Organisers of the March Hare trial faced plenty of obstacles in just making sure the event went ahead – but they were rewarded with a lot of finishers and a good spread of marks lost, writes Ben Falconer.

The course with 30 sections based between Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge and Nailsworth had seen heavy rain, land access issues and a road closure in the preceding weeks but clerk of the course Mike Wathen was rewarded with more than 100 happy riders who returned to the start/finish near Stinchcombe having had a true Cotswold trials test.

Best on observation was Dursley’s Kurt Brain who cleaned every section on a modern Husqvarna 300 enduro bike – clearly Kurt’s modern-style trials riding ability allied to the power of his bike made for an unbeatable combination. His score, five ahead of dad Roger, put the other class winners’ performances in a very good light. Longstanding supporter of the event, Steve Allen plonked his Royal Enfield round for just seven marks lost, while Keith Wells dropped one more than that on his Bantam. On nine were Merv Powell (Matchless) and Nick Shepherd (Bultaco).

The event’s origins lie in classic bikes but a big part of the entry comes from modern trail bikes, and near the top of the score sheet were Kevin Stannard (Gas Gas Pampera) on five and Kevin Miller (Sherco X Ride) on nine. A large number of riders opted for the slightly easier sections and Steve Wallwin topped the results sheet here, on five marks lost. All credit to rigid class winner Jon Griffin who coaxed his Francis Barnett round for just 17 marks.

The club would like to thank all the landowners and observers, and the halfway refreshments crew who fed and watered the riders and collected £222 for the Air Ambulance.