BMCA trial 29.09.2019 Hunnington. Report by Spanner & The Cub-Whisperer, Photographs by Spanner & Dave Thomas.

This week’s trial at Hunnington, another classic BMCA venue, was the first of two in this year’s trials calendar. Following the pattern of previous years, the first visit is toward the start of the season and the last near enough the end; the timing of the two rounds normally gives us a wet trial and then a more grippy trial respectively. Its fair to say that nobody was expecting the conditions to be as extreme as they turned out to be; seemingly never-ending rain leading up to the day resulted in mud the like of which had not been seen at Hunnington!

Sterling work by Steve Lesyshon, Kevin Walker, Lawrence Alden and Nigel Randall, meant that the impact of the conditions was mitigated – as far as was possible. “We set the sections out for wet weather…. And boy did we get some rain overnight” said Walker. Quick thinking by the organisers coupled with hard-earnt trials experience, saw some last-minute alterations to sections to make the best of the available terrain.

The stream was in full flow, water levels high due to the excessive rainfall and the red/brown tinge to the stream made conditions even worse for the riders; now it wasn’t possible to even see many of the rocks! Certainly, water levels were already high by Saturday, prompting Leyshon to construct a bridge to get riders out of the stream before the waters reached carb height! Christened the ‘Leyshon Viaduct’ by some and compared to ‘The Bridge Over The River Kwai’ by others; it certainly came in handy!

With just two sections within the stream, the remainder were set on the banks; the slippery, slippery banks… The first lap seemed to pass without significant grip problems, some sections even looked to be a little too easy – how quickly things would change! With the top taken off the ground and the sodden clay exposed, things quickly became interesting; grip was at a premium and could easily be lost in the blink of an eye!

With conditions as they were, nobody would be expecting a low-scoring event. Indeed, in post-trials banter in the paddock, there was speculation on the extent of the scores “it’ll certainly make for interesting reading!” joked Owen. Across the board, we saw some high scores – even in to triple figures. Despite the big numbers, a nice spread of points shows the setting out made for good competition.

Up at the front of the expert class were Steve Hay, Kev Taylor and Chris Poel. Hay kept a clean sheet on three sections to Taylor’s four; both riders put in a great performance, with Hay edging out in front on twenty-one points, Taylor on thirty. Good riding too by Poel, taking third place with seventy-five points – fifteen clear of the next rider.

Banishing the Bantams from the podium in the Intermediate class; Dave Beddoes (FB), Alan Halford (Cub)and Kevin Walker (Cub). Class winner on sixty-nine points, Despite confessing to feeling a bit rusty after some time off the bike, Beddoes took a convincing win; choosing the Francis Barnett over the OK Supreme he is often seen riding, perhaps a good choice! It was close between the two Cub competitors, Halford and Walker. Halford took a well-deserved second place on eighty-five, including an impressive clean on section three on lap two. Despite breaking two clutch levers, Walker struggled on valiantly finishing just four points adrift on eighty-nine points lost.

In an unusual situation only two of the four competitors in the clubman class finished the trial, Martin Mackenzie and George Houghton. Mackenzie strode ahead, taking a solid first place on fifty-nine points lost to Houghton’s one hundred and three.

Clubman winner Mackenzie

Well done to all the riders, it was a testing trial for sure! It was great to see so many smiles and laughs throughout the trial, so perhaps it’s not all about finishing on low scores after all! Thanks again to our observers and all the guys that help week in, week out!

Abbreviated scores:

Expert class; 1 STEVEN HAY (BSA) 21,  2 KEV TAYLOR (C15) 30, 3 CHRIS POEL (BSA) 75.

Intermediate class; 1 DAVID BEDDOES (FB) 69, 2 ALAN HALFORD (CUB) 85, 3 KEVIN WALKER (CUB) 89.

Clubman class;  1 MARTIN MACKENZIE (BAN) 59, 2 GEORGE HOUGHTON (BAN) 103.