TAIL LIGHT December 2018

Transcription

1 Braintree & District Motorcycle Club TAIL LIGHT December 2018 OFFICERS OF THE CLUB FOR 2018 Chairman: Steve Butcher Secretary: John Yearley Treasurer: Chris Cook Auditor: Andrew Thain Membership & EC Gazette Secretary: Stuart Penfold Competitions Recorder: Wes Butcher Tail Light Editor: Wes Butcher EC Board Reps: Eddie Wass and Chris Cook Committee: Andrew Thain , James Yearley , Wes Butcher, Adrian Parker , Allen Collier , Chris Cook, Sam Cook , Phil Read, John Yearley Trustees of the Club: Dave Clark, John Yearley, Eddie Wass Bob Maiden DIARY Turkey Trot Trial Beazley End Sunday - 16/12/18 Christmas Trial Twinstead Wood - Saturday - 29/12/18 If anyone can help on the day with observing etc or beforehand we would really appreciate it - please contact the Chairman. Editor s note Welcome to just the second edition of the year! Sorry for not writing one since February but I have been somewhat busy with non-motorcycling activities and something had to give. In fact I ve only ridden my own bike once all year so please excuse the lack of intimate knowledge of events etc as I simply haven t been out and about! Fortunately many of you have been busy riding bikes or organising events etc for the club so I can report on them in this edition. As you all will have heard we had some quite tragic news earlier in the year with the early passing of our friend and club legend Roy Palmer. It was only in the last edition of the taillight that I reported on Roy s fantastic ride at the 2017 Thumpers winning the unit class on the easier route. Another great ride to add to Roy s very large collection. This news has impacted many of you. I know Roy would just love it if we could honour him by keep riding our bikes and enjoying the tremendous friendships we all have through our motorcycling. Enjoy the read and hope to see you all out there riding or getting involved in running the events soon. May I remind people that you can get regular up to date information about the clubs activities by following us on Facebook. We have a fantastic community of over 750 people following us on this platform and it allows us to communicate with you all quickly and easily and it s a tremendous way of sharing photos and videos so please do get involved. Happy Christmas and see you at the Turkey Trot

2 FIM AWARD FOR THE FUTURE 2018 I accepted on behalf of the club a certificate recognising our work in the community with the Junior Academy from the FIM (Federation of International Motorcycling). This really was an amazing recognition from the very top of our sport and followed a nomination by our friends at the Castle Colchester club. The Award for the future is a big prize and this year was awarded to Dorna which is a massive organisation. The fact we were acknowledged really cannot be underestimated. As I said on facebook whilst the certificate is in my name it s for all the club members who give up their free time to help run these academy days. Well done to everyone at the club who has helped on the day or behind the scenes (you all know who you are) as it s a massive team effort to put them on. If anyone else would like to get involved please do let me know as we are too reliant on just a few hardy souls and it would be nice to spread the workload a little.

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4 So whilst I accepted this certificate I think these young lads at our last Academy in November were equally thrilled with their day s efforts The Academy goes from strength to strength with average attendances over 30 and a now fairly solid regular group of boys and girls with their own bikes who always turn up. Riding alongside fellow youngsters does wonders for their confidence and enjoyment and I m sure we have already witnessed a star or two of the future. Keep up the good work everyone!

5 SSDT etc with Richard Penfold The month of May witnessed Richard tackle the mighty Scottish Six Days Trial (SSDT). He was part of the Army official team so didn t even need to take his own bike! Unfortunately some machine trouble out on the middle of the moor put pay to his finish but he soldiered on for the remaining days to be an unofficial finisher. Having done the same back in 2003 I know personably how tough this is as the week is gruelling enough as it is without the pain of not actually being acknowledged as a finisher come the end! Anyhow I ve been told by good sources that he will be back next year to have another crack at it so if anyone should see him wish him well! If anyone wants to get an idea of just how tough the event is I d recommend you viewing the Ross Noble 2 part special edition that was on the Dave channel but can now be found on You Tube. It s been a busy year for Rich as he became a father for the first time to young Dougie and even found time between nappy changes to be awarded this huge trophy form the Army for his motorcycling exploits! Well done Richie on all you achieved during 2018!

