Classic Competition

1969 Cotswolds Cup

Starting and finishing at the Leighterton Garage near Nailsworth in Gloucestershire, the Cotswold Cup Trial in the Western Centre had moved from its traditional December date to the early spring month of March for its 10.30am start time. On a cold but bright day this third round of the British Trials Championship had not attracted such a large entry with just 41 solo riders, but it was a massive increase over the four sidecars who entered the 1968 event as 13 assembled to tackle the traditional single-lap, 28-mile roadbased course taking in 39 hazards around the Dursley area.

After

the heavy fog conditions in December 1968 had created many problems for the organisers, the change of date to March in 1969 would see the ground frozen as solid as in the previous year. It would later change though as the heat of the sun brought the thawing out of the ground as the event progressed, leaving wheel grip at a premium in the mud. In a competition that favoured the earlier numbers, the event turned out easier than expected as just six marks separated the top half-dozen riders with some tie-breaks deciding the positions. The action would open at the upper, and lower Court sections around the Cotswolds scrambles track at Nymphsfield after a very cold ride from the start; with no sun out the riders were all well wrapped up.

Adsett’s only clean

The move to the Spanish machinery by many riders was now gaining more and more momentum as the once great British machines, which had been the mainstay of the trials world for so many years but were now looking very long in the tooth, failed to keep pace with the likes of Bultaco, Montesa and later Ossa. One of the loyal riders was Derek Adsett on his Villiers engined Greeves who was the only rider to remain ‘feet-up’ in the opening hazards on his way to an eventual fifth position.

Very slippery drops and climbs made worse by the frozen conditions spoiled the observers’ scoreboards of all the entry apart from Adsett, who was showing very good early form.

On hand to witness the action was the Western Centre president Chris Stagg, who had plotted out these early hazards. His work managed to extract a single mark each from both Don Smith (Montesa) and defending British Trials Champion Sammy Miller (Bultaco). An awkward drop into the rock-filled gully had seen them both take precautionary ‘dabs’ as Tony Davis (Bultaco), Gordon Farley (Montesa) and Ian Haydon (Cotton) joined them. Lawrence Telling (Montesa) and eventual lightweight cup winner Dennis Jones (Gaunt Suzuki) left the opening groups on three marks lost followed by the new Montesa rider Gordon Farley and, riding further down the entry list, Scott Ellis on the four-stroke BSA.

Awesome drop

Despite the cold conditions, the action would soon heat up at Ashmeads with an awesome ten-foot drop into the cold, muddy river. Two more steep drops and climbs then followed it before exiting the hazard.

Putting themselves right back into the challenging positions for the win with superbly executed feet-up rides were Scott Ellis, Jim Sandiford (Bultaco) and Geoff Chandler on the Wasp framed Bultaco.

Parted, once again, with a single mark each, Smith and Miller kept the battle for control going as they were joined by Haydon and Ken Sedgley on the 125cc Sprite. Gordon Farley was very annoyed with himself as he parted with two marks, knowing that every mark would count in this low-scoring trial.

The very naturally formed hazards at Laycombe Ditch had 16 clean scores recorded before the move across the road to the largest group of sections in Binley Valley. With names like Twist, Gate, Drop, Dell and Climb the Binley Valley would witness drama for Miller who would see his fight for victory disappearing in front of his very eyes.

Amongst the large amount of rope that had been used to mark one of the sections out, he was deemed to have hesitated, and the observers gave him a five-mark penalty. At Withymore with its twisting, rocky, mud-filled river he was also penalised once again for a ‘feet-up’ five, and with it any chance of victory.

Smith eyes victory

It was in the Binley Valley where Don Smith eyed up the victory with some excellent riding as he watched Miller join Malcolm Davis on the AJS (which had the Greeves Anglian engine fitted) making excellent attempts on the Binley Dell hazard.

At the Withymore group which contained six short hazards in its handlebar-width gully, Smith very nearly slipped away from the eventual victory. He added a further five and a three to his score of four, but when Miller took his second ‘feet-up’ five, it was all over as a jubilant Smith took a very long ’drag’ on the ever-present cigarette in his mouth. This was the best ever result in a national trial for the ever-improving Montesa team of Smith, Telling and Farley.

On his ageing BSA, Scott Ellis had been quietly riding his own trial at the back of the entry; he was number 39 of 41 starters. He knew how many marks his rivals had parted with and that a clean on the final hazard of the day would secure him the runner-up position, and he duly delivered. Best Solo: 1: Don Smith (Montesa) 12. First Class Awards: 2: Scott Ellis (BSA) 14; 3: Lawrence Telling (Montesa) 16; 4: Gordon Farley (Montesa) 16; 5: Derek Adsett (Greeves) 17; 6: Sammy Miller (Bultaco) 18; 7: Paul Dunkley (Cheetah) 21; 8: Dennis Jones (Gaunt Suzuki) 22; 9: Jim Sandiford (Bultaco) 23; 10: Ian Haydon (Cotton) 23; 11: Ian Taylor (Cotton) 24; 12: Tony Davis (Bultaco) 26.

Class Awards

Up to 200cc: Dennis Jones (128 Gaunt Suzuki) 201cc–250cc: Scott Ellis (250 BSA) 251cc–350cc: Sammy Miller (252 Bultaco) Manufacturers: Bultaco 3; Montesa 3; Cotton 2; BSA 1; Cheetah 1; Gaunt Suzuki 1; Greeves 1.

