Coney Green 05.01.2020

BMCA trial at Coney Green 05.01.2020.

Report and photographs by Spanner.

Organised and laid out by Steve Jones, Laurence Alden and Mick Parkes, this week’s trial kicked off the 2020 leg of the current season in fine fashion; a decent turnout of twenty-eight riders, a full complement of observers and fine weather – what more could one ask for! Coney Green is established as being the first trial of the new year in the BMCA calendar; a mix of muddy banks and woodland atop a ridge overlooking the nearby Severn river.

It was a rare treat to find the ground soft but grippy; due to the dry weather over the festive period. The sections had been set out to take advantage of the dry conditions but, also accommodate any of the wet stuff if the worst happened overnight. Things stayed dry throughout and from the outset, it was clear that this would be a low-scoring event and would be won on single digit scores.

With the largest entry of the trial, twelve in the under 350cc plus Chris Tett the solo entrant in the over 350cc class, expert class saw some pretty close competition. An incredible four-way tie on score and cleans had to be resolved by means of longest initial run of cleans; Kev Taylor, Bill Woodcock, Paul Howells and Steve Hay all dropped just one mark. An impressive run of thirty-six sections before picking up his dab, led Taylor to first place. Second place went to Woodcock on twenty two and third to Howells on sixteen. Hay took his dab early on and a run of six put him out of contention. In the over 350cc section of the experts class, Tett came in a very commendable sixth place on only five points lost, no mean feat on a Royal Enfield!

Intermediate class, seven riders this week, was headed up by Ian Brittain, Dave Jones and Tony Hill. Another great performance from a Royal Enfield rider, Britain took first place in comfort on four points lost. Second place Jones finished on a very tidy ten points again some way in front of the next competitor. Finishing in third on twenty points lost, Hill rode very steadily but a three fives wreaked havoc with his scorecard!

Again, Clubman class was a tight contest across the seven riders with George Houghton, Mike Butler and Steve Haines taking the top spots. Superb riding by Houghton, saw him finish in first place on just one point lost. Making a return to riding this week, Butler finished in second on just two points lost – despite his knees giving him some stick. Haines beat off fellow Cub rider Johnson to snatch third place on four points vs his five.

Of course we cannot forget to mention that the rigid class was catered for this week. Sole entrant Dave Beddoes left the Franny B in the garage and brought the OK Supreme out to play. Brilliant riding by Dave showed us how capable a completely standard rigid can be. Well done Dave – just one point lost!

It was great to see everyone catching up with each other and enjoying a break from the sofa and mince pies! Thanks to Steve, Laurence and Mick for their hard work putting the trial on, the observers and all the other guys that chip in to enable us to run such good fun trials.

Apologies for the lack of video this week; it’s a long story, but suffice to say that technical problems conspired and the result was only photos this week 🙁

Full results HERE.

Abbreviated results:

Expert class;

Expert under 350cc;1 KEV TAYLOR (C15)1, 2 BILL WOODCOCK (BAN) 1, 3 PAUL HOWELLS (BAN) 1.

Expert over 350cc; 6 CHRIS TETT (RE) 5.

Intermediate class; 1 IAN BRITTAIN (RE) 4, 2 DAVE JONES (BSA) 10, 3 TONY HILL (BAN) 20.

Clubman class; 1 GEORGE HOUGHTON (BAN) 1, 2 MIKE BUTLER (BAN) 2, 3 STEVE HAINES (CUB) 4.

Rigid Class; 1 DAVE BEDDOES (OK Supreme) 1.

NEXT BMCA TRIAL SUNDAY 19th January 2020. Steve Leyshon. Breach Farm, Bromsgrove Road, Halesowen, Hunnington. B62 0JS, Junction 3 M5 A456 towards Kidderminster, at island turn left onto B4551 Bromsgrove Road. Venue approx.1mile on right.