Once again Bolton MCC held its annual Time and Observation trial held up at 400 acres Dunnockshaw, Lancashire. This year was luckily another sunny affair, however the previous weeks heavy rain made conditions harder than usual for competitors. Tyler Farrow and Aaron Pickard had the short straws as they where first away at the start, however this was never going to last as faster and more experienced riders moved through the pack.
The first rider to complete their course was Ben Singleton on the 4 lap Clubman Route which earned him second place overall in the clubman category just behind Bolton MCC's very own David Fallows Jnr and in front of third place Beth Dunning who greatly improved on her previous years performance.
The Intermediates and Over 40 classes both undertook a 6 Lap dose of Lancashire's finest terrain, Alan Lord once again showed that he is no slouch when it comes to Time and Observation trials once again winning the Over 40 class and standard time, Andy Downham came in second followed by Andy Fitzsimmons in third.
Inters honours where taken by John Holdsworth who put in a great effort setting Intermediate standard time and only dropping 15 marks all day, second place was Curtis Fitzsimmons and shock third place was the smiling assassin John Nolan.
The Expert 8 Lap class was always going to be a hard fought battle, and with the course worsening lap by lap it was a tough old slog, the descent into section three, the lowest part of the course, quickly turned into a hairy toboggan run with many a rider coming a cropper, Jack Spencer made a break early on, with local legend Andy Cripps tailing behind, however by the end of the 8 Laps Jack had stretched out a well earned four minute lead, giving him the standard expert time award and first place overall, Cripps finished second and Ben Butterworth third.
The finish line was many riders post trial loitering spot, sharing stories of near misses and waiting for their friends to finish (or not in some cases), a trial enjoyed by many and surely to return again next year!
Many thanks to the Observers and Officials and special mention to our sponsors:
SWEETMORES ANOCROME
ANTHONY AXFORD LTD
SHAW HILL RESTAURANT
TG CLARKSON AND SON BUTCHERS
ELEVATOR TECH LTD
ASTLEY HIRE
SSS INDUSTRIAL DOORS
pdf Download Full Results (107 KB)
Images courtesy of David Allcock & Angus Haygarth