S3 ends on a Travers high
By Team TMX on 30th Sep 15
LAST Sundays Travers Trophy Trial, the Newcastle clubs long-standing one-lap National trial, wound up the nine-event 2015 S3 Parts ACU Clubman series.
And with an entry of almost 90 riders it proved once again what a popular series it is.
But with events like the Travers, good, honest single-lap 40-section traditional type trials where you get a full day out on your bike, often in fantastic countryside, what's not to like?
For the Travers itself it was a return to a genuinely big entry as the event completed its own rehab.
The trial had been losing entry numbers after riders complained it had got "too hard”.
But a concerted effort last year by a new trials committee steadied the ship and another cracking trial this year should see a full house three-figure entry in 2016.
And the event, on the moors above remote Weardale, deserves nothing less, representing everything that traditional trials are all about.
Congratulations go to Sherco rider Chris Pearson for taking the 2015 S3 Parts title.
Sherco ace Chris had tied-up the Championship with a round to go, having won three of the eight previous rounds, but turned up anyway as he loves his traditional trials.
This is the fourth time that Chris has won the Clubman crown.
And he mixed-up an interesting year by competing in the ACU Experts series on the Electric Motion, the first time anyone has contested an adult series on an electrically powered machine – and he
scored points on three occasions.
The truth is that traditional single-lap classic trials like the Travers, the Hillsborough club's Jack Wood and, indeed, all the traditional single lap Nationals would survive fine with or without the Championship incentive.
The series is successful because traditional National trials are worth making the effort of travelling to. They are not for those who want to ride four laps of eight sections, all within sight of the van, but for riders who want to enjoy a full day out in great countryside.
Big single-lap trials are not easy events to stage, often requiring multiple permissions from landowners, farmers and tenants and several days to plot and mark out.
So it's a big thanks to all who make the effort – and here's to the 2016 series!
