Making your Myn up
By TMX Archives on 30th Sep 11
It was a new date in the calendar and a new location for this years Mitchell Trial, the seventh and penultimate British Championship round. After several years high up on the southern Welsh hills, out in the open at Morlais Quarry, this years event was held in the steep woodland and rocky stream bed near Mynyddislwyn, a little further south.
The East South Wales Centre and Pontypool DMCC members spent many long hours down in the valley clearing out completely new sections, with an eye cast carefully on the notoriously changeable Welsh weather. A little rain during the days running up to the event meant that after the practice on Saturday a few tweaks had to be made to a few of the sections situated on the almost vertical climbs out of the stream.
The rain arrived again just as the first riders were away on Sunday, but luckily for once the forecast was correct. A few short showers and that yellow thing called the sun started to break through! It was never going to be enough to dry the sections out but at least they weren't going to become impossible as happened in the last round held in Wales this year.
In the Championship class, James Dabill hit the ground running and posted a first lap score of just 20 marks, seven better than arch-rival Michael Brown, and he seemed to have things well under control. However, three fives on his second lap completely undid all the good work, and Michael stuck in an incredible lap of just seven to storm into the lead. As some of the sections polished-up it was going to be a good battle of nerves for Pune to see if he could hang on to the lead.
In the Expert A class Ricky Wiggins wasn't going to let anyone in with a chance, in fact his three laps were the lowest three lap scores in the class all day. James Fry started with a, for him, low-profile first loop but pulled it together for the last two and squeezed his MRS Sherco in between the Gas Gasses of winner Wiggins and Josh Brain.
Local lad Jake Evans-Luter missed a spot on the podium by a single mark while Jack Spencer didn't do his Championship challenge a power of good by finishing down in sixth, but as with all the classes it will all go down to the final round in Rochdale (Back Cowm Quarry) next weekend.
The Youth riders had it tough, the big steps and power-sapping climbs didn't suit the 125s at all. Chris Stay was the pick of the bunch come the end, his class-winning score of 121 showing how difficult it was for the little machines.
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE T+MX SEPTEMBER 30
ACU EVENTS BRITISH SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 7 – Mitchell Memorial Trial at Glebe Farm,
Mynyddislwyn, Newport (ES Wales Centre)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 Michael Brown (Gas Gas) 27 + 7 + 21 + 2 = 57
2 James Dabill (Beta) 20 + 23 + 15 + - = 58
3 Ross Danby (Gas Gas) 36 + 31 + 27 + 3 = 97
4 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 39 + 35 + 27 + - = 101
5 Jonathan Richardson (Sherco) 37 + 36 + 27 + 1 = 101
6 Ben Morphett (Sherco) 41 + 34 + 34 + 9 = 118
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Dabill 134 points, 2 Brown 125, 3 Danby 86, 4 Haslam 84, 5 Richardson 74, 6 Wigg 56, 7 Morphett 53, 8 Challoner 41, 9 George Morton 33, 10 Craig Robinson 20.
EXPERT A CLASS
1 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 18 + 16 + 18 + - = 52
2 James Fry (Sherco) 30 + 26 + 20 + - = 76
3 Josh Brain (Gas Gas) 26 + 34 + 22 + - = 82
4 Jake Evans-Luter (Beta) 33 + 29 + 21 + - = 83
5 Ben Wibberley (Gas Gas) 35 + 26 + 25 + - = 86
6 Jack Spencer (Beta) 35 + 31 + 25 + - = 91
7 Robert Harries (Gas Gas) 48 + 33 + 32 + - = 113
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Wiggins 112 points, 2 Spencer 101, 3 Fry 98, 4 Evans-Luter 76, 5 Brain 56, 6 Wibberley 56, 7 Harries 49, 8 Chilton 44, 9 Macdonald 37, 9 Macdonald 37, 10 Sadler 37, 11 Sheppard 34, 12 Phillipson 27, 13 Baker 17, 14 Hemingway 11, 15 Short 11, 16 Austermuhle 9.
EXPERT B CLASS
1 Buster Regan (Beta) 15 + 6 + 6 + - = 27
2 Keelan Hancock (Gas Gas) 11 + 12 + 6 + - = 29
3 Richard Timperley (Sherco) 19 + 13 + 9 + - = 41
4 Guy Kendrew (Ossa) 15 + 14 + 14 + - = 43
5 Josh Woods (Gas Gas) 19 + 17 + 15 + - = 51
6 Kyle Hayes (Beta) 18 + 23 + 11 + - = 52
7 Shaun Fox (Gas Gas) 22 + 21 + 12 + - = 55
8 Simon Welch (Gas Gas) (15x0) 22 + 20 + 18 + - = 60
9 Zac Sherwin (Beta) (13x0) 22 + 21 + 17 + - = 60
10 Adam Milner (Beta) 26 + 12 + 23 + - = 61
11 Joel Edwards (Beta) 23 + 19 + 16 + 8 = 66
12 Alistair Bedford (Beta) 20 + 23 + 25 + - = 68
13 John Battensby (125 Sherco) 27 + 27 + 15 + - = 69
14 Tom Affleck (Gas Gas) 25 + 27 + 18 + - = 70
15 Andrew Blackman (Gas Gas) 31 + 26 + 15 + - = 72
SERIES STANDINGS after 7 (of 8) rounds: 1 Timperley 120 points, 2 Kendrew 119, 3 Milner 78, 4 Regan 72, 5 Keelan Hancock 67, 6 Woods 62, 7 Hayes 56, 8 Sherwin 48, 10 Fox 36, 11 Affleck 26, 12 Blackman 25, 13 Mark Harries 23, 14 Lampkin 15, 15 Ross Hancock 15.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Chris Stay (125 Gas Gas) 44 + 38 + 39 + - = 121
2 George Gosden (125 Gas Gas) 52 + 38 + 38 + - = 128
3 Dec Bullock (125 Gas Gas) 52 + 40 + 41 + - = 133
4 Bradley Cox (125 Beta) 51 + 52 + 43 + - = 146
FINAL ROUND: October 2 – Red Rose Trial at Back Cowm Quarry, Tong Lane, Whitworth (Rochdale & DMC).
