Wye Valley Traders Trial 2009

Welcome to the Wye Valley Traders Page. Here you'll find details on the Traders, which is re-born after a 15 year break, and a Junior conducted trial on the same day - Sunday, June 28. Come back for more in the build-up to the events, and results and reports afterwards.

WVAC's Dan Sanders explains all...

After postponing the event scheduled to run on Saturday 25th April, the Wye Valley Auto Club are now running the Traders Cups Trial on Sunday 28th June.

Dating back to 1928 the �Traders' was last won by Steve Colley in 1994, closely followed by a youthful Doug Lampkin with Irishman Rob Crawford third, and after a fifteen year absence, 2009 sees the return of the Wye Valley Traders Cups Trial.

The road based event will start in Longtown, Herefordshire, with a single route, over two laps of twenty sections, with classes for Experts, Intermediates and Over 40's. A lap will be approximately 9 miles long which should help to overcome the problems of refuelling, and consequently big vans causing havoc on the narrow lanes, which used to happen back in the late eighties and early nineties.

Although over two laps, the Club is using some of the groups last used in the early 1990's, such as Hill Lane, Fedw and the famous Tremorithic, although the big step has been dropped from this years trial, along with more recently aquired groups, familiar to some, such as Lodge Wood and Coldbrook Farm.

After the success of last Septembers Trevor Hunt Trophy Trial, and its upgrading to National status in 2009, the Club is hoping the Traders Cups Trial will again be a part of the National trials calendar in the future.

The sections will be of a severity similar to that of a National Clubmans (Novogar) Championship Trial, consisting mostly of rocky gullies and steps with a bit of mud and a few roots for good measure. There will be a few tough sections in to sort out the top riders but overall the going will be sensible but challenging.

Camping and B&B are available details of which can be found on the regs, plus there's a cooked breakfast or a bacon sandwich for every rider and observer, served in the nearby pub, on the morning of the trial.

Regs and entry forms are now on the Western Centre Website, www.acuwesterncentre.org.uk, entries are limited to eighty riders and riding numbers will be issued in reverse order of receipt.

If you want more information about the trial or you would like to offer your services as an observer, please contact Dan Sanders on 01981 250458 or Andy Pitt on 01432 277953.

Plus, Wye Valley A.C.are also running the Second round of their Junior Trials Championship on the same day as the Traders but at a different venue. The trial will be run over the usual 'Conducted' Course with a choice of hard and easier routes. For more details of this event phone Clive on 01981 240934.

[on 4Jun09]