Juan Knight won the Steve Beattie memorial shield for the umpteenth time on Sunday in a short runaround on his home patch in the Sulby area.

Run concurrently was a sidecar event, the first hosted by Ramsey MCC for more than a year.

This was won by Jack Corlett and Ealish Baxter, securing them the first Centre title together.

The trial set off from Sulby Claddagh and first tackled two sections on the steep track known as Ballacuberagh, high above Sulby valley.

Dropping into Ballaugh plantation, the next five subs were in the lower river used regularly for the annual Geoff Cannell twinshock/pre-65 trial which was combined with the Steve Beattie event for this year only.

These five were ridden twice each by everyone, with a few small deviations.

Climbing up the main fire road up to and back over the Druidale Road, the competitors then dropped into Tholt-y-Will plantation.

Four sections in the middle of the plantation were marked out, again ridden twice each.

Finally, the total field of 37 solo riders and four sidecar crews arrived at Tholt-y-Will Quarry where the two-wheelers rode three sections beneath the valley road, including one particularly wet and difficult one, and two in the inner quarry often used for the Two-Day and Classic International.

The chairs rode three sections in the central area of the quarry close to the hydro plant, tackling one section twice and the other two three times each to make up a full complement of 30 for the day.

Knight, who arranged the short runaround route, had a comfortable victory in the expert solo class on his 300 Scorpa, followed by Danny Grady and Aaron Molyneux who were only one mark apart in second and third.

Recently-crowned Centre champion Barry Kinley did not contest the event as he had other commitments.

Nigel Sharp won the clubman class by a margin of three marks from Graham Christian, with the latter’s 17-year-old son Jack finishing third. This was enough to secure young Jack the overall non-expert title for the first time - a class won previously won by his father, uncle Neil and grandfather Peter.

Chris Madigan piloted Peter Lace’s TY175 Yamaha to success in the twinshock class to secure the Geoff Cannell Cup by a margin of nine marks from Dylan Cain. Making the trip over from Mid-Wales for the weekend, Steve Plain took the honours on the sportsman route from Peter Kaneen.

Nine youths were transported from group to group, similarly enjoying the challenge of a full-day event.

Stan Cubbon won the expert class with a loss of 59, eight fewer than Liam Barker on the clubman route, while Harrison Doyle topped the other class on the sportsman sections from the rapidly improving Lily Butterworth.

With their sights set on the British championship next year, Jack Corlett and Ealish Baxter wrapped up the domestic title with relative comfort from Jack’s father John and step brother Harry Gell.

Similarly, the non-expert class and overall title went to Richard Murphy and Sam Baxter, while the lone novice driver, Jay Murphy, showed potential with experienced ballast Jason O'Connor.

RESULTS

Expert adult: 1, Juan Knight 11; 2, Danny Grady 44; 3, Aaron Molyneux 45; 4, Aleyn Taggart 66. Clubman: 1, Nigel Sharp 15; 2, Graham Christian 18; 3, Jack Christian 19; 4, Summer Peters 21; 5, Aaron Smith 25; 6, Damian Owen 27.

Youth expert: 1, Stan Cubbon 59; 2, Liam Barker 67. Youth (sportsman route): 1, Harrison Doyle 37; 2, Lily Butterworth 44; 3, Clodagh Higgins 71; 4, Danny Cain 76.

Geoff Cannell Twinshock event - expert: 1, Chris Madigan 27; 2, Dylan Cain 36. T’shock sportsman: 1, Steve Plain five; 2, Peter Kaneen 29; 3, John Kneale 34; 4, Ian Lees 43; 5, Gary Leach 58; 6, Stu Harvey 71; 7, Shane Marriott 92.

Sidecar expert (Centre championship): 1, Jack Corlett and Ealish Baxter 24; 2, John Corlett and Harry Gell 42.

Non-expert: Richard Murphy and Sam Baxter 30. Sportsman: Jay Murphy and Jason O'Connor 28.

Centre championship - final leading positions (best five rounds out of six) - solo expert: 1, Barry Kinley 91 points; 2, Nigel Crellin 70; 3, A. Molyneux 69; 4, C. Madigan 56; 5, J. Knight 54; 6, D. Grady 37; 7, Steve Colley 20; 8, A. Taggart 13; 9, Craig Norrey 11; 12, Will Cawte 10. Non-expert (top six): 1, J. Christian 77; 2, N. Sharp 71; 3, A. Smith 71; 4, D. Owen 48; 5, Wayne Wardell 20; 6, S. Peters 37. Sidecars (expert): 1, Corlett/E. Baxter 100; 2, Corlett/Gell 85; 3, John Corlett/A. Taggart 17. Non-expert: 1, Murphy/S. Baxter 100; 2, Barry and Jordan Davies 50; 3, J. Murphy/O’Connor 49; 4, Aleyn Taggart/Anna Newsham 17.

JOHN WATTERSON