In front of a large gathering of spectators, on form Bill Green (Scorpa) recorded a convincing win over Harry Hemingway (Beta) by eighteen marks at Brimham Rocks which was round six of the Talon ACU Trial GB series held on Sunday. Returning from injury, current Champion Toby Martyn (Montesa Honda) edged out Champion elect, Jack Peace (Sherco) in a tie Break for the lower step on the podium.
Green showed his intentions right from the opening lap, losing just thirteen marks on the twelve unforgiving sections which gave him a commanding lead going into the second and third tours.
A single mark attempt at the large double step in section five started a run of success for the Scorpa rider which was followed by a clean on the long section six, which only fourth place finisher Jack Dance (GasGas) equalled on the first lap. Hemingway suffered double maximums on zones nine and ten. Green went 1-0-0 on nine where again Dance was the only other rider to record a clean and he done it twice as well!
Peace suffered three maximums in a row on the first lap which featured heavily in his loss of thirty first time round. The Sherco rider immediately fought back on lap two, posting the best lap of the day with twelve, but the damage was already done.
The whole class had to rush at the end of the first lap with all losing either one or two marks on time which made their attempts at section twelve more flowing than usual, but which produced some superb cleans on the huge rocks which offered plenty of grip.
Harry Turner (Scorpa) completed the top five with some excellent rides, but too many failures cost him dearly at the end of a tough day for all.
Returning to mainstream competition after a three year absence, 2019 Trial GB Champion Jack Price (Vertigo) took a ten mark victory from Oliver Smith (TRRS) in the Trial 2 class. Local favourite and series leader, George Hemingway (Beta) had to settle for third, but actually extended his championship lead to thirty four points with two rounds remaining.
Many of the sections on the unforgiving Brimham Rocks hillside were sensibly eased by Clerk of the Course, Danny Cockshott in the two days leading up to the event and as the course dried the large crowd of spectators witnessed some tremendous action.
The sections towards the end of the lap were the most difficult and the marks lost show this with cleans from section seven onwards being particularly rare.
Following up on his good form from the previous round fifth in Devon, Hugo Jervis (Beta) went one better this time round and secured his fourth place with a particularly strong final lap when some of his closest rivals faltered.
Having missed some previous rounds, George Morton (TRRS) returned with a strong fifth place finish - aided by an eight mark loss on the second tour - to score good series points.
With an opening lap of seven marks, Andy Chilton (TRRS) was right at the sharp end of the first lap, heading the eventual winner by four marks, but could not find grip as the day progressed and his 7-17-25 wristband put him into sixth place.
With just six single marks lost, it was Jack Challoner (Montesa Honda) who took the lead on the first tour of the race, but subsequent losses of 19-24 dropped him down to seventh at the end of a tough day.
Maintaining his second place in the series, James Fry (Sherco) recorded his lowest finish in the series in eighth and will have to keep an eye on Smith who has closed the gap to six points.
Duncan MacColl (Beta) was a model of consistency with laps of 18-17-18 for ninth place with Sam Haslam (GasGas) making a return since round one to round out the top ten.
Asked at the end of the day if he would return again at subsequent rounds, winner Price would not commit, but many fans would like to see him back again at Rock & Hop on the 20th August.
Dan Thorpe (GasGas) has put himself in a strong position to retain his Champion status in the Trial Expert class with a very controlled ride in the thirty six sections. His main championship rival, Brad Bullock (Beta) kept the Yorkshireman honest throughout the day, with Sam Beecroft-Penny (TRRS) maintaining his run of form to finish a distant third.
Thorpe gave himself breathing space on the first of three laps, amazing his rivals (and the author) by parting with just two marks on the first tour, using his vast experience to push on to the front of the field before the rocks became polished. He then controlled his lead with lap scores of 2-5-8 to eventually finish four clear of Bullock who went 9-5-6.
With just two rounds remaining, Thorpe now holds a thirteen point lead in the series from Bullock, whilst Beecroft-Penny has hoisted himself into third, four points clear of Emma Bristow MBE (Sherco) who had her worst points haul of the year in seventh.
Charlie Smith (Vertigo) backed up his previous round second place with fourth position this time out, recording more cleans than Beecroft-Penny, but suffering from four more fiascos.
From here on the marks were tight for top ten positions with Thomas Swindlehurst (Sherco) recording his best finish of the season in fifth, leaving him just outside of the seeded positions for the next round, whilst Thomas Dexter (GasGas) also squeezed in from of Britain's best female rider to open his points tally in sixth.
After missing some rounds earlier in the year, Elliott Laws (Scorpa) finished a good eighth, with Cameron Brice (Beta) and Oliver Sharp (Gas Gas) rounding out the top ten.
With a narrow four mark victory, Harry Blackwell (Beta) has crept ahead in the Trial 125 class with just two rounds remaining. His season long rival, Harison Skelton (Scorpa) was unable to recover from a poor - by his standards - first lap and three consistent laps over the twelve unforgiving sections gave Blackwell the win and crucially a three point championship margin.
However, at the end of the first lap Daniel Da Breo (GasGas) headed the leader board with a loss of nineteen marks lost compared to the twenty three of Blackwell.
Da Breo could not maintain his form on the second and third laps as the sections became more slippery and finished a close third.
The next round takes place at Rock & Hop near Summerbridge on the 20th August.
Full event details can be found on www.acutrialgb.co.uk