Peace brothers on top as TrialGB series heads to Troutbeck
By John Dickinson on 31st Jul 19
Peace reigned or rather the Peace brothers reigned, last Sunday when Sherco-mounted Dan and Jack delivered a unique family one-two in the Westmorland Motor Clubs Lakes Trial, the sixth round of the 2019 RT Keedwell ACU TrialGB series.
Dan nailed top spot on the day thanks to three steadily improving scores while younger sibling Jack couldnt quite hang on to a first-lap lead in the three-lap event.
The brothers pushed Gas Gas mounted series leader Jack Price into third place on the podium, as he and Dan posted the lowest lap scores of the day on their final circuit on the Championship sections, just five marks over the 12 sections.
Tom Minta - Trial GB Series Rd 6 Westmorland MC
Tom Minta (Scorpa) took a confident win in the Trial 2 class, Sam Yeomans (Gas Gas) bagged a career first win in the popular Trial Experts while Scottish youngster Ben Dignan (Gas Gas) virtually assured himself of the Trial 125 title thanks to a stunning class victory.
The Lakes Trial was staged at a brand new venue, Pool Bank Farm, Troutbeck, near Windermere, Cumbria which proved to be a huge success.
Clerk of course Antony Brockbank used the natural features of the rough, steep, hillside venue to great effect with a mix of becks, gullies and rocky outcrops to test all three classes. Incessant rain and mist on Saturday threatened to put a dampener on the event but Sunday dawned dry and warm.
And Saturdays rain actually proved positive as it introduced just the right amount of flowing water in the becks which was just what Brock wanted to give that mix of sections.
The event started with four hazards in the becks with Pricey keeping his clean sheet longest as he took the sole Championship class clean at the third sub.
Betas Championship challenger Toby Martyn virtually lost his chance of a podium here, hitting a bad patch as he lost three then followed it with a pair of disastrous maximums.
Sam Yeomans Trial GB Series Rd 6 Westmorland MC
The final section on a rocky outcrop provided a real sting in the tail and on the opening lap all three podium finishers took maximums, leaving Toby Martyn and TRS rider Iwan Roberts as the best here with cracking single-dab rides.
Dan hit the front on lap two with an eight-mark loss, matched by Martyn who was fighting back, as Pricey handicapped himself with a five for a stop-dab on the second hazard, while that final section proved costly for Jack Peace as another five here effectively cost him the win.
The top four were closely matched though and it was all down to the final lap.
Dan and Pricey finished close together and both dropped five, Dans on the final hazard as he chased a clean lap. This put Dan in the lead but brother Jack had dropped way behind in his quest for the win.
Jack Price - Trial GB Series Rd 6 Westmorland MC
He completed the final three sections all on his own while the world looked on. The tactic didnt quite work as he lost 3-0-2 on those last sections but he did enough to give the Peace brothers their first ever family one-two in the British series.
Dan, the two Jacks and Toby had staged their expected carve-up finishing well clear of fifth man home, Welsh ace Iwan Roberts who showed flashes of brilliance, making the difficult look easy, but the odd mistake proved costly for the TRS rider.
Pricey still holds a handy 16-mark Championship lead from Toby as Dan closed the gap on second place to just three marks.
Toby Martyn - Trial GB Series Rd 6 Westmorland MC
Trial 2 saw victory for Shropshires Tom Minta, the Scorpa rider fighting back strongly from a poor first lap when he dropped 11 marks, including what looked like being a very costly five on the final sub.
First-lap leader was Leyburns Richard Sadler who parted with just a single dab, dropped in the beck at the second section, and the Gas Gas man looked set for the day.
Richard never makes things easy for himself though and a five in the fourth on lap two contributed to his score of eight as Minta closed the gap with a two-mark effort.
Tom then really hit form and posted the only clean lap of the day in any class, a superb effort, to take victory by two marks as Richard dropped another six spread across the sections.
James Fry took third place but the Sherco rider was gutted to have actually lost out on the win with a maximum in the very last section, having previously eased through the rockery for a clean and a dab.
Only a single mark behind Fry was Sam Connor, the London based Beta riding vet really enjoying his visit to the Lakes and keeping his Championship challenge well and truly alive.
Iwan Roberts - Trial GB Series Rd 6 Westmorland MC
Another mark astern was Championship leader Ross Danby in fifth on the day despite a superb single-mark effort on his second circuit.
It couldnt be tighter at the top of the Championship table, though, as Sadlers effort hauled him up to equal points with Danby, both riders sitting on 92 points, with Connor just three behind.
The trio were well ahead of Sam Haslam, who in turn has 10 marks in hand over Minta, the latter missing the opening two rounds.
The big shock result came in the Experts though as Sam Yeomans took a 10 mark victory over the ever-present Dan Thorpe, both Gas Gas mounted.
Sam was super consistent not dropping a five all day. DT kept him honest through the first two laps, the scores being Sam four and Dan six but the final circuit was decisive as Thorpey dropped two fives for his score of 10 and 16 overall. With Sam on just two his victory margin of 10 was impressive.
Gwynedd Jones (Beta) then got the better of the Isle of Wights Chris Stay (TRS) to claim the final podium place, his second of the campaign.
It couldnt be much closer in the Championship chase with Dan closing in on series leader Stay, the points now standing at 100 to 99 with Sam jumping into contention on 87, having finished on the podium in the last three rounds.
Emma Bristow (Sherco) has been riding the Trial GB Experts series instead of the Ladies Champs this year and sits in fourth place having finished a fine fifth on Sunday.
Ben Dignan (Gas Gas) has made all his trips south from Fort William pay and showed his future promise with a superb ride on the 125 to drop just 26 marks over the Expert sections to take a clear win over Beta mounted Brett Harbud.
Big thanks to all who made this happen as the venue is a major new attraction for the Trial GB series.
The series now moves on this Sunday when the Yeadon Guiseley club make a welcome return to Brimham Rocks near Pateley Bridge for Round seven.
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