Nick's Golden touch
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 09
SUNDAY was St David's Day and although the daffodils have yet to emerge, no less than 170 riders dusted themselves down ready to face a 25-mile lap of the Cotswold country at Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge and Nailsworth for the 2009 March Hare Trial, courtesy of Golden Valley Classic MCC. Two years ago, this annual event was held in very wet conditions and most competitors retired. This year the conditions were ideal warm Spring sunshine and surprisingly dry underfoot after this part of the Cotswolds was under a thick blanket of snow only a couple of weeks earlier.
A total of 32 dry-ish sections looked like producing low scores and so it was. Graham Howes and Ian Watkins signed off with a couple of zeros on the easier of the dual routes (for rigids, sidecars and trail bikes).
Meanwhile, former winner, Nick Woolley, this time on a Triumph Cub rather than his usual Ariel, was again best of the classics on the harder route. The Bishops Castle rider cast away just one dab to win best performance for the fourth time in the event.
Best of the half-dozen sidecars classic and modern were the Hannam brothers. Ian and Debbie Smith winning best Classic, while Neil and Peter Pesterfield posted best Modern.
With the sections in a relatively innocent mood, the first half of the trial was relatively straightforward. Hazards were challenging, yet cleanable, as long as you maintained total concentration.
A senior moment' at the wrong time could lead to an instant deficit of five marks, as past-master, Peter Gaunt, found on one occasion. At the half-way point at Forthay Farm, Peter had chalked up a loss of six. Doug Nolan and the 2008 winner, Steve Allen, were still clean, while Nick Woolley had already achieved his final total though he didn't know it at the time.
The lunch-stop at Ashmead, with 19 sections completed, produced an array of tea and cakes provided by the ladies of the club. Enough perhaps to sink a battleship, but it also revealed that the struggle for sidecar honours was entering an important phase. In the classic class, multi-champions Ian Hannam and Debbie Smith were neck-and-neck with the team in form, Paul Fishlock and Debbie Merrell, and Neil Hannam and Pete Pesterfield had to engage in a spot of running repairs after a hose came adrift on their Sherco.
Groups at Coaley Wood and West Hill followed before the riders arrived at the two-sections at Frocester Hill. The first section here is a real tester with the half-dozen rock steps on the harder route as unforgiving as ever.
GOLDEN VALLEY MARCH HARE TRIAL
Wotton-under-Edge (Golden Valley Classic MCC)
Tele-Rigid: Graham Howes (405 BSA) & Ian Watkins (350 AJS) clean, Mike Barton (500 AJS) 2 marks lost, Godfrey Hannam (500 Ariel) 2.
Pre-Unit Springer: Steve Allen (350 Royal Enfield) 5, Rob Halliday (350 Royal Enfield) 13, Ian Wixon (350 Triumph) 16.
Pre-70 Unit Construction: Nick Woolley (250 Triumph Cub) 1, Barry Barthorpe (350 Tri/Greeves) 6, Richard Townsend (350 BSA) 7, Peter Gaunt (250 Royal Enfield) 8.
Vintage Two-stroke: Tim Padmore (225 James) 5, Graham Steward (225 James) 9, Richard Lees(197 James) 24.
Pre-70 Two-stroke: Graham Roberts (250 Sprite) 6, Roy Enticknap (250 DOT) 8, Nigel Houlston (185 BSA Bantam) 29.
Pre-70 Sidecar: Ian Hannam/ Debbie Smith (441 BSA) 12, Paul Fishlock/ Debbie Merrell (500 Ariel) 14, Gerald Dyer/ John Gimson (500 Triumph) 50.
Modern Sidecar: Neil Hannam/ Peter Pesterfield (290 Sherco) 3, Alan Bale/ John Osbourne (250 Montesa) 55.
Twin-Shock & British Specials: Mike Husband ( 272 Gas Gas) 7, Tony Brabazon (175 Yamaha) 17, Keith Wells (185 Honda) 19.
Trail Bike up to 250cc (Easy Route): G Moore (250 Gas Gas) & Harry Bendall (225 Honda) both clean, A Bendall (225 Honda) 1, Adrian Clissold (200 Beta) 1, N Turner (200 Beta) 1.
Trail Bike Over 250cc (Easy Route): Ben Falconer (330 Gas Gas) 1, Graham Lavis (330 Gas Gas) 1, B Ward (300 KTM) 20.
FOR FULL STORY AND PICTURES, SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2009
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