This weekend North Berks were celebrating the 10th year of running the Berks Bonanza Supertrial, the top event of the year at Seymours Arena. The weekend promised to be an amazing event and it certainly didn't disappoint, we had all the top UK riders with us except Dibs sadly, but it opened the trial up for a new winner to take the glory and the prize money.
LADIES – SATURDAY
The weekend started off on Saturday as usual with the ladies signing on at the arena in good time to get cracking at 10 o clock. Strong wind and rain had been forecast but it didn't really materialise, we had a couple of light showers throughout the day but not enough to affect the sections. The ladies riding the 'B route' got the trial underway, first away was Jazz Hammond from Surrey on her Sherco 125, a good crowd had gathered at section 1 to see the action commence. She was followed at one minute intervals by the rest of the 'B' girls, who had to ride two laps of 10 sections. Alicia Robinson on home turf rode brilliantly taking a commanding win on 19 marks dropped from Alice Minta on 27 and Gabby Whitham on 33.
It was great to see Nikita Smith, who was back from her long recovery after her serious road accident, she was the first lady away riding the hard route, followed by Louise Alford, Victoria Payne, Jess Bown, Becky Cook and finally Emma Bristow. They were to ride two laps of 10 sections in the morning. Emma ended the two laps dropping just four marks which was amazing with Becky a way back on 18 and then Jess Bown on 41.
Sadly only two sidecar teams turned up but they made a massive effort to entertain the crowd, literally throwing themselves at the rocky sections, it's amazing what these guys can do in these chairs.
The final lap got underway, after five sections the three highest scoring ladies were eliminated, those being Victoria Payne, Jess Bown and Louise Alford, leaving just Emma Bristow, Becky Cook, and Nikita Smith to finish the last five sections and fight for the three podium positions.
It was really tight between Emma and Becky up to the last few sections, Nikita was riding really well but after a few heavy falls she decided wisely to dip out of the last few sections. She received a big cheer and round of applause from the crowd for her brave effort.
Becky tried to hold on but sadly lost three fives in the last three sections which handed the win to a brilliant Emma Bristow who just seems to be unstoppable. It was literally five minutes after the trial had finished that the heavens opened and it absolutely poured down for the entire trophy presentation.
Good old British Summer!
MEN – SUNDAY
Sunday dawned with a cloudy overcast sky after a fair amount of rain overnight, but the wind blowing across the arena soon dried things out and the sections were good to go. Stuart took the 15 riders round for a course inspection at 9.30 ready for the start at 10.30.
Andy Chilton was the first man away – section one was relatively easy to get the guys going, then it was straight into the famous man-made waterfall, the water wasn't running for the first two visits but the sump at the bottom was almost up to the spindle so the water soon dragged up the imposing concrete wall in front of them. Ross Danby on the TRS was the first to get up it with a clean to huge applause from the large crowd that had already gathered at the foot, the only other two riders to reach the summit for a clean on the first lap were Jack Sheppard and Iwan Roberts.
Iwan had an amazing first lap, completing it for the loss of just one dab which considering the severity of the sections was an outstanding ride. He had a nasty crash on the second lap and injured his leg quite badly which everyone thought would put pay to his winning attempt but he carried on regardless to complete the lap tied with Michael Brown and Jack Price. He went through to the final in top spot on cleans, which meant he would be riding the final lap last which is always preferred.
So on to the final lap went the top 8 riders, Iwan Roberts – Beta, Michael Brown – Gas Gas, Jack Sheppard – Beta, Jack Price – Gas Gas, Dan Peace – Gas Gas, Ross Danby – TRS, Alexz Wigg and Sam Haslam both on Gas Gas machines. Once again Iwan put in an impressive performance, only dropping one mark at the break off point of 5 sections, at this point Brownie was on 5, Jack Sheppard on 6 and Jack Price on 10 so they were the four that went forward to complete the final lap. The other four guys fought hard and put on a great display of skill but it wasn't to be this year so they had to stand aside to watch the final four fight it out for the top spot.
After the eighth section Brownie was in the lead, Iwan having dropped a further 12 marks to Michael's 5. But then the very next section Michael parted with a five on one of the big rock steps and Iwan went through with a clean, so it was all down to the last section. Brownie parted with a single dab on 10 which gave Iwan 3 points to play with, but he didn't need them, he got through the final section for a clean with a massive cheer from the crowd, so the young Iwan Roberts from Gwynedd in Wales took the glory of becoming the new 'King of Seymours'.
As with the Saturday, just as the riders finished the last section and everyone gathered by the lock-up for the trophy presentation the rain came down again.
Stuart Robinson, the 'main man' was presented with a framed poster which all of the riders over the two days had signed, this was given to him in recognition of the amazing effort he's made over the 10 years putting this high profile event together.
Well done to all of the15 riders who put on an amazing display of skill and courage attempting the massive technical rock sections that are built to test them to the limit.
Thanks go out to all club members and observers who have put in the time and effort to run this great event, thank you also to all sponsors and our generous landowners for their continued support, as you know it couldn't and wouldn't happen without you all, so we are eternally grateful.
Thank you to Dave Willoughby for his commentary and trophy presentation on Saturday and Julian Wigg and Steve Saunders for the commentary on Sunday and Julian for presenting the trophies to the guys.
The tenth running of the North Berks Supertrial was possibly the last for a while but after Stu posing the question to the riders and crowd at the end of Sunday as to whether we should run it again next year, we were greeted with a resounding yes…so watch this space!
We hope you all enjoyed your time with us.