The fifth round of the IOWmcc’s 2017 Winter Trials Championship was held at Apes Down, Calbourne on Sunday 19th March. The Club would like to thank Mrs Jane Ball for allowing us back to an excellent trials venue. Very many thanks also to Mr Mark Coombes, who once again put himself forward, to set eight really good sections. Mark spent most of Wednesday cutting out and plotting the sections, the weather forecast at that point was warning of rain over the weekend and so the sections were set with that in mind. Thankfully the rain stayed away leaving loads of grip across the venue. Very many thanks to the Observers (brilliant to see, but we need more!) and finally thanks to all that stayed behind to help clear up afterwards.
Some very close riding this afternoon which resulted with three separate tied scores. Mark Coombes and Simon Newnham (Expert class) were locked together all the way, both riders were clean apart from the tricky section six where they both lost a single mark on their first lap. With absolutely nothing to separate the two, both were awarded ten Championship points – brilliant effort by both. Mick Brown finished in third with a very respectable score.
The Intermediate class proved to be a clear win for Stuart Gummer but this class saw another two ties. Alan Gosden just managed to grab second spot from Andy Scott-Jackson who were both on twenty-one, Alan notched up two more cleans. Malcolm Hawkins and Geoff Taylor were only just off the pace in fourth and fifth respectively. Mark Gray and Simon Watmough finished in sixth and seventh, both riders on thirty-two with 19 cleans, Mark recording four ones to Simon’s three.
Despite being the only Clubman rider, Scott Milton never the less posted an excellent score, loosing just four marks for the day. Keith Jacob’s recent training session certainly paid off helping him to his first Novice class win. Keith finished six clear of second placed rider John Coombes with Dan Wisemellor in third – very well done Keith. Twin Shock rider, Nick Symes took the win with a faultless performance, completing the trial without loosing a single mark. Stewart Freeman secured second on a total of ten. John Townsend and Martin Moore were the only riders in the British Bike and Sportsman classes, both earning themselves maximum points.
The Youth classes were headed up once again by Jos Wright (Youth Expert). Jos put in a confident performance finishing the trial for a total of nineteen. Alfie Haydon is definitely getting to grips with his relatively new 80cc machine – Alfie lost just three marks in the Youth Beginner’s. Josh Morris kept his concentration to stay ahead of third place finisher Joe Taylor.
The Club next meet on Sunday 2nd April for the Downend Cup at Newbarn Farm, near Calbourne. This will be the last Club trial before what will be the highlight of the year – The 50th Wight Two Day Open Trial. We are so pleased by the support being shown, the entry will be well over 100 riders. With this amazing response in mind - we have no choice but to announce that the entry will close on Friday 14th April. Unfortunately no entries can be accepted after this date, if you want to take part then please send your paperwork off in plenty of time! All the info you need is available from the Club’s website.