At the invitation of the landowner, the Yorkshire Classic MCC held its first trial at Emmott's Farm just outside Silsden on Sunday. The land is well known to riders of modern bikes but the pre65 machinery coped equally well with the rocky streams and steep bankings. With good parking and an excellent choice of sections, it didn't disappoint.
Indeed two riders stayed clean on the day on the premier route, Jimmy Noble on his pre65 Scottish winning Ariel and John Maxfield on his well turned out Tiger Cub. 59 riders turned out to see what the venue has to offer and they were not disappointed.
Section one caused some consternation to the premier route riders. A diversion from the inviting rocky stream dropped the riders down a steep slippery grass bank onto a bunch of uninviting boulders. The initial drizzle rendered the slope tricky in early attempts and Tony Calvert slipped to a maximum when the back wheel of his Cub reached the stream before the front. However, as the section dried, control improved and marks lost reduced. Four other sections were to take more marks from the hard route riders!
Even the slippery rocks on the Clubman route took their fare share of marks in this first test.
Boulders and Bankings
The next testing section came at section 5, a classic narrow boulder filled gully that rode easier than it looked until a nine inch round rock escaped its mid line hole to take even the best by surprise. It was here that Ben Butterworth dropped his only dab of the day on the borrowed ex Boocock C15 to spoil an otherwise perfect ride. The Clubman route deviated up a steep bank to miss the biggest boulders but still needed care to avoid penalty.
The slippery stream also featured in the next section. The introduction looked worse than it rode but it was the exit that caused the problems with 2 lines available. Miss the first, and the sharp left up a narrow wheel track took some taming. Simon Sharp on his neat looking Cub lost his only mark here and Duncan MacDonald slid to a halt to spoil a promising ride. For the clubmen, the diversion was through a mudhole with hidden evils that only Steve Cordon, Paul Preston, Bob Baker and Geoff Walker left unpenalised.
Section Seven
The seventh proved to be the main mark taker on both routes with more slippery rocks teasing the entry before the sharp right exit. Jack Butterworth lost 11 of his 12 marks here.
As the riders finished, the smiles on the majority of faces showed that the early fears proved unfounded.
The landowner walked his collie round the event and remarked how surprised he was how the old bikes performed and complimented the Club leaving no doubt that we would be welcome back next year.
Results
Premier route
Class A- Pre-Unit Springers
1st Jimmy Noble (Ariel) 0 2nd Mick Clarke (Ariel) 29 3rd John Feather (Ariel) 34
Class D-Cubs
1st John Maxfield 0 2nd Simon Sharp 1 3rd Andy Scott 5
Class E- unit over 250
1st Ben Butterworth (C15) 1 2nd Neil Buckley (R Enfield) 20 3rd Andrew Sharp (C15) 41
Class F- 2 strokes
1st Steve Thomas (Bantam) 17 2nd Andrew Dean (Bantam) 29 3rd Carl Winstanley (James) 37
Class G-Twins
1st Jack Butterworth (Triumph) 12
Class S – Specials
1st Duncan MacDonald (Ariel) 10 2nd Michael Dorricott (Cub) 12
Clubman Route
Class B - Pre-Unit Rigid
1st Tim Pawson (Norton) 33 2nd Vince Price (AJS) 67
Class H - Vintage 2 strokes
1st Eric Atkinson (James) 55
Class J - Pre unit Rigid/Springer under 347
1st Chris Bacon (C10) 17
Class K – open Clubman
1st Steve Cordon (Bant/Villiers) 0 2nd Paul Preston (James) 0 3rd Bob Baker (Cub) 4 4th Richard Bainbridge (Cub) 6
Class T – Pre-unit springer
1st Colin Benson (Ariel) 15 2nd Ady Brayshaw (Ariel) 20