Thorpe's Manx magic
By TMX Archives on 4th Sep 08
DAVE Thorpe won the Manx Classic Weekend Trial for the second time in three years but there was no denying a hint of controversy in the end result that arguably denied John Maxfield a third success in the popular Isle of Man event.
The Triumph Cub pair finished with identical losses of 25, Thorpie taking the win by 63 cleans to Maxfield's 61.
The main bone of contention was a two lost by Thorpe on the top section at Ballaspit on day one where he asked the observer for a rerun after claiming he was blinded by the flashlight from an amateur photographer's camera.
Thorpe was successful with the request and promptly rode the section feet-up at the second attempt, completing the day for single dabs.
Maxfield also dropped a dab on the difficult first sub at a misty and damp South Barrule, the exact same section to the one ridden by the Clubman class in the previous weekend's Manx Two-Day Trial.
It was cleaned by just two riders in the Pre-65 Classic event, former double winner Roy Wilson and Steve Maxwell.
Meanwhile, another dab on the second at Ballacreggan also left Maxfield on two marks for the opening day of 37.
Thorpe started Sunday with a dab on the first at West Baldwin Bridge, and a five for Thorpe on the second of two sections at Brandywell Banks appeared to have scuppered his hopes.
However Maxwell slipped up when he fell off his machine exiting the slimey opening sub at Cluggid Gate.
Maxwell suggested to the observer that his path out of the section had been partially hindered by competitors queueing to go into the next section. His appeal was turned down, and so on the next two sections a determined Maxwell took a three on each where he failed both.
So, with 19 sections remaining, Thorpe was on 20 and Maxfield 16. Thorpe had a relatively good run to the finish with dabs and a three, Maxwell took dabs plus a totally unexpected five on the second at Ballachrink.
The section was in a wet and very muddy gully with a hairpin left and tight right-hand exit over large rocks which Maxwell attacked with insufficient speed.
At the end of two tough days and 73 sections, the result went to a count of most cleans and Thorpe won it, by two.
The last podium place went to Chris Gascoigne. He also had to have the benefit of a most cleans tie-break to get the nod over Dave Wood.
Mick Grant who had been joint third overnight found the going tough on Sunday and slipped to a disappointing 17th. Mathew Mison got the better of overnight leader and former winner Carl Winstanley to win the Clubman
Dave Thorpe's latest Manx victory was somewhat over-shadowed by controversy.
class on the 500 AJS. Winstanley dropped five on Saturday, one fewer than Mison, but six more than him on day two.
Third place went to Tony Dillon while local rider Kevin Whiteway improved from 13th overnight to finish a solid fifth.
Meanwhile, Nigel Crellin celebrated his 19th birthday by grabbing pole position in the Twin-shock premier class. Crellin finally got into the swing of things on the 200cc Yamaha to finish on 35 for the weekend, 11 fewer than the 320 Yamaha Majesty of Mick Thurman.
The latter man was seven down at the halfway point and managed to make up the lost marks to take Smith to a tie-break, which he narrowly lost by two cleans.
MANX CLASSIC WEEKEND
PRE-65 EXPERT CLASS
Best Overall: David Thorpe (Triumph Cub) 25 marks lost (63x0).
First Class Awards: John Maxfield (Triumph Cub) 25 (61x0), Chris Gascoigne (James) 26, Dave Wood (BSA C15) 26, Stephen Collins (Triumph) 31, Juan Readshaw (Triumph Cub) 32, Murray Whittaker (Triumph Cub) 36, Peter Salt (Francis Barnett) 38, Glyn Moses (Triumph Cub) 43, Carl Batty (James) 44, Steven Maxwell (BSA) 44, Colin Scarffe (Triumph Cub) 47, Roy Wilson (Triumph Cub) 49, Alan Wright (James) 49, Kevin Chapman (Triumph) 52, George Emmott (Triumph) 53, Mick Grant (Ariel) 54, Jim Pickering (BSA) 55, Chris Denney (James) 58, Alan Whitton (Triumph Cub) 59, Duncan Macdonald (Ariel) 60, Neil Gibson (James) 65, Richard Thorpe (James) 68, Gunter Ruttloff (Jawa Cz) 68, David Emmott (Triumph) 72, Graham Brown (BSA B40) 73, Angus Jenkinson (BSA B40) 74, Jim Davidson (BSA C15T) 74.
PRE-65 CLUBMAN CLASS
Overall: Mathew Mison (AJS) 16.
First Class Awards: Carl Winstanley (Francis Barnett) 21, Mark Francis (James) 24, Tony Dillon (Cub) 25, Kevin Whiteway (Royal Enfield) 29, Shane Barnes (Triumph) 33, Malcolm Smith (Triumph Cub ) 34, Les Burgess (Francis Barnett) 35, Eric Boocock (BSA C15) 36, Tony Peat (Triumph Cub) 38, Thomas Sharkey (Triumph Cub) 38, Edward Hemsworth (Francis Barnett) 41.
TWIN-SHOCK PREMIER
Best Under 35 Twin-shock: Nigel Crellin (Yamaha) 35.
Best Premier Twin-shock: Mick Thurman (Yamaha Majesty) 46.
First Class Awards: Russ Rooksby (Bultaco) 47, Robin Arnold (Fantic) 58, Graham Christian (Montesa) 63, Wayne Wardell (Bultaco) 69, Mick Jackson (Yamaha Majesty) 69, Nick Coleby (Fantic) 74, Gary Holmes (Yamaha) 74, Damian Owen (Yamaha) 88, Phil Ward (Fantic) 88, Jez Bray (Yamaha Majesty) 99, Stuart Clague (Fantic) 108.
TWIN-SHOCK CLUBMAN
Best Clubman Twin-shock: Roger Smith (Yamaha Majesty) 73.
First Class Awards: Michael Ernst (Yamaha) 73, Graham Thomas (Honda) 78, Nigel Rooksby (Fantic) 88, Roberto Pasquali (Bultaco) 95, Jason Brown (Fantic) 96.