A bright blue Lincolnshire sky greeted the 74 riders that made it over to North Ormsby for the “Poachers Pre65” 2nd round Championship Trial, due to the large entry it was decided to set out 10 sections to be ridden over 4 laps, having had a couple of tough Trials towards the end of last year and moderately hard opening first Championship event at Syston in January, course plotters, David Hird, Harold Allen, Carl Smith and Nick Neave opted for a slightly easier day.

All class winners on the Expert route finished on zero marks lost with most of that route ending the day in single figures or very low teens. Section 7, observed by Jess Wheatley being the major mark taker for the Expert Class.

Intermediate riders had a mix of 5 Expert and 5 Clubman sections to contend with on their lap and it was section 1 observed by Dave McGregor that was the stumbling block for most, a rocky gully that changed character as the laps progressed, Unit and Two-Stroke class winners again finished on zero, with Big Bike Pre-Unit winner Carl Smith loosing 2 marks, along with the majority of the class finishing on low scores.

Clubman class faired just as well with 3 Unit Class riders tying for joint first place on clean, with other top 3 finishers putting in solid finishing results again in single figures. Again, Jess’s section 7 was a consistent mark taker on the easier route.

It was good to see a new influx of riders for this event, and we thank John Daly and Chris Chapman from the Eastern Four Stroke Club for making the journey over from Essex, we hope they enjoyed their day. Our next event is on Good Friday, The CFN Trial at Hanbeck which is always a good venue.

Finally, a big thank you to our team of observers that made the day possible, Errol for manning section 6 and Sharron, Ian, Mick, Dave and Brenda, Jean, Bill, Jenette, and Jess. We hope to see you on the 29th of March. MG

The first round of our 2024 Season started with 59 riders making their way to Syston Park for

4 laps of 10 sections, set out by Mark Francis and Mark Boswell, plus Nick Neave and Carl

Smith.

The lap consisted of sections 1 to 4, set in the large, wooded bowl close to the starting

area, these were the dryer group, yet proved on the Expert route to be the biggest mark

taker with section 2 observed by Jean Witting being the toughest, only Mark Hawkins

keeping a clean sheet on each visit. Mark went on to win the Expert route on just 1 mark

lost. Sections 5 to 8 were set around the long stream of section 6, set slightly easier than

last year but still much muddier than the opening group. Section 7 and 8 were the way out

of this group which proved to be consistent mark takers for the whole entry, with grip on the

steep climbs proving hard to find. Mick Ash who won the Inter route lost his 2 marks on his

first and last visit to section 8 which was deemed a hard route section for the Inter riders.

Clubman route winner John Guy had an excellent ride, holding his nerve all day having just

3 dabs on section 6.

Sections 9 and 10, both new for this year, were observed by Errol and Mark Boswell

respectively. Errol’s was a steep drop into a bowl with a tricky weave between trees where

it was easy to miss a flag! Marks section consisted of a cambered drop into a rocky gully,

with a tight turn up a short climb to the end’s cards.

We think that the Trial was set just about spot on! And as a quick analysis shows the

difference between Expert, Inter and Clubman riders is very consistent when we look at the

total marks lost over the Trial on individual sections…..a bit geeky but interesting for the

statistics lovers.

After the Trial 2023 award winners were on hand to receive their awards at the presentation

in the restaurant of the Farm Shop at Syston. The club provided a warm sandwich and a hot

drink, and we were pleased to see 71 riders and officials staying back to enjoy the

proceedings. If you couldn’t collect your award on Sunday, it will be held over for you to

collect at our next Trial on the 25th of Feb.

Thank you to all our riders, observers and committee members that have helped to make

2023 a successful year for the club and we look forward to continuing in 2024.MG

Thank you to all the riders that made it over to Goulceby for Round 6 of the Club Championship.

Trial winner on the Expert Route was Robin Cobb who remained in commendable single figures losing 7 marks, inter 50/50 Laurels went to David Pattison on 4 marks lost, Ian Cooper on the Pre- Unit Ariel and Ian Hammond 2-Stroke Clubman were joint winners, losing 6 marks to make our four class winners on single figures.

Luckly we were blessed with dry weather for the Trial, early morning light rain cleared by start time and didn’t affect the sections, Section 7 in the Sandstone rocks was the trial decider, with Expert Route riders going for a strategic dab to make the tight right turn up to the Ends Cards, Eased Route riders had to contend with an early tight left turn between two large Rocks before they could make the climb to the exit, this took marks from virtually all of the Clubman riders with only a handful of the entry remaining on “no marks lost” for this section, it certainly kept Sarah busy with the score board!

It was good to welcome quite a few new riders for Sundays Trial, with 3 competitors making the journey from Norfolk, we hope that you all enjoyed the Trial and hope to see you all at our next event a South Elkington on the 8th of October, entry form will go live on the website from 28th Sept.