Round 1 & 2, Newcastle, Northern Ireland...

Day 1.
In what seems like no time at all the first round of the 2009 season was upon us at the impressive Donard Park venue. After viewing the sections it was clear that this was not going to be an easy opener to the 2009 campaign, with Jack Challoner (Miton Top Trial Team Beta 290) going into unknown territory on the big bike.

Jack had a nervy start to the first lap, made worse by brushing a flag in section 3, and gaining a ‘feet up Five. Two 3’s and another five followed in this run of very difficult sections. After a dab on eight it was up the mountain to the 3 sections set in the quarry, where 0, 5, 3 was recorded, the next group of 3 sections were up a stream, two bad 3’s and a dab were recorded, followed by a clean on the last for a 1st lap of 33, putting Jack in 3rd place going into the second lap.
The second lap was to start better, but another bad five on section four didn’t help! This was made up for with a brilliant fighting clean on the difficult section 5, the only clean of the day, 5,3,3 followed then another 7 in the quarry, and 3 dabs in the final four sections brought a second lap total of 27, an improvement on the first lap but could have been much better. Jacks final tally was 60 marks, giving him the third overall and his first podium in the Junior class..  “I have ridden well at times today, but have had too many silly marks cleaning the difficult part of the sections then having marks on the easier bit. This is something I need to try and sort out for tomorrow but overall I am happy with 3rd.. roll on Sunday”

Jack and Alexz with the spoils...

Day 2.
The second day of competition started with fine sunny weather and Jack in determined mood to try and better yesterdays result. The day started better than the previous day, but with several sections shortened this gave the riders more time, and eased them. Jack was going steady, five marks down going into section six, where a maximum was recorded. The rest of the lap went without anymore failures but with a smattering of 2’s a 3, three dabs and two cleans for a first lap of 22.. better than day 1 but not quite good enough as this put him in 6th place going into lap 2. A good second lap was needed to try and emulate yesterdays performance.
Again the lap started much better than the previous one, with only five marks on the card right up to section 9 where Jack mistakenly selected the wrong gear on the first big step resulting in a maximum. This was followed by a stall in the next hazard, trebling Jacks lap score in a flash, the rest of the lap was completed for a further 5 marks for a second lap total of 20. This was an improvement on the first lap, but not enough to climb back onto the podium, Jacks final total of 42 was good enough for 5th overall on the day.. “today has been much the same as yesterday, with me riding well at times, but not consistently throughout the trial, I am not making many mistakes but at this level you just cannot afford to have slack marks. Overall I have really enjoyed the trial, a big thanks to the Lightweight club for a brilliant event. Also thanks to Adsy for minding, my Dad, Rick, Brooke and the rest of the team for their support this weekend. Also congratulations to my team mate Alexz for the double win, see you all in Portugal.