The Isle of Wight Motorcycle Club held the 2017 Father and Son Boxing Day Trial at Shorwell Chalk Pit, courtesy of Mr Ralph Cook. The Club would like to thank Ralph for welcoming us back for the traditional Boxing Day ‘fun’ trial.
We should say a big thankyou to the course setters; Nick Symes, Calvin Wright, Malcolm Hawkins and Mark Coombes who between them set eight top standard sections. The weather conditions had deteriorated resulting in the intended easier than normal trial - into one that required a bit more thought! Thanks also to Viki Taylor (Club photographer) and the Observers; John Coombes, Rob Howard & the Elf on section eight!
The sections were plotted on Christmas eve when it was dry, but despite some rain later on, Christmas Day’s weather was mostly dry and very windy, mainly drying out the wet stuff – the course inspectors were happy that all was good. Unfortunately the conditions overnight became very wet & the wind dropped, completely changing the severity of the sections.
Congratulations to Jono and Ben Read who won the Father & Son title with two excellent performances. Alan and James Stay took second from Ross & Alfie Haydon in third with Calvin & Jos Wright in fourth – very well done to all four pairings. Prizes were awarded to Wayne Brodie and Paul Kent for their fancy dress efforts.
Chris Stay (TRS Team rider) made a guest appearance - and some super difficult deviations were added to test him, Chris did take a heavy fall on section six, last lap, fortunately he was not hurt and completed the trial with a loss of only sixteen marks – good stuff Chris. The Club would like to wish him all the best for the forthcoming 2018 British Championships.
Meanwhile, Brother, James Stay recorded an excellent win in the Expert class, losing a miserly fifteen marks forcing Will West into second spot on this occasion – Top riding by both the Stay Brothers. The well contested Intermediate class proved to be a win for Ben Read with Mark Coombes in a close second place – section five making all the difference. Andy Steele took the third place from Shaun Harris in fourth. Co course setter, Malcolm Hawkins was only two more marks adrift in fifth. Scott Milton, the only Clubman class rider finished with a total of twenty nine, more than half of his total was caused by a thrown drive chain on his final lap.
Four Novice riders battled for the top spot – The honours were taken by returning rider, Jon Read. This was an excellent performance and very well deserved. Phil Chase dug deep to secure a good second place from Paul Kent in third. Ross Haydon stole the show in the Twin Shock class, finishing with the lowest, almost perfect score of one dropped mark. Nick Symes ended up in second with Alan Gosden third. Adam Brodie took part on a recently restored 1977 Montesa Cota (one of two bikes, ridden in tribute to Nigel Crouch) and secured a solid fourth place finish. Alan Stay was riding another of Nigel’s bikes (1967 Greeves) in the Sportsman class but was forced into a close second spot behind Simon Newnham. Mike Attrill took the win in the Adult Beginner’s from returning rider, Jason Blackburn. Not the easiest of trials to make a comeback – we hope to see both these riders battling it out in 2018.
Jos Wright (Youth Expert) completed the day with a score of only forty-one marks to take the win. Harvey Grieve, despite a confident ride was happy to settle for second place this time. Alfie Haydon, the only Youth Novice rider found the tricky ground conditions a bit of a challenge – but never the less he completed the trial with a big smile and a ‘thumbs up’ Alfie celebrated with a well-deserved mince pie! Good stuff Alfie, keep up the good work.
The Club next meet on the 7th January for the New Year Shield trial. The usual start time of 12 noon applies. The full details will be available on the Club website very soon. On behalf of the Committee, I would like to wish the Landowners, Members, Friends and Associates all the best for 2018.