Report: North Berks Supertrial
By Colin Bullock on 24th Aug 16
THE North Berkshire MCC Supertrial certainly lived up to its billing with a superb weekends trialling.
North Berks Ladies Supertrial
Saturday saw the Ladies and girls event with the 14 riders spread over two routes.
Donna Fox was missing due to a prior engagement marshalling at the Olympics in Rio!
But there was a welcome return for Nikita Smith after her serious injury.
The Ladies B route riders were away first and Alicia Robinson came out on top.
It looked a little unlikely to start with as she needed dabs at the first three subs while Alice Minta was still clean at this point.
Things changed however and Alicia finished each lap the stronger to take the class win.
On the A route it was always likely to be a straight battle between Emma Bristow and Becky Cook.
Emma was riding at the front of the field and Becky further back so they went round without seeing much of each other. Emma dropped two dabs on lap one which gave her a good advantage over Becky with Jess Bown running in third.
The staircase sub did not see a clean all day on the A route qualifying competition.
Becky managed to keep pace with Emma on lap two and even though she lost a five on the ninth sub was still a comfortable second going into the final.
After a short break where the two sidecar outfits put on a show it was down to one a final lap of ten subs for the ladies.
The start of the final was tough on Victoria Payne and Nikita Smith as both riders struggled on the opening two hazards.
Louise Alford and Jess Bown took threes whilst Bristow and Cook remained clean.
Things were looking up for Nikita, however, as she got through the Staircase for a solid three and when she cleaned the rocks and banks at four she was well and truly back in the mix. Emma dropped her first mark at the Staircase but Becky was still clean, could an upset be on the cards.
After the fifth sub by the rider carpark it was time for the last three riders to drop out leaving Bristow, Cook and Smith to carry on. Nikita looked unlikely to challenge the top two at this point but it was good to see her back in action.
So it was down to Becky and Emma, with both riders on a single dab after the first five final hazards.
This was how it stayed over the next two sections before section eight in the far arena corner came into play.
Its mixture of rocks and logs caught Becky for a five while Emma got through for a single dab.
Bristow finished the rock Pile and Gully hazards for a three and a clean to take a clear win, as Becky's challenge faltered.
RESULTS
Ladies Final: Emma Bristow (300 MRS Sherco) 5, Becky Cook (300 TRS UK) 16, Nikita Smith (250 Gas Gas) 41.
Ladies A Route
Qualifying Lap One: Bristow 2, Cook 7, Jess Bown (250 Birkett Tred Shop Scorpa) 26, Louise Alford (JST Team Alford GasGas 125) 39, Smith 34, Victoria Payne (300 Active MRS Sherco) 40.
Qualifying Lap Two: Bristow 2, Cook 7, Bown 15, Alford 30, Smith 34, Payne 37.
Ladies B Route
Route B Overall: Alicia Robinson (125 Top Trial Team Beta) 19, Alice Minta (125 Beta UK) 27, Gabby Whitham (125 Beta) 33, Catherine Alford (250 JST Alford Gas Gas) 46, Charlotte Kimber (250 Parkwood OR Beta) 49, Bethanie Dunning (250 Appleyard Beta) 49, Jazz Hammond (125 Sherco) 77, Jennifer Stephen (250 Gas Gas) 84.
Qualifying Lap One: Robinson 6, Minta 11, Whitham 17, Alford 19, Kimber 29, Dunning 27, Hammond 39, Stephen 39.
Qualifying Lap Two: Robinson 13, Minta 16, Whitham 16, Alford 27, Kimber 20, Dunning 22, Hammond 38, Stephen 45.
Men's Supertrial
The 10th year of the Supertrial at Seymour's arena produced another superb Men's event.
Riders faced two qualifying laps of eight sections with the first basically a warm-up hazard with some drops and steep climbs and most of the entry got through clean.
It was not so clear cut on the ‘Waterfall', however, which tended to be clean or five.
There were more maximums than zeros and only Ross Danby, Jack Sheppard and Iwan Roberts got through unpenalised.
The Staircase was not too formidable in the heats and most riders were able to find plenty of grip and traction on the rock steps.
Section four was only for the final so it was on to the steps and gully which run alongside the car park.
This featured a downhill jump before the final climb out and it saw plenty of cleans although it did catch front-runner Jack Sheppard and debutant Jack Peace for fives.
Six was a good watch with a series of rock steps followed by a sharp stepped climb out and Andy Chilton was good early on with a single dab matched by the younger Peace, before Ross Danby put in a clean as did Iwan Roberts, who was still to drop any marks.
The rocks and logs of section eight took dabs from Roberts and Jack Price who was beginning to move up the leader board after a slow start.
Michael Brown was superb here and looking well up for the day's challenge.
The final section, the long gully, featured the spectacular jump but it was other parts of the sub that actually took many of the marks.
Roberts was clean here and finished on a score of one to lead from Michael (6) and Jack Price (11).
On lap two the Waterfall again caused most of the problems with the minders earning their money on catching duties.
It was the first climb out of the water that was the really difficult part – if you made the first step the second two were okay.
Brown got it just right on lap two as did Roberts with Jack Price next best on a dab and losing only two more for the entire lap.
Iwan took anasty tumble late on at section eight but the Welshman was soon back up to complete qualifying on 13, the same as Price and Brown.
After the lunch break Ross Danby led the way by cleaning the first two sections including the notorious Waterfall which now had the water pump running to make things that bit tougher for the riders.
Sheppard, Brown and Roberts matched the TRS man's ride, Iwan got through for a dab and Michael made the only clean with a superb effort.
Section four was hard and long which made the 90 second time limit a factor and it was cleaned just four times.
Alexz Wigg was at his best at the next, saving time by taking the airborne route over some massive boulders but overall it was not to be his day.
At this stage just four riders carried on and Ross, Alexz,
Dan and Sam Haslam were eliminated.
Over the final five subs the Wood Yard stopped everyone and did not ever look like being conquered.
Over the remaining subs Brown edged ahead of Jack Price and Sheppard, which left Iwan Roberts on 13 to Brown's 15.
Brown went through before his rival and posted a one-dab ride.
This gave Iwan the chance to grab victory if he could ride the ‘gully' for two or less and he made his victory ride all the sweeter with a solid clean for a fine win.
RESULTS
Mens Final: Iwan Roberts 13, Michael Brown 16, Jack Sheppard 19, Jack Price 26.
Qualifying Lap One: Roberts 1, Brown 6, Price 10, Alexz Wigg (300 JST Gas Gas) 11, Sam Haslam (300 JST Gas Gas) 12, Sheppard 14, Dan Peace (300 JST Cloburn Gas Gas) 14, Ross Danby (300 TRS) 17, Toby Martyn (RCM Beta UK) 20, Jack Peace (125 JST Cloburn Gas Gas) 21, Dec Bullock (Roundhouse Beta) 21, Andy Chilton (250 Birkett Scorpa) 22, James Fry (300 MRS Sherco) 24, Luke Walker (300 MRS Sherco ) 28, Tom Minta (300 JST Gas Gas) 30.
Qualifying Lap Two: Price 3, Brown 7, Sheppard 7, Dan Peace 7, Roberts 12, Haslam 13, Wigg 17, Jack Peace 18, Martyn 19, Chilton 19, Bullock 20, Danby 22, Minta 24, Fry 25, Walker 31.
