BIRSTALL motorcycle trials instructor Dan Thorpe won the national Northern Experts Trial at Wildboarclough, Derbyshire, last Saturday, but only after a tense battle with Welsh trials champion Iwan Roberts and Leyburn joiner Richard Sadler.

Thorpe stopped once on the second lap, but Roberts and Sadler both had two stops which incurred ten-mark penalties. Wrexham’s Phil Houghton won the 50/50 course class from Gavin Black and Darren Wasley. Thorpe’s fiancée Katy Sunter, from Healaugh, was placed 11th on the same course. Sheffield rider Stuart Morewood won the clubman class.

The two-lap, 20-section course tested the entire entry to such an extent that 22 competitors retired and a further 17 entrants did not start.

Heavy rain blanketed the Buxton area of Derbyshire throughout the day.

HORSFORTH and District Motor Club's Bob Owen Memorial Trial at the Parkwood Offroad Centre, Tong, last Saturday again yielded cash for charities, as it has done since 1988.

The entry figure was down by 25 per cent on the 2014 event, mainly because of the weather and an unavoidable clash with the Northern Experts Trial at Buxton.

Only eight riders contended the main trials hard route course, plotted by Howard Gulley, Graham Smith and Nigel Sharp, and six of the total of 77 entries were very young riders on the separate small wheels course, under the control of Russ Brodie.

Horsforth Motor Club secretary Barry Fairburn confirmed on Sunday evening that the £56,000 barrier was broken on Saturday despite the lower entry figure. The number of entries has dropped below 100 on only three occasions. The high point was in 1990 when 210 riders competed.

Hartshead expert Oliver Sharp excelled on the hard route, winning the R G Owen Salver after initial pressure from 14-year-old Bradford youngster Keiran Child and Huddersfield inter grade competitor Simon Tyas.

Harrogate building material merchant Neil Gaunt won clubman A and the Matt Shelley Cup, while Baildon’s Nigel Scott and Mark Forster were placed second and third.

Scottish pre-65 winner Tony Calvert picked up a single penalty in section 11 on lap one to win the clubman B class from Ben Hanson and Ian Brogden. Mick Grant was placed fourth.

Calvert won the Harry Wright Shield, while Grant, as a pre-65 entry, won the Maurice English Shield.

Only six small wheels youngsters entered and rode a separate course in the upper area of the woodland, where Jacob Potts, William Sagar and Jonnie Fannon ruled the classes. Their sections were quite demanding for all three classes.

THE Eboracum Motor Club’s annual AJS Trophy Trial, scheduled to take place last Saturday at Moor Farm, Ouseburn, was axed by clerk of course Mike Kendra early on Saturday morning.

Torrential rain had soaked the Wharfedale valley for several days and venues downstream from Ilkley had taken the brunt of the weather.

Thanks to Kendra's quick thinking, event secretary Rod Drake was able to get text and email messages out to many intended competitors early on. There is no plan to try to stage the trial at a later date, which is a great pity as the Moor Farm east plantation accommodates just about every type of section and is a favourite with riders.

Weekend Results

Manchester 17 MCC Northern Experts Trial, Wildboarclough. – Expert course: 1 Dan Thorpe (JST Gas Gas) 14; 2 Iwan Roberts (Beta UK) 17; 3 Richard Sadler (Beta UK) 20.

50/50 course: 1 Philip Houghton (Montesa) 15; 2 Gavin Black (Montesa) 18; 3 Darren Wasley (Gas Gas) 20.

Clubman course: 1 Stuart Morewood (Yamaha) 24; 2 Scott Rowland (Gas Gas) 31; 3 Andy Hipwell (Gas Gas) 33.

Horsforth DMC Bob Owen Memorial Trial, Parkwood Offroad Centre, Tong. – Hard course, expert: Oliver Sharp (Gas Gas) 17.

Inters: 1 Simon Tyas (Gas Gas) 42; 2 Anthony Ayrton (Sherco) 44; 3 Richard Mellon (Montesa) 52.

Novice: Grant Whitaker (Beta) 70.

Youth Class B: 1 Keiran Child (Beta) 34; 2 William Tolson (Beta) 50.

Clubman A course, novices: 1 Nigel Scott (Honda) 17; 2 Rob Bratley (Beta) 25; 3 Nigel Earnshaw (Beta) 29.

Over-50s: 1 Neil Gaunt (Beta) 17; 2 Mark Forster (Gas Gas) 17; 3 Howard Gulley (Gas Gas) 23.

Youth Class B: 1 Aaron Carter (Beta) 32; 2 Charlie Smith (Sherco) 45; 3 Edward Earle (Beta) 48.

Youth Class C: Jacob Smith (Beta) 97.

Clubman B course, over-50s: 1 Tony Calvert (Montesa) 1; 2 Ben Hanson (Beta) 1; 3 Ian Brogden (Beta) 2.

Pre-65: Mick Grant (BSA) 3.

Youth Class B: Olivia Brooksbank (Sherco) 33.

Youth Class C: 1 Bradley Green (Beta) 44; 2 Aaron Sherwin (Beta) 104.

Small wheels, hard course: 1 Jacob Potts 58; 2 Harry Lockett 68 (both Oset).

Middle course: 1 William Sagar 15; 2 Poppy Fletcher 44 (both Oset).

Easy course: 1 Jonnie Fannon 3; 2 Tyler Atkinson 4 (both Oset).

Weekend Fixtures

Sunday: Scarborough & District MC, National Cliff Collinson Trial, Low North Park, Harwood Dale, 9am; Yeadon-Guiseley MC, D T Smith Trophy Trial, Addingham Moorside, 10.30am; Seaton Delaval & District MC Trial, Rothbury, 11am; Pickering & District MC, Motocross, Haygate Lane, Pickering, 10.15am practice, 11.15am racing starts.