Report: Vic Brittain Trial
By Colin Bullock on 3rd Feb 16
It may not be a national event these days but the Vic Brittain Trial is still a very popular season opener and last Sunday saw an entry of 100 riders which is never a bad thing for a road trial.
South Shropshire had routes for Experts – Ross Danby and Iwan Roberts were there – 50/50 Intermediates and Clubmen.
If you know the Vic Brittain you will not be surprised to learn that much of the going involved rocky streams and muddy banks, with many single track roads for the support crews to track around.
First off it was out from Cleobury North to two subs at Earnstrey, which was followed by Lower Strandbrook with nine hazards which were not open to spectators.
Most of the spectators and support crew headed to Heath Hollow where sections 15 to 26 included a punch card change at section 20.
This sub was well worth watching with Phil Houghton and Rob Bowyer both very impressive on their Triumph Twins.
On the Clubman route James Lamin arrived with a single dab on his scorecard as he headed for the best Over 40 result keeping his losses in single figures.
In the Experts this hazard caused some problems with the exit but Shaun Fox posted a ride for a dab to match Ross Danby's effort.
Iwan Roberts was doing his best to keep pace with Ross but Danby is a master of the Shropshire going and he went into the second half of the trial four marks ahead of his Welsh rival.
The trial was earning good reviews from many riders as they set off for the last 18 subs even though the going between some hazards was as slick as the observed sections.
Chris Koch, another master of the slippery stuff, closed the gap on Jeremy Darlington with just a two and a dab before going clean on the last 15 subs.
Darlington lost more marks on the second part of Heath Hollow but then he had done enough early on to secure the class win.
Steve Williams was tied with Koch on 12 marks lost but he had to settle for third having posted less cleans.
There was also a good ride from Midlander Martin Podesta who claimed fourth.
The clubmen's route was going James Lamin's way as he again had the better of the second punch card – although Phil Houghton was superb on the big Pre 65 and once he had left the Hollow he only dropped a dab at Oak Dingle and one at Upper Tugford to get the better of Will King.
With the top Experts hanging back a bit Ross increased his advantage over Iwan and two marks at Upper Tugford turned out to be his worst score of the day.
Hugo Jervis claimed a good third and that could have been even better had he not run into time penalties.
