Jarvis is back in the hunt
By TMX Archives on 28th May 08
REIGNING British Trials Champ Graham Jarvis got his title defence back on track last Sunday with victory in the East South Wales Centre's Mitchell Memorial Trial, the third round of the 2008 Colin Appleyard ACU British Trials Championship.
Graham's win, and 20 valuable points, came after he finished a disappointing fourth in the opening round in Kinlochleven, Scotland, followed by a second at the previous St Davids trial as he again campaigned the big four-stroke Sherco.
Winner of both the previous events, Michael Brown, on the two-stroke Beta, slipped-up for the first time this season although second place still has ‘Pune' seven points clear in the series with four rounds still to go. Lancashire's Shaun Morris remains in touch after having bagged three third places from his three starts on the Gasser. Actually, Shaun claimed his latest third place on a brand new Gas Gas – a Raga Replica, on which he will be looking to improve once he gets used to the lightweight beauty.
The 2008 Mitchell took place at a different venue to past years, in fact it was a welcome return to the Morlais Quarry, Merthyr Tydfil, scene of several exciting World Rounds in years past. The weather played a big part in the high scores though as, after a dry Saturday practise session, overnight rain made the going treacherous on the day.
The venue offers much scope and variation and Sunday's 12 sections were spread over three definite groups in the quarry basin.
The opening section was close to the paddock and featured rock steps. Browny got his day off with a spectacular crash while Jarvis matched his five – after running out of time several yards shy of the Ends cards. An eventful start. The following three sections featured big steps and climbs, linked by grassy bankings, while five, six and seven were set down in the wood and were perhaps on the ambitious side as precious few rides yielded better than a three. Brown was particularly good on section six where his three rides netted a very creditable one, one, clean – the latter being the sole clean ride in any of these three subs!
The ninth hazard featured a fierce double-step where Jarvis went five-five-clean and Brown five-three-clean, the best rides in the Championship class.
The final three sections, back out on top of the quarry, featured those big, black, rocks again although these proved to be less of a problem to the top boys, Shaun Morris claiming the only triple-clean of the 11th on his Raga.
COLIN APPLEYARD BRITISH SOLO
TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 3 – Mitchell Trophy Trial (ES Wales Centre)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 Graham Jarvis (300 Sherco 4T) 23 + 14 + 11 + 1 = 49
2 Michael Brown (270 Beta) 25 + 18 + 12 + - = 55
3 Shaun Morris (300 Gas Gas) 25 + 27 + 23 + - = 75
4 Ross Danby (250 Gas Gas) 28 + 36 + 35 + 3 = 102
5 Sam Haslam (300 Gas Gas) 34 + 29 + 42 + 3 = 108
6 Alexz Wigg (300 Montesa 4RT) 40 + 43 + 41 + 2 = 126
7 Craig Robinson (280 Gas Gas) 56 + 51 + 50 + - = 157
8 George Morton (270 Beta) 53 + 52 + 58 + 1 = 164
SERIES STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Brown 57 points, 2 Jarvis 50, 3 Morris 45, 4 Wigg 33, 5 Haslam 33, 6 Danby 31, 7 Morton 22, 8 Robinson 18, 9 Dabill 17, 10 MacDonald 17, 11 Sampson 14, 12 Austermuhle 6, 13 Phillipson 4.
EXPERT CLASS
1 Joe Baker (250 Scorpa) 20 + 5 + 8 + - = 33
2 Jack Challoner (125 Beta) 18 + 4 + 14 + - = 36
3 James Fry (290 Sherco) 24 + 11 + 12 + - = 47
4 Dan Thorpe (300 Gas Gas) 22 + 14 + 13 + - = 49
5 Ben Hemingway (300 Beta 4T) 20 + 19 + 26 + - = 65
6 Liam Walker (300 Gas Gas) 31 + 24 + 23 + - = 78
7 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 34 + 26 + 30 + - = 90
8 Matthew Jones (290 Sherco) 38 + 28 + 30 + - = 96
9 Gary Jenkins (290 Sherco) 41 + 31 + 36 + - = 108
10 Chris Pearson (290 Sherco) 42 + 28 + 40 + - = 110
11 Adam Jones (125 Sherco) 40 + 39 + 35 + - = 114
12 Miles Jones (Montesa 4RT) 49 + 31 + 39 + - = 119
13 Darren Brice (250 Scorpa) 41 + 38 + 41 + - = 120
14 Josh Woods (Sherco) 47 + 41 + 45 + - = 133
15 Zac Sherwin (250 Beta) 48 + 44 + 44 + - = 136
EXPERT STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Joe Baker 57 points, 2 Challoner 54, 3 Thorpe 39, 4 Ben Hemingway 39, 5 Fry 36, 6 Walker 30, 7 Matthew Jones 26, 8 Pearson 23, 9 Wibberley 18, 10 Jenkins 17, 11 Vesterinen 11, 12 Brice 10, 13 Miles Jones 10, 14 Adam Jones 9, 15 Crinson 6, 16 Bayliss 3, 17 Woods 2, 18 Welch 2, 19 Sherwin 1.
EXPERT 125cc STANDINGS after 3 (of 8) rounds: 1 Challoner 60 points, 2 Adam Jones 51, 3 Graham 15.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Jonathan Richardson (Sherco) 31 + 25 + 41 + - = 97
2 Jack Sheppard (Beta) 39 + 33 + 37 + - = 109
3 Jonny Walker (125 Sherco) 47 + 37 + 25 + - = 109
NEXT ROUND: Jun 15 – Lightweight Trial (Lightweight MCC).
For full report and pictures see T+MX NEWS, Friday, May 30, 2008
Victory for Graham Jarvis put him back on track in the defence of his title after two disappointing rounds.