Wednesday July 29, 2015 at 11:41am
The climax to the 2015 ACU Ladies and Girls British Trials Championship will take place this weekend in the Isle of Man at the spectacular Scarlett Farm venue, on the south coast of the Island.
All of the main contenders in the Championship classes will be making the ferry journey to the motorcycling mad Isle for this title deciding double header weekend.
Leading the way will be Emma Bristow (MRS Sherco) and Becky Cook (SXS Jotagas UK) who will be fighting it out for the main Championship title. Cook currently has a small advantage of 6 points, however Bristow has already dropped a score earlier in the series, therefore the pressure will be on both riders to deliver their best riding on the day.
Waiting in the wings to pick up on any mistakes will be Donna Fox (Amped UK Sherco), Jess Bown (Birkett Moto Scorpa), Chloe Richardson (300 Beta) and Louise Alford (125 Gas Gas) amongst others.
In Youth Class A the title will be decided with Megan Savage (125 Gas Gas), Beth Waite (125 Beta-UK) and Gabby Whitham (125 SXS Jotagas UK) all battling hard to take top spot.
The Intermediate Youth A Class is a three way shootout between Chloe Baker (125 Gas Gas), Niamh Richardson (125 Beta) and Olivia Pearson (125 Al-Span Gas Gas) and all three girls make the trip to see who comes out on top.
In the Youth Class B it’s Alicia Robinson (Team Robinson Beta) who leads the way but she will surely be pushed for the whole weekend by local Manx rider Sophie –May Hardie (125 Knight Gas Gas) who lives only a few miles down the road and who is capable of taking class wins. Another local rider, Ella Doherty (125 Station Garage Beta) is also rapidly improving and will surely be on form on home ground. Also making the trip are Kira Beardshall (125 Beta), Hannah Moore (80 Beta) and Olivia Brooksbank (80 Webuyanybike Beta).
The Youth C Class has seven entries with many of the riders showing promise for the future. Elizabeth Tett currently leads the series standings, but again it is very close with only five points separating Tett from second placed Sophie Bailey. Another local rider, Kaytlin Adshead could surprise a few following her series debut third place at Bracken Rocks recently, and Amelia Mayhew, Poppy Fletcher and Libby Cook will all be taking in the Manx event.
The Ladies Intermediate Class will as usual be very competitive with reigning Champion Saskia Baxter (250 Beta) making a return to the series. The local PC will be hoping that local knowledge helps after not having much bike time during 2015, however series regulars Catherine Alford (250 Team Alford Gas Gas), Charlotte Kimber (250 Parkwood Gas Gas) and Jennifer Stephen (Franc Design Gas Gas) will all be challenging for the podium places over the weekend.
A supporting Non-Championship Girls Class will complete the C route and this contains a very healthy number of young girls wanting to show their skills on the Manx rocks. Seven intrepid youngsters, mostly Oset mounted will give it their best and gain lots of experience.
The event takes place on the coastline at Scarlett, on the south western coast of the island. Used as a regular venue for the Manx 2-Day Trial for many years and for the A & B National Youth events held by the same club three years ago it is a spectacular and spectator friendly location with easy access and loads of parking close to the action.
The first riders will get underway on Saturday morning at 10.30am tackling 3 laps of 12 sections, which the club have put many hours of preparation into over the past few weeks. The Clerk of the Course and section building team then have a completely different set of 12 sections for the riders for the second day of competition.
Several British Champions will be crowned this weekend in the Isle of Man, who is your money on?