The fifty-ninth Manx National Two Day Trial gets underway this Saturday with over 200 competitors ready to take on the best of what the jewel of the Irish sea has to offer.
Taking place on the middle weekend of the Isle of Man Festival of Motorcycling the trial provides spectators with a competitive and scenic alternative to the racing on the mountain course and vintage bike displays.
The first riders will get underway at 8am on Saturday morning, leaving Onchan Community Centre to set out on the separate routes for solo and sidecar competitors. The solos will cover around 85 miles and 85 sections across the weekend with the sidecars covering around 80 miles and 78 sections.
The solo’s head south and away from the TT course covering early groups including White City, Knock Froy, Old Stoney Mountain Quarry and finish the day on the southern coast with groups on volcanic rock at Pooil Vaaish and Scarlett, used for the first time in several years.
Meanwhile the sidecars will be heading north on the first day with early locations including Clypse, Ballacarooin and Snaefell Mines.
The solos head north on Sunday with the sidecars heading south making sure the riders truly get to see all aspects of the Islands scenery and rockery! Solo groups include West Baldwin Bridge, Injebreck Gulley, the very popular Laxey Beach and will finish in the centre of Douglas at The Arches. The sidecars will be covering groups including Bims’s Field, Glenlough, Scarlett, Knock Froy and Douglas Beach. These will be the final sections and well worth a watch at the northern end of the promenade.
Local rider Josh Brain will be trying to make it a hat-trick of wins in the solo expert class and keep hold of the coveted sword of state at his home event. Following an excellent top 3 result at the recent Reeth 3-day trial in Yorkshire, Brain is certainly on form and looking for the win. His main challenger is likely to be MRS Sherco team rider Ricky Wiggins who comes into the event fresh from a top 10 result at the latest round of the British Championship in Scotland. He is now seemingly fully recovered from the serious knee injury he suffered at last year’s Manx, and will be going all out to secure his first win on the Island. Other riders to watch out for will include Ben Sprigg, Nathan Wrigglesworth, Josh Woods, Juan Knight and Grant Laming.
In the Solo Clubman class the result is much harder to predict with any amount of potential winners. Previous clubman winner Steve Swanson will be in the mix as will Tom Swindlehurst, Nigel Crowther, Michael Clarke and Philip Hanlon.
The sidecar class is at its most wide open for years. With the previously dominant pair of Robin and Sam Luscombe having had a year of semi-retirement from sidecar trials, they will have their work cut out to stay top of the pile. There is always a strong local challenge and this year is no exception with Nigel Crellin/Chris Molyneux and Jamie Teare/Jane Birchall leading the way. Rupert and Chris Kimber will also be very close to the top and it will be nip and tuck all weekend with the leading crews not able to throw any marks away.
Entries to note in the solo clubman class include former TT winner Iain Duffus, who is the latest former road racer to compete in the 2 day, following on the heels of Rob McElnea and of course Nick Jefferies, the only man to win at the TT, Manx Grand Prix and Manx 2-Day!
Leading World Enduro rider Danny McCanney is back for a weekend of fun and is also well capable of a good result. Riding around with younger brother Jamie, himself a World Enduro rider there is sure to be plenty of competition to keep them on their toes.
The sidecars will have the all action pair of Kiaran Hankin/Andy Cripps, with Kiaran another accomplished mountain course rider having lapped at over 120mph during the TT. He will also be competing on an RC30 in the Classic TT races that happen on Bank Holiday Monday.
And the first all female crew to tackle a National event in the shape of Saskia and Ealish Baxter will be hoping to put in great performance. Recently crowned British Champion in the ladies intermediate class, Saskia is a good solo rider and Ealish a very experienced passenger so they have the skills to do well. Coming from a family with a rich sidecar heritage, dad Ray having competed in sidecars for years, Uncle Dave being the sidecar clerk of the course and cousin Elliott also riding it will be very interesting to see how they get on.
To follow the action, the organisers will be Tweeting updates throughout the weekend from @manxtwodaytrial on Twitter.