Kingsley leads the way as the south west prevails Mercian Sporting Trial

Simon Kinglsey and John Fack had a day-long tussle for the lead of the Mercian Sporting Trial.

At lunch, Fack and Kingsley were tied on 17 marks but Fack erred up at a four and let his first win for nearly two years slip out of his grasp. Kingsley continued to trickle superbly to take the win by seven points after Fack also slipped up on his last hill, making it two overall wins in three trials.

Behind Ian Veale and Duncan Stephens also had a close tussle, separated by just two points at the end in Veale’s favour.

Champion elect Roland Uglow finished one point behind his challenger Richard Sharp, who won the intermediate class again in fifth.

Jerome Fack was runner up in the class, just outside the top 10 after a much improved afternoon.

Star driver of the day was Mike Salton who won the novice class, finished eighth overall and top-live axle car, ahead of veteran Roger Bricknell and Josh Veale. Colin Flashman finished runner up in the novice class behind Salton.

The event also hosted the MSA Inter-Association Team Sporting Trial. The South West entered three teams, West Midlands two and North one. With teams consisting of three drivers’ aggregate scores, the South West team of John Fack, Andy Wilks and Colin Flashman beat the Northern team of Kingsley, Richard Sharp and Boyd Webster by just a single point, dropping a total of 148 marks.