Steve Swanson

Alan Taylor

Nigel Tomkins

Jason "Piroet" Clifford

Ryan Tomkins

 

 2018 Harold Avery, Club Champs Round 5 and Charity trial

 

Report Ken O'Brien
Pics Gary Dowzall
 
A clear sunny morning greeted a class entry of riders for the 71th running of this prestigious Open to Centre Trophy the ' Harold Avery Cup ' where in the past such great riders as John Avery Sammy Miller Don Smith Bill Faulkner Pat Lamper and John Reynolds have all been triumphant.
 
Historically this event is a winter mud plug but due to the heavy march snow we re-scheduled to this alternative date where four laps of ten woodland sections were tackled consisting of steep climbs ditches cambers sandy drops and long fourth gear blasts.
 
The premiere award went to Daniel Greeves who made short work of the two mile lap with a loss of 15 with four superb cleans on section three 'Jakes Roots' a fourth gear climb clicking down to second at the summit before an awkward left hand drop then back to third for the final assault to the end cards.
 
Another Expert worthy of mention was first time at the farm Thames Mcc Raider Joylon Walters 300 Beta showing much skill in many sections.
But best of all section five  'Axford's Hill' this was not for the feint-hearted a thirty yard run-up to the begins then twenty yards of the soft stuff before attacking a lattice of roots then a grippy climb to the ends too much gun on the latter part and it was loop the loop time.
Walters took a steadying dab first lap and was by far the fastest rider up with the gathered crowd muttering he must be pulling fifth.
Joylon suffered a sprinkling of fives which put him out of contention for the major silverware but third overall was good.
 
Best Intermediate on the hard course was 260 Montesa pilot Rowan Hill posting a score of 43 with the only clean of the day at section seven a notoriously difficult hazard where both speed and controlled finesse is required with correct gear selection also paramount.

After a steady drop in from the top field you are confronted with an offset camber over roots then a three foot fallen tree, next the tricky part over a low growing bough with swamp waiting for the unaware offline rider but not this time a perfect line made for a perfect clean for Hill.
 
On the middle yellow course the 'Phillip Howkins Cup' went to 250 Beta mounted Clubman Adrian Steele with a loss of 19, runner-up Alan Taylor lost 26 Alan's mount was a bog standard 80's TY250.
 
Adrian was on a mission to beat the forecast rain getting around in record time albeit shedding more marks than he would of liked but in end still managed to pull off the win.
 
Steele was in pain suffering a broken toe from a previous jaunt but the pain was even more excruciating losing 12 of his 19 at section one a really tricky marshy downhill job then a controlled turn at the bottom before lining up for a third gear blast over a massive vee shaped root with no room for error into a splash of mud.
 
Mud Miester Alan Taylor went well at section nine 'Robert's Copse' a relatively mild looking affair but experience shone though taking the perfect line though this multi hazzard sub.
 
Best yellow route Intermediate went to Mark George also on 26 his ageing 250 Yam coping well with section two.
Choosing the ever changing right line would be crucial as a ditch crossing was ahead and a precise angle was required for a successful crossing.
 
The ever popular White easy course was well supported with scores ranging from seven to seventy and at the lower end of the scale it was Brian Ayres Beta 200 showing that the smaller cc machines were as competitive as the bigger capacity in these testing conditions.
Wayne Hutton Triumph Tigercub was looking very handy at most subs with section eight of particular interest to the onlookers.
 
A raft of timber straddling a deep marsh to cross then many cambered sandy turns also a rooted gully to navigate, now the ends were in sight as the sun burnt though the canopy only to expose a final outcrop of roots.
 
Many thanks to all the observers.
 
See you all in September for the Ivan Davis Cup.
 
Harold Avery Cup  and Best Expert
 
                                                       Dan Greeves                         TRS 300                                      15
 
Expert                                            Joyan Walters                        300 beta                                       48
                                                      Jason Clifford                         250 Beta                                       49
 
 Intermediate                                  Rowan Hill                             260 Mont                                      43
                                                       Ryan Tomkins                        Gasser                                         53                    
 
Yellow middle Route
 
Phillip Howkins Memorial Cup      Adrian Steele                          250 Beta                                       19
 
Clubman                                       Alan Taylor                              Ty250                                             26
                                                     Martin Greeves                        300 Beta                                        32
                                                     Lee Sullivan                             300 gasser                                     34 mc
                                                     Brian Tomkins                          250 Beta                                         34 5 x2
                                                     Peter Coor                                250 Beta                                        34 3 x 2
                                                     Mark Woodburn                        4RT                                                36
 
Inter                                             Mark George                              Ty250                                            26
 
Novice                                         Paul Gobey                                  Sherco                                         82
 
White Easy course
 
                                                   Brian Ayres                                  Beta 200                                        7
                                                   Wayne Hutton                              Tigercub                                         11
                                                   Nick Annetts                                 200 Honda                                     20
                                                   Adam Hughes                               Mont 260                                       21
                                                   Paul Hughes                                 Sherco                                          26
                                                   Stuart Hayes                                 Scorpa                                          27
 
 
                                                    
 
Class Rider Bike  Points
Red Route      
 Expert      
       
Inter      
       
Yellow Route      
Clubman      
       
       
       
Inter      
White Route      
       
       
       
       
 Pre 65      
       

 

Full results can be found here .