Rileys Railway was the venue for the Loughborough Clubs East Midland centre championship round on Sunday and despite forecasts of "Biblical rain and Gales of the century" the day held out until everyone had finished. The section plotters had a triple task on Friday to predict the impact the damp weather would have prior to Sunday, provide something rideable had the forecasters been right and lay out no stop sections which the club don't normally run but required for a centre round, all three tests were passed with flying colours.
Only 3 riders decided to tackle the hard route and it was a runaway win for Nick Bull who was well clear of Patrick Wardle. Tight and loose section 3 in the shaded banks under the watchful eye of Pete Jones and the loose shale on section 8 provided the real test for these guys with Nick being the only rider to get through section 8 without stopping and a full 5 mark penalty on any lap! John Holland and Ryan Mogford fought a close battle on the 50/50 route which just went John's way, section 3 again proving to much for these boys.
A healthy 24 riders signed on for the middle route which was very tight at the top. James Spencer went clean to take victory while Pete Jones (the rider this time) and Nick Oakley on his work of art TY could not be separated on 1 mark lost each. Long distance visitor John Fox picked up 4th and 2nd Over 40 to make his trip worthwhile for the championship. Many local battles were decided across the route with groups of like class riders battling for honours and as is often the case prior performance being no guarantee of future success with route winners from last week floundering in the bottom third this week. The white route was also well supported and the pre-65's showed the way home with Mick Ash going clean just 4 in front of Mark Spencer. Steve Fletcher took 3rd on a "modern" TY!
Once again the small team at Loughborough put on a great event with perfect sections and the weather was kind as well, special mention to club stalwart Gary Shield who laid out on Friday and gave up a ride on his brand new Beta so a full complement of observers was available, Gary is shortly going into hospital for some "balance corrective surgery" to enhance his performance so if anyone would like to volunteer to help out at future trials the club would be glad to hear from you.