Old Thumpers Twin Shock Challenge Top of the South is annually held at Pohara in Takaka on the Saturday with the Old Thumpers Moto Cross held on the Sunday.
It was a late 4pm start to the Non Stop Rules Trial with eight sections of four laps. There was a good turnout of about 15 riders. Expert class consisted of Karl Clark on his TLR250cc, Alan Duthie on his very special Triumph Tiger and Craig Wassell wheeled out of his shed his KT250cc for the first time from last year’s event and Paul Dowel on his Fantic 250cc.
First lap it was a tight battle and you had to concentrate on each section as a 5 would have cost you too much to gain back. Karl lost 1 on his first lap with Alan losing 4, Craig on 6 and Paul on11. The second lap Alan had a good ride to have a clean lap with Karl dropping 3, Craig 2 and Paul 4. Going into the third lap Karl and Alan were tied up on points so the pressure was on. Third lap Karl had a clean lap with Alan dropping two, Craig losing 3 and Paul on 4. The last lap Karl lost 1 with Alan on 1 points, Craig on 3 with Paul on 2.
Overall the positions were Karl finishing first on 5 points, Alan on 7, Craig on 14 and Paul on 21.
Andy Beal took out A Grade on his Honda TLR, and it was fantastic to see a lot of the Christchurch girl and guys like Dick Gardiner and Brent Downs coming up to this event.
Was great to see all the other classic bikes, and I enjoyed riding this event. Looking forward to next year’s event.
Thanks
Karl