Tag: High Bray

Duncan Stephens and Neil O’Connor take Exmoor Wins

This years Exmoor trial proved a little easier than Clerk of the Course Chris Barham would have liked although the two sections in the Holdridge woodland proved too much for all but a few.

Duncan Stephens won the car category. Pictured on High Bray by Vince Feeney
Neil O’Connor was best bike (Photo by Peter Browne)

The car entry was dominated by Class Eight and a particularly strong Beetle entry spread across classes Four and Six.

Competitive sections kicked off at Porte Farm with three sections. The second of these proved particularly challenging. Most of the solos and all the outfits went clean, but it was a different story when the cars came along.

Outside of Class Eight 0nly Keith Sanders (Reliant Scimitar SS), Ray Ferguson and John Early (Lieges) and Brian Hampson in his X90 emerged from the complex with clean sheets.

The second section at Porte Farm shattered the dream of a clean sheet for most competitors. (VidCap from Steven Price)

The middle part of the trial was mostly smooth sailing, but then came High Bray, the usual highlight of the Exmoor Trial.

Steven Price on the resurfaced High Bray (Photo by Peter Browne)
Vince Feeney captured Andy Beveridge on High Bray. Most of the outfits were based on Enduro chassis in Class D2. Andy was in D1 meaning the chair can be detached.

There was a solo bike-only section called Walscott just before High Bray, which stopped all of the smaller-engined Class B bikes. Then came the famous hill itself. The section looked very different this year. The local authority had resurfaced it as part of a byway improvement program. It still stopped a few bikes, but all the cars sailed up.

There were two sections in the Holdridge woodland, and these were to prove decisive for the cars. Only Duncan Stephens, Paul Merson, and Arnie Martin emerged clean, all in rear-engined Class Eights.

Ray Ferguson dominated Class 7, dropping only four marks and finishing fourth overall, passengered on this occasion by experienced trailer and fellow Liege owner Trevor Wood. Photo by Vince Feeney on Floyds Bank

Floyds Bank was the penultimate section and proved as competitive as ever, providing entertainment for the usual spectators. It didn’t stop the three leading Class Eights, and they were to finish the event with clean sheets. That meant the overall results would be decided by the time of the only special test. Dean Partington had been fastest there, but he had dropped points on the observed sections. That meant the win went to Duncan Stephens, followed by Paul Merson and Arnie Martin.

Neil O’Connor was fastest of the two Solos on zero marks. Steve Urell and Julie Williams were the best of a well supported class of outfits.

InCar with Steven Price. The video is from Steven Price’s excellent SlippingClutches91 You Tube Channel

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Updates

(1) added 20 Feb 2025

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Exmoor Trial

Keith Sanders and Jon Hustwayte triumphed after overcoming the humps and bumps of High Bray

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Jon Hustwayte concentrates on High Bray on his way to a Motorcycle Overall Win (Photo by Duncan Stephens at http://www.donutphotography.com )

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