Report & pictures: TrialGB Series Rd 5 - Anthony Rew Trial
By Colin Bullock on 20th Jun 19
Last Sunday saw the 2019 ACU Keedwell Trial GB series reach the halfway mark. This series sponsored by the RT Keedwell group took itself off to Devon with the Anthony Rew Trial held at Kelly Farm, near to Bovey Tracey.
Kelly Farm has been the choice of the West of England club for the past few years and with a number of changes to the course this time it produced a good test for riders in all four classes. Conditions were damp and greasy early on but improved as the day went on.
Going into the weekend the Championship Trial GB class was led by Jack Price (Gas Gas), with Richard Sadler (Gas Gas) heading Trial 2, Chris Stay (TRRS) topping the Experts and Ben Dignan (Gas Gas) on top in Trial 125.
With the Experts first out the opening hazards did not cause too many problems and after the first seven sections Chris Stay, Dan Thorpe (Gas Gas), and Sam Yeomans (Gas Gas) were still clean.
Section eight changed that, though, with all of the front runners dropping marks and the best ride here being posted by Ben Morphett (Montesa) who took just a solitary dab.
Jack Sheppard
Stay had a difficult run-in for the rest of the lap which left him in fifth place, seven marks behind former champion Thorpe. Things did not get much better for the Isle of Wight rider on lap two when he also dropped time marks.
He was not alone, though, with Ben Morphett having a massive 19 time penalties to add to his section score not what you need having been best on the subs.
Thorpey had a decent lap two despite a maximum on section 11 and he moved into a comfortable lead with just the final circuit to go. Gwynedd Jones (Beta) was also looking good matching Dan in the subs which put him in third.
On the final circuit Stay was superb, losing just a solitary dab at the eighth hazard. Thorpe came in on nine which included a final-section five, but that was soon forgotten as he took the win from Stay, with Yeomans getting the final podium position.
Stay retains the class leaders Red plate but Thorpe has pulled back three points on the TRRS rider and was well pleased to cut out costly mistakes that he feels have affected him in earlier rounds.
Dignan is keeping a firm hold on the Trial 125 class, the Scot taking his fourth win of the season at the Anthony Rew. It was hard going for the smaller capacity machines and everyone finished with three-figure scores.
Dignan did not have it all his own way as early on Brett Harbud (Beta) was making the running with a first lap of 31, nine marks ahead of his rivals. In fact Dignan still trailed Harbud after the second circuit but the difference was down to just two marks with a lap to go and Adam Harris (Gas Gas) was still also in touch.
On the last lap Dignan outscored his rivals to get home for another win, three marks ahead of Harbud with Harris third. It was early on in the lap that Dignan took charge keeping his losses to a minimum and that gave him the advantage even though Harris was the only rider to clean the sixth section.
Trial 2 has been much talked-up this year for being very competitive, with the riders on a mixture of Expert and Championship routes. Richard Sadler held the Red plate for top-man in the class after the Tynemouth clubs last round but he was only one point ahead of 2018 Champion Ross Danby (TRRS) and three in front of the ever consistent Sam Connor (Beta).
Danby started slightly better than his rivals with just one five on his punchcard at section seven. Sadler was on his case just one mark away which left them with clear water before
third-placed Connor got in but a few marks adrift. Tom Minta (Scorpa) made best section score on lap two.
But a two-mark time penalty did his chances no good in a class that saw no less than five riders finish within nine marks of each other. Connor was best on lap three, losing just seven six of which went on the last three subs.
Minta lost 11, the best of his circuits, but Danby was only one mark adrift and finished four in front of Connor to regain the leaders Red plate.
125 winner - Ben Dignan
Toby Martyn (Beta) must be getting frustrated in the Championship as once again the Cornish youngster had to settle for second behind Gas Gas UK ace Jack Price and this time virtually on his home patch. Pricey set his stall out early with a terrific first lap that saw him lose just seven marks.
Section two saw most of the entry drop marks but cleans were posted by Martyn and Montesa-mounted Devon teenager Billy Green. Section 10 saw marks going all over the entry and no one got close to cleaning the hazard until much later on in the day.
The opening lap saw Price on seven, four in front of Martyn with Dan Peace (Sherco) well in contention in third. Price started lap two in good form but it was Martyn who produced the best circuit with Jack Peace (Sherco) not far behind him.
With two time penalties added against Price it was Martyn who started the last lap top of the leader board by the slimmest of margins and after eight more hazards thats how it remained.
Martyn then dropped two at section nine and a five on the jagged rockery at 10.
Price put in a clean and a two at these hazards and that was good enough for a win that now sees the Gas Gas rider ahead by 14 points in the series. Third and fourth places went to the consistent Sherco-mounted brothers Dan and Jack Peace.
More like this…
New TRRS model is R-rated
TRRS is really pushing the pace these days and has just announced yet another new model called the TRRS ONE R, which fills the ‘gap’ between the stock ONE model and the top of the range One RR (Raga Replica).
S3 Parts ready for Wainwright test
There’s top class traditional trials action this Sunday (June 23) with the Wetherby club’s Yorkshire classic Wainwright Shield trial which is ready to play host to 120 riders.
Home sweet Holme for Bultaco Revival trial
The Westmorland club’s Bultaco Revival trial, one of the most prestigious events in the Classic trials calendar, takes place this Saturday, June 15, at Holme Farm, Middleton, Sedbergh, LA10 5ET, on the cusp of the Cumbria/ Yorkshire border.