ACU / Luscombe Suzuki Leeds - British Womens & Girls Trials Championships, Zona 1 MCC
Report: Ben Falconer
TWO wins left reigning champion Emma Bristow in total command of the ACU / Luscombe Suzuki Leeds - British Womens & Girls motorcycle trial championships after two rounds run in the Cotswolds.
Zona 1 MCC's Whitaker Trial at Syde and Cotswold Cup Trial at its Nettleton Quarry training facility both finished with the reigning champion from Scarborough at the top, with the woman she succeeded as champion, Becky Cook in second place on both days.
Round one's sections were based in woodland and a gully, which presented few problems for Bristow, who only struggled on section nine's tight right hand turn. Riding out of a mudhole on to hard packed ground made for a tricky turn and she needed two dabs here on lap three. Those and a single mark on section two on the same lap accounted for her day's score of three.
Cook was on the back foot from the start, having incurred a maximum five mark loss on her first attempt of section nine. After that, she focused her efforts and lost only one more mark but she had left herself too much to do.
Joanne Coles showed what she can do with a best lap of just one mark lost but three fives saw her out of contention to fight for the win.
She did not ride the next day at the quarry, and fellow Mansfield Maun MCC member Jess Bown stepped up on to the third on the podium. Her score of 83 reflected a tougher set of sections on day two, and Bronwyn Palmer from Perth surely deserves an award for sticking at the task in hand despite two very difficult days.
Bristow stretched the gap between herself and soon-to-be-married Isle of Wight rider Cook on day two. She showed her class by losing just two over a harder course, while Cook could not do better than a one mark loss on lap three.
Saskia Baxter was the only intermediate class rider to card single mark scores on both days which gave her two comfortable victories. Another good result at the final round run by Richmond MCC should seal the title for her. Charlotte Kimber retained her second place in the championship over Katy Bullock, who closed the gap from four championship points to two by recording a second place on day two.
Victoria Payne pulled out all the stops to record her first win of the A Class championship, with Western Centre Youth Development Squad leader Simon Welch urging her on to a brilliant 11 mark loss on the Saturday. On Sunday, the results in this class reverted to the way they have been all season, with Louise Alford winning on 52 marks lost and putting herself in an apparently-unassailable championship lead.
The Girls B class will go in to the final round with all to play for, after a topsy-turvey weekend. Sophie May-Hardie grabbed a the win and 20 championship points on the Saturday, leaving championship leader Megan Savage in second. Alice Minta, who earned plaudits for her determined style, put a third placed finish on day one behind her to lose just 23 on day two and take the win.
Amy Turpin recorded her first championship win over Hannah Moore in the Girls C class on day two – on day one Moore was the only rider to clean the whole course, with Turpin on just one.
The trial's competitors, organisers, and spectators enjoyed two great days of competition in the right spirit but all will be thinking of Nikita Smith. The third-placed rider in the main championship was involved in a serious road collision just before the weekend and all will wish her well for a speedy recovery.
Preview: Rounds five and six, organised by Zona 1 MCC, June 21 and 22.
BRITAIN'S best female trials riders head to Gloucestershire on collision course for a title fight which is set to be a pivotal point in the ACU / Luscombe Suzuki Leeds - British Womens & Girls championship.
Title holder Emma Bristow (MRS Sherco) leads former champion Becky Cook (Beta UK) by eight points – a lead which Cook could narrow to just two points if she can relegate Bristow to second place in each of the rounds on June 21 at Syde, and June 22 at Birdlip. If she can achieve that and win the last round, the title will be Cook's.
Scarborough rider Bristow however has three wins to Cook's one, and won the single round organised by Zona 1 MCC last year at its Nettleton Quarry trials facility, a venue Isle of Wight rider Cook is familiar with as a practice ground.
She also returned from the Scottish Six Days Trial as best lady finisher with a coveted special first class award in her pocket. But it is possible it will not be a straight battle between them, as Joanne Coles (JST Gas Gas) is on the start list. She can't win the title, having missed two rounds but she shook things up with a second place at Cook's expense at the Scarborough MCC round, and a win for Coles is not out of the question. Neither should Nikita Smith (Gas Gas) be ruled out of the mix, as she has notched up a series of third and fourth places.
The intermediate class is more open, with second and third placed Charlotte Kinber and Katy Bullock, plus Jennifer Stephen and Catherine Alford all in with a chance of challenging leader Saskia Baxter for a win.
Girls A Class rider Victoria Payne, a Wilts Border MCC member who trains with the Western Centre ACU Youth Devlopment squad, will be looking to consolidate her second place in her class which she won last year, as championship leader Louise Alford has an almost unassailable lead.
Zona 1 MCC riders Katy Bullock, Izzy Saunders and Trudi Silvey are all down to ride on both days. There is a total of nine classes for 35 riders and the action gets underway at 10.30am each day. The venues will be signposted off the A417 between Nettleton Bottom and Cirencester.