More' the merrier...
By TMX Archives on 30th Aug 07
ROBIN and Gill Morewood adopted a completely different approach to this year's Manx Two-Day Trial and found that the more relaxed style worked a treat.
''I used to get so worked up that I couldn't eat my breakfast on themornings of the event, but this year Gill and I came to the Isle of Manwith the view of having some fun. We had no intentions of purely cominghere to win, as in the past.''
A loss of 17 on day one, including three fives, may have given theimpression that they were taking the event a tad too casually, but withclose rivals Robin Luscombe and Les Ashby only three ahead, the mainprize was never far out of sight.
An early one on the second sub at the second Sunday morning venue ofSlieau Whallian Plantation did little to shake their confidence and theYorkshire pair slowly took a grip of the trial.
A cracking clean on the second very difficult section at Old StoneyMountain saw their confidence raise ever higher and they continued toride the remaining 17 sections without penalty to win their eighth ManxSword of State in reasonable comfort.
''Saturday was a steady ride, but Sunday went perfectly for us,''continued 38-year-old Morewood, who has five British championships tohis credit.
By contrast, Luscombe - the veteran of 27 Manx Two-Day Trials - said hehad not ridden well all weekend. ''It simply hasn't flowed, there isalways a lot of pressure on you at the Manx Two-Day, it is the eventthat everyone wants to win.
''It's not like a British round where if you fail a section it won'texactly cost you the series. If you five a section in the wrong placehere you can lose out on the most prestigious prize in sidecar trials.''
Luscombe simply fived on too many occasions this time - well, once tobe exact on that difficult second section at Old Stoney Mountain. Theonly other crew to match the Morewoods' clean there were late runnersKevin Nolan and Karl Jarvis, while Lee Granby and Amelia Haigh rodewell for a one.
Nolan and Jarvis went on to finish third on their Dunlop-sponsoredSherco 290, ousting overnight third place crew Chambers and Allaway ona similar Montesa 4RT to Luscombe and Ashby's.
The leading home crew were father and son Adrian and Aaron Smith on the300 Gas Gas in fifth, nine ahead of fellow locals Gary Flowers andAntony Smith (Aaron's elder brother).
The final first class awards went to Tony Crabtree/Jamie Howe and Jamie Tear
NATIONAL MANX TWO-DAY TRIAL Douglas, IoM (Isle of Man Centre)
NATIONAL SIDECAR CLASS
1 Robin Morewood/ Gill Morewood (290 MRS Sherco) 18 marks lost (ObbreeCup & Ray Armstrong Memorial Sword (Best Driver) & KarenLuscombe Cup (Best Passenger)).
2 Robin Luscombe/ Les Ashby (250 Appleyard Montesa) 26 (Isle of ManCentre Award (Second Sidecar) & Four-stroke Sidecar Cup)).
3 Kevin Nolan/ Karl Jarvis (290 Dunlop Sherco) 45 (Isle of Man Centre Award (Third Sidecar)).
First Class: 4 Bernard Chambers/ Helene Allaway (250 Montesa 4RT) 46, 5Adrian Smith/ Aaron Smith (300 Gas Gas) 56 (Stan Cubbon Memorial Cup(Best Manx Sidecar)), 6 Gary Flowers/ Antony Smith (300 Gas Gas) 65, 7Tony Crabtree/ Jamie Howe (290 Sherco) 68, 8 Jamie Teare/ Andy Birchall(250 Scorpa) 71.
Second Class: 9 Mark Bimson/ Julie Owen (290 Sherco) 86 (Southern 100MCRC Cup (Best Crew Both Over 40)), 10 Jonathan Kelly/ Ealish Baxter(270 Kelly Blinds Beta) 89, 11 Lee Granby/ Amelia Haigh (300 Gas Gas)92, 12 David Larkin/ Suzanne Rawlings (250 Honda Montesa) 104, 13 LesLansley/ Ali Woodbridge (250 Scorpa) 116.
Best Manx Newcomers & Best Newcomers: Craig Baxter/ Ryan Knighton(290 Sherco) 322 (Chadwick Plant Hire Trophy & Glen Cowell Shield).
