EXMOOR Motor Club’s first event of the year last Sunday was the second round of the ACU South Western Centre motorcycle trials championship and as in previous years a bumper entry of 98 riders faced a tough and wet day, with stream sections getting deeper as the day went on.

All riders had 12 sections to negotiate on each of their three laps, with a time limit of five and a half hours to keep them from wasting too much time in the hope of some of the sections would ride easier later on.

In the top expert class, it was always going to be a two-horse race between the multi-times champion Joe Baker from Lynton and the up and coming Tom Hooper from Porlock.

In the first round held on Dartmoor, Tom had become the first person in many years to knock Joe off the top spot.

The pair were neck and neck in the first four sections but section five, a large undercut outcrop of a rock caught Tom for 5, 2 and 3 points over his three laps, while Joe mastered for no loss at all.

But the tables were turned on section six, where the riders had to scale a 12-foot rock slab out of a stream from a near standing start, with Tom having faultless rides on each lap but Joe failing to get to the top on his first and second attempts before mastering it on lap three.

Scores were then level until section nine, when Tom lost a few too many marks, and after Joe became the only rider to get through section 11 unscathed he emerged a clear winner.

In the remaining classes, which all involved championship points, there were some very close results with only a mark or two separating the winners.

In the past master class, Colin Green and Kevin Hart both finished with 48 points, with Colin the winner having had the most faultless rides.

Cade Smith from Minehead, now riding in the oldest schoolboy category, had a clear win after losing more than 30 marks less than runner-up Kieren Reeves.

RESULTS

Expert: 1 Joe Baker (Active Bikesport 300 Sherco) 32 points, 2 Tom Hooper (RCM 300 Sherco) 46; Clubman Expert: 1 Rob Smith (300 Sherco) 58, 2 Simon James (300 Scorpa) 59; Clubman: 1 Thorne Beckley (Pett 290 Sherco) 51, 2 Melvin Burge (250 Sherco) 59; Past Master: 1 Colin Green (125 Beta) 48, 2 Kevin Hart (250 Montesa) 48; Youth A: 1 Cade Smith (125 Beta) 76, 2 Kieren Reeves (125 Beta 109); Sportsman: 1 Nigel Andrews (250 Beta) 32, 2 Neil Mackie (250 Gas Gas) 36; Novice: 1 Raki Rogers (240 Fantic) 48, 2 Steven Saunders (250 Beta) 60; Over 50: 1 Ed Pollard (250 Montesa) 46, George Atkins (125 GasGas) 47.