The Frank Pragnell Cup was held on Sunday 2nd October at Bembridge Down, courtesy of Mr Rob Taylor. The Club are very grateful for the use of this great venue. Very many thanks also to the course setters, Geoff Taylor & Josh Stephens for eight fairly testing but fun sections and to Viki Taylor for her excellent camera work.
Weather conditions were perfect for trials, bright Autumn sunshine, not too warm and with no wind - all helped towards a really enjoyable afternoon. Rider numbers were lower than usual, despite the good weather.
The Expert class was convincingly won by Rory Stephens. Rory finished with a total of thirty-six, twenty-one marks clear of second place finisher Simon Newnham. Sections one and six made all the difference. Mark Coombes stepped up from the Inters to have a go in the Experts today and put in a valiant effort to secure third place gaining his first ‘Expert’ Championship points.
Andy Scott-Jackson took the honours in the Intermediate group of riders ahead of Brothers Mike and Geoff Taylor who finished in second and third respectively. Andy finished nineteen marks clear to take the win but just two marks separated Mike and Geoff. This battle proved to be the closest contest of the day.
The well contested Novice class was won by Jon Croft with an excellent performance on what proved to be a tricky course. Championship leader Brian Brockwell was forced into second spot this time out, four marks adrift. Another excellent result today for James Craven who took third place with some really confident riding – very well done James. Meanwhile there was just one finisher in the Twin Shock class, Nick Symes notched up another class win with what turned out to be the lowest score of the day. Nick finished with a total of twenty-five.
We come back to Bembridge on April 22nd and 23rd next year for the annual Wight Two Day Trial. 2017’s event will be the Fiftieth Golden Anniversary Trial. The first Two day was held in 1967 and was won by British Expert Champion Sammy Miller. Sammy went on to take the title another nine times! We will be in a position, very soon, to publish the Regs and entry form along with all the details you need, for what promises to be a very special event. Please keep an eye on the Club website where all the details will be available in around two weeks-time.
The Club next meet on Sunday October 23rd, 12 noon start. Once again please check the Club website nearer the time as the venue is still to be confirmed.