John Southern Sporting Trial

Event Report

Bill Rhodes won a low scoring John Southern trial from championships challenger Richard Sharp and an in form Mike Salton. Bob Packham was on Clerk of the Course duties and had set up six hills to be attempted four times.

A low scoring first round saw no less than 6 drivers go clear with eventual winner Rhodes interestingly not in this group, although very much in touch after dropping a solitary one along with four other drivers.

The second round saw things start to shake up a bit and its at this point that Bill started to stake his claim for the win. Bill was one of only two drivers to go clear in round two, alongside Andrew Woodhead, moving him up into a tie for the lead along with Barry Hogg who only added 1 mark to hid clear first round. Hill 5 was the hill that proved crucial in the round and indeed was the hill that would largely decide the trial with the majority of competitors points dropped on this hill.

Round three saw Bill continue his steady progress with a couple of points dropped, allowing Richard Sharp move level on points after only a single one dropped. Mike Salton put himself firmly in the hunt with the only clear scorecard for the round leaving him just a point back. Barry Hogg dropped back a little, although only dropping 4 points for the round, such was the low scoring nature it pushed him away from the fight for the lead.

The fourth round was a battle of nerves and all of Bills experience came to the fore with a clear round giving him a win by a point from Richard Sharp and two from Mike Salton who both dropped a further point in the final 6 sections.

Darren Underwood rued a below par round 3 which dropped him down the overall standings but still drove well enough to take another Blue class win and Ian Blease-Dudley continued his progression with the Novice class win.