Dan Peace had the fifth round of the Youth Class A championship trial at Dunlop on Saturday more or less in his grasp until he failed the final section on the last of three twelve section laps. His score was five on laps one and two while eventual winner was on eight penalties but the Telford MRS Sherco contender Tom Minta stormed the final lap clean to take the twenty points.
The Peace error cut his championship lead from a gross fourteen marks down to twelve. Porlock’s Tom Hooper tracked Peace to finish third. The auburn haired MRS rider is seventeen points down but the drop score will eventually reduce that gap. Truro is about as far south west in Cornwall, apart from the Channel Isles. Toby Martyn excelled riding his RCM Beta by cleaning the entire course, on all three laps. Jack Peace and Sam Yeomans finished fourth and sixth. Ironic really considering the latter had four visits to the rostrum including two victories.
The rider who hit the headlines was the much travelled Dunfermline youngster Joe Dawson who but for a dab in section seven on lap two would have tied with Martyn. The Scottish Beta rider is down in fourth place after Saturday but his form could bring out more shocks in Class B.
On Saturday evening the championship spreadsheets had Dan Peace on a gross 97 followed by Tom Hooper on 83 and Minta on 80. Toby Martyn held sway in Class B on 90 with Sam Yeoman trailing by ten points after his poor first day. Jack Peace was down in third place, His South Shropshire and Sevenston fourth places has given the Kirkbymoorside contender a stiff task.
Sunday dawned bright but overnight rain meant mud being dragged onto the rocky climbs and they got slippery –very. For Tom Hooper section eight on lap one marked the end of his Scottish weekend. The Porlock teenager now knows what the inside of an Ayrshire accident and emergency clinic looks like. Hemel Hempstead’s Gus Oblein also dropped out after knee bashing Saturday incident in section three. Hooper’s heavy Sunday morning crash negated his quest for championship points. While his opponents struggled Dan Peace went up a gear with a fourteen score for lap one followed by an eight and class best of five. With Tom Hooper out of play Tom Minta was the only one of eight contenders to stay near Peace but the Telford MRS Sherco teamster lost the two after a poor second lap.
In Class B Sam Yeomans really got cracking to post a one dab lap along with Martyns who stopped in sections one and two on lap two. Those stops cost him a win as he would have been on six marks.
Mansfield Maun MCC will stage the final round At Bracken Rocks on October 12. Will Tom Hooper be fit enough to compete?