditions as the afternoon progressed.
For most of the day the NHCA riders upheld honour with immaculate runs and stayed on their bikes, unlike car-competitor Jonathan Biggs, who rolled his father’s V8-engined MGB Kayne Special just short of the finishing line, causing a lengthy delay and interrupting the second timed runs. The rescue unit and doctor were on the scene within seconds, the driver thankfully suffering no greater injury than some bruising, a dent in his pride and some rather more extensive damage to the family finances.
Unlike Saturday, Peter Short had little answer to Robins’ domination, with only the eventual winner and Taunton’s Jimmy Hodges finding their way into 22 second territory, Robins Top Ten run-off time of 22.73 seconds being almost one and half seconds quicker than his Saturday benchmark and bettering Hodges’ best effort by just over a tenth of a second, leaving both his closest rivals trailing with no answer.
The Top ten run-off proved to be a fraught affair, with what should have been the work of minutes extended to nearer half-an-hour as first Peter Short and then Paul Jefferey (Honda CR) slid wide and fell at the tricky Castle-In turn; little harm was done other than to pride and Robins’ earlier FTD effort stood unchallenged.
Mrs Beverley Pickard presented a cheque for £1000, donated by Torbay Motor Club, to the Westcountry Motorsport Rescue Service to mark the appreciation of the club and competitors for their vital contribution to the safety and rescue services at events in Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and beyond. The Westcountry Motorsport Rescue Service, founded by the late Gerry Pickard, will use the donation to upgrade their vehicle and purchase advanced life-saving equipment.
Recovery services were provided by event sponsors The Tipton Garage and Alansway Body Repairs.
Results:
Saturday: FTD – Martin Robins (Worcester), KTM 750, 24.19 seconds.
Class Winners (Home Town) :
250cc Melanie Falconer (Bourne), Gas Gas EL, 27.69 seconds.
350cc Glyn Poole (Hardingstone), Honda CR, 25.74 seconds.
500cc Richard Bowker (Taunton), Honda CRF, 25.86 seconds.
750cc Martin Robins (Worcester), KTM, 24.19 seconds.
1300cc Ben Wilkins (Bourne), Aprila Falclimber, 25.37 seconds.
3 wheel/1wd Jon Stadon/Tom Clifford, (Tiverton/Weymouth), Jacobs Suzuki, 27.55 seconds.
Sunday: FTD – FTD – Martin Robins (Worcester), KTM 750, 22.73 seconds.
Class Winners (Home Town):
250cc Melanie Falconer (Bourne), Gas Gas EL, 25.02 seconds.
350cc Glyn Poole (Hardingstone), Honda CR, 23.51 seconds.
500cc Jimmy Hodges (Taunton), Honda CRF, 22.85 seconds.
750cc Martin Robins (Worcester), KTM, 22.73 seconds.
1300cc Ben Wilkins (Bourne), Aprila Falclimber, 23.18 seconds.
3 wheel/1wd Jon Stadon/Tom Clifford, (Tiverton/Weymouth), Jacobs Suzuki, 25.32 seconds.
The event supported the Devon Air Ambulance Trust. Web-link: www.daat.org
For further information, visit the Torbay Motor Club web-site at www.torbay-mc.co.uk,