BMCA trial Howard’s Wood 31.03.2019.
The shaded coppice located on the banks of the Stour played host to this week’s trial. Laid out by Les Richardson, Stephen Leyshon and Kevin Walker, the gods had smiled upon them – as, by all accounts the ground was “a wee bit slippery” just a week ago. Mild spring weather had allowed the ground to dry out just enough to give a decent level of grip, but wet enough to hold itself together.
The lads like to keep the riders on their toes: A couple of new sections were included and the running order was reversed, which resulted in a bit of confusion on lap one! Credit must go them though: the sections were thoroughly enjoyable and provided a good variety of challenge.
Clubman class leaders were Martin Mackenzie, Stephen Leyshon and Gerry Munslow. With only a stray dab here and there, Mackenzie finished on a total of three. Close behind, Leyshon finished in second on eight points lost. Munslow beat off competition from Nyons, beating him by just two points and taking third place on twenty-two points. Section four (Harry Britain) took points off everyone and proved to be the toughest section of the trial for the clubman group. It was hard work for Britain too, as he had to scramble up and down the bank replacing markers!
Intermediate class top spots went to Joe Owen, Dave Jones and Luke Stratton. Making a splash on his return to competition, Owen won convincingly on twenty-six points lost. Jones and Stratton both finished on thirty-nine, it came down to most cleans – with Jones three ahead. Section three took the highest toll on the scores a fair few fives were taken and only a small handful of cleans achieved.
Expert class was arguably the closest run competition of the day: the top three places on two points or less, outstanding riding by Kev Taylor, Nathan Jones and Steve Hay. Taylor just pipped Jones to the post, finishing clean vs Jones’ single point. Hay was only one further point adrift on two points lost.
Congratulations were in order for a few people: Sue and Dave Jones celebrated their 40th anniversary on Sunday – congratulations from all the BMCA guys and gals. Also, Mike Butler retired a few days before the trial and brought several huge cakes to mark the event (Thanks to Maggs – they were lovely, especially the Walnut cake!).
Kev Taylor, in top form on the Drayton C15