Henry Bendall wins Sphinx trial

cheltenham home guardAfter beating reigning ACU AJP Ultrapassar Trailbike Trials champion Chris Koch at the Wyegate Trial last month, he repeated the feat in the first round of the championship, the Sphinx Trial, organised by Cheltenham Home Guard MCC.

 

Again, Koch lost four, and Bendall dropped just one mark. This time the result turned on two sections at Humblebee near Sudeley, where Bendall made his only mistake of the day on a tricky climb over a fallen tree on section six. Koch lost two there, having already dropped two at the previous section.

 

Virtually every other rider dropped three or five on section six, apart from fourth placed Tony Coleman, and Jerry Walters who lost one each. Walters' ride, as it was on a Yamaha DT175, was a candidate for ride of the day, along with Paul Sargeant.

 

He was the only rider to clean the section where Bendall slipped up, and after a pair of dabs, an uncharacteristic five for Sargeant on the penultimate section in Hazleton dropped him from second to third.

 

Rob Faulkner was in contention for fourth until he was caught out by a lack of grip at the hillclimb in the final group, and a five relegated him to seventh.

 

Henry Bendall with brother Joe and Mike Hughes took the team award, thanks in part to full blooded efforts at Dowdeswell where observer Stan Howitt sheltered from a hail of mud thrown up by their clean rides, along with Koch and Sargeant. Thanks to landowners and observers for their invaluable assistance in making the event a success.