Reports Walsall MCC Trial at Cauldon Low
Written by MIKE WOOD Monday, 17 January 2011 00:00
Walsall Motorcycle Club laid out 12 excellent and varied sections in hosting their second round of the AMCA Winter Trials Championship on Sunday at Caulden Low Quarry, Derbyshire. With four laps to be ridden by the thirty eight riders entered it was a windy and wet start that greeted the riders as they lined up to tackle the up and down climbs of Section One.
With a good entry of sixteen riders entered in the Expert Class competition was going to be tight but regular guest rider Terry Craig cleaned all 48 sections to take the win from Pete Rusco on two and Tom Minta on nine. Section Twelve was the mark taker for the Experts, where with the exception of Terry all riders dropped marks here either with a steadying foot for the leap onto the four foot rock step or during the number of tight turns over the jumble of sharp rocks faced before clearing the end cards.
With the Clubman riders tackling the 50/50 route, elder statesman Dave Beddoes emerged victorious completing the trial for a loss of only six marks from youngster Fred Bailey on nine followed by another veteran, John Summerfield in third. With the sections been laid out by the legendary Bruce Bolton and his apprentices none of the sections where deemed impossible but concentration was required to avoid silly dabs and most riders went home with a good number of cleans. Section Four took marks from everyone except young Fred where a steep turn on the hillside involved dropping down into a natural bowl before back up the bank and a tight tricky descent over rocks which caused a few riders to part company with their machinery.
John Bottrill, Trials secretary of the AMCA never fails to disappoint and his over the handle bar pirouetting off the top of Section Ten would have achieved a gold medal in the fourth coming London Olympics
With regular Non-Expert contender Ben Morris moving up into the Expert Class it left Championship Leader Fraser Barratt to take the win from young Tom ‘The Mighty Atom’ Hughes and consolidate his championship lead.
A very special thanks to all the observers who braved the wet and windy conditions.
Report by Neil Swann and pics by Neil Skidmore
