Thursday August 6, 2015 at 2:47pm
After a fantastic two days of competition hosted by the Isle of Man Youth Trials Club last weekend, Emma Bristow successfully retained her British Championship title with close but convincing wins in both scoring rounds.
Going into the ‘Manx’ double header Bristow trailed her main rival, Becky Cook, by 6 marks and knew the safest way to retain the coveted title would be to focus on her riding and hopefully let the results come.
Completing the three laps of 12 sections without parting with so much as a dab on Saturday gave Emma the victory by 2 marks from Cook, with Donna Fox finishing third on 8, Jess Bown was fourth with Chloe Richardson and Louise Alford completing the top six.
The Ladies Intermediate Class was dominated by local rider Saskia Baxter who lost 5 marks, with Charlotte Kimber second on 22, and Catherine Alford close behind on 24.
In the Girls Youth classes it was victory for Beth Waite in Girls A Class, with Niamh Richardson taking the Girls A Intermediate from Chloe Baker and Olivia Pearson, Manx rider Ella Doherty taking her maiden victory in Girls B on most cleans from fellow Manxie Sophie-May Hardie, with series leader Alicia Robinson demoted to third on the day.
In the C Class, Elizabeth Tett continued her dominance with victory over the rapidly improving local rider Kaytlyn Adshead with Amelia Mayhew taking third. The Non-championship Girls class was won by Leah Robinson from Molly Mayhew, followed by a group of young Manx riders all on Osets, led by Ruby McCubbin in a great third place.
On Sunday the weather had changed with the brilliant sunshine of Saturday replaced by overcast and damp conditions. This made the volcanic rock greasy and slippery in places which added to the challenge for all riders. In addition the sections on the hard route had been tweaked to provide the top ladies with a challenge worthy of a title deciding trial. And so it turned out with Emma Bristow finishing on 6, Becky Cook on 11 and Donna Fox third on 24. This meant that the Factory Sherco mounted Bristow had retained her British Ladies crown with a double win. Jess Bown took fourth, with Louise Alford riding well to get fifth.
The Girls A Class was a very close affair with Megan Savage and Beth Waite finishing the day on 62 and 63 marks respectively.
The Ladies Intermediate Class once again saw local Police Officer Saskia Baxter take a clear victory with a loss of only 12 marks, from series regulars Catherine Alford in second and Charlotte Kimber in third.
In the Girls A Intermediate Niamh Richardson completed the double win over Chloe Baker with Olivia Pearson in third.
The Girls B class saw Sophie-May Hardie take her Gas Gas to the top spot to cement second in the championship, with B class Champion Alicia Robinson finishing second on the day, and the previous days winner Ella Doherty third.
It was a repeat result in the Girls C class with Elizabeth Tett losing only 3 marks to take the win from Kaytlyn Adshead on 14, with Amelia Mayhew close behind in third on 15 marks.
And it was also a case of same again the Girls Non Championship class where the big wheel riders Leah Robinson and Molly Mayhew filled the top two positions with Ruby McCubbin piloting her Oset around to a comfortable 3rd, from fellow Manx Oset riders, Kate Lace, Sapphire Ascroft and Mollie Swales.
All the competitors and their supporters loved the fantastic coastal location and well done to the team at the Isle of Man Youth Trials Club for hosting such a great ending to the season for the Ladies and Girls Championship.