Stay'ing the course
By TMX Archives on 9th Jul 09
NOT much of We'll keep a welcome in the hillsides was being sung by the Welsh members of Merthyr MCC who hosted round five of the British Youth A&B championships last Sunday, it was more like Road to Hell!
While there was the odd grumble from minders and parents about the severity of the sections, what was far more important and noticeable were the riders' comments upon finishing the three laps. "A great trial, tough but really enjoyed it” was the average comment from Sunday's A & B riders.
On the whole, a superb job was done by the host club in setting out 12 demanding sections with really not one easy one to speak of in the banks, slopes, cambers and climbs.
Section one was a reasonable gully which most riders coped with for three or so marks but section two, the man-made waterfall which was thankfully soon dry, was taking fives off riders as if its very existence depended on it.
There was no let up in section three, and then section four sent riders up a 20ft steep bank over a tricky clump of tree roots before descending and then having to repeat the difficult climb further along the bank. Those that cleared the first part on lap one seemed to fail the second part but thankfully a change was made after lap one to allow a longer run at the later climb of the section for laps two and three. Section five provided a partial breather as riders managed to come through for three on average.
There were no prisoners taken in sections six to 12 with the final section including a vertical 12-foot climb out for Youth A, though all made it out of the soft coal slag!
After the first four sections of lap one, no rider was on less than 12 marks lost with many already having dropped between 15 and 20 marks.
With victory in the first four rounds, A class rider Jack Sheppard attacked section five and drew a well deserved round of applause from the watching riders, observers and marshals as he rode it for a single dab.
Not long after, Chris Short went one better and cleaned it, he also received a big round of appreciation from the hands whose eyes had just witnessed a super bit of riding, could Sheppard about to come up Short? Not at the close of the opening lap as Sheppard was six marks clear of Short with Josh Brain a further two dabs adrift and local hero Jake Luter-Evans one further dab back again.
After setting the bench mark in the opener, Sheppard went and smashed it in lap two with just seventeen marks dropped, half the amount of any other rider in his class. A 23 during the final lap gave Sheppard a maximum five wins from the first five rounds of the championship.
Apart from a mechanical forcing a DNF, it looks like the championship has his name on it already with two rounds to go.
"It was a great trial” said Sheppard after collecting the trophy, "tough and demanding with some tricky off camber sections and sections where the loose ground went from underneath you, but it was very enjoyable as you had to work for the marks and you knew everyone else was having to work too.”
Likewise a delighted Jake Luter-Evans also commented that despite the tough sections, the fact that "you knew you could make up marks” meant it was going to go to the very end before the chase for second spot was over.
As it was, Evans saved his best lap till last where he dropped 31 marks to pip Short by just three. Richard Sadler was unhappy with peer pressure as he finished in fourth spot and, realistically, Sadler is the only real threat to Sheppard taking the title.
The B class riders had it a little easier, though it was a tight round with little to separate the top riders. Series leader after four rounds, George Gosden had Tom Dexter and Luke Walker with him on 20 marks lost after the opening round had been completed, but it was Chris Stay who sneaked into an early lead with a lap for just 17.
BRITISH YOUTH A&B TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 5 – Glyn Mil Farm, Merthyr Tydfi (Merthyr MC)
YOUTH A: Jack Sheppard (Beta) 69 marks lost, Jake Evans-Luter (Gas Gas) 106, Chris Short (Gas Gas) 109, Richard Sadler (Sherco) 119, Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 125, Josh Maude (Sherco) 126, Gwynedd Jones (Beta) 145, Joanne Coles (Gas Gas) 152, William Brockbank (Sherco) 155, John Battensby (Sherco) 159, Matthew Alpe (Beta) 162, Sam Gent (Beta) 164, Matthew Maynard (Sherco) 166, Sam Boocock (Beta) 170.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Sheppard 100 points, 2 Sadler 81, 3 Brain 62, 4 Maude 61, 5 Short 59, 6 Evans-Luter 53, 7 Brockbank 41, 8 Coles 37, 9 Jones 29, 10 Maynard 20,...
YOUTH B: Chris Stay (Gas Gas) 55 marks lost, Tom Dexter (Gas Gas) 59, George Gosden (Gas Gas) 63, Luke Walker (Sherco) 73, Jack Welch (Gas Gas) 82, Rob Waite (Sherco) 97, Corey Dubik (Gas Gas) 98, Iwan Roberts (Beta) 107, Joel Edwards (Gas Gas) 109 (4x0), Connor Evans (Beta) 109 (3x0), Jack Stones (Gas Gas) 112, Joe Clements (Gas Gas) 115, Bradley Cox (Gas Gas) 116 (3x0), Sam Yeadon (Beta) 116 (2x0), Dec Bullock (Gas Gas) 119.
SERIES STANDINGS after 5 (of 8) rounds: 1 Gosden 86 points, 2 Stay 76, 3 Dexter 72, 4 Walker 71, 5 Welch 67, 6 Howell 47, 7 Waite 38, 8 Edwards 35, 9 Dubik 31, 10 Cox 28,...
NEXT ROUND: August 9 – Hope Farm, Lomgframlington, Northumberland (North Eastern Centre (ACU)).
BRITISH YOUTH C&D TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 4 – Glyn Mil Farm, Merthyr Tydfil (Merthyr MC)
YOUTH C: Billy Bolt (Beta) 39 marks lost, Jack Price (Beta) 46, Dan Peace (Beta) 48, James Hayhurst (Sherco) 92, Thomas Minta (Beta) 95, Liam Owens (Beta) 108, Sam Yeomans (Beta) 109, Matt Whelan (Beta) 113, Michael Todd (Beta) 116, Nikita Smith (Beta) 117, Curtis Fitzsimmons (Beta) 126 (6x0), Daniel Pollard (Beta) 126 (5x0), David Woodward (Beta) 130, Dominic Feaks (Beta) 132, Joe Dawson (Beta) 155.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Price 74 points, 2 Bolt 67, 3 Peace 67, 4 Minta 50, 5 Hayhurst 39, 6 Whelan 35, 7 Yeomans 34, 8 Todd 33, 9 Owens 32, 10 Fitzsimmons 20,...
YOUTH D MEDIUM: Jack Peace (Beta) 26 marks lost, Toby Martyn (Beta) 52, Kade Edwards (Gas Gas) 91, Adam Kelly (Beta) 100, Harry Colman (Beta) 111.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Peace 77 points, 2 Martyn 71, 3 Kelly 51, 4 Colman 48, 5 Edwards 45, 6 Tolson 21,...
YOUTH D SMALL: Zac Collinson (Gas Gas) 25 marks lost, Joe Faunthorpe (Gas Gas) 32, Benjamin Teasdale (Gas Gas) 46, Aidan Bowker (Yamaha TY80) 72, Sam Minta (Gas Gas) 75, Deryn Edwards (Gas Gas) 140.
SERIES STANDINGS after 4 (of 6) rounds: 1 Faunthorpe & Collinson 72 points, 3 Teasdale 64, 4 Bowker 46, 5 Minta 37, 6 Edwards 30, 7 Green 13, 8 Roberts 10,...
NEXT ROUND: August 8 – Hope Farm, Lomgframlington, Northumberland (Bedlington MC).
For full report, see T+MX NEWS, Friday, July 10, 2009