BMCA Trial 07.04.2019 at Knighton.
Report by Spanner, Pictures by the “Cub Whisperer” and the “Bantam Piper”
Once again, the BMCA lads and lasses enjoyed a top-class trial at the old favourite that is Knighton. Organised and set out by John Jackson, the sections were spot-on and incorporated a few novelties – Surely John must know this bit of land better than anyone, he is always able to throw in a couple of changes to keep things fresh and the riders on their toes!
Compared to the last BMCA visit to Knighton, the sections were a little more forgiving, yet testing enough and enjoyable too. Sections one to six, up in the woodland, were a mix of tight and technical sections, whilst the others required composure on the steep slopes. Sections seven to ten threw in some extra fun in the form of two sections in the stream, a double log jump on section eight and the compulsory run up the hill at the end. Nobody managed to clean the whole trial, but some came close!
Fortunately for all, the grim weather of mid-week had gone. Patchy clouds, a mild breeze and the odd bit of sun made for perfect conditions. You can be sure that Neil Roberton for one, enjoyed the mild conditions, manning section 10 as he has done many-a-time through thick and thin (and it doesn’t half get windy and bitter on top of that hill).
In the Clubman class top riders were John Colclough, Martin Mackenzie and Ernie Johnson. Superb riding by Colclough, only a stray dab here and there saw him finish on nine points, not bad considering he had new hip fitted only a month or so ago! Mackenzie put in a great performance too, only two points behind the leader – it’s his mistakes that let him down! Continuing his strong return to trials, Johnson took third on nineteen points lost.
The Intermediate class was a tight run affair, the top three within one point of each other: Dave Jones, Mark Strong and Luke Stratton. Despite taking five fives, Jones took first place by virtue of the rest of his score sheet being so clean – good riding. Jones and Strong tied on thirty-five point lost, unfortunately for Strong, he lost out on cleans. One point behind on thirty-six points, in third place, was Stratton, “seething about the silly five on section eight” – another case of trials rider’s dreams of what could have been!
Expert class top three places went to Steve Hay, Ben Millichap and Mick Parkes, all on less than ten points! Just a single stray dab on section ten was all Hay dropped, he saw the funny side though and poked fun at himself for the silly dab! Continued good riding by Millichap this season, this week he only lost marks once too, but his three dabs on section two meant he had to settle for second place. Parkes wasn’t far off the pace, finishing on seven points lost.
Rigid class was composed of Dave Beddoes on the OK Supreme, riding the clubman route to a very creditable total of twenty-two points lost. To ride a big old machine like that competitively must take it out of you, indeed, after the trial Dave commented the bike coped admirably, but he was knackered!
It was good to see some of the riders other machines being put through their paces: Dave Beddoes’ OK Supreme, Mike Butler’s Greeves and Ray Barrat’s very pretty Royal Enfield – although Ray found himself suffering from what one rider dubbed “Redditch Knee” through the heavy kick-start of the machine!
The OK Supreme ridden by Dave Beddoes
Ben Millichap. Another fine performance on his Bantam
Luke Stratton, improving every week on the Bantam
Clubman winner John Colclough putting his James, and his new hip through its paces
Dave Jones, the Inter class winner on his very tidy C15
Click above for videos from the trial