ONE down, ten to go. Richmond Motor Club got cracking on Saturday with the rearranged Noel Peacock Trial at remote Kidstones, in the Yorkshire Dales, where 75 competitors enjoyed a fine course prepared by Richard Sadler and Will Reynolds.

Despite being in the top drawer of British trialling, Sadler kept the lid on a dozen sections which afforded across the board sensible scores on some very variable sections.

The highest class winning score was returned by Richmond’s Paul Robinson. With some slight knowledge of the main course, Richard Sadler put one ove Dan Thorpe and Jonathan Richardson. The latter was in tap dancing mode with dabs in five sections.

Russell Cannell took the inter class while Rob Waite trounced the other eight novices. A two in the last section took Billy Bolt off the youth spot and allowed on form James Stones to grab the class. A dab split the Greens with Adrian Harrison claiming to class for Les Richardson and Paul Dennis. For a change to clubman class was small with only eight starters and it was down to Andy Kearton to take the class from Paul R Dennis.

The Likely Lads tracked the rocky gully near the road and flagged four straight sections but the final section in the group contained a large pointed rock barring the way to some choice tree roots.History states that one Wayne Braybrook had dealings with same rock roughly 26 years ago.

The fifth carried the same theme with even more exposed tree roots. The 30 yards long sixth still contained some snow, and a lot of big steps concealed as thawing snow melt water covered the worst rocks. Thorpe, Richardson and Phillip Alderson both dropped two marks on lap one while Sadler steamed up.

John Sunter, Richard Shepherd and Billy Bolt cleaned twice as did Richardson and Thorpe. Only Sadler, Rob Waite and Sunter cleaned the very seventh on all laps. The narrow gully climbed up the moorland. Water only entered the equation at the eighth where only sixteen riders cleaned. The tight turn out of the stream up a greasy bank took a quite a few marks. Nine and ten followed one of the many gulleys, some wet, some dry but all providing a fair assortment of hardware. The grassy climb provide some respite then it was into the final section where the tree roots were vying for the award of larger than rocks variety.

It appeared hard but the penalties were minimal. The Likely Lads even stage managed sunshine with a quick shower at the finish to clean the bikes.

SCARBOROUGH’S James Carr was in teriffic form at Thirsk DMC’s Long Plain Farm trial high above Hambleton on a dry, but blustery Sunday, beating the the young, rising trials star from Pocklington, Ollie Kendra into second place. But there was also a fantastic effort from the visiting Tom Minta – Youth A winner – who matched Carr’s score on the hard course.

Carr started badly, five marks lost on the very first section after he, in his own words “underestimated it”

and slid to a halt. Hemadeno more mistakes and rattled off the last three difficult sections for the loss of just ten marks to seal the win.

THE Acklams Motorcycle Championship got off to a flying start at the updated venue of Fir Tree Farm, North Yorkshire where the Grewelthorpe venue carried traces of the melting snow. The compact farmland course was on the soft side of muddy but the club managed to run a three lapper for the adults and youths with ten section that almost replicated a summer course plane with seven section overlooking the stream and the final three adjacent to the lake. Thirteen classes ran where the outright winner on the hard course was Bevan Blacker. Chris Crossley who won the Over 50s class on the Green route on a cracking score of just nine marks. The series picks up again on April 27 at Castiles Farm, Grantley with 3.30pm and 5.00 pm start times .