Report: Westmorland MC - Milnthorpe Cup
By Jason Bellinger on 9th Mar 16
JACK Spencer made full use of his British Championship experience to take the Premier award in the Westmorland clubs prestigious Milnthorpe Cup Trial, staged in and around the Lythe Valley near Kendal, Cumbria, last Sunday.
Lancashire lad Jack dropped just 13 marks over 40 separate challenging sections in this excellent single lap road based Northern centre Championship trial.
The event attracted exactly 100 riders to the start near the Damson Dene hotel on the Bowness on Windermere road, which is a fantastic turnout by any standard.
And Beta rider Spencer was equally at home conquering slippery vertical rock faces, tricky waterfalls or seemingly gripless, twisting muddy hazards to finish 11 clear of closest challenger, local ace Will Brockbank.
Will did his chances no good with an early five when he stalled the Sherco in the fourth section and he was on the back foot from that point on.
The pair were the pick of the select Expert field for most of the day and as early as the tenth section, which featured a vertical rock face climb to the Ends cards, they fittingly bagged the only two Expert route cleans.
Will, riding with total confidence, pioneered many of the tricky Expert sections but despite many excellent cleans, putting the pressure on his rivals, Jack remained cool and was a worthy winner.
The trial featured many old favourite Milnthorpe Cup groups of sections, like the waterfall at Twiggy's Wood and also made a welcome return to Lords Lot after a break of many years.
Spencer was particularly good on the final sub in Woodyard, a muddy number that appeared totally lacking in grip yet Jack used amazing skill to tease and burn grip to take a fantastic clean.
Stephen Dixon eventually took third while running-in a new Scorpa, ready for the Scottish Six Days – as he did for last year's Milnthorpe – and Inter Tom Middleton took an excellent fourth.
The Green 50/50 course provided local rider Rob Shuttleworth with a well-earned win dropping 14 marks on his Beta to finish ahead of Lancashire visitor Martin Sandiford, who is another rider cramming in as many rides as possible before the rapidly approaching Scottish.
Stu Gaskell was top Over 40 while James Postlethwaite did well to drop just 31 on his 125, with Mark Batty right behind on his well-used Beamish Suzuki twin-shock.
Graham Tales was disappointed that his lovely home-built Montesa 2T suffered an intermittent fault on the day and he was pipped by brother Andy, while John Gornall gave Mike Batty's beefy Norton a rest and had a run out on his Gas Gas.
Antony Brockbank enjoyed the biggest class winning margin, taking the Easy course top spot on just 14 after putting in many hours, along with the rest of the marking-out gang, ensuring a cracking trial.
The Easy course had the largest entry with 51 hopefuls starting out.
And Brock enjoyed a 12-mark advantage from Andy Downham who regularly motors up from Crewe to ride his home Northern centre trials.
Third on the day was Barrow clubman Norman Cooper, who was getting to grips with a new 250 Scorpa after a couple of years being Ossa mounted.
Dave Rowland took fourth for Gas Gas after travelling and riding with Lancs pals Mike Edwards and Andy Foot.
With a superb fine day, a 100-strong entry and all three courses seeing winners on very similar marks, all involved can congratulate themselves on a job well done and one that made all the effort more than worthwhile as it was enjoyed and appreciated by all competitors.
A big thanks to all the landowners and anyone who got involved to make it a great day's sport – and to James Postlethwaite, who had a good ride on his 125 Beta, for getting results out – punchcards were used in this trial - in record time on Sunday evening!
RESULTS
Hard course
Premier: Jack Spencer (Beta) 13.
Experts: Will Brockbank (Sherco) 24, Stephen Dixon (Scorpa) 39, James Johnson (Beta) 56, Richard Gaskell (Beta) 57.
Novice: Tom Middleton (Beta) 52.
Green course
Intermediate: Rob Shuttleworth (Beta) 14, Martin Sandiford (Beta) 20, Andy Tales (Beta) 27, James Postlethwaite (125 Beta) 31, John Gornall (Gas Gas) 32.
Over 40: Stuart Gaskell (Beta) 23.
Novice: Stephen Bennett (Montesa) 27.
Twin-shock: Mark Batty (Suzuki) 32.
Easy course
Over 40: Anthony Brockbank (Sherco) 14, Andy Downham (Beta) 26, Norman Cooper (Scorpa) 27, Scott Rowland (Gas Gas) 31, Ian Haigh (Montesa) 35, Willie Wood (Beta) 36, Jim Hudson (Beta) 36.
Novice: Tony Barrow (Scorpa) 39, James Haynurst (175 Yamaha) 48.
Intermediate: Michael Whitton (Sherco) 45.
Pre-65: Tony Swidenbank (Bantam) 68.
