Vesterinen Report 22

Report by Wal Cope

Vesty CharityTrial 2022

Following the success of the 1st Vesty charity trial in 2021 that raised £7500 for local charities, Red Rose Classic Trials club laid on the second edition on Sunday 24th April.

The venue at Paythorne, near Gisburn had only been used for a few sections in the Bowland trial last year, but the willing landowners were happy to allow additional land to be accessed giving 20 sections to be lapped twice.

Signing on looked more like a bring and buy as riders turned up with prizes for the raffle, and then had money extracted to buy a ticket to win their donation back. Even some of the Yorkies were spotted parting with their hard earned cash.

The ground underfoot was dry so the course plotters of the main man Vesty, Trevor Bennet and Andrew Scott had laid out some tough looking sections that actually rode really well.

After a few diversions finding the correct sections (it was OK on lap 2!) the Experts started at section 9, which after the first couple of attempts the steep hill out proved possible and got everyone moving. Joel Gowan started well in the pre 65 class, a dab in section 15 was his only loss on the first lap, followed by a second lap of 5, his loss of 6 being 4 better than Ryan Smith who was also 4 ahead of Chris Gascoigne. It may have been an all BSA podium, but Joel’s C15 sounded fantastic on the hill climbs compared to the Bantams. 

Section 13 was the real mark taker on this route, the blast over some logs, through some mud and up a bank by the second lap had turned into an axle deep rut that stopped you dead, but if you got through, the damp dragged out made the following climb nearly impossible. Only 5 riders got out for less than a five on the second lap, Joel being the only one in the pre 65 class, taking advantage of riding at the front of the entry.

Darren Wasley took the expert twinshocks on his Fantic on one more mark than Joel, 5 of which came on section 13 on lap 2, and he was a full 6 marks ahead of Andy Tales and Chris Greenwood, Andy getting the verdict by 35 cleans to 33. 

The 50/50 riders started at section 3, a straight hill between the trees that rode easier than it looked. Lowest loss on this route was again in the pre 65 class, Pete Clibburn entered the expert route, but after looking at a few sections (no. 20 by the car park!) elected to ride the 50/50 route, and wrestled his beautiful Ariel around for 18 marks lost. Sections 2 and 8, where the 50/50 followed the expert route, took 10 of Pete’s marks, but generally marks were spread over many sections. Pete was 2 ahead of the Cub of Dave Knaggs who was 2 up on Mark Francis and his James.

Twinshock 50/50 turned into a Honda benefit, with the TLR’s of Steve Wilde, Andrew Walters and Karl Ratcliffe finishing in that order on 20,21 and 24 marks respectively, Andrew’s 5 in the trees on section 9 on the second lap costing him victory.

The Clubman route started at section 1, but John Irlam didn’t get further than this section when a spill (he blames it on a fast tickover) resulted in a trip to A&E where a cracked radius was diagnosed. Sadly he wasn’t the only participant to visit A&E as observer Claire Ashmore went over on her ankle walking back to her car and broke her tib and fib. Hope they both have a speedy recovery.

Lowest loss of the day came on this route in the twinshock class – 2 marks by Michael Platts on another Honda, 2 ahead of Jim Waters on a Yamaha and 3 ahead of Alex Martin and Mark Blackwell, the latter loosing out by 1 clean. Michael cleaned the first lap then lost dabs on sections 6 and 17 second time round – though the approach down the hill to 6 was probably harder than the section!

Nigel Greenwood won the Clubmen pre 65 class on 5 from Ossy Byers on 9 and Chris Wilson on 12, Nigel loosing 3 of his 5 with a 2 and a dab on section 15. 

There were quite a few retirements from the clubmen classes, probably due to the between section going rather than the sections themselves, but with a new venue it takes some time to develop a suitable way round. General feedback was very positive, great sections in a fantastic new venue and no one was allowed to leave up the dusty track before having their raffle tickets checked by the ever enthusiastic ladies so all the raffle winners went home with their prizes.

Thanks to everyone involved including the observers, ticket sellers, riders and officials for even booking the weather, roll on next year. In the meantime the next Red Rose trial is on Sunday May 15th at Ouzel Hall, Bolton By Bowland where hopefully the river will be less full than last year.

Results

Pre 62 Expert – 1st Joel Gowan (BSA) 6 marks lost, 2nd Ryan Smith (BSA) 10, 3rd Chris Gascoigne (BSA) 14

Twinshock Expert – 1st Darren Wasley (Fantic) 7, 2nd Andrew Tales (Fantic) 13, 3rd Chris Greenwood (Honda) 13.

Pre 65 50/50 – 1st Pete Clibburn (Ariel) 18, 2nd Dave Knaggs (Cub) 20, 3rd  Mark Francis (James) 22

Twinshock 50/50 – 1st Steve Wilde (Honda) 20,2nd  Andrew Walters (Honda) 21, 3rd Karl Ratcliffe (Honda) 24

Pre 65 Clubmen – 1st Nigel Greenwood (Bantam ) 5 2nd Ossy Byers (Dot ) 9, 3rd Chris Wilson (Bantam) 12

Twinshock Clubmen – 1st Michael Platts (Honda) 2, 2nd Jim Waters (Yamaha)4, 3rd  Alex Martin (Honda) 5