CHG John Draper Trial, 28 October 2012
Report by Steve Venn
The John Draper Trial, a round of the Western Centre championship was held on Langley Hill, Winchcombe.
This famous trials venue did not disappoint, with the exposed Cotswold hillside providing heavy mud, slippery tree roots and unforgiving rocks.
Conditions deteriorated a little and scores increased with the passing of wheels and light rain. Three laps of 12 sections greeted the riders for this traditional type trial, run under non-stop rules, and the expert class displayed great skill in trick riding without stopping!
The sections proved to be a stiff challenge for all classes, with Simon Welch stamping his authority on the trial and the championship with a convincing win, from welcome visitor Rob Warner.
Rich Smith showed he can still ride a bit with a clean ride on the far from easy sportsman route. Nathan Pekala continues to improve with another win on the 50/50 course taking in some of the tricky expert sections, and on the clubman route ever green veteran Nigel Tomkins continues to impress with a consistent ride just beating another welcome visitor Alan Taylor by 5 marks.
Master winkler Andy Perry was having trouble finding the high gears needed to ride the mud but still retuned a respectable score and thoroughly enjoyed his day.
Results
EXPERT
Premier: Simon Welch (Gas Gas) 17marks
R/UP: Rob Warner (Honda) 31marks
Expert: Henry Bendall (Gas Gas) 59marks
50/50
Best: Nathan Pekala (Beta) 54marks
S/Boy : Jake Hoare (Gas Gas) 84marks
0/40: Andy Ridley (Gas Gas) 82marks
CLUBMAN
Best: Nigel Tomkins (Beta) 26marks
R/UP: Alan Taylor (Scorpa) 31marks
Nov: Rob Higgins 32marks
0/50: Andy Perry (Beta) 33marks
Youth: Victoria Payne (Beta) 50marks
SPORTSMAN
Best: Rich Smith (Scorpa) clean
R/UP: Billy Andrews (Beta) 3marks
0/60: Pete Collins (Beta) 11marks
T/S: Keith Wells (Honda) 22marks
Pre65: Ray Hemming 29marks
S/Boy: James Bagley (Sherco) 32marks
Trail: Ben Falconer (Gas Gas) 34marks
Nov: Stuart Carling (Beta) 39marks