Worthy winners all! - Youth Trials Champs Review
By TMX Archives on 2nd Jan 09
ONE thing is certain, the boys who won the five championships in the ACU 2008 Youth National trials series were worthy winners. Make no mistake, all the classes, apart from Richard Sadler's Class B title, were fought right down to the wire. The British weather pattern this year has put pressure on all the organisers, from the extreme icy conditions in February to the torrential rain in October. ROUND ONE
The eight-round series for all classes kicked off in February at Low North Park, Scarbrough, which, in the opinion of many, was way to early for Classes C and D and not much better for the older and stronger boys. However, arctic conditions greeted the Class C and D boys as they dived down the valley into Low North Park for round one of the championship, where Dave Wilkinson and Pat Galway had worked miracles to make the course rideable.
Shock of the day here was Billy Bolt's 22-mark clearance of the Welsh Dragon, Iwan Roberts. Only two Class riders strayed over the one hundred mark, three of which rode Class D Medium-wheels, and that was a benchmark of the entire championship. Their scores from this, the first round, were realistic in such difficult conditions, however the Small-wheels did suffer. Only Daniel Tuley got round the 12 sections under the ton score. Ice and small wheels just do not mix.
Scarborough was a double header with Class A and B lads although they faced what seemed to be more of a spring morning with no sign, or little, of the frost that plagued Saturday. Pat Galway spent Saturday thinking about Sunday's forthcoming action, and some alterations took place prior to the trial, resulting in some amazing scores. Jonathan Richardson dropped 31 to take the A Class, while Richard Sadler got out on a dozen in the Youth B.
ROUND 2
Dob Park was the next tester for the older boys and, significantly, the trial attracted 77 starters, good going for a winter event. Not all the riders were committed to ride the full championship but, being Yorkshire, the boys came out of the woodwork. In the end though, it was Jack Sheppard, the Class B champion in 2007, who came out of the flatlands to win from Ben Morphett. Dob Park in winter is usually soft and claggy, and Richard Sadler found the conditions to his liking to claim the Class B win on eight.
Jack Sheppard was on a roll after Dob Park, taking the following round at the Otter Vale venue of Wolversleigh Farm, where the loose woodland banks and narrow gullies became more difficult as the general conditions turned wet by the third lap. Otter Vale again provided a quality West Country championship round.
The Class C and D boys headed for Shropshire the following weekend for round two of their championship. The Three Birches venue turned out good, balanced scores in all classes. Iwan Roberts topped the Class C results on a low 34, and over the second lap, Billy Bolt matched Iwan's lap tally of ten marks. Jack Peace took the Medium-wheels on 22 but the problems on the Small-wheel course were highlighted by Toby Martyn's 69 mark score. This is one factor that the most talented Clerk of Course finds difficult to overcome.
FOR FULL STORY SEE T+MX NEW, FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2009