RICHMOND Motor Club excelled at Wensley last Sunday when the Dick Horner Memorial Trial was staged over old pastures with a sun-blessed backdrop of Wensleydale laid on for 120 competitors.

Clerk of course Steve Lambert somehow arranged wall-to-wall sunshine, a reasonably firm car park area and, thanks to local farmers, a revisit to old favourites Tulliscote, Shawl Wood and Wensley Ghyll, where the final nine sections tracked the shallow stream.

Thanks to Bolton Estates, Peter Simpson and Chris Iveson, the venue was revived after a 12-year lapse. The early years of the Blue Bar Trial took in the same area, as did national sidecar championships, so Wensley has a very strong trials history.

Mark Willis rode a Montesa 315, which certainly delivered the goods, while youngster Monte Andrew was on a medium wheel Beta for the first time and took fifth place in class C behind Callum Fowler.

Brothers Dan and Ben Hodgson topped the class from the previous week's winner Harry Mugridge. The class C boys rode the full course, rather than the small wheels category.

Willis really piled on the pressure to clean the green course, while Paul Dennis and Adrian Harrison dropped marks in the second section.

Tom Needham excelled to win the youth green class, while Guy Stones tangled with the tree at section one. His Beta reared up at the wrong moment.

Joe Simpson and Paul Wearmouth rode the clubman route without penalty. Andy Kearton almost matched them, but dropped a mark on lap one in the last section. John Bullen dropped a mark in Tulliscote, but on lap two and well after Tony Calvert and Tony Wild lost their penalty.

The low score theme persisted when Andrew Brown lost two marks to put his twin shock Fantic at the top of the class.

Ted Harston controlled 17 small wheelers on a four-lap, eight-section course with grassy climbs and turns to test the youngsters. The class winners were Francis Nicholson, on one penalty, Jack Vasey, also on one, and Charlie Astwood, who lost just seven marks.

THE Hambleton Hills and the weather were in forgiving mood for the Thirsk and District MC trial last Sunday, and Beta rider Ian Austermuhle topped the results on just three marks lost, followed by Sherco contender Tom Affleck and Adam Milner, who was returning from injury.

Milner put in a clean last lap to match the winner, so is definitely on the way back.

With the sun on their backs, riders dropped into the steep-sided valleys below the Long Plain Farm motocross circuit, where a good team of helpers led by Dave Almack and Nigel Todd flagged many varied sections for the 80 competitors.

The new first section, along adverse camber with a dip down and up over rocks to exit, proved no problem for the top men, but inter winner Pete Sharp, John Benton and Kevin Tate struggled here, Chris Barnfather the best on four lost.

The easy route appeared just that, but wasn't, with only four clubmen – Ian Myers, Phil Hammond, Steve Kirkwood and Willie Wood – remaining clean. Class winner Rob Hardisty dropped his only two marks on this one.

Austermuhle looked in great form, firing up the difficult double rock step and climb out of section three clean every lap.

Michael Todd also excelled here, with just one lost.

Affleck never got to grips with this one, losing a couple of scrappy twos followed by dabs for a total of six. Austermuhle's moment of doubt came on the eighth, where Keith Ellis observed, a fallen tree stopping many. This took three marks off the winner after a superb clean first lap, while Affleck produced the best ride of the day on one lost.

Alan Carr cleaned up in clubman A, his sheer consistency on the difficult hazards of four, six and seven earning him the win over young Luke Jackson, who put in one of his best rides to date and kept riding mate Jack Doble just two marks behind in third place.

NEWCASTLE and District MC were at East Harthope, near St John's Chapel, last Sunday, courtesy of the Weardale Club, where nearly 70 riders and observers were hit with gale-force winds, sleet and rain.

With the welfare of the observers in mind, the laps were reduced from four to three, with 10 cracking sections. John Crinson made light work of the expert route.

