Simon Sharp didn't put a foot wrong when he won Red Rose Classic Motorcy
cle Club's opening trial of 2014.
Sharp, riding a Triumph Tiger Cub, cleaned every section to beat former World Champion Yrjo Vesterinen, who dropped just one mark.
Joint third place went to John Hird (Yamaha) and Tony Dillon (Cub) who tied on three marks.
Former Scottish Pre-65 winner Paul Heys, from Rawtenstall, dropped two marks on sections three and nine to claim a hard-earned fourth place.
Red Rose kickstarted their 2014 Championship with an excellent 74-rider entry for the meeting, held for the first time in several years at Pendle Hall Farm, Padiham.
The club had been forced to switch venues a week beforehand after Copy Pit, between Burnley and Todmorden, became unavailable.
Blue skies and a light frost greeted the riders, with clerks-of-the-course Andrew Scott and Ian Johnson marking out ten sections to be completed four times.
The first group of three sections used a flowing stream, set deep in woodland, with steep banks either side.
As temperatures rose, so did the depth of the mud, with riders finding the going very slippery, particularly on the steep exit of section three.
It was the same on section seven, an innocuous-looking run along the side of a small wood, which had a sting in the tail with many riders finding zero grip on the sharp uphill turn to the finish flag.
Class wins went to Ben Butterworth (Ariel), Les Humphries (Cub), 'Odgie' (OK Supreme) and Pete Gothard (Fantic).
Red Rose would like to thank the landowner, officials and observers for their help, and their next trial is at Warmden Quarry, near Accrington, (nearest postcode BB5 2DL) on Sunday, February 16, starting at 10.30am.
RESULTS:
Overall: 1: Simon Sharp (Cub) 0; 2: Yrjo Vesterinen (Bultaco) 1; =3: John Hird (Yamaha) Tony Dillon (Cub) 3.
Class A: 1: Ben Butterworth (Ariel) 3; 2: Owen Hardisty (Ariel) 14; 3:Carl Winstanley (Ariel) 21.
Class C: 1: Simon Sharp (Cub) 0; 2: Tony Dillon (Cub) 3; 3: Paul Heys (Cub) 4.
Class Ce:1: Les Humphries (Cub) 26; 2: Ian Livingstone (DOT) 36; 3: Frank McMullen (Bantam) 54.
Class D: 1: 'Odgie' (OK Supreme) 52; 2: Eric Atkinson (James) 61.
Class T: 1: Yrjo Vesterinen (Bultaco) 1; 2: John Hird (Yamaha) 3; 3: Nigel Land (Honda) 11.
Class Te: 1: Pete Gothard (Fantic) 21; 2: Paul Brook (Bultaco) 40; 3: Alan Taylor (Yamaha) 55.