National Track Championships

A long and very entertaining day up in Manchester saw 10 National titles decided on day 2. Out first attendance and it started out with qualification at 8:30am, with the sprint final finishing just after 10:30pm. Katie Archibald took the scratch race despite being constantly marked throughout but Sophie Capewell got away from Archibald to snatch the keirin title. The highlight for us though was a stunning 1 point victory for Joe Nally in the men’s points race.

Clee Hills Trial

It was a largely dry day but the ground was incredibly slippery for the two tests we watched at, Flounders Folly and Strefford Wood. At Flounders there were two stand out performances; Dean Partington & Sam Phillips were simply the best on 4 wheels in their Wasp and Glenn Morgan (GasGas) was one of very few riders who cleared the section but it was his balance and speed that stood out. At the gloopy Strefford cars faired better with most of the class 8’s clearing the section, but it required lots of power to do so. The bikes struggled but Spike Stewart took his GasGas the furthest up the section.

Brands Hatch Stages

It was a glorious winters day down at Brands Hatch, with crisp and cold conditions all day. Of the top 10 seeded crews only 4 made the finish, with the attrition rate high among the fancied crews. At the end of 8 hard fought stages Paul Swift & Pat Walsh (Escort MkII) took victory by 8 seconds from Martin Hodgson & Tony Jones (Escort MkII), with Nigel Mummery & Fiona Scarrett (Focus WRC) just over a minute further back. 2016 winners Chris West & Harry Brown had been fastest through the first stage but destroyed the front left corner of their 306 Maxi on an obscured concrete block, early in stage 2.

Jack Frost Stages Rally

A wet circuit coupled with tight chicanes was just the start in what proved to be an unpredictable Jack Frost Stages Rally. Fastest on the opening stage were Mark Jasper & Don Whyatt (Escort MkII) shaming the plethora of 4WD machinery around them. Peter Smith & Graham Wild were 2nd fastest in their Metro 6R4 but a stage maximum on the following stage preceded retirement on stage 4, after sustaining heavy damage to the rear of the car. With the conditions very mixed the later runners actually encountered a slighter drier track but nonetheless Rob Snowden & Tommy Rogers (Escort MkII) was on it to take the lead on stage 2 from Geoff Wright & Chris Sanderson (Fiesta S2000), with Jasper relegated to 3rd overall.

BTRDA Sporting Trials, Gold & Silver Star Championship

Josh Veale won the Reis Motorsport Insurance BTRDA Sporting trials Gold Star for the second time in three years at his home site in Crewkerne Somerset, while Nick Speed won the Silver Star for second tier of drivers similar repeating his success of two years ago, like Veale. In the Gold Star Simon Gracey with young son passengering was the nearest challenger but a poor second round damaged his hopes of a maiden Gold Star finishing fourteen points behind in the end. Reigning double British champion Roland Uglow had a terrible first round that saw him down in fifteenth place, but then was best for the rest of the day to climb upto third overall with Laura Wilks passengering.

Plum Pudding Historic Sporting Trial

It was a superb start to the year down in Hampshire as we took in our first Historic Sporting Trial. A few miles South of Petersfield was the venue for 6 tests amongst mature woodland, with a mixture of vehicles from the 1960’s up to 1974. In the Historic class Ian Wright & Steve Jones (Cannon) won by 14 points from David & Lesley-Ann Methley (Cannon), meanwhile the post Historic class, (and overall victory), went to Steve Courts & Dave Oliver (Facksimile) by just a single point from Mark & Paul Howse (Facksimile). All in all another excellent days motor sport.