A FIELD of 65 riders turned out at Butsfield Quarry last Sunday for the Consett and District Motor Club’s event just off the A68 in County Durham, with a number coming from adjacent centres after their own events had fallen foul of the weather.

Richard Sadler and Tom Hick were two of these riders and they took the first two places on the expert course, with just a single mark stopping Hick from joining Sadler on a clean sheet.

A single penalty in section seven was Hick’s score and he was closely followed by Stephen Bennett, who finished just three marks behind.

It was a Dalton double on the green route, with Alistair, on eight penalties, taking the class ahead of Stephen on 11. Key to Alistair’s win was keeping a clean sheet on the first four sections, while Stephen lost three, and he gained a further mark on him in the fifth.

Without a five in section three, Jason Scott would have been in with a real shout as he finished his day on 12, enough for third place.

Many of the clubman runners had an easy day out, with Scorton’s Chris Laws, on two, finishing top of the pile, just two marks ahead of Scott Mayhew, while Drew Morton was another to have a costly five in section three, without which he would have tied with Laws.

Peter McIntyre took his trusty Honda round for four on the sportsman course to finish on just less than half of runner-up Gary Daykin’s score. Daykin was consistently one mark worse off than the winner in a number of sections, but still did enough to secure second place after a tie decider with Neil Cowling.

PICKERING and District DMC defied the cold snap on Sunday to run the first of their series of eight easy trials at Yatts Farm, Newton-on-Rawcliffe.

It was a superb venue, the steep-sided valley and quarries providing excellent terrain for sections, but a surprisingly low entry considering many events were cancelled. Where were all the riders who ask for easy trials?

With a covering of snow and hard frost, the course plotters had a difficult task, but got it spot on for severity as Jonathon Frost managed to steal the win while keeping an eye on his ever-enthusiastic father, Tony.

Jonathon, surprisingly, lost his marks on the relatively easy hazards of two and seven. The climb, then twist downhill over a slightly angled log, all of six inches high, caused much merriment plus a few red faces as front ends slipped away.

The experienced Dave Almack suffered here with a trip over the bars, as did Graham Stirk and Bill Nicholson. Only two riders remained clean, Gary Hunter and Andy Turner's "protégé" Chris Wray.

Almack produced a better ride on the wall section of seven to stay unpenalised, only Wray matching him. The icy climb over a log on section ten had steam building up under helmets as back wheels just could not find bite, spinning to a stop.

Frost the elder hit it front wheel-high every lap to clean, as did Thorpe and Hunter.

Youth winner Jack Darrell, along with Stirk, never got to grips on this one to lose a maximum here.

BRADFORD and District MC managed to beat the snow when the club staged the third event in the Manywells Winter Championship trial series at Howden Wood last Saturday.

After weeks of heavy rain, the steep woodland venue took a toll on penalties, but Jody Smith and young Elliott Laws posted a nine score after eight sections. The youth scores right across three classes were excellent and Laws won class C on the clubman A route.

THE Fast Eddy Extreme Enduro took place last Sunday at the Parkwood Offroad Centre at Tong, where an Isle of Man expert just won the pro class from Skeeby’s Jonathon Richardson and Ben Hemingway.

Wallsend trials rider Billy Bolt raced in his first major event to finish in fourth place, while James Stones also switched to enduro events riding an MRS Sherco. The Brompton-on-Swale rider took 13th place in the expert class.

Results

Consett & DMC trial, Butsfield Quarry, Castleside. – Expert course: 1 Richard Sadler (Beta) 0; 2 Tom Hick (Beta) 1; 3 Stephen Bennet (Beta) 4.

Green course: 1 Alistair Dalton (Beta) 8; 2 Stephen Dalton (Beta) 11; 3 Jason Scott (Gas Gas) 12.

Clubman course: 1 Chris Laws (Beta) 2; 2 Scott Mayhew (Beta) 4; 3 Drew Morton (Honda) 7.

Sportsman course: 1 Peter McIntyre (Honda) 4; 2 Gary Daykin (Ossa) 9mc; 3 Neil Cowling (Beta) 9.

Bradford & DMC round three Manywells Winter Championship trial, Silsden. – Hard course novices: 1 Jody Smith (Montesa) 9; 2 Chris Laws (Beta) 11; 3 Thomas Bell (Montesa) 21.

Over 40s: 1 Nick Owen (Vertigo) 20; 2 Andrew Walters (Sherco) 25; 3 Rob Chadwick (Montesa) 32.

Youth Class C: 1 Elliott Laws (Beta) 9; 2 Martyn Pratt (Beta) 93.

Pickering & DMC easy trial, Yatts Farm, Newton-on-Rawcliffe. – Twin shock: Jonathon Frost (CZ) 2.

Adult mono: 1 Andy Thorpe (Beta) 4; 2 Gary Hunter (Beta) 6; 3 Shaun Page (Beta) 8; 4 Jason Gendall (Montesa) 11.

Mono youth: 1 Jack Darrell (Beta) 48.

Fixtures

Sunday. – Guisborough & DMC Alan Fothergill Trial/East Yorks and Northern Area Championship, Eskdale Quarry, Aislaby, 10.30am; Yeadon-Guiseley MC first club championship trial, Addingham Moorside, 10.30am.

The Stocksbridge MCC Old Bazzola Trial, scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled owing to refusal of land access permission. It was the first centre championship trial.