Many of the sections ended up more difficult than expected after the weather deteriorated, but Crinson waltzed each lap while runner-up Carl Shaw lost 10 and third-placed Glen Quinn came away with an additional 11 here.

Results

Thirsk MC trial, Long Plain Farm, Hambleton. – Experts: 1 Ian Austermuhle (Beta) 3; 2 Tom Affleck (Sherco) 7; 3 Adam Milner (Beta) 34.

Intermediate: 1 Peter Sharp (Beta) 20; 2 Chris Barnfather (Gas Gas) 23; 3 John Benton (Gas Gas) 46.

Clubman A: 1 Alan Carr (Scorpa) 33; 2 Luke Jackson (Beta) 47; 3 Jack Doble (Montesa) 49.

Clubman B: 1 Rob Hardisty (Sherco) 2; 2 Ian Myers (Sherco) 3; 3 Philip Hammond (Sherco) 3.

Youth B: Zac Collinson (Gas Gas) 90.

Youth B green: Ben Teasdale (Gas Gas) 109.

Youth C: Claire Collinson ( Beta) 65.

Youth C o/c: Jack Darrell (Beta) 51.

Richmond MC Dick Horner Memorial Trial, Wensley. – Green course, clubmen: 1 Mark Willis (Montesa) 0; 2 Paul Dennis (Beta) 1; 3 Adrian Harrison (Sherco) 2.

Youths: 1 Tom Needham (Beta) 5; 2 Guy Stones (Beta) 18; 3 Robert Weatherill (Beta) 20.

Clubmen: =1 Joe Simpson (Montesa) and Paul Wearmouth (Montesa) 0; 3 Andy Kearton (Montesa) 1.

Over 40s: 1 John Bullen (Gas Gas) 1; 2 Tony Calvert (Montesa) 1; 3 Tony Wild (Beta) 1.

Twin Shock: 1 Andrew Brown (Fantic) 2; 2 Ian Cheetham (Yamaha) 3; 3 Andy Pulman (Montesa) 39.

Youth Class B: 1 Tim Weatherill (Sherco) 9; 2 Will Handley (Sherco) 18; 3 Richard Pulman (Gas Gas) 27.

Youth Class C: 1 Dan Hodgson (Beta) 10; 2 Ben Hodgson (Beta) 15; 3 Harry Mugridge (Beta) 16.

Non-competitive: 1 Josh Brown (Beta) 65; 2 Sam Russell (Gas Gas) 74.

Small Wheels, Class DE: 1 Jack Vasey (Gas Gas) 1 (FC); 2 Conrad Andrew (Beta) 1.

Class BE: 1 Francis Nicholson (Gas Gas) 1; 2 Cameron Brunskill (Beta) 17; 3 Will Storrow (Gas Gas) 19.

Class ED: 1 Charlie Astwood (Gas Gas) 7; 2 Lily-Ann Thwaite (Oset) 14; 3 Rory Wilkinson (Sherco) 41.

Newcastle DMC trial, East Harthorpe. – Expert class: 1 John Crinson (Beta) 5; 2 Carl Shaw (Montesa) 43; 3 Glen Quinn (Gas Gas) 46.

Green course: 1 Richard Hawes (Gas Gas) 24; 2 Eddie Aitkin (Gas Gas) 31; 3 Scott Mayhew (Beta) 48.

Clubman course: 1 Martin Phillipson (Ossa) 50; 2 Trevor Newton (Sherco) 61; 3 Adam Lynam (Beta) 61.

Easy course: 1 David Blackwood (Gas Gas) 40; 2 Chris Church (Gas Gas) 55; 3 Bunny Ferguson (Montesa) 55.

Fixtures

Sunday. – Scarborough & District MC Youth Classes A/B/C/D March Trial, Low North Park, Harwood Dale, 10.30am; Darlington & District MC trial, The Woodyard, Reeth, 11am; Spen Valley MCC Yorkshire Centre Championship trial, Harden Moor, Keighley, 11am.