South Midland Tough Ten Trial Report - Sponsored by Putoline Oils

A grey morning after overnight rain greeted the riding entry, supporters and spectators for the 5^th Tough Ten Trial at the fabulous Haslam family trial ground known as Round Rocket Plantation, at Gerrards Cross, in Buckinghamshire. The cloud cover soon broke up to give a perfect day for trialling, and the smell of bacon from Sizzlers ‘chuck wagon’ pleased those overnight campers that had travelled from Cornwall, Gloucester, Leicester etc. for the event.

Ray, one of the Haslam trialling brothers, had spent a great deal of time over the last year creating some spectacular sections and improving others so that Graham, Clerk of Course for the trial, could set some tough and challenging sections for all classes. Sections one and two were in the beech wood area near to the lane with three to eight across the field in and around the dell.

Starters Kevin North and Bob Brown sent the riders off at one minute intervals, with Youth C, followed by Inters, Experts and Elite riders going to section one, and Nov/Clubmen, Youth B and A to section five to help spread the entry. It was almost a disaster for young Dale Freeman when, riding his first section of the trial, named as Berko Banks by the C of C, he parted company with his Beta 80 and tumbled down the bank, fortunately leaving the bike behind. After very careful assessment and gentle encouragement from his dad Ed, he remounted and got on with the trial, finishing on the second step of the podium. His next three visits to this section resulted in just one dab and two cleans. A really brave effort by Dale.

Section two had a similar gravely surface and as its name implies, Tom’s Tricky Turn, it took marks from most of the entry, with the exception of the Elite riders who cleaned it on all four visits. Number three was a very different section as it was Danny’s Dell and was all in the ground. The final climb out for the Elite class had no run up at all, so the front wheel had to be placed up the climb ready for a full throttle assault up and over a log at the top. The trial was run on the Stop Permitted rule though all three Elite riders still fived it on their first visit, with Alexz Wigg having the best ride on his last lap for a single dab. For all other classes it proved a tough but fair challenge with a number of clean rides, and most achieving from one to three.

On to number four, Rays Rocks, the pseudo uphill Scottish section, to which Ray Haslam had devoted a great deal of time and effort in extending to about 80 yards and increasing the interest by adding rocks and logs all the way up. Elite and Expert riders had the full, arm- pumping length to the Ends card, but the red and blue route riders came out of the section about three quarters of the way up for a slightly easier ride. Toby Martyn, up from Cornwall for the third time for this trial, had three single dabs on his first three laps, before cleaning it on his last lap. All other classes enjoyed marks spread across the board on what is an entertaining section to both watch and ride.

Section five, HUX Hollow, is a brand new section cut out of the ground close to the large dell featuring rocks and large tree trunks, with a difficult end for the Elite riders causing Sam Haslam to suffer two fives, which sorted out the finishing order! Six, Grahams Dabber Grabber, certainly lived up to its name by taking dabs from all classes in a fair and reasonable fashion, though Youth A Tom Culliford suffered the first of his three fives in the trial on this section.

Sam’s Steps, number seven descended from the top of the dell to the bottom through a series of strategically placed rocks, finishing for the Elites with a jump from one tree trunk to another, making good throttle control the order of the day. The Inters, with an alternative approach to the Ends card, found this the most challenging section as none achieved a clean ride. The exception were two riders, veterans Chris Koch and Mat LeFevre, riding out of class below, who both succeeded in riding feet up. Chris was the only entrant to record a clean lap in the whole of the trial.

Eight, nine and ten were all set out around and in the large dell and provided great watching for the many spectators where the top riders could demonstrate their skill and talent on the fantastic sections, and the riders of Centre and club standard could enjoy a tough, challenging attempt at something more tricky than the usual club trial. A real pleasure, and amusing to watch, was Ray Haslam riding an ageing Beta 80 on the Inter route to win his class !

Congratulations to C of C Graham Haslam and his HUX setting-out-crew for a superb trial, and for the added interest in naming the sections after the Haslam family and the organising clubs Berkhamsted, Hux and K & K.  A particular mention of Stan’s Staircase, number nine, named after long time motorcyclist Stan Haslam the father of trial riding brothers Adrian, Ray and Graham, who died earlier this year. My thanks also to all the officials, observers, punch operators and results crew, and Paul Sims for not only observing, but providing toilet facilities as well. And to John Lee Motorcycles for providing the rider raffle prizes.

Results.

Elite Experts:  1^st. Alexz Wigg, 19,   2^nd. Sam Haslam, 29.

Experts:  1^st. Tom Haslam, 14.  2^nd. Tom Plant,48.  3^rd. Rob Warner, 60.

Inters:  1^st.  Ray Haslam, 88.  2^nd. James Edwards, 93.  3^rd. John Chatto, 110. ( OOCB Chris Koch, 8. )

Nov/Clubmen:  1^st. Aaron Wakefield, 29.  2^nd. Allen Collier, 47.  3^rd. Tim Blackmore, 52.

Elite Youth:  1^st. Toby Martyn, 66.

Youth A :  1^st. Thomas Culliford, 52.  2^nd. Joe Collins, 74.  3^rd. Thomas McCabe, 125.

Youth B :  1^st. Oliver Smith, 18.  2^nd. Harry Coleman, 26.  3^rd. Aspen Hopkins, 26.

Youth C :- 1^st. Jack Dance, 19.  2^nd. Dale Freeman, 90.  3^rd. Harry Bowyer, 100.

Full results on berkotrials.com and on hux.org.uk