6 Weston Beach Race William Hughes had his 1st attempt at Weston and was 600th to the line but got 43rd at the finish, and top eastern centre rider. At least he will be 43rd to the line next year! Ed I feel there is a story in here somewhere that Mark is not letting on so if anyone can let us know why Will was 600 th to the line I m sure we would all enjoy hearing about it!

7 ACU British Championship Sponsorship Well done to club member and committee member Adrian Parker for putting something back into our sport by becoming the main sponsor for next year s youth and ladies British championships. What a fantastic thing to do and I think it just adds to the great things the club has been doing in the wider community this year.

8 Roy Palmer aka Peddles 25 th Feb th July 2018 On Wednesday 19 th September trials riders from all over East Anglia descended to the Parish Church of St Andrew, Shalford for the thanksgiving for the life of our friend Roy. The turnout was remarkable (but not surprising to all of us there) and it was standing room inside the Church and many more unable to fit in stood outside. Graham and Kevin brought some motorcycle power to accompany Roy on his last ride on board the sidecar of a motorcycle hearse. Paul Garrett from the Southend club brought a personal touch to accompany him on the way in riding Roy s old beloved Beta trials bike. We all shared stories with our motorcycling family back at Bocking hall afterwards (a venue that had of course seen Roy in many times collecting, on some occasions, wheel barrow full of trophies from our award evenings). Everyone has their own personal memory of Roy and my favourite has to be the year I saw him make his debut as Father Christmas on Boxing Day around Jane s mums house. He had of course spent the day riding the Boxing Day trial and probably hadn t even bee home for long by the time he put on his Santa s outfit. The kids and adults all loved it of course and he put on a magical performance handing the presents out The only give away it might not have been the main man after all?? He was still wearing his red and blue Hebo gloves!!! I m still not sure why he had these on perhaps it was for fear of blisters from the presents or perhaps a subtle hint to all us adults that it was really Roy. Whatever it was it was bl**dy funny and he continued to wear the gloves on subsequent occasions! Below 25 th February 2017 and Roy had happily found that if you bring the family to the annual awards evening all food and entertainment is provided including the cake! Happy times

9 Roy #1 on the bike and #1 in the results that day at the Thumpers For those of you riding at the Turkey Trot you will be in for a real treat I would say surprise but clearly I have spoiled that by announcing it first here! All the way from up north we have some special rockery that both Ace and Chairman have spent many an hour moving into position and practising on! Apparently Ace has now really mastered the splat technique Its only right that these will rest in the North Essex countryside just a couple of miles from his spiritual home at Shalford and will forever now be known as Roy s Rocks. Enjoy them as you introduce yourself to them at the Trial!

10 Below Roy s Rocks under initial construction MX Update The summer scramble seems a long time ago now and indeed it was! Hopefully you attended or at least spoke to someone who was. Unfortunately I was away but I heard it was another fantastic afternoon of riding. Below seems to sum up nicely with everyone eager to get off the line under beautiful blue skies. Cressing s Jason Morland looked like having it so easy as the opening races got off to a cracking pace at the Braintree & District Motorcycle Club s annual Jack Hubbard Trophy motocross event at Stisted on Sunday. Riding a cc KTM he had built up himself from parts sourced on the Internet, he stormed to an easy

11 start-to-finish win over series leader Brad Tomlin in the opening Eastern Evo Championship race for pre 1990 bikes. Last year s and 4 times winner of the Jack Hubbard Trophy, Morland then coasted to 3 similar wins in the Allcomers races riding his latest high tech KTM and continued showing all the signs of securing a fifth title in the grand final, the last race of the day. But a stalling engine in his second Evo race saw him forced to fight his way through from last to finish sixth, and a less than perfect start in the final leg handed overall victory in this class to Brad Tomlin, with Morland ending up third behind Sidcup s Brett Fisher. No-one reckoned he would have a battle on his hands in the grand final for the Trophy though, where the qualifying top 13 riders from each of the Evo, NGR over-30s and Allcomers groups came together. But Halstead Club s Tomlin, on his 20 year old 250cc JK Honda Evo machine, emerged first out of the start gate followed by Sudbury s Harry Clark - on a modern but small capacity 250cc KTM ahead of the title-chasing Morland aboard his super quick 500cc bike in hot pursuit. By lap 2, Morland was up to second spot but some distance back from leader Tomlin. Try as he might, the Cressing rider gave every impression he had thrown it away by losing the advantage of a good start on a track that was proving difficult to get by the man in front. Lap by lap, the Tomlin - Morland gap widened, then narrowed but with 4 laps to go Tomlin drifted out at the finish line bend under pressure from Morland, who was now in touching distance, and in a do or die effort the local man snatched his opportunity to take the lead and finish the race a comfortable way ahead of his rival to take the Trophy for a fifth time. The NGR races were dominated by current leader Aaron Hopkins from Norwich, who made a clean sweep of things over the 3 legs to maintain his standing in the Championship. But exciting battles down field were aplenty, notably those involving former NGR champion Steve Bottoms and Rayne s Aaron Smith, who this year not only took charge of track building, but also was event secretary, as well as taking part in the racing! Bottoms managed to defend his 7 th position from the Braintree Club rider s race-long attempts to get by him in the first leg, while the tables turned in the second. By lap 6 Smith had got by his rival in the third race to finish 7 th and make it 2 1 to Smith, who later fell heavily in the boggy entrance to the far meadow during his Jack Hubbard final race. Daughter of Braintree Club legend Jack Hubbard, Susan Lee, once again supported the event and presented the Trophy to Jason Morland, as well as additional special prizes for the victors. The Club is ever grateful to Dixon-Smith Farms and Whitehead Farms for the use of their cattle fields, this being the 63 rd year of running scrambling events at Stisted. JACK HUBBARD TROPHY FINAL: 1 Jason Morland 2 Brad Tomlin 3 Harry Clark 4 Phil Burton 5 Jordan Cutting Qualifying race winners: Tomlin, Aaron Hopkins, Morland Overall Allcomers A Group: 1 Jason Morland 2 Jordan Pasquale 3 Ryan McDonnell 4 William Hughes 5 Harry Clark Leg winners: Morland (2) Allcomers B Group: Leg winners: Robert Brown, Tom Sutton

12 NGR Over 30s Group: Leg winners: Aaron Hopkins (3) Overall Evo (Pre-1990 machines) Championships: 1 Brad Tomlin 2 Brett Fisher 3 Jason Morland 4 Shane Lock 5 Jon Barfoot Leg winners: Tomlin (2), Morland Many thanks as always to Richard Sillett for putting the above together.

13 Trials coaching with the Chairman The now well established coaching sessions with the Chairman continue at special discounted rates of 25 per 10 minutes where he will happily stand by and put block paving under a piece of ply wood in the hope of seeing some air

14 Braintree Committtee of the Future! Here we have a pic of yet 3 more future faces of the club (or not depending on other distractions!). Left to right we have Chairman s grandaugher Lily Barrett, Sam Cook s youngest Jaime and Sams eldest Georgie all enjoying an outing with the clubs Mecatechno. We hope to see them all at a future academy date in future!

15 CLUB TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP 2018 The club championships are nearly over! The Snaque pit event of July got cancelled due to the land not being available so we have removed that from this year s calendar. Going into the final round at the Turkey Trot pretty much everything is still up for grabs! The Inters in particular looks very interesting with any one from 4 still realistically up for the title. The Pre-70 has been poorly represented thus far so if you have one in the garage give it a fettle and ride the trial and you might just end up as the Pre-70 Club champion of 2018! BRAINTREE COLCHESTER BRAINTREE BRAINTREE BRAINTREE SPANSEY WOOD THORINGTON SNAQUE PIT PURLS HILL BEAZLEY END 13/03/ /04/ /07/ /09/ /12/2017 Position at Spansey Position at Thorrington Position at Purls Hill Total Points Expert B Wes Butcher 4 14 Graham Palmer 7 9 Inter Ben Clark 2 N/A 20 Richard Penfold N/A Peter Clark 9 N/A 7 Kevin Palmer 3 17 Sam Cook 6 10 Inter B Barry Harbour 9 7 Novice Paul Jefferies Graham Corker 2 20 Mark Hale Russell Miles 11 5 Pre 70 Allen Collier n/a 0 Phil Read n/a 0 Twinshock Graham Palmer Allen Collier rtd 0 Kevin Palmer Robert Cameron n/a 10 6 Youth Jack Holmes Fin Penny 1 25 Tom Snowman 3 17 Jack Hornsby 4 14 Reuben Green 5 12