Report: Dick Dickenson Trial - Simmons Cup
By Dick Law on 10th Nov 16
Simon Bird on his 300 Freestyle Sherco, despite an unexpected five at his first attempt at section five, won this years Sidcup Clubs Dick Dickenson Triall for the Simmons cup with the loss of just 20 points.
That's not to say he had the lowest score on the expert route the day, but Sidcup club's rules state that entries after the closing date can ride, but without award - so Ross Dandy who did the whole 13 section three lap event without loss does not feature in the results as he was a late entry.
So too was would be second place man Scott Kennett who finished the expert route trial on 16, but also was a late entry.
Bird's trial started well enough in the sunshine that covered the clubs Canada Heights venue, but after the ill-fated five on section five he had to regroup for the rest of the trial.
He had another five on section 12 that seemed to claim most marks on the hardest of the routes but even that became easier as the day went on but still was taking lots of three's on the last lap.
So Bird finished the first lap on 11 but backed that up with a second lap of just a five followed up with a last lap of four for his total of 20.
Second place in the Expert's class was Nicky Dowland who finished just six marks behind Bird which was remarkable considering he was shepherding his very young son Ethan around with him and was walking the section together first, then he rode it, and finished off by running through the section in front of his son making shore he went the right way on his little OSET electric bike. What a dad!
Steve Mannerings lost just one mark the whole event and that was on section 12 on his way to the premier award in the Expert B while David Plumb pushed him all the way taking four single dabs to finish three marks behind the leader in class.
Steve Monk on an old twinshock Fantic would have been third on seven but for the late entry rule so Dean Latter was awarded third on eight with Lee Brocklehurst just one mark behind him.
Three out of the five riders in the Intermediate class were late entries which meant Vincent Gooding won the class on six with Chris Hogben second five marks behind him.
The Intermediate B were a lot closer with Kevin Thompson waiting till section five to drop his one and only point with class runner up John Bird having to single dabs on his opening lap and the cleaning the other two for second place separated by a single mark.
The closest finish and therefore the most competitive class was the Novice with just 14 points separating the top seven riders when all the score cards were added up.
The class win went to Ben Dobbs on one, then came Simon Gibbs six marks behind him but after that Ben Allcott, Sean Cuckow, Emma Thompson, John Kane and Liam Seamer all finished within five points of each other.
Stuart Bridges won the over 40's on one with Craig Dean and Martin Stevens both just one mark behind him.
The winner of the over 50's class couldn't be separated as Geoff Brooker and Malcolm Noble finished all 39 sections without loss with Paul Chapman third.
Colin Mote was another rider that completed the trial without loss and he took the pre-67 class award from John Mantle and David Shave who were separated by a single point.
It's always hard setting out a trail at this time of year as if the promised rain had come the event would have taken on a completely different completion and claimed loads more points.
Results
Expert: Simon Bird (300 Freestyle Sherco) 20 Nicky Dowland (300 Sherco) 26, Jack Stiles (300 Stiles Garage Gas Gas) 50.
Expert B: Steve Mannerings (250 Yamaha) 1, David Plumb (250 Beta) 4, Dean Latter (300 Beta) 8, Lee Brocklehurst (300 Gas Gas) 10, Adam Marshall (250 Gas Gas) 11, 6 Gary Roberts (260 Montesa) 18.
Intermediate: Vincent Gooding (300 Vertigo) 6, Chris Hogden (300 Vertigo) 11.
Intermediate B: 1 Kevin Thompson (250 Montesa) 1, John Bird (300 Sherco) 2, Tony Dobbs (300 Beta) 7, Derek Baker (300 Beta) 21, Adrian Gilbey (280 Ossa) 28.
Novice: Den Dobbs (300 Beta) 1, Simon Gibb (300 Vertigo) 7, Ben Allcott (250 Beta) 10, Sean Cuckow (125 Gas Gas) 12, Emma Thompson (125 Beta) 14, 6 John Kane (290 Sherco) 14
Over 40: Stuart Bridges (300 Gas Gas) 1, Craig Dean (300 Gas Gas) 2, Martin Stevens (300 Gas Gas) 2, Robert Smith (250 Gas Gas) 18, Stephen Garner (272 Sherco) 71.
Over 50: Geoff Brooker (250 Sherco) 0, Malcolm Noble (300 Sherco) 0, Paul Chapman (300 Jotagas) 9, Alan Downs (300 Beta) 9, Mark Stubberfield (260 Montesa) 12, 6 Stephen Westley (Electric Motion) 18.
Pre-67 and twinshock: Colin Mote (500 Arial) 0, John Mantle (280 SWM) 6, David Shave (350 Triumph) 7, Neil Houckham (156 Fantic) 8, Roger Thompson (175 BSA) 8, 6 Graham Bridger (200 Triumph) 13.
Sportsman: Dennis Wakeman (125 Beta) 8, Grant McKenzie (300 Jotagas) 9, Neil Wakeman (200 Beta) 21, Jo Holloway (350 AJS) 31, John Crawt (200 Beta) 48.
Youth Intermediate: Mason Meadows (125 Beta) 33.
Youth novice: Rowan Dean (48v Oset) 101.
Youth sportsman: Joe Chapman (125 Sherco) 2, Ethan Dowland (Oset) 73, Oscar Kirkin (20 Lite) 138.
