Jon and Matt take the Championship
By TMX Archives on 18th Oct 07
VICTORY in last weekend's West of England Trial means that the West-country duo of Jon Tuck and Matt Sparkes are the 2007 British Sidecar Trials Champions, having clock-ed-up victory in four of the seven rounds to date.
The cancellation of the Mel Harrison round inSeptember meant that Robin Luscombe and Les Ashby needed to win thefinal two rounds of the series - the West of England Trial and MerleMorewood Peak Trial - if they were to become champions this year.Luscombe came up short by 10 marks on a West of England course devisedby Andy Cheeseman and his team at Widecombe-in-the-Moor after Tuck hadan inspired ride to lose just 18 marks, plus one on time.
The Sparkes/ Tuck combinations were very much tothe fore at the event as Phil Sparkes and David Tuck topped the Mastersclass, thanks in part to the fact that Lee Granby and Amelia Woodbridgein-curred 12 time penalties. Sparkes and Tuck negotiated the hazardsfor the loss of 49, whereas Granby and Woodbridge were ten
better through the sections, on 39, but lost outon the class win by virtue of those time marks. Granby still heads thepoints standings going into final round.
Safe in the knowledge that they are uncatchablefor the title in the Clubman class, Peter and Daryll Dale moved up tothe Masters class at the West of England and finished fifth on the day.
Clubman honours on the day went to Mark Kemp andIan Allaway, significantly ahead of Michael Jewell and Ali Smith, whosit second in the points table.
Things are still tight in the Newcomer class whereChris Guppy and Sara Carter take a seven-point advantage to the finalround over Andy Abraham and Pete Pesterfield. The two crews finished inthat order at the West of England.
BRITISH SIDECAR TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 7 - West of England Trial (West of England MC)
EXPERT: Jon Tuck/ Matt Sparkes (270 Beta) 18+1=19marks lost, Robin Luscombe/ Les Ashby (250 Montesa 4RT) 29, Rupert& Chris Kimber (290 Sherco) 35+8=43, Stephen Radford/ Mike Redston(Scorpa) 63.
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 JonTuck/ Matt Sparkes 129 points (CHAMPIONS), 2 R Luscombe/ Ashby 104, 3Kimber/ Kimber 82, 4 Morewood/ Morewood 69, 5 Nolan/ Jarvis 54, 6Radford/ Redston 48, 7 Flowers/ Smith 13, 8 Smith/ Smith 11, 9Chambers/ Allaway 10, 10 Kelly/ Baxter 10.
MASTER: Phil Sparkes/ David Tuck (250 Montesa 4RT)49 marks lost, Lee Granby/ Amelia Woodbridge (300 Gas Gas) 39+12=51,Glyn Hawkins/ Tim Sparkes (290 Sherco) 55, Tony Crabtree/ Jamie Howe(280 Sherco) 56+2=58, Peter & Daryll Dale (270 Beta) 57+9=66, RogerTuck/ Matt Sparkes (Montesa) 58+8=66.
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Granby/Woodbridge 110 points, 2 Sparkes/ Tuck 99, 3 Hawkins/ Sparkes 92, 4 ToCrabtree/ Howe 92, 5 Haigh/ S Luscombe 84, 6 Morley/ Haley 45, 7 Head/Jacobs 38, 8 Beale/ Birchall 20, 9 Treagus/ Pocock 18, 10 Lansley/Woodbridge 16, 11 Moore/ Davidson 11.
CLUBMAN: Mark Kemp/ Ian Allaway (290 JAM Sherco)47 marks lost, Michael Jewell/ Ali Smith (250 Gas Gas) 80, ChrisDellow/ Kirsty Fenner (250 Montesa) 95, Andrew Jewell/ Kelly Jewell(320 Gas Gas) 105.
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Peter& Daryll Dale 114 points (CHAMPIONS), 2 Mi Jewell/ Smith 84, 3Jewell/ Jewell 66, 4 Dellow/ Fenner 61, 5 Kemp/ Patey 50, 6 Treagus/Gold (Pocock) 45, 7 Fishlock/ Merrell 30, 8 Allaway/ Gould 28, 9Parnell/ Parnell 20, 10 M Kissack/ Woods 17, 11 Moore/ Davidson 13, 12Haynes/ Brennan 11, 13 Lawer/ Lawer 10, 14 Hannay/ Molyneux 10, 15Cheeseman/ Gould 9.
NEWCOMER: Chris Guppy/ Sara Carter (290 Sherco) 74 marks lost, Andy Abraham/ Pete Pesterfield (315 Montesa) 86.
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Guppy/Carter 121 points, 2 Abraham/ Pesterfield 114, 3 Jeff/ Swales 20, 4Baxter/ Caine 15.
FINAL ROUND: Nov 4 - Merle Morewood Peak Trial (Sheffield & Hallamshire MC).