Report by The Cub Whisperer.
The second visit of the BMCA season to Mamble turned out to be “Not so much an amble as a yomp!” a very succinct comment by Co-organiser Kevin Walker, who, along with Mick Parkes, Steve Leyshon and Graham Bradley, put a great deal of effort in to pull off this week’s trial despite the weather being against them.
The venue at Mamble was perhaps the wettest in recent history, certainly a bit of change to the last BMCA visit of early December! Conscious of the high water table and the inevitable mud, the sections had been set out accordingly – however the heavy downpour during Saturday carried through to Sunday Morning. Credit to the lads, they were beavering away changing sections from early Sunday morning to salvage what they could, but even so a few sections required some good old fashioned footing to save a three rather than a five…
Clubman winner Martin Mackenzie, Bantam (library shot)
Certainly, the stream was a saving grace, although there were some worries about water levels, it proved to be a welcome rest for some riders! Recent bad weather had brought down a huge Oak tree across the land adjacent the stream, causing a diversion to the normal flow of the sections, but thankfully no sections were cut off.
Martin Mackenzie showed the Clubman class the way by taking top spot on 48 marks, his best performance being the rocky stream section eight . Steve Haines was only four points behind and with a class leading score on section six, finished on 52 and Ray Barrett followed in third, all round steady riding gave him a final score of 57. Making a return to trials after a short break, Ernie Johnson was putting in a great performance when a split link decided to let go at the start of the fourth lap, which he managed to fix but too late to re-join the fray – Better luck next time!
Intermediate runner up Stratton – nice expression! (library shot)
A few breakages were experienced in the Intermediates class too, Walker lost his front brake lever and Strong and Stratton lost their gear levers. Dave Beddoes emerged class winner on 64 marks lost, despite a chain jam on the last section of the last lap, his best performance being section 6 which involved a tricky turn and cambered climb. Luke Stratton, the only man in the class to clean section three, showed his steadily improving form to come second on 69. Walker brought home third place with quality riding and a score of 75, indeed he was class leader on section ten and somehow managed a clean on the last lap!
The biggest expert class entry for quite some time (14 riders) saw Steve Hay show his expertise in mud and claim a convincing win on 15 marks lost with second place Ben Millichap 8 points behind on 23. Millichap excelled on the muddy slot of section five with a score of only 5 points vs the class average of 10! Paul Howells had a consistent ride to finish third on his rigid Bantam on 27 marks lost.
Millichap – Bantam still running an original frame! (library shot)
Barrett (library shot)
The major surprise for this visit was that a huge tree had fallen down which meant a detour over the hill to complete the lap. That is the Mamble venue for you…. it always keeps you on your toes and you never quite know what you are going to get!!
Library video of section 8 – although the water level was a lot higher this week!
Results:
Expert class: Steven Hay (BAN) 15, Ben Millichap (BAN) 23, Paul Howells (BAN) 27, Kev Taylor (C15) 28, Gary Hawkins (BSA) 46, Bill Woodcock (BAN) 54, Paul Musnlow (BAN) 55, Mick Parkes (BAN) 57, Gerry Minshall (JAM) 72, Laurence Alden (BAN) 83, Les Richardson (SAR) 99.
Expert over 350CC class: Peter Reed (TRI) 85.
Intermediate class: David Beddoes (FB) 64, Luke Stratton (BAN) 69, Kevin Walker (CUB) 75, Ian Brittain (RE) 79, Mark Strong (BAN) 94, Mike Butler (BAN) 96.
Clubman Class: Martin Mackenzie (BAN) 48, Steve Haines (BSA) 52, Ray Barrett (TRI) 57, Jerry Munslow (BSA) 59, Dave Harrisson (C15) 61, Stephen Leyshon (BAN) 63, Andy Hunt (VIL) 69