The Yorkshire Classic Motorcycle Club held their 4th full Championship Trial at Skyraikes, Skipton with 55 riders competing for the spoils on a sunny but windy day. Top man on the day for the second year running was Chris Gascoigne (Francis Barnett) losing only 4 marks in total, of which 3 were lost on Section 5, the most difficult section of the day for both Premier and Clubman riders. Observed by Rob Shepherd the uphill climb started over big rock slabs followed by twists and turns through embedded rocks that caught all but John Maxfield (Bantam) in the Premier Class. Had John not got lost in section 9 where his better half was observing, he would have taken the top honours, but he still finished dropping only 7 in total, 1 ahead of Tony Calvert (Cub).
On the Clubman route, 7 riders lost under 10 marks with Malc Cocking taking the honours on 1 mark. Maurice Brayford (DOT) was again rolling back the years on 2 marks, 1 ahead of Steve Thomas (Bantam). Another senior rider, Geoff Walker (Bantam) was unlucky to be hit by a gust of wind as he exited section 1 feet up with the resulting 5 being his only loss of the day. Club stalwart John Feather had an excellent ride on his springer Ariel for the loss of 7 marks on the Clubman route
Section 8 was the second biggest mark taker on the Premier Route. A twisting rocky uphill start led to a huge rock step that many considered dangerous. Steve Smith on his home built C15 survived a big tumble in front of club photographer Barry Pickard and only Maxfield, Gascoigne and Paul Preston (James) stayed clean on every lap.
With the ground being bone dry and the high winds making life difficult, the premier route had 3 or 4 big sections that suited the top riders were included. This also increased the difficulty gap between the hard premier and easier Clubman route that was more or less ok on the day.
Results
Premier route
Class A - Pre-Unit Springers
Tom Emmott (PU Triumph) 55, Dale Harrison (Ariel) 92.
Class D – All Cubs
Tony Calvert 8, Dave Wilkinson 50.
Class E – Unit over 246cc
Steve Smith (BSA C15) 31, Richard Culf (B40 BSA) 58.
Class F - 2 strokes
Chris Gascoigne (F Barnett) 4, John Maxfield (Bantam) 7, Paul Preston (James) 11, Nick Jefferies (Bantam) 25.
Class G – Big Twins
Will Harrison (Triumph) 85
Class S – Specials
Dave Ingram (Drayton C15) 35, George Emmott (Triumph Twin) 51.
Clubman Route
Class H - Vintage 2 strokes
Eric Atkinson (James) 50.
Class K – open Clubman
Malcolm Cocking (BSA C15) 1, Maurice Brayford (DOT) 2, Steve Thomas (Bantam) 3, Peter Williamson (BSA C15) 3, Geoff Walker (Bantam) 5, Ian Broomhead (Bantam) 9.
Class T – Pre-unit springer
John Feather (Ariel) 7.
Class K/Sp – Clubmen Specials
Max Clift (BSA C15), Mark Spenceley (Cub) 38, Robert Wood (Drayton C15 BSA) 45.