Up Hill' and down 'dale
By TMX Archives on 30th Oct 08
IT was business as usual on Sunday when Hillsborough MCC stag-ed the penultimate round of the ACU Normandale Traditional National Trials championship series, held at Stannington, Sheffield.Neil Gaunt, Philip Wiffen, Chris Clarke and Darren Wasley all grabbed a bag of championship points while Lancastrian interloper Kieran Hankin lifted 20 championship points, riding his RTL Honda in the Air-cooled mono class.
The organisers followed the 2006 route, there being no 2007 trial due to foot and mouth problems last year. Two laps of 22 sections provided a good cross-section, with the accent on mud. Clerk of Course David Aspinall laid on six subs in the beck three hundred yards up the road from the Dyson Refactories car park.
Even numbers hit that group first while the odds turned sharp left out of parc ferme and down into the delights of Spoon Lane. The wide, shallow beck provided some slippery rock slabs and muddy, rutted and rooted bankings but nothing too hard.
A Class winner, Neil Gaunt, took a couple in that group but the Ariel rider lost out in Bents, in the last two above the old bridge where the rooted fifth and the shale climb at six stopped all but Norman Shepherd and Alan Wright.
Phil Wiffen and Chris Clarke also stopped but Chris Koch displayed southern style to get out on a good lusty two dabs. Kieran Hankin legged the pristine RTL Honda, Neil Gaunt, Carl Batty and Dave Thorpe failed on lap one but the latter pair
and Alan Wright found enough drive to reach the ends cards.
Hallbroom was running a good tide down the steep narrow double sub but the line was good and very few marks went from the top riders. The 'Broom is always good to watch and the grip is constant.
From that group, the route heads west for a hundred yards and then dives into Ughill, from whence there is no escape but to follow up the narrow ravine. Eleven subs scale various lumps of the very steep banks that line the fast-flowing, narrow stream. Gaunt lost 11 marks in 11 subs while Batty was one under the Ariel rider. Thorpe stop-ped in section 19 on lap one and that blew his chances.
Phil Wiffen was the star though, with a mere dab on lap one and seven on lap two. Daz Wasley was on the ball in the same group with a three on lap one then four on lap two. Daz had done right up to Ughill on three, taken in the last sub at Bents.
The series moves west to Hope on Sunday morning for the finale at the Peak Trial.
Dan Thorpe topped the Expert class from Chris Pearson and Lee Sampson while Antony Cooper rode Clubman to win from Steve Swanson and Ben Powell.
ACU TRADITIONAL TRIALS CHAMPS
Rd 9 – Hillsborough Classic Trial
(Hillsborough MCC)
CLASS A: Neil Gaunt (Ariel) 32 marks lost, Carl Batty (James) 36, Dave Thorpe (Triumph) 41, Norman Shepherd (James) 42, Martyn Wilmore (BSA) 61, Alan Wright (James) 83, Geoff Brooker (Ariel) 121.
CLASS B: Philip Wiffen (Fantic) 7, Chris Koch (Cotswold) 15, Michael Irving (Honda) 35, Chris Haigh (Honda) 54, Steven Davies (Yamaha) 60, Mike Edwards (Fantic) 63, Anthony Seales (SWM) 92, Nigel Greenwood (Honda) 103, Bill Rhodes (Fantic) 106, Adam Thistlethwaite (???) 112.
CLASS C: Kieran Hankin (Honda) 15, Mark Reason (Fantic) 24, Nic Draper (Yamaha) 32, Lee Hutchinson (Yamaha) 50, Kevin Peters (Fantic) 70.
CLASS D: Darren Wasley (Gas Gas) 10, Richard Allen (Gas Gas) 17, John Cowley (Sherco) 19, Simon Levett (Montesa) 19, Philip Martin (Montesa) 24, Mark Timperley (Beta) 26, Ashley Hall (Beta) 32 (33x0), Ian Haigh (Sherco) 32 (27x0), Steve Forrest (Montesa) 32 (11x0), Andy Turner (Gas Gas) 37, David Braithwaite (Beta) 40 (30x0), Tony Wilson (Gas Gas) 40 (25x0), Eric Clarke (Beta) 40 (22x0), Perry Meeton (Montesa) 42.
CLASS E: Chris Clarke (Beta) 20, Stephen Farrall (Gas Gas) 30, Allen Colier (Beta) 43, Kevin Stannard (Gas Gas) 46, Willie Wood (Gas Gas) 50, Mick Glaves (Gas Gas) 52, Clive Charlton (Beta) 60, John Penfold (Gas Gas) 71, Mike Husband (Gas Gas) 91, Stephen Butcher (Gas Gas) 109, Jim Cammack (Beta) 123, David Wiffen (Montesa) 146, Adrian Parker (Beta) 153, Doug Swanson (Beta) 182.
SUPPORT SOLO CLASSES
HARD ROUTE: Dan Thorpe (Gas Gas) 10, Chris Pearson (Sherco) 23, Lee Sampson (Sherco) 32.
CLUBMAN ROUTE: Antony Cooper (Gas Gas) 12, Steve Swanson (Montesa) 28, Ben Powell (Sherco) 29, Andres Cook (Montesa) 29, Jon Lee (Sherco) 32, Andy Longden (Gas Gas) 33.
FINAL ROUND: Nov 2 – Merle Morewood Peak Trial (Sheffield & Hallamshire MC).
Neil Gaunt grabbed the Class A win on his Ariel.