ACU TRIAL BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP

My interest in motorcycle trials stretches back to my earliest memories, in 1967 and the great Sammy Miller. He was the ACU British Trials Champion from 1962 on probably the best-known trials motorcycle in the world, the Ariel 500cc, registration number GOV 132. Despite the switch from the Ariel to the Spanish Bultaco in 1965, he continued to dominate the championship until 1969. His great rival, Gordon Farley on the Montesa, took over as the champion when he dethroned Miller in 1970 to then retain the title in 1971. I started taking an interest in the championship table many years ago. Still, it was only over the 2022 Christmas period that I could finish my full table of events and champions and record the ACU Solo British Trials Championship. With so much documented before my time, I focussed on the periods from 1972 until 2022, where I could compile a comprehensive chart. I believe I am the only person who holds these records, which I wanted to share with the readers of Trial Magazine. In this first part, I will look at the years from 1972 until 1992 in this reflection on our sport.

Armstrong: 2; Aprilia: 1; Beta: 1; SWM: 1.

RIDER INDIVIDUALS ROUND WINS: Steve Saunders: 59; Martin Lampkin: 29; Malcolm Rathmell: 25; Tony Scarlett: 13; Rob Shepherd: 14; Robert Crawford: 9; John Lampkin: 9; Mick Andrews: 8; Nigel Birkett: 6; Rob Edwards: 5; John Reynolds 5; Dave Thorpe: 5; Yrjo Vesterinen: 4; Alan Lampkin: 2; Gerald Richardson: 2; Philip Alderson: 1; Wayne Braybrook: 1; Peter Cartwright: 1; Geoff Chandler: 1; Jack Galloway: 1; Geoff Parken: 1; Robert Sartin: 1.

MACHINE INDIVIDUAL ROUND WINS: Montesa 40; Bultaco 34; Fantic 26; Honda 24; Beta 20; Yamaha 13; Armstrong 11; SWM: 10; Ossa 6; Aprilia 5; Beamish Suzuki 4; JCM 4; Gas Gas 3; Suzuki 2; Italjet 1; Majesty Yamaha 1.

The championship from 1972–1992 would include ten pointsscoring rounds, with all of them counting towards the total to determine the winner. The only interruption in this would be the 1973 fuel crisis when the last two rounds were dropped at the season close, reducing the championship to eight pointsscoring rounds.

Bultaco, followed by Montesa and Ossa, dominated the championship, despite the interest of the mighty four from Japan — Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha.

1972: MALCOLM RATHMELL (BULTACO)

As Sammy Miller and Gordon Farley had set the benchmark with Bultaco and Montesa, the new breed of younger riders took over. Malcolm Rathmell won from his friend and rival Martin Lampkin on Bultacos in 1972.

Over ten rounds, the series produced six different individual round winners. Double winners included Rob Shepherd (Montesa) and Dave Thorpe (Ossa), with single wins from

1973: MARTIN LAMPKIN (BULTACO)

Due to the problems with the fuel crisis, the last two rounds at the year-end were cancelled just as it looked like Rob Edwards was on target to fight for his first title in a close contest with the eventual winner, Martin Lampkin. However, once again, it was a very competitive year as Rob Edwards (Montesa) won three rounds, Martin Lampkin (Bultaco) won two, Alan Lampkin (Bultaco), Malcolm Rathmell (Bultaco) and Geoff Chandler (Montesa) won the others.

1974–1976: MALCOLM RATHMELL (BULTACO AND MONTESA)

A rider who had committed to trials instead of scrambling, Malcolm Rathmell moved from Bultaco to Montesa after winning the title in 1974 and continued winning in 1975 and 1976.

1974: MALCOLM RATHMELL (BULTACO)

The ACU Solo British Trials Championship was at its highest once again, and in 1974 we witnessed six individual round winners. Malcolm Rathmell (Bultaco) won three, Martin Lampkin (Bultaco) and Dave Thorpe (Ossa) two, with Rob Edwards (Montesa) and Geoff Parken (Bultaco) individual round winners. In addition, Mick Andrews on the Yamaha won one round in a first for a Japanese manufacturer.

1975: MALCOLM RATHMELL (MONTESA)

Moving to a development machine with the new Montesa Cota 348 made no difference to Rathmell, who took the title with four wins. Yamaha, with Mick Andrews, was in on the fight with three wins, followed by Martin Lampkin with two wins and Rob Shepherd with one.

1976: MALCOLM RATHMELL (MONTESA)

The official UK importer for Montesa, Jim Sandiford, needed a new rider to put Montesa at the top of the sales charts, and he sold in the region of 1,200 of the new Cota 348 models. Unfortunately, Rathmell only won two rounds, with Martin Lampkin (Bultaco) taking four, while the Japanese made inroads with Nigel Birkett winning two and Mick Andrews (Yamaha) one; Dave Thorpe (Ossa) won the other.

1977: HONDA’S FOUR-STOKE WINNER

After the very published demise of the once mighty and proud motorcycle trials industry in Great Britain, no one in a million years thought we would ever see a four-stroke machine win the ACU Solo British Trials Championship again.

1977: ROB SHEPHERD (HONDA)

When Sammy Miller moved to Honda in 1975, he was the last winner on a four-stroke in 1964 on the

Ariel. So when he first watched Rob Shepherd test the prototype four-stroke Honda Rob had been developing, he knew he had a winner. It was, as always, a very competitive season, and it went to the final round, which Shepherd won, leaving him the championship winner with 109 points compared to Martin Lampkin (Bultaco) with 108. Whilst Shepherd won four rounds, Lampkin only won two, along with Rathmell (Montesa) and Rob

1978: MARTIN LAMPKIN (BULTACO)

The title was only on loan to Honda and the Japanese as Martin Lampkin headed the way on the Bultaco and put the Spanish back at the top. In a year when Lampkin won four rounds, Rob Shepherd, still riding the Honda, won three, and Malcolm Rathmell won two on the new 325cc Beamish Suzuki, Nigel Birkett won one round on

1979: MALCOLM RATHMELL

After a very challenging year on the Beamish Suzuki, Malcolm Rathmell moved back to Montesa, winning four rounds on the new Cota 349. Rob Shepherd kept the Honda four-stroke flag flying with four wins, as Martin Lampkin (Bultaco) won one, and John Reynolds took his first BTC to win on the Beamish Suzuki.

1980: MARTIN LAMPKIN (BULTACO AND SWM)

Martin had started the year on the Bultaco, but

Rathmell (Montesa) won two and John Reynolds (Beamish Suzuki) one, but the show’s star was Nigel Birkett. Having been notified that his Montesa contract would not be renewed for 1981, he moved to the Montesa Cota 200 and went on to win three consecutive rounds in the latter part of the season.

1981: MALCOLM RATHMELL (MONTESA)

It was an extraordinary year as the old guard of Malcolm Rathmell (Montesa), Martin Lampkin (SWM) and Mick Andrews on the Majesty Yamaha all won rounds. Rathmell won three, Lampkin two and Andrews one. John Reynolds (Montesa) won two, Nigel Birkett, now on the 200 Fantic, one, but