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SSDT Pre-65

Let’s not dwell on 2013 – but the new Scottish Pre-65 committee must have been praying for decent weather this year. Whoever they spoke to was certainly listening as Kinlochleven was warm and dry for both days this year!

The two day event is now almost three as riders began arriving at the Aluminium Works early on Thursday to get ready for signing on and machine scrutineering in the afternoon before the trial. This worked well and the scene was very reminiscent of the Six Days, with competitors and machines going through the tented area and receiving their ‘daubs’ of paint in the appropriate areas on the machines for identification. The queue was long but it gave everyone chance to catch up and have a glance at their rivals’ machines especially Vesty’s ‘Cub’ that he calls ‘The Pipeline Special’. Even ex-World and Scottish Six Days Champs had to take their turn waiting but the Finnish rider was happy to talk to everyone.

The one thing that everyone could do was check out the ever impressive programme and in it they found that new Clerk of the Course Willie Robertson had set out a route that followed tradition but had some new hazards and variations to test everyone out.

Day One

Something really new for the event, at 09.15am was the Parade of Riders who set out on a short jaunt around Kinlochleven and through the local high school, with the children coming out to wave their encouragement. This could be something that could be a feature of the trial as the town becomes totally Pre-65 for the three-day festival of motorcycling!

Back at the start ramp this year’s ‘Guest of Honour’ was Alex Fender, and he was fascinating as he recounted tales of yesteryear until 10.00am. Donnie McLeod and David Strank then ascended the start ramp to get this great event underway, with local pipers playing them out of the car park. It was then that as usual the odd and even numbers split up to head out to the hazards. The former went down the Glencoe Road whilst the latter headed out to Chairain Burn. Neither set of competitors would hit ‘Pipeline’ however until 1.00pm at the earliest, giving everyone time to get into their riding stride before tackling this most famous of hazards.

Cnoc a Linnhe had some revamped hazards, then riders headed out to Cameron Hill. No Pollock Hill or Coire Sgoilte was included this year, as they are being rested, but Cameron Hill took quite a few marks including, surprisingly, from Davy Morewood the 2012 trial winner.

There were any number of fancied runners going through quite quickly at this point with James Noble, James Harland, Tony Calvert and Dave Thorpe all in close company. Although Harland would finish the day clean he would have machine problems on day two, whilst Noble would suffer a broken leg in a very unlucky fall.

Back to the opening day though, and over on the ‘evens’ route Murray Whittaker had his best ever Pre-65 day, going clean, whilst Colin Bailey came into the frame losing just one mark at the seventh sub.

The debate about the advantages of road or moor first seem to be slightly irrelevant as virtually the same number of riders from each of their initial loops made the first day top 20.

Day Two

Riders 91 and 92 got day two underway and, whether it was by accident or design, Guest of Honour Alex Fender was able to flag away his son Alan first, which was a nice touch.

So it was the odd numbers down the Mamore road, with the evens out towards a different set of subs at Cnoc a Linnhe and a new spectacular hazard at Leven Shore.

Repeat visits to Pipeline showed changes to the top part of section two with the markers on the step being brought in, and Cnoc a Linnhe was also much changed. It was going to be something of a change at the top today as overnight leader Harland went out and Whittaker had some early losses, which effectively put him down the order.

Murray did at least have the consolation of receiving the ‘Lampkin Trophy’ for the best ride on a 201cc–250cc machine. By contrast Rob Bowyer was going to make it his day, moving up from 11th to top the leader board with a perfect day. His ride at Camas Na Muic was as smooth as we have come to expect from the Triumph rider and he looked very much like a win was on the cards.

Another man on the pace was Phil Houghton, who only dropped a dab at section one and then stayed feet-up to claim a fine second overall.

It turned out to be a good day for the even numbers who made the road trip first before tackling the Mamore Road hazards. Richard Allen, riding Julian Wigg’s DOT, just needed two dabs for the day, a dab early on and another at the final hazard to take the final podium place. Richard did however get some ‘Well you had better get yourself a machine now’ comments from his mates afterwards!

So we witnessed plenty of new names at the top of the awards. I don’t think anyone would begrudge Rob his win and if you have watched him battle his big twin against all and sundry in events around the country you will know exactly why.

At the other end of the scale Dave Thorpe continues to be a totally class act. He lost ten on Friday then came back with a magnificent three on Saturday, simply superb, as was Vesty who just grabbed the best over-60 award on his first Pre-65 outing at the ‘Scottish’.

So as 30 years of Pre-65 Scottish events drew to a close, it remains a popular as ever although there is perhaps a change as the younger riders come through. That is inevitable though and it does ensure that we may still be writing about this event for many years from now.

We have talked riders, but what about the machines? Well, the breakdown of winners is three BSA B40s, six Ariel 500s, fourteen Cubs (of various capacities), one Bantam, five James, one Cotton, four Triumph Twins, one Matchless and one Royal Enfield. I know it adds up to more than 30, but there have been some tied events! The other thing it shows is the sheer variety of machines we get, long may it continue.

