Wrapping up the Scottish trials
The Northern Centre was represented by 16 riders in last week’s Scottish Six Days Trial, with fourteen of them finishing this arduous trial which was held in glorious weather conditions with absolutely no rain at all through the week.
However, dry and hot can be as demanding as wind and rain and there’s no doubt that once again the trial lived up to its reputation.
The overall winner was Jack Peace with the loss of just four marks which totally defies the severity of the event, which enabled him to go one better than his second place finish in 2024. The runner-up was Adam Raga on seven marks with a five mark penalty given for running over a section marker card at the Chairlift group of sections on Friday.
Thee highest placed Northern Centre rider was Cameron Brice (lead picture) with 33rd place and the loss of 91 marks whilst in 38th place on 102 marks came Tom Swindlehurst. Both riders gained a Special First Class Award as did Richard Gaskell who was 49th on 123 marks – a particularly excellent ride from him.
Steve Dixon was 66th on 165 marks; Will Brockbank was 70th with 170 marks, just in front of Joe Hiley in 72nd on 173. Jimmy Johnson was 77th on 184 and Patrick Wardle was 79th with 186 penalties then it was Jack Dixon in 83rd with 195 marks. These six riders were awarded First Class Awards.
Riding his first Scottish Sam Metcalfe finished 144th on 325 marks whilst riding his 52nd Scottish at the age of 70 and receiving a Second Class Award, Nigel Birkett was 156th on 348; Ben Croasdale was 189th on 398, Steve Stamper finished in 196th on 408.
Then in the Finishers Awards Drew Morten was 236th on 514 marks immediately behind him came Mark Wilkinson in 237th with 518 penalties. Rupert Tatham retired on Monday with an injured arm.
So ends another Scottish Six Days.
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Of course, prior to the Scottish Six Days, the Pre 65 Scottish Two Day trial was held in the Kinlochleven area, once again the event enjoyed some beautiful weather with just a few spots dropping first thing on Friday morning.
There were 14 of Cumbria’s local riders taking part in the trial which was won by Jimmy Noble on a clean sheet from Gary Macdonald who also went clean, the decision going to Noble as the older rider and on an older bike.
Three of “our” men managed to finish in the awards, Will Brockbank was 23rd with a Special First Class Award on 14 marks whilst Michael Irving in 34th and Nick Shield in 35th, both lost 18 marks, rode using numbers 8 and 9 with Irving getting the highest placing being on a larger capacity machine.
In the list of finishers, Erik Buckley in his first Pre 65 Scottish was 52nd on 29, Oliver Hart, making a return to trials after some years was 67th on 36 marks, Peter Huddleston was 69th riding the Tigress engined twin normally ridden by Chris Myers on 38 marks then first time Dave Taylor was 92nd with 63, Nathan Britton was 95th on 66, Centre Chairman Angus Jenkinson was 98th on 69.
Brett Willis came home 115th on 88, Peter Blowers, a late acceptance taken up just three days prior to the start was 123rd on 94, Michael Batty was 134th on 102 and final finisher in the trial was Craig Asbridge in 168th. Phil Haygarth retired early on Friday with a broken kick start mechanism.
So, it turned out to be a brilliant 9 days in Scotland with conditions as near perfect as they can be. As the writer for this website, this was my 46th attendance at the Scottish and my 44th as a journalist – and here’s hoping there will be many more.
Over the coming weeks look out for a selection of pictures from this and other events from the past on my Facebook page.
Mike Rapley