GUEST OF HONOUR AND A THEME

Why a guest of honour, you may ask? The Inverness and District Motor Cycle Club’s Company and General Secretary, John Moffat, went to Spain in 2012 and was invited as the guest of his Spanish friend, Javier Cruz. Javier would lend John a Bultaco for the Spanish ‘Robregordo’ event near Madrid. Friends for many years, both were super motorcycle trials enthusiasts. Speaking with fellow British rider and motorcycle journalist Tim Britton, they had both enjoyed the event and its success and agreed that the winning formula included the invitation of a guest of honour; in this case, it was Sammy Miller. The following year, in 2013, Finland’s three-time FIM World Trials Champion Yrjo Vesterinen would be the guest of honour at the Highland Classic, which brought with him a host of other star Bultaco riders, creating the ‘Bultaco Classic Trials Team’ for the 2013 Highland Classic. The event now also had a theme.

Since then, they have had, in 2014, Dave Thorpe and the Thorpe Edition; 2015, Bill Wilkinson and the tenth edition of the two-day event; 2016, Mick Andrews and the Yamscot edition; 2017, Rob Shepherd and Nick Jefferies as the Honda edition; 2018, Dougie Bald and the Montesa edition; 2019, Bernie Schreiber and the SWM edition.

As we know, the pandemic stopped the 2020 edition returning in 2021 with the ‘Fantic Edition’, with guest Steve Saunders.

The organising club has always encouraged riders to enter their machines associated with the theme, and 2022 was no different, with a delightful selection of Ossa machinery on display.