PRE-65 SSDT 2014

Best performance: Rob Bowyer (Triumph) 2 Runner up: Phil Houghton (Triumph) 4 Third: Richard Allen (DOT) 4 Best foreign rider: Mark Harris (Ariel) 5 Best newcomer: Stuart Blythe (Triumph) 5 Best Scottish rider: Les Winthrop (Triumph) 5 Best Over 60: Yrjo Vesterinen (Triumph) 11 Best up to 250 Rigid: Keith Wells (DMW) 160 Best over 250 Rigid: Mark Watmore (AJS) 119 Best over 350: Colin Bailey (Ariel) 9 Best up to 350: Andrew Paxton (BSA) 5 Best up to 250: Murray Whittaker (Triumph) 6 Best up to 200: Dave Thorpe (Triumph) 13 Oldest finisher: Jock McComisky (BSA) 185

SPECIAL FIRST CLASS AWARDS

Results: Les Winthrop (Triumph) 5; Mark Harris (Ariel-S/IRL) 5; Stuart Blythe (Triumph) 5; Andrew Paxton (BSA) 5; Murray Whittaker (Triumph) 6; Carlos Casas (Triumph-ESP) 7; Colin Bailey (Ariel) 9; Tony Calvert (Triumph) 9; Ben Butterworth (Ariel) 9; Alan Crayk (Cotton) 10; Kevin Chapman (Trifield) 11; Yrjo Vesterinen (Triumph-FIN) 11; Norman Shepherd (Francis Barnett) 13; Dave Thorpe (Triumph) 13; Roger Callaghan (James)14; Scott Dommett (DOT)15; Mark Stoke (Royal Enfield) 17; Anthony Cooper 18; Davy Morewood (Ariel) 18; Neil Dawson (Sprite) 19.

FIRST CLASS AWARDS

Results: David Coughlan (Ariel) 19; Phil Hodgson (DOT) 21; Paul Heys (Triumph) 23; Stuart Martin (Velocette) 24; Len Hutty (Matchless) 25; Duncan Mitchell ( BSA) 27; Eddie Aitkin (Triumph) 29; Chris Gascoigne (Ariel) 29; Matthew Neale 31; Mark Buckworth (James) 31; Juhani Himmanen (BSA-FIN) 32; Hug Alemany (Triumph-ESP) 35; Chris Haig (Velocette) 35; Liston Bell (Royal Enfield) 36; Ossy Byers (DOT) 36; James Morton (Triumph) 37; David Strank (BSA) 37; Jim Pickering (BSA) 38; Steven Hay (BSA) 38; Javier Aldecoa (Triumph-ESP) 39.

Rob Bowyer (Triumph) Philip Houghton(Triumph) – As with Rob BowyerPhil rides a Triumph Twin which he findsideal for the rolling rocks. He must surely be a potential winner next year having finished runnerup on the last twooccasions.

Murray Whittaker (Triumph) – How good it was to see him enter into the spirit of the event with his period clothing! John Moffat (BSA) – On his own admission he does not ride enough but he alwaysenjoys his annual Highland fling. Carlos Casas (TriumphESP) – A foreign rider who is always very popular on his visits to the event; his dream would be to win the event. Yrjo Vesterinen (Triumph-FIN) – It was fantastic to see the past winner of the Scottish Six Days Trial riding in the event. ‘Vesty’ was making his debut riding in the Pre-65 and anyone who witnessed his superb clean ride up Pipeline would have noticed his sheer determination that made him a three-times world trials champion.

Gunter Ruttloff (Jawa-GER) – It’s always good to see rare machines at the event.Tim Austen (BSA) – Some riders certainly wanted a challenge. Kevin Hood (Sprite) – It’s a pity the creator of the Sprite brand, the late Frank Hipkin, is not around to see his early machines competing in the event.

Manel Jane (Triumph-ESP) – The man behind the new Vertigo trials brand, Manel always enjoys his Pre-65 ‘Scottish’. Clive Dopson (Norton) – John Hulme: “I always love talking to Clive as his in-depth knowledge of anything mechanical is always fascinating”.Donnie McLeod (Greeves) – A ‘Scot’ on a Greeves ‘Scottish’ Javier Cruz (BSA-ESP) – All the way from Spain, Javier is a regular visitor to the UK during the year as he competes in many of the twin-shock events.

Sandy Mack (BSA) – Cut Sandy in half and you will find Army written all the way through. Without this guy there would be no Scottish Six Days Trial, as he is the man behind the re-fuelling service. Paul Bennett (Francis Barnett) – Cheshire based Paul was the last officail rider to get an entry, on his goodfriend Peter Salt’s machine. David Dench (James) – A long timefriend of both Trial Magazine and Classic Trial Magazine, David always enjoys the Pre-65 SSDT. His company Tri-Angle supplies the Kia support carto Trial Magazine for the event.