Winning duo

In the very well-supported sidecar class, it was Roy Bradley holding the handlebars, with Christine Bull keeping things going in the right direction in the sidecar, who took their second win of the year. The pairing of Bob and Len Colein on the roaring 734cc hybrid Tribsa lost the battle for the victory at the Upper Court on the final hazard where he stopped in the frozen mud. At this point, he was only one mark down on his rival and the eventual winner Chris Bradley, who was in excellent form and recorded the only clean. Best Sidecar: 1: Roy Bradley/Christine Bull (Ariel) 14. First Class Awards: 2: Bob/Len Colein (Tribsa) 19; 3: Roger Martin (Ariel) 33; 4: Jack Mathews (BSA) 35.

Don Smith (Montesa): Having closed his motorcycle business at the start of March, Smith had a lot going on in his life but still managed to put this all behind him with a welcome win after a recent loss of his usual high standard of riding. Furthermore, all was not well between himself and the Montesa factory behind the scenes as they continued with the development of the machine. Smith had his own ideas and Montesa theirs.

Scott Ellis (BSA): Staying loyal to his beloved four-stroke BSA, Scott had made his way to a solid second position to keep the ailing British flag flying amongst the invasion of the ‘Micro’ and Spanish trials machines. This was the only four-stroke machine in top awards after years of dominating the sport.

Lawrence Telling (Montesa): Loving his move to Montesa, ‘Sparkie’ was part of the Spanish team that had three riders in the top five. People were gaining confidence in this alternative machine to the all-conquering Bultaco and soon this would start to show in the machine sales as they gathered momentum.

Having finished third in the 1968 ACU British Trials Championship he had been very underrated but was now making an impression in the results. His only problem was with the ageing two-stroke Greeves, which was getting very long in the tooth and the manufacturer did not appear to have a replacement model in the pipeline in the immediate future. Derek Adsett (Greeves):

Gordon Farley (Montesa): After finishing as the runner-up in the 1968 ACU British Trials Championship on a Greeves, Farley has his eyes on knocking Sammy Miller off the top spot in 1969. He had started the season with a superb win at the Vic Brittain Trial in January, followed by another win at the Colmore in February. Now with a Duckhams oils contract, who had been very influential in getting the 1968 European round of the ground with financial support along with Miller, Duckhams were more than happy to have the top two riders using their products.

Sammy Miller (Bultaco): Presented with the award in February 1969 as the Caltex Motor Sport Star winner in 1968 as Ireland’s top contender in two- and four-wheel sport, it was a disappointed Miller with his results at the Cotswolds Cup, having been on top form only one week earlier winning the European championship round in Sevenoaks in Kent on the Saturday and then the Victory Trial the day after in Wales.

Dennis Jones (Gaunt Suzuki): On his way to winning the up-to-200cc cup ‘Jonah’ and his carefree attitude delivered so much success on the little Gaunt Suzuki. He was constantly under the scrutiny of the late great Ralph Venables, who in secret marvelled at Jones and what he achieved on the small-capacity machine.

Paul Dunkley (Cheetah): Even in 2019 you have to admit that the Cheetah with the Villiers engine looks such an attractive machine. Dunkley was in superb form in the Southern Centre, where the machines were becoming more evident amongst many trials riders who still believed ‘British’ was the best.

Jim Sandiford (Bultaco): Now with a bustling trials business in Bury, Jim was still very much a part of the trials scene. After a few rides in 1968 on a Sprite he knew that the ailing British machines were going nowhere and moved to stocking the fast improving and good-selling Spanish Bultaco and later Montesa trials models.

Ken Sedgley (Sprite): Sprite manufacturer Frank Hipkin was selling his machines to many good Centre and National standard riders including Ken Sedgley seen here on the 125cc Sachs engined model. They were proving very popular as an easy and affordable way to get more riders into the sport.

Ian Haydon (Cotton): In a recent interview that Mike Rapley carried out with Ian Haydon he acknowledged that his results had been affected by his loyalty to the Cotton brand. Along with many other UK motorcycle manufacturers they had stayed loyal to the ageing Villiers engines which would soon be no match to the Spanish Armada. He would eventually move to Montesa.

Malcolm Davis (AJS): Recovering from a twisted knee with a damaged ligament he received when on a tough training regime run by the Army in the Brecon Beacons with his fellow AJS motocross team member Andy Roberton, Malcolm was enjoying an outing this AJS trials model which had the Greeves Anglian engine fitted.

Roy Bradley and Christine Bull (Ariel): Runners-up in the 1968 ACU British Sidecar Trials Championship, this pairing had started 1969 in excellent form. Their aggressive riding style as seen here did not always go to plan though!

Jack Mathews (BSA): God help anyone who got in the sidecar with ‘Jumping Jack’ at the controls. He was fearless in charge of sidecar outfit but would later go on to win ACU British Sidecar Championship titles for CCM and Ossa.

Bob and Len Colein (Tribsa): John Hulme, Classic Trial Magazine editor: “I for one was scared as a nine-year-old boy when I first saw this sidecar in action. With Bob Colein in charge of the 734cc powered machine the actual noise it made blew your ears inside out!”