The YMSA welcomed over 50 riders to Dudwood Farm, the home venue of the club for round 2 of their 2016 championship. A much reduced entry compared to the previous round was probably due to a significant number of date clashes with other events and also the Easter holiday.
A serious shortage of observers caused the club to retain the usual format of 3 laps of 12 sections, but ran the trial in two halves, with the first six sections in the wood behind the farm house to be ridden 3 times before the stalwart six observers moved to the final six sections in the rocky stream down in the valley.
The A class was headed by jack biggins who added to his maiden ride into 3rd place at the 1st round with a comfortable won in his first ever visit to Dudwood. Early days yet for a 6 round championship he now leads the standings in A class. Kieran tovey took 2nd place 29 marks in arrears.
Daniel slack continued his run of success at YMSA this year with his 3rd consecutive win in B class. It started badly for him with a 5 on his first attempt at section 1 when he miss-timed the big step at the heart of the section. He made up for it with a clean and a 1 on his subsequent visits. In a reversal of the podium placing from the previous round Mitch Brightmore took second place from Gus Oblein.
The C class with a smaller entry than usual saw harry turner win for the second time this year on his medium wheeled bike, on sections which were more suited to large wheels. George Clarke rode his 80 big wheel into second place 17 marks down. Praise to his dad Steve who in addition to riding himself manages to mind for both his son and daughter.
Alex Horne riding the latest version of the oset won the D class comfortably from max dance. Alex's best ride of the day was for one clean up the big steps of section 9 which many others fived all day. Toby Shaw won praise from observer Tim Martyn for 3 brilliant rides on the difficult section 12.
In a repeat of the placing from Burycliff Alice Minta won again from Libby tett.
The adult expert class saw Toby Martyn in majestic form. The only ride not to card a five all day was simply stunning to watch. This boy is truly a class act. Making his debut at YMSA Ross Danby on his team TRS finished second but his challenge for the win was blunted by a series of 3 bruising fives on the triple rock steps of section 12. Tom McCabe rode into a distant 3rd place.
The adult intermediate class saw yet another rider to achieve a double after 2 rounds. Jamie millers started the day badly with a 5 on his first attempt at section 1 where he managed the big step for a dab but he somehow managed to miss the ends cards. He made up for this failure with 3 faultless attempts at section 9 in the stream, the only rider to do so all day giving him best score over all on the yellow route. Donna fox rode into 2nd place but could have won the class except for 2 fives on the difficult section 9. Joe Spivey took 3rd place just 5 marks down on donna. Kieran mcdaid had a big crash in the rock step on section 9 on the first lap causing major bike damage which he and his dad Mick fixed in record time allowing him to continue.
The adult novice class riding the white route saw a triple tie between martin Evans, mike king and Steve Kenney, the podium places in that order decided by the tie break.
The green route saw yet another close finish by Adrian bibby beating James Williams on his pre 65 royal Enfield on the tie break. Speaking at the finish, James comments were "absolutely gutted after discovering being docked for 3 fives for missing the last section." Ben Burton riding a modern bike rather than one of his dads classics took 3rd place. Elder brother Dan entered the event on dads ridgid AJS but retired after the first lap. Perhaps a trial too far for such a venerable beast even on the green route, and we mean the bike not the rider.
Not unusual for this time of year the weather had the last laugh. A major storm occurred just after most riders were starting their final lap. The resulting hail storm turned many hard sections into difficult ones in a matter of minutes.
After the first two rounds of this year's championships, Daniel slack in B class, harry turner in C class, Alice Minta in youth novice and Jamie millers in adult intermediate all have double wins – maybe a case of the cream rising to the top!
REPORT – BARRY BURTON
Results
A class
Jack biggins beta 108
Kieran tovey beta 137
B class
Daniel slack MRS Sherco 41
Mitch Brightmore gas gas 69
Gus oblein SPJ Sherco 78
C class
Harry turner beta 92
George Clarke beta 109
D class
Alex horne oset 54
Max dance beta 89
Youth novice
Alice minta beta 82
Libby tett beta 129
Adult expert
Toby martyn beta 13
Ross danby TRS 36
Adult inter
Jamie miller gas gas 28
Donna fox sherco 35
Joe Spivey sherco 40
Adult novice
Martin evans gas gas 52 T.B
Mike king jotagas 52 T.B
Steve Kenny beta 52 T.B
Green route
Adrian bibby montesa 39 T.B
James Williams royal enfield 39 T.B
Ben burton beta 45