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Report by Ken O'Brien

A good entry of men and boys set off in glorious sunshine to contest the 30th running of the Ivan Davis Cup.On paper it was always going to be a tight one to call and in the end it was Gas Gas mounted Adrian Steele who took top spot on the standard route to lift the cup for the second time losing three marks narrowly beating last years victor Alan Taylor Bultaco by two.Steele lost two of his tally on section five a cambered downhill drop leading to a narrow  muddy gully that gradually deteriorated as the event progressed due to water being dragged up the exit bank, Taylor however only dropped one here but uncharacteristically lost concentration on sub four and had to take a double prod to steady himself on Jim Axfords section four a long twisting hazard with roots-cambers-climbs-drops and mud to take in.Best Expert today was Sean McCullagh who stopped twice to bump his score up to 13, Sean failed to negotiate section seven on one occasion this sub was pretty tricky though as a rocky outcrop caused many dabs.Mark Howse scorted his Bantam around for a loss of 12 in the pre 65 class cleaning section two a downhill natural stream with a pretty fierce banked turn up to the ends cards on every lap.A very popular Blue eased route saw victory go to Kevin McCullagh whilst on the same route eight Youth C riders were led home by Charlie Langston  taking his Beta to a comfortable victory and having some good rides on section six a drop to the swamps edge before turning to a muddy blast thirty yards up to the ends.

 

Class Name Machine   Marks Lost
Ivan Davis Cup Adrian Steele Gas Gas 3
1st Class award Alan Taylor Bultaco 5
2nd Class award Andy Perry Beta 4t 10
Expert Sean McCullagh Beta 13
Eased Blue Route Kevin McCullagh 4RT 3
  Bob Twigg Beta 10
  Rob Lewis Sherco 15
Youth C Charlie Langston Beta 18
  Martin Hayes Gas Gas 46
  Ben Hayes TY 80 93