2026 Club Champs Round 4

Report Ken O'Brien

Pics Gary Dowzall, more pics can be found at sliders.photography 

Steeple Hill Corner at Folly Farm Beckley was the venue and 50 plus turned out on May 10th for the final Ixion Sunday morning meeting of the summer being the last round of the 2026 club championship also.

Maybe the Nationwide or Local bad weather forecast had put a few off and on this note the course plotters decided we don't want a National on our hands if the heavens open so eased-sections were marked-out on all routes. However we set off in the sun with a cold breeze to tackle four laps of ten sections with rooted cambers, Big Hills and Nadgery streambeds to name a few of the hazards on offer today.

In the Expert class John Cowley Beta Syncro 300 put in a spectacular performance losing 2 marks, one of which was applied on the very first section on lap one, a down hill sandy bank with a tricky uphill hop over a fallen tree, this prod was necessary or the Big Five was on the cards. John Lee 300 Evo took runner-up spot on 10 marks lost with an unfortunate 5 adding to his tally at section 5 a newly cut out ditch crossing after a fierce looking stricken tree crossing.

50/50 class riders were led home by Ian Watts also 300 Beta, Ian lost 5 marks today compiling a sprinkling of dabs at various subs along the way. Andrew Earnshaw TRS 300 was a single mark behind with section nine proving a bit of a bugbear the Culvert section with several turns through the wet stuff. 

The well populated Yellow route Clubman class saw Paul Millhouse Vertigo Nitro 300 give a clean pair of heels and boots to all with an inch perfect ride. Adrian Steele and Alan Taylor took the minor placings although both were cleaning the difficult section 7 with ease as the gathered crowd looked on, a very rocky uphill stream with water carrying up the exit bank to make for a tricky end for most.

Paul Hadingham was superb on the ageing 340 Bultaco in the Twinshock and 4 was his tally after four laps, section six took a prod at precisely the right place to avoid a higher penalty, an undulating affair though Wild Garlic with the occasional tree to negotiate. 

Joe Pusey eased to victory in the Youth A with 21 mark ride and with machine gremlins at work it was a decent effort.

Another very popular class is the 50/50 Middle - Easy route and once again it was DOT WR250 mounted Chris Aylott who took the honours ahead of Gordon Pusey twelve marks to nineteen. Section 4 was proving a tad tricky on this route with Chris taking a steady two on his first lap, a slight downhill cambered turn then a boggy rise to some awkwardly growing boughs and roots with many lines that changed often over the duration of the event.

The eased White course as usual had a mix of young and old in the Sportsman class and Simon Dowling Beta was the man to beat once again, pre race favourite Simon didn't disappoint with a controlled ride losing 4 marks. Section eight took half his total on the first visit to ' Axford's Ditch ' and old fashioned type hazard of one hundred yards crossing and Zig-Zagging with a steep slick exit to the end cards.

Mick Clarkson 185cc Bantam was victorious in the Pre 65 losing a miserly 3 marks all day.

Many thanks to all who helped on the day.

Next Trial is the Ivan Davis Cup September 13th.

Full results can be found here .