There’s no stopping Browny
By TMX Archives on 20th Apr 12
MICHAEL Brown nailed the win in the opening round of the 2012 Doodson ACU British Solo Trials Championship, ushering in a new era of no-stop observing for the domestic series, at the superb Nevis Range venue near Fort William, Scotland.
In a low-scoring event – for the top-three finishers anyway – the big surprise was the brilliant showing of Scottish ace Gary Macdonald, from nearby Kinlochleven, who finished in the runner-up position ahead of reigning British Champ James
Dabill (pictured right).
Dibs' only mistake, in the seventh sub, the first section of a brand new five-section group set in an awesome, steep-climbing gully deep in the forest was to cost him dear.
Apart from that single lapse James looked absolutely confident and his flowing no-stop technique was all but perfect – as two clean laps proved.
Riders and observers alike had been comprehensively briefed regarding the no-stop rules and it's fair to say that both sides were fairly apprehensive as to what would happen. But Clerk of the Course Ally Morrice had done a great job on the sections and the spirit of the rules was followed by riders and officials throughout the day.
The opening group of six sections was set in the wide gully well-known to those who attend the Scottish Six Days and comprised slightly tighter variations of the SSDT regular hazards amongst the large, round, river-washed boulders.
A simple opener eased everyone into the event with James Fry the first and only five in the hazard.
In the second sub, which twisted its way under the ‘spectator' bridge, Ian Austermuhle – expected to do well given his excellent record in the Scottish Six Days – was really unlucky to cop the lone five, the Beta dropping back off a rock into a deep hole in the river.
Gary Mac had drawn the first man away number in the Championship class and needed a steadying dab in the fourth section.
But the Sherco rider then made it to the tenth before dropping another and finished his opening lap with just two marks against his name.
This was bettered only by Michael Brown, who completed his first of three laps of the 12 sections without loss.
Gary atributed his excellent ride to riding no-stop regularly in the Scottish Championship series.
Ross Danby was giving the Jotagas its British Championship debut and his opening lap of 15, with two fives doing most of the damage, didn't look promising.
But Ross soon got his act together and subsequent laps of one and three elevated him to fourth place, winning a most cleans tie-break with Sam
FOR FULL REPORT AND PICTURES SEE TMX NEWS APRIL 20
DOODSON ACU BRITISH Solo TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 – Macdonald Trial at Nevis Range, Torlundy, Fort William (Lochaber & DMCC Ltd)
CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS
1 Michael Brown (Gas Gas) 0 + 2 + 1 = 3
2 Gary Macdonald (Sherco) 2 + 2 + 0 = 4
3 James Dabill (Beta) 5 + 0 + 0 = 5
4 Ross Danby (Jotagas) (29x0) 15 + 1 + 3 = 19
5 Sam Connor (Beta) (24x0) 7 + 8 + 4 = 19
6 Ian Austermuhle (Beta) 14 + 3 + 3 = 20
7 Sam Haslam (Gas Gas) 8 + 7 + 6 = 21
8 Alexz Wigg (Gas Gas) 11 + 1 + 10 = 22
9 Dan Clark (Beta) 12 + 9 + 6 = 27
10 Dan Thorpe (Gas Gas) 11 + 8 + 13 = 32
11 Ricky Wiggins (Gas Gas) 13 + 7 + 16 = 36
12 Ben Morphett (Sherco) 20 + 14 + 6 = 40
13 Andy Chilton (Ossa) 12 + 19 + 16 = 47
14 Bradley Cox (125 Beta) 20 + 17 + 13 = 50
15 James Fry (Sherco) 27 + 12 + 13 = 52
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 6) rounds: 1 Brown 20 points, 2 Macdonald 17, 3 Dabill 15, 4 Danby 13, 5 Connor 11, 6 Austermuhle 10, 7 Haslam 9, 8 Wigg 8, 9 Clark 7, 10 Thorpe 6, 11 Wiggins 5, 12 Morphett 4, 13 Chilton 3, 14 Cox 2, 15 Fry 1.
EXPERT CLASS
1 John Crinson (Beta) 11 + 1 + 2 = 14
2 Richard Timperley (Sherco) 7 + 12 + 2 = 21
3 Tom Hick (Beta) 10 + 7 + 11 = 28
4 Adam Milner (Beta) 15 + 11 + 8 = 34
5 Joel Sadler (Beta) 19 + 14 + 9 = 42
6 Josh Woods (Gas Gas) 20 + 6 + 17 = 43
7 Andrew Blackman (Ossa) 24 + 11 + 9 = 44
8 Buster Regan (Beta) 25 + 12 + 11 = 48
9 Michael Lee (Sherco) 23 + 18 + 17 = 58
10 Craig Potter (Beta) 19 + 24 + 18 = 61
11 Tom Affleck (Gas Gas) 23 + 17 + 21 = 61
12 Andrew Anderson (Jotagas) 30 + 20 + 22 = 72
13 Joel Edwards (Beta) 36 + 20 + 17 = 73
14 Mark Cottingham (Gas Gas) 34 + 13 + 27 = 74
15 Emma Bristow (Ossa) 30 + 21 + 30 = 81
SERIES STANDINGS after 1 (of 6) rounds: 1 Crinson 20 points, 2 Timperley 17, 3 0 15, 4 Milner 13, 5 J Sadler 11, 6 Woods 10, 7 Blackman 9, 8 Regan 8, 10 Potter 6, 11 Affleck 5, 12 Anderson 4, 13 Edwards 3, 14 Cottingham 2, 15 Bristow 1.
YOUTH SUPPORT CLASS (Non-champs)
1 Luke Walker (Sherco) 11 + 10 + 13 = 34
2 James Stones (Sherco) 16 + 17 + 9 = 42
3 Jack Stones (Gas Gas) 15 + 14 + 15 = 44
4 Rob Waite (Beta) (19x0) 24 + 10 + 12 = 46
5 Jack Price (Gas Gas) (18x0) 18 + 14 + 14 = 46
6 Billy Bolt (Beta) 26 + 15 + 11 = 52
7 Dec Bullock (Gas Gas) 22 + 18 + 19 = 59
8 Brad Bullock (Gas Gas) 35 + 30 + 29 = 94
NEXT ROUND: May 20 – Putoline TRC Solo Trial at TRC Westwood, Tankersley, nr Sheffield (Dirt Bike Action).
