Guy Kenyon-Bell tops Oxford Ixion trial
By Team TMX on 21st Feb 19
Sunny but cold weather greeted 55 riders and officials for this second round of the Ixion Championship with four laps of ten sections awaiting them.
Standlake Pits in the clubs home county is a notoriously wet course, although on this occasion dust prevailed on most sections as the winter rains had virtually no impact on the going of cambers, hills, ditches, gullies, roots and loose drops.
An easy starter section one saw eventual Expert class winner Guy Kenyon-Bell clean with ease the undulating gentle cambers and bank, which became harder later on in the event as water splashed up.
Only two marks separated the top three positions with Bret Harbud taking the Youth A and Chris Wickham Expert runner-up on the same score.
Steady
Wickham rode section two well, although a steadying prod was required on his third attempt as a tricky camber started to break away as almost all of the entry were on the same line.
Ryan Tomkins took best Intermediate on the Hard route, showing good throttle control and balance at section four with its bevy of steep rooted climbs.
The standard Yellow route was very competitive today and Pre-Race favourite Adrian Steele had to settle for second place overall, this time, but first in his class.
Alex Taylor lost only a miserly four, three of which went astray at section nine, arguably the hardest of the day. It was a steep climb to the begins then a series of tightish turns over low branches in to a loamy dried out swamp.
Alan Taylor, Brian Tomkins and Mark Woodburn followed this pair to the next three places with respectable scores of 14, 15 and 21.
Woody was out on his new 250 Beta for the first time, so a good ride, although a spectacular get off at section seven was to say the least, crowd pleasing.
It was harder than it looked, a sandy drop then a sharp steep climb before a slippery slope to a wall of death around a large Oak before a fourth gear blast to the ends. Three cleans here for him was no mean feat.
The ever popular Sportsman White route was well supported, where newcomers to the sport and the older riders who have done their bit on the harder routes over the years compete. It is one big class for all, any age any machine although the competition is still fierce for that top spot.
New Ixion member, Ian Homer was top dog parting with nine. It seems the 250 Beta was the perfect steed for the job.
Ian made short work of most sections with the exception of Axfords drop. This was steep and as the day progressed a narrow slot formed; this was the only way down and you had to be on it to clean this tough hazard.
Once you had negotiated this part there were two really awkward low growing trees to tackle in a foot of what became slurry, anything better than a two was epic as the younger generation might say.
RESULTS
Expert: Guy Kenyon-Bell (250 Gas Gas) 18.
Youth A: Bret Harbud (125 Beta) 20.
Intermediate: Ryan Tomkins (300 Beta) 39.
Yellow Clubman route
Intermediate: Alex Taylor (300 Montesa) 4.
Clubman: Adrian Steele (250 Beta) 9, Alan Taylor (250 Beta) 14.
Sportsman White route: Ian Homer (250 Beta) 9, Steve McHugh (280 TRS) 12, Mark Davidson (200 Fantic) 19, Matty Rudge (250 Beta) 25.
More like this…
Wallace Cup gets S3 Parts Championship off the mark
The eight-round 2019 S3 Parts National Trials Championship gets under way this Sunday, February 24, with the Wallace Cup, courtesy of the hard-working and ambitious North Berks MCC.