SHEPPARD WINS IN WALES

Round 4 - ACU British Trials Championship
Merthyr Tydfill - South Wales - 30/05/10

Sixteen year old Jack Sheppard - Beta continued his strong run of results with a hard fought victory at round four of the ACU British Trials Championship in South Wales. After three laps of twelve sections Jack narrowly defeated the current series leader Gary MacDonald by a single mark much thanks to a greatly improved last lap showing. Sheppard's first victory of the year in this series, lifts him to second in the overall standings just nine points behind MacDonald with four rounds still to go.

The Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfill was the host to this weekend's domestic encounter, as the riders returned to the infamous Morlais Quarry that has been used for the Mitchell trial over the last couple of years, and was home to Britain's Trial GPs back in the eighties. The disused quarry edge is abundant with rock steps that made up the bulk of the sections, with only a couple of hazards in the nearby woodland offering any kind of variety.

South Wales was typical of the majority of the UK, with wet weather creating the backdrop to Saturday's practice lap on this May bank holiday weekend. With intermitent showers falling on the Welsh hills as the riders conducted their 'sighting lap', conditions on the vertical steps were slippery and ultra demanding for Sheppard on his smaller capacity machine. However this did not faze the youngster from Suffolk who began Sunday's trial in a confident mood with the style of the hazards being very much to his liking.

Jack opened the day with three clean rides before then suffering a trio of fives in the next three hazards, which was enough to leave him trailing MacDonald by five marks at the end of the first lap. Sheppard then turned the tables on the next lap, as he turned his five mark deficit into a three mark lead thanks to the loss of just twelve marks on his second tour. The youngster then held his nerve brilliantly to save his best performance to the last lap, this was sufficient for Jack to steal the win by a single mark as the final scores were posted.

A delighted Sheppard commented. "I am really happy to have won today, as after the first lap I thought I was out of the running. Although the sections were perhaps not the best for the 125, they were just the type of section I like and were more like the sections you find at the World championship. As you can see by my lap scores I got better as the day went on."

"To have beaten Gary (MacDonald) is a good result as he is riding well at the moment especially off the back of his result at the Scottish Six Days Trial. It will be difficult to close him down over the last four rounds, but that is what I will be trying my best to do. This definitely puts me in the right frame of mind as I head off to Japan for the next World trial in a couple of days time." Jack concluded.

Sheppard will make the long journey East, as the teenager flies to Japan on Tuesday for the third round of the 2010 SPEA FIM Trial World Championship which will be contested over two days at the famous Motegi Twin Ring Circuit.

Click here to view full results [R]