Tom proves to be Baggra’s best
A bitterly cold day and with many sections either frozen or rocks covered in ice failed to deter 56 riders from entering the Bassenthwaite Club’s Turner Trophy Trial at Baggra Yeat near Caldbeck on the first Sunday of January, however the day did result in 17 of the riders retiring, mostly due to the difficult conditions under foot – or wheel!
This was another round of the Northern Centre Championship, the third in the 2025/2026 series and once again it was Tom Swindlehurst who proved to be the master of the conditions with a winning ride to lose 20 marks over the three laps of 11 sections. Swinny finished a full 15 marks ahead of Stephen Dixon with the ever improving Wilf Shuttleworth in third on 39.
Three members of the Dalton family from the North East travelled into Cumbria for this trial and both Ryan and Stephen finished well up on the Hard course while father Alistair won the Green course class from Nigel Birkett 50 to 57 marks lost. The second section of the day appeared to be the most troublesome, especially for the Clubman class where very few of the finishing riders stayed in single figures.
Top of the Clubmen was the Over 50 Centre Champion from last year, Anthony Hayhurst from Over 60 class rider David Braithwaite with Scotsman Ross McCulloch finishing third.
Planning a trial at this time of year over this arduous terrain in one of the wildest parts of the UK is no mean feat and after a couple of years having to cancel, it was good that the Bassenthwaite boys managed to pull this one off. Bright sun on the day made it difficult to see at times in the sections with such hard shadows and the club were justifiably pleased to have managed to get this trial across the line.
Results, as always, can be found from the Home page link.