City riders prominent at Scottish Championships
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THE chance to shine on a national seized was seized upon by Inverness riders during the fourth round of the Scottish National Championships at Rhynie.
Competitors from throughout Scotland took part on a wet, one-and-a-half mile long track, which is a challenging circuit featuring a great variety of jumps, twists and turns, as well as steep ascents and drops in the hilly sections.
The youngsters in the autos produced their usual mixture of excitement, encouragement and apprehension among the spectators as they threw themselves into this contest.
It was, however, Connor Stewart, of Inverness, who enjoyed success once again, demonstrating some impressive skills for a seven-year-old to finish third overall for his two days of racing.
Despite the big occasion of a Scottish Championship round, the city’s Rod Mackenzie just concentrated on his racing in the 85 Small Wheel class and once more went to the front in every race, staying there to the very end to take five wins. Another Inverness rider, Taylor Mair, finished in sixth place.
For the Scottish events, Ian Findlay is riding in the rookie category (125/250 section) and at Rhynie he too was well on his way to giving the ultimate masterclass with wins in his first four races. Early on in the final race, however, Fraser Pohlen slid past him and held on to the very end.
But it mattered little as Findlay, from Inverness, was a clear 22 points ahead of the runner-up by the completion of this round.
The adults have just three races each round, but every one lasts longer than those of the younger riders.
The Clubman events had 28 closely matched participants and placings are lost or gained on taking the right line on the narrower sections of the track, especially on corners.
In his first race, Ruairidh Macarthur (Avoch) took seventh place, but he fought even harder and achieved a third and the runner-up spot in the final two events to squeeze into second overall by just one point.
There are many things that can go wrong on motocross machines, but Inverness rider Paul Skelton experienced an unusual one in his first race of the day in the semi-expert (adult B) group — one of his footpegs fell off at speed.
His dilemma was that without the support and balance on one side, he could not continue riding safely at more than a walking pace, but if he left the track for repairs then he would be disqualified and get no points.
He wisely kept moving slowly when safe to do so and was able eventually to go past the chequered flag once it had been waved for the others, earning 11 points into the process for finishing the race.
Some quick sourcing of a spare footpeg had him set for the remaining two races and his combined efforts in the three events gave him enough points to claim 13th overall out of a total field of 30.
With several riders in the top national (adult A) class having the back-up of professional teams, it is more difficult for normal club riders to enjoy success at that level.
However, Ricky Mair, of Inverness, put on a great display and despite dropping some points in race three, finished in the middle of the field.
