Langmaid Trial: The Langmaid trial traditionally boasts some of the most unpredictable weather conditions for the month of April, with rain having been a major factor in the trial, but not the Saturday - course construction day. Sunday the day of trial the weather conditions had deteriorated so much so that an unprecedented re-alterations of all routes before the trial started was required. Ashley Newbery's commanding win expert route against the experienced Gas Gas riders Rowan Puttock and Gavin Cooper enforced my view 'when it rains Ashley's the boss'. At the end of the first lap, the Beta star was 17 marks clear of both Puttock and Cooper, with further in arrears to the podium finishers Sherco rider Stephen Foord. Newbery was trapped in a Gas Gas sandwich mid-way through lap 1 as all three riders clung to their footrests in the slippery conditions. It wasn’t until section 10 that the Gas Gas sandwich and slender lead of Cooper ended as Newbery upped his performance and Coopers grasp on the lead became ever distant. The battle for runner up position had now commenced - Cooper having lost all chance of the win was under pressure by Puttock for the runner up slot. Both riders began their second laps on equal terms, but again Cooper faltered at section 10 to hand Rowan the eventual runner up position. Foord made sure of fourth place overall as the Sherco rider put in a solid third-best result on lap two. Foord’s challenge came to late in the day to make any impact on the podium finishers after his poor first lap score. Adam Farley matched Foord on lap one, but Foord's strong performance on Lap 2 undoubtedly put an end to Farley's fourth place challenge. Mark Baker accomplished a good sixth place overall, a gallant ride from the young rider who appeared sometimes to be a little out of his depth, but still an exceptional talent and finished a good day's riding. Richard Ely (aka Raga MKII) on board a flying IntaSport Gas Gas went barnstorming at the hill climb section 19 in what I can only describe as an all out assault. Ely smashed in to the hill climb with such force, both bike and rider went all out berserk to reach the top in a awesome display of riding, which was brought cruelly to an end when a gentle ride across the face of the hill cost him dear. After a day of twists and turns, the Intermediate win was taken by Jon Collins. Roy Beatty, runner up was level with Collins at the start of lap two, but Beatty was unable to match Collins improving performance and a deficit on the final score of 14 marks echoed this. Tim Douglas and Michael Smith both had a close call on points, but Smith although more consistent with his score could not match Douglas's 10 cleans on the day. Chris Horns debut on the Scorpa was a gritty performance taking 6 overall and a good days ride for the Double 5 club member. Novice class had a clear winner Frank Puttock on 37 marks. Derek Baker, runner-up produced a good result on his new Beta with 51 marks dropped, and Kenny Riddle taking the second-class award on 82 marks. For the rest of the Novice field there was little left to prove but finish and that's precisely what Karen Shave did aboard the little Scorpa 4-stroke. The slippery conditions played havoc for the British boys. If one rider out of all who completed the day's riding deserves an award for 'rider of the day' I would hand it straight to Bob Adams. Bob lost a total of 69 marks on the red route, which sounds a lot, but when you consider the bike built way before I set foot on this planet, the lose of 69 marks is a phenomenal achievement. Dave Shave took the win on Pre 67A class and had a great days ride with the first of what looks likely to be many victories to come in this class.