Yorkshire pair show how to do it on three wheels

2:26pm Tuesday 31st October 2006

YORKSHIRE duo Robin Luscombe and passenger Les Ashby won the Sidcup Motorcycle Club's sidecar trials at Canada Heights with a comfortable 15-point margin, writes Richard Law.

Riding a Spanish-built 250cc Montesa sidecar the pair left the rest of the field in their mud spray in front of hundreds of fans at the Swanley circuit.

In the trials, riders, one at a time, negotiate the roughest piece of land the organisers kind find, called sections, and are not allowed to put a foot down.

It they do put a foot down once they lose a mark, twice and they lose two marks and they lose three marks for anything more.

Additionally, if they stop, go outside the marked section or fall off they drop five marks.

Such is the difficulty of the course the organisers employ people to catch any riders who fall from the steep faces of any climbs.

If riders, who have to complete four laps of eight sections, get through the section with a clean drive they receive no penalty points and at the end the pair with the least number of points is the winner.

Luscombe and Ashby picked up 15 points after the first lap which rose to 21 after the second.

Their closest rivals were Lee Gramby with passenger Amelia Haigh from Daventry in the West Midlands who finished the first two laps four points behind the leaders.

In the afternoon, Luscombe and Ashby improved and they finished the day on 37 points, 15 points clear of the Cuckow brothers in second place.

Rupert and Chris Kimber on their 250cc Sherco from Rochester took fourth place with the loss of 64.

An international flavour was added to the event by two teams coming across the channel from France and Belgium.

The pairing of Benoit and Belinda Dreze, from Liege in Belgium won the wobblers' class for the less-talented who rode an easier route losing 20 points with France's Philippe and Jean-Francois Piget taking second on 32.

This Sunday at Canada Heights solo riders take on the course.

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