Payne’s the pick of the weekend’s performers
BRISTOL-BASED British Ladies Championship contender Victoria Payne was in cracking form in two events in Devon over the weekend.
She won the Taunton Club’s Taunton Trophy event at Churchinford, on the Blackdown Hills between Taunton and Honiton, on Saturday, and she gained a first class award in the clubman expert class in the Moretonhampstead Club’s Leighton Steer Trophy event at Cossicks Cross, between Exeter and Moretonhampstead, on Sunday.
Losing four marks on each of her first and second laps in the Taunton event at the Trickey Warren group of sections, she finished six marks in front of the more experienced Anthony Cowling despite losing a further ten marks on her final lap in the second, fifth and ninth sections.
Somerset veteran Stuart Keedwell retained a clean sheet in the over-50 years class in the same event where his closest rival was Tony Knight, who incurred two single-mark debits and a three.
The closest result was in the pre1965 class, where Tony Henbest and Nick Smith each lost three marks, but it later transpired that the former had lost his in one fewer sections than his rival.
There was a similar situation in the twin-shock class, but on this occasion Yeovil’s David Fry gained a marginal win over Paul Green and Bob Hill with Sean Donaghy also in the mix.
Paul Manning and Jason Hamblin were the trials class and non-trials class winners in the North Somerset club’s Eco Angus Trophy Timed and Observation Trial at Charterhouseon-Mendip on Sunday.
They both completed nine laps of a dry but demanding circuit at Ubley Drove.
Manning won by virtue of his performances on observation in that he did not lose a mark in the six observed sections encountered on each lap despite by being slower in completing the event than runnerup Joe Newman.
Hamblin’s win was marginal from Andy Frost and Andy Scrivens. He lost marks on time to Harvey Dark and Frost, but he was second best on observation to Scrivens.
World Championship contender 18-year-old Toby Martyn ended Joe Baker’s six-year long domination in the Camel Vale Club’s annual Kernow Cup Trial near St Blazey in his native Cornwall on Saturday which attracted a three-figure entry for the two-lap event at the Garker Valley group of sections at Trethurgy.
He paved the way for his success by completing his first lap without losing a mark and the only mistake he made on lap two was in the 12th section in a rock-filled gully.
Baker lost seven marks and all on the first lap, which included one maximum-mark debit which occurred when his front brake lever caught on a tree when he was attempting a cambered climb in the 22nd section, apart from that he would have finished with two singlemark debits.
Out on a new Montesa for the first time World youth champion Billy Green took third place with the loss of nine.
However, he won the Moretonhampstead club’s event the following day while retaining a clean sheet throughout three laps of a dozen sections.
Stephen Martin, who does road racing during the non-winter months was his closest rival with Connor Atkinson a further mark in arrears.
Martin gained the edge over his rival in the 11th section which he completed without loss on every lap whilst Atkinson lost a single mark on each of his first two laps prior to conquering the hazard on his final visit.
Mick Thompson was a clear winner of the clubman expert class in which Payne was edged into fifth place by Wayne Vincent, Keiran Reeves and Tom Manley in a close result.
The entry for the CamborneRedruth Club’s annual Trispen Trial, near Redruth, on Sunday fell below expectations with just 45 in action in two laps of 11 sections at Gilbert’s Combe.
Winner was Stefan Goodman, who lost just two marks, both in the first section, which gave him a four-mark win over Cornwall Centre champion George Edyvean, who lost six single marks in as many sections.