Team Station Garage
Professional presentation always catches your eye – or it should do! The bright, vibrant colours of the Station Garage Trials Team from the Isle of Man certainly makes you look closer, and that’s how this article came to life. I had witnessed the riders in action at a 2019 ACU Youth British Trials Championship round, and yes I was impressed, firstly by the team colours and secondly by the fact that this passionate team has to travel to the majority of the events from its base on the Isle of Man. It was time to find out more.
Team Manager, Michael Owen, brings us up to speed: “I started in youth motocross, as at that time on the IOM there were no youth trials. The first year of youth trials on the IOM was mainly people from motocross. After a couple of seasons, the youth committee split, and this was the first season really of trials.
“I was riding in the B class, so it was around 1979. I was riding a Yamaha TY 175 at the time. I rode all the way through the youth class and on to the adult world, where I became Island Solo and a Sidecar Centre Champion. After this, I moved on to committees and became chairman of the Peveril Motorcycle club, and was lucky enough to be part of the teams that run the Trial Des Nations and FIM World rounds. I was very fortunate as my father ran a motorcycle shop called Tiger Tims and was heavily into off-road motorcycles himself.”
COACHING
“It was at this point I was approached by a person who had nothing to do with motorcycling, who had a son who wanted to ride. He had never been on a motorcycle, and the parents had no interest, but the kid was desperate; where do you start? This is where I got involved with OSET as I had seen this as the way forward. I also started to look at coaching and the sport of trials in general. We started
training sessions every Saturday morning and got involved in coaching with the IOM sports council; I also sat my coaching badge with the ACU. This is where Team Station Garage originated. We are now about to start our fifth season, and along the way, we have made some really good friends and have picked up little bits of knowledge off everyone.
“One of our most significant help has been the YMSA. Barry Burton and his team have bent over backwards to help us, and with his ‘practise on Saturday and ride on Sunday’ policy we get so much motorcycle time, riding and practising with the top riders. Based on the Island, Steve Colley has been a great help in the early days sharing his knowledge of training on and off the machine; we can’t thank the landowners enough as without them we would have nothing.
“We also run fundraisers throughout the year, with our biggest being the Christmas raffle and a very successful race night, all of which are based at the Baltic Inn, Foxdale, so a big thank you to our host Judith.”
THE 2019 SEASON
As the 2019 season closed, we reflected on the achievements of the team riders in their respective championships through the eyes of Michael Owen.
EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kaytlyn Adshead finished in a strong 11th place in the Women’s Championship, and Bobby Moyer finished in 17th place in the Youth International Championship. The Youth European Championships are very tough and attract the very best riders from across Europe, so top-twenty finishes are something to be very proud of.
THE YMSA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Bobby Moyer had a fantastic year on his Motor Worx Gas Gas in the B class, securing the YMSA title at the last round of the season with a steady fourth-place finish which he knew would be enough to take the overall victory.
Beta rider Corey Peters finished in an impressive fifth place after some great rides throughout the year. Corey has gained a lot of much-needed experience in the B class, which will prove very valuable going into the 2020 season.
The Ladies’ & Girls’ British Champion, Kaytlyn Adshead, has once again taken on the lads and shown she has what it takes, ending her year in a solid sixth place on board her Station Garage TRS.
In the C class, both Summer Peters (Beta) and Jack Asbridge (Beta) battled it out for the final spot on the podium. Summer Peters came away the victor taking third place in the series, with Jack Asbridge finishing a close fourth place in what is his first year competing at a national level.
Jacob Wilson took the D class title on his Station Garage OSET with four wins from six rounds. Jacob has been very consistent this year and hopes his form continues into
2020 when he makes the move to his Station Garage Beta machine. Carter Cubbon who was also riding an OSET impressed at only six years old, taking a sixth-place finish in his first year at National level competition.
ACU LADIES’ & GIRLS’ BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIPS
It was Kaytlyn Adshead who beat Daisy Parsons and was crowned the ACU Ladies’ & Girls’ British B class Champion; Kaytlyn won five rounds from six to secure the title.
Eleven-year-old, Summer Peters who was riding up a class this year, finished in a very impressive fifth place and held her own against the older girls. Summer has shown she can challenge in this class, so we look forward to seeing what she brings next year with a year’s experience under her belt.
Gemma Kerruishe enjoyed her season and finished in an impressive fifth place in the girls’ C class group. This year is Gemma’s first year on the petrol machine since moving from the electrically powered OSET machine, so this has been a steep learning curve for her. Still, she has continued to plug away and has shown significant improvements every time she has ridden.
ACU BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIPS
Our B class riders found the going a little tough this year, especially with Corey Peters only just moving up to B class in 2019. Bobby Moyer sustained a wrist injury at round one which saw him miss the next five rounds. Corey finished the year in 14th place, which is an excellent achievement in his first year as he also missed the last two rounds of the year, and Kaytlyn Adshead finished in 15th place, successfully pitting herself against a field of predominately male riders.
Class C Medium Wheel rider, Stan Cubbon, kept himself at the sharp end all year with two wins and five second-place finishes. Unfortunately, this was not going to be enough for Stan to become the British Champion this year, but he still had an outstanding campaign.
The D Small Wheel class has proved to be a very competitive Class, with OSET rider, Jacob Wilson, finishing second in the championship after putting himself on the podium no less than six times in seven rounds. Carter Cubbon also travelled with the team to contest his first ever British Championship. At only six years old he has given a really strong performance in each round and sits just outside the top ten in an impressive 11th position.