Report Ken O'Brien
A cold but sunny morning greeted a class entry of riders for the 79th running of this prestigious Open to Centre Trophy the ' Harold Avery Cup ' where in the past such great riders as John Avery Sammy Miller Don Smith Bill Faulkner Pat Lamper John Cowley Tony Cowley Chris Koch Steve Reece Nick Draper and John Reynolds to name a few have all been triumphant.
Folly Farm Beckley was the venue where Ten Sections were plotted to be ridden four times with long sandy climbs wooded gullies and rooted cambers.
Heavy afternoon rain was forecast so time was of the essence and most pressed on to get an early finish before the heavens opened, but for some the rain came all too soon and scores rocketed to the clouds themselves.
The Phillip Howkins cup is awarded for the best adult performance on the Yellow standard route and also the Spring Cup for the best 50/50 ( middle Hard route ) Adult performance.
Experts started at section one a steep sandy double climb with fallen trees and awkwardly growing branches to negotiate, this was a tricky one for eventual Premiere winner John Cowley 300 Beta who had a prod and a two here on his way to victory.
John will have his name engraved on the Harold Avery Cup for the third time the first being way back in 1999.
James Gammons 250 Vertigo had a superb ride taking the Spring Cup with a loss of 10 marks on the 50/50 route,James had four brilliant cleans at section 9 which started with a bog crossing before lining up to attack a really steep slick thirty yard fourth gear blast with a slippy drop to the ends.
The Phillip Howkins Cup was awarded this year to Simon Thornley who was putting the vertigo around the yellow middle route as if it was a summers day event, 5 separate dabs was all that he needed to lift the silverware for 2026.
One of Simons dabs was required to save a big five at section four second lap, a really tricky ditch crossing then ducking under a branch with a thirty yard slimy climb to the ends.
Pete Cook was having a no-nonsense ride caning the little Fantic 200 to the limit almost everywhere and into the bargain a 25 point deficit was enough to secure best Twinshock on the yellow Middle route.
The very popular Middle / Easy route was not as easy as it looked but Mark Davidson 250 Evo was on the case today with a fine win losing 35 marks.
Mark, as were many finding grip a tad difficult on the eighty yard muddy climb of section six with in the end the correct choice of line essential to conquer the hazard.
In second spot Chris Aylott persuaded the WR 250 DOT around for a further 5 marks, Chris was excellent at section eight a sweeping climb up a wooded hillside before turning on a lattice of roots then a slick downhill camber to the ends.
The man to beat once again on the white eased Sportsman route was Beta powered Simon Dowling losing 10 with section seven doing a bit of damage taking 2 of them, a lengthy affair consisting a bomb-hole turn some logs and a ditch crossing to finish.
The Pre 65 brigade were out in force with some beautiful machinery on show and it was Rob Bremner 350 HT Ariel who led them home on 10 marks lost with Roy Haines BSA Bantam close on his heels with a 16 point loss.
Edward Morgan Youth A and Bobby Morgan Youth B led their respective classes home with very creditable rides.