A lovely piece of silverware was up for grabs last weekend at the Norton Trophy Trial where promoters Oxford Ixion MCC put on a traditional muddy muddy muddy trial with a handful of big hill climbs thrown in for good measure.
A full lap of Cox's farm made for ten testing sections that were ridden three times with this event also being a round of the South Midland Classic Championship for Pre 65 and Twinshock machines.
Two routes were on offer and the hard route victor and winner of the Norton pot was James 250 mounted Tim Blackmore. Tim put in a good first lap of 6 but on the subsequent laps the mud had dragged up most of the sections and steadying prods had to be delivered at the precise moment to ensure minimal marks were lost he eventually finished on 30.
Glen Howard had a good day taking the best in class Twinshock 63 was his tally with section ten doing most of the damage a slick cambered sandy bank over roots before a drop into marshland then an exciting steep bank where you had to aim for the observer before exiting left over another tangle of roots .
Paul Casling rolled back the years to put the best performance in on his trusty 250 DOT losing 73 several of which went astray on the very wet sandy climbs of section six where the last steep sector became surprisingly grippy late on and the less experienced found themselves ( looping-it ) and going down quicker than they came up. A couple of threes on the last lap were not enough to rob Paul of the win and went on take best Two Stroke.
The second route on offer was not that easy and experience shone through with Ex classic Scrambler Brian Ayres out on his recently restored BSA 250, he made best Pre 65 on this eased course. Scramble expertise came in very handy today as most sections were third and fourth gear blasts especially section eight a boggy start then a 70 yard flat out blast up a slick and steep bank shutting-off at just the right moment before turning to make the equally steep drop.
Rabbit Allen was revving the little 185cc Bantam to the limit in order to conquer the big climbs of section nine as the rain came down late-on to spoil the grip that was available earlier in the day.
Julian Wade BSA Goldstar was in his element with enough power on hand to clean the steepest and slickest of hills burning though the mud to get maximum grip best Rigid was the reward.
Danny Wilson persevered through the torrential rain on the little Bantam 175 and 98 marks later took the the best two Stoke award on the Blue eased course.
A few welcome club members came along with modern machinery for an easy day with Darren Wheeler topping the pile on the hard route as did Tim Davis and Nick Annetts in their respective classes on the eased option.
Many thanks to all the observers who braved the cold and rain.
Norton Trophy Tim Blackmore James 250 30
Best Unit Alan Taylor Tigercub 36
Best Two Stroke Paul Casling 250 Dot 73
Best Twinshock Glen Howard Fantic 212 63
Blue Gentleman's route
Best Unit Brian Ayres 250 BSA 47
Best Rigid Julian Wade BSA 350 81
Best Two Stroke Danny Wilson Bantam 98
Best Twinshock Nick Annetts 200 Honda 55
Modern Hard Darren Wheeler Gasser 10
Adrian Steele Beta 26
Jason Clifford Beta 37
Modern Easy Tim Davis Mont 36
Tim Roblett Mont 87
Report Ken O'Brien