Trials Torque: Kia packs ’em in
By John Dickinson on 2nd Nov 16
THE 2016 KIA National Twin-shock Championship has been a phenomenal success this year with only one of the nine rounds failing to draw a three-figure entry and that was only just shy with 95.
With the second round, staged by Golden Valley Classic, drawing an incredible 171 hopefuls and the rest all in three-figures, the average entry over the nine rounds was, according to even my ropey maths, a fantastic 121.
If any other trials series can better this I've yet to hear of it.
Not bad when you consider that just three years ago the KIA series was no more than a talking point between enthusiasts Gerry Minshall, Peter Salt and Alan Wright, who saw a yawning gap for a simple series, to suit the maximum number of riders, with minimal outside interference.
They publicly floated the idea at what was then Wrighty's Show (now Mortons) at Telford in February 2014 and just a month later it was a reality through Salty's local Congleton club.
That first series took shape on the hoof as the year progressed.
Over those three years Gerry and his wife Fredi have been very much to the fore and have worked incredibly hard to keep everyone happy and introduce new rounds to keep the series fresh.
And that philosophy will continue into 2017 with the really good news being that KIA has again agreed to be the series title sponsor. Fantastic news.
The 2016 series Championship final points have been made available for all eight classes – four Expert and four Clubman over the four classes which are Air-cooled Mono, Historic Twinshock, Open Twinshock and Britshock.
Another stunning stat here is that over the classes a mighty 252 different riders scored Championship points.
Congratulations to all of the Champions, Colin Ward Sr, Colin Ward Jr – a great dad and lad double – Gary Younghusband, Richard Allen, Mark Stokes, Gary Hawkins, Dave Wardell and Peter Edwards.
Later in the year we will of course print a 2016 series wrap of the KIA National Championships.
Each rider's best seven scores from the nine rounds count and the top three in each class are as follows:
Expert
Air-cooled Mono: 1 Colin Ward Sr (250 Yamaha) 69 points, 2 Steve Bird (250 Yamaha) 64, 3 Nigel Scott (250 Honda RTL) 45.
Historic Twin-shock: 1 Gary Younghusband (350 Bultaco) 66, 2 Robert Taylor (350 Montesa) 65, 3 Steve Bisby (350 Ossa) 47.
Twin-shock: 1 Richard Allen (200 Honda) 56, 2 Roy Palmer (275 Kawasaki) 51, 3 Steve Martin (270 Majesty) 44.
Brit-shock: 1 Mark Stokes (500 Triumph) 60, 2 Martyn Stanistreet (197 James) 52, Ian Peberdy (185 BSA) 35.
Clubman
Air-cooled Mono: 1 Colin Ward Jr (250 Yamaha) 68, 2 Gary Fleckney (250 Yamaha) 44, 3 Lee Granby (80 Fantic) 35.
Historic Twin-shock: 1 Gary Hawkins (349 Montesa) 57, 2 Chris Barnett (175 Yamaha) 51, 3 Steve Fletcher (175 Yamaha) 43.
Twin-shock: 1 Dave Wardell (200 Fantic) 62, 2 Steven Mycock (200 Honda) 46, 3 Jim Tennant (200 Honda) 43.
Brit-shock: 1 Peter Edwards (185 BSA) 58, 2 Ossy Byers (250 Cotton) 52, 3 Jonathan Souch (250 Triumph) 42.
