Ashley Newbery, Winner
Ben Wibberley, Fourth
James Burroughs
King In the Wet
Round –7 of the South Eastern Centre Championship got underway
at Robertsbridge, Kent. The wet muddy but mild conditions made for a challenging
days trialling.
Ashley Newbery headed an impressive Beta domination of the Lighthouse
Trophy Trial Expert Class. Newbery put together a tremendous performance
out riding his challengers and with only MRS Sherco James Fry being able
to stay in touch. Newbery could have been heard saying “av-some-of-that”
as he cleaned section-by-section riding to victory. King in the wet he
is, but why was there no major challenge and can he be beaten in the wet?
MRS James Fry put in a fine performance taking second place. Fry’s
ride was I guess good by his standards, he has improved in muddy trials
judging by this result, but what of those slack marks and how did Newbery
still outride him? 11-marks adrift from Newbery is not a bad result, but
the bottom line is No Win! With only one win this season Fry has yet to
ride convincingly and oust Newbery, he is the only man for this job and
Newbery is fully aware of Fry. The championship crown is still up for
grabs, but time is running out. Fry must win and win the next round and
then keep on winning.
Third place went to Sherco’s Simon Bird. Bird is working on his
performance and has improved immensely this season, his break from the
sport and now the uphill struggle to find former glory has stunted his
true performance. Riding with an injury, he refused to quit and his gritty
determination in section 8 was impressive as he exited a stream in a blaze
raw talent, clearly struggling for breath he was not giving up and is
deadly serious in his quest for the title in the coming years ahead.
Fourth place went to Gas Gas rider Ben Wibberley. A shocking ride by his
standards his performance lacked motivation, concentration and perhaps
anything else. Out of all the Experts, Wibberley’s performance was
clearly not good enough, his lack of flare and his all out aggression
was either left at home or some other reason. Wibberley out rode Newbery
at the Sidcup 60 trial in January, but today he doubled Newbery’s
winning score. Bird also beat him which is a first this season! However
at section 7, he leapt across a stream with such style and ease that he
looked awesome, a hot and cold rider maybe today he definitely rode cold.
Intermediate win went to Dave Strank, this was not echoed in the provisional
results posted, but Dave informed me he won. Strank having moved down
a class from the Experts is riding in a more relaxed environment and with
this and his excellent balance and throttle control saw off Sherco rider
Robert Curd for the win. Curd taking second place is rumoured to be making
his debut in the Expert class next season. A day for practice riding and
putting an excellent challenge in for the win Curd had one of the best
rides of the day. Third place went to another former Expert rider, James
Connor. Connor’s performance was right up there with Strank and
Curd and there was no denying he will lift the crown perhaps this season
or next. Connor’s performance is even more incredible when you consider
he has endured a long term injury and this is always with him when ever
he rides – well done James.
Jerry Green took the win in the Novice class and is getting better with
each trial. It won’t be long before Green is riding to win the Intermediate
class and then who knows from there. Jonathon Hunt had an impressive ride
taking second place with third going to Jim Cottingham.
The youth classes were also having fun in the slippery conditions with
one rider Matt Godden appearing to have been covered in extra helpings
of Kent mud after positioning himself too close to a rider in a section
when he lit up his rear wheel spraying Godden in the process. What a terrible
thing to happen I’m sure the rider was not too distracted by Godden’s
presence. Godden put in an excellent performance in the Youth B class
taking the win and more importantly would have been fourth in the Adult
classes riding a 125cc machine – well done Matt.
Well done to Eastbourne club. A big thank you to all the observers and
officials and not forgetting the Land Owner – many thanks to you
all.
Cliff