Dicko’s view

... eligibility is the question!

More from the all encompassing eye of one of the off- road world’s most senior journalists, always thought-provoking, always interesting… what says you?

Ihad promised myself I would leave the Scottish Pre ’65 Two Day event alone this year, having given the 2017 model year Bantam versus the original 1949 rigid Norton argument a fair run.

But a whole new topic reared its head the very moment that local Kinlochleven lad Gary Macdonald took victory in the event. Within moments of Gmac reaching the finish on Saturday afternoon, having ridden the second day’s 30 sections without loss of marks, several people had approached me with the question, “Should Gary Mac really be riding this trial?” They obviously felt strongly about this so it would be rude not to at least give the subject a gallop.

Two reasons were offered as to why they thought Gary shouldn’t be allowed in the entry. That he was “too young” and “too good a rider”, which of course raises the questions of where you draw the line regarding age and how you decide how skilled a rider is.

I have to declare right now that personally, I have no objections whatsoever to Gary entering or winning the trial. He is a local lad and the first Scot to win the trial that was first run back in 1984 and he both really enjoyed the event and brought a new sense of excitement to spectating.

If you really want to have lines of demarcation then you have to go back to the roots of the event and decide exactly why the trial exists and what it represents.

Originally, it was ‘invented’ as a single day event to run on a Tuesday afternoon as a diversion for spectators to keep them away from the Achlain group of sections as the police had raised the issue of public safety regarding vehicles parked badly on the road.

Back then the idea was based on pure nostalgia with riders who actually rode the Scottish Six Days Pre-1965, like Sammy Miller, Arthur and Alan Lampkin, Jeff Smith, Mick Andrews and many others (like Cumbrian character Jackie Forster who, in his Seventies, rode his 1950s 250cc Velocette on which he had completed the Scottish back in the day) who were invited for a nostalgic run round either on their original bikes or something very close.

It was a brilliant idea that not only brought back memories for some and gave others the chance to see riders like Sam and Mick ride real-life Scottish sections, not just as faded black and white pictures.

History, of course, shows that the event proved such a hit that it effectively took on a life of its own. And 30-odd years later we are where we are. So where exactly are we?

Well, taking the rider age thing, if you want to be really pedantic (not me – no one could ever accuse me of being a pedant!) if you wish to restrict the event to those who rode the Scottish pre 1965, even my simple maths tells me that assuming you were 16 at the time of entering, with L plates on your machine of choice under 250cc, you would now be a minimum of 68 years young. So that rules out 99% of the entry – with notable exceptions like the indomitable Dave Thorpe and Lancastrian Mick Whitlow, to name just two off the top of my head.

This leaves someone, or more likely a committee, to decide just how old you should be before you are allowed to enter the Pre-65 Scottish. I have absolutely no idea how you go about judging how good a rider someone is. I can see where the idea comes from and both Gary and Dan Thorpe could fall into that imaginary category. But then again, Gary Mac is now 33 years old and has competed in many more Scottish Six Days Trials than the vast majority of riders much older than himself who are in the Pre ’65. And Dan has even more Six Days behind him so I think they have both paid their dues on that front.

Move it forward a hypothetical move or two, would anyone object if someone like, say, Gilles Burgat or Thierry Michaud or Eddy Lejeune wished to take an entry? They are all great riders who competed in the Scottish but of course never the Pre ’65. Steve Saunders entered and won, on a Triumph twin, a machine that he never competed on in his professional career which was several decades after 1965.

So, I think we’ve established that on the people front, finding sufficient riders who actually rode the Scottish pre 1965 is a dead duck. But finding riders who rode the Six Days on Twinshock machines, and who would maybe fancy a genuine nostalgic ride round, is as simple as. I've said before, it is great to see Yrjo Vesterinen riding the Pre ’65. But why is he riding a 2017-built Bantam? Why not a Bultaco on which he won three World Championships, or a Montesa 349 on which he won the Scottish Six Days.

Off you go, pick your favourite, Burgat and Michaud on SWMS, Toni Gorgot on a 330 Mont, Saunders on an Armstrong, etc, etc...

All we need now is a name – how about the Scottish Two Day Twinshock (including Pre ’65) Trial? The twinshocks would be at a massive disadvantage, not having enjoyed 50 years development the 2017 Britshocks have, so everyone should be happy..!

Congratulations to Gary Macdonald on a fantastic win.

Move it forward a hypothetical move or two, would anyone object if someone like, say, Gilles Burgat or Thierry Michaud or Eddy Lejeune wished to take an entry? John Dickinson