Jack Savage concentrating hard on section 4Bewdley Motor Cycle Club ran their Hooper Trophy Trial at Bank Farm, Pound Green, Arley and were blessed with fine weather and a bumper entry. The Arley venue has not been used for competitions for a number of years and its streams and woodland climbs gave the large entry a testing but enjoyable days sport.
Only a small number of riders elected to compete on the A Route and it was Jack Savage (Montesa), who came out on top, gaining a five mark win over Shaun Haddington (Montesa), but the result could have been very different, if Haddington had not lost five marks on his first visit to section one. Ex British Sidecar Road Racing Champion Tom Hanks had a steady ride throughout the trial, but was unable to master section two, a steep climb over tree roots and rocks. Losing a total of seven marks on ex club chairman Graham Turners section, demoted the former champion to third spot on the podium. Two ex-motocross riders, Joe Cutler (Gas Gas) and Ian Kelly (Beta) were making their trials debut in the trial. The travelling companions finished the event on identical marks, with Cutler taking the higher finishing position by fifteen cleans to fourteen.
Forming the majority of the entry, the B Route provided Mel Whitelaw (Scorpa) with his first ever no marks lost victory, in thirty four years of trials riding. The Bewdley club member managed to hold his concentration during his final lap, despite being a bundle of nerves, to gain a one mark victory over a trio of Beta mounted riders, Stewart Branford, Shaun Hammond and Ian Strudley. Kidderminster’s Jim Pickering (Drayton Bantam) and Robin Foulkes final scores were identical, but Pickering gained the better position by means of cleaning the greater number of sections.
Former Midland Centre Trials Champion Craig Parkes (Gas Gas), Lee Beaman (Beta) and Harry Hall (Sherco), battled throughout the four lap event, with all three finishing on three marks lost, but the former champion gained the advantage by means of the tie break. Parks cleaned thirty nine sections to Beaman’s thirty eight, whilst Hall cleaned thirty seven.
The C Route saw R D Mitchell (Beta) finish a clear thirteen marks ahead of the remaining pack, but the runner up position was a close run affair, between Mitchell Parkes (Gas Gas) and Kidderminster’s Myles Greenwod (Beta). Never quite getting to grips with the penultimate section, where he lost a total of nine marks, the Kidderminster schoolboy could not match Parkes section performance and was demoted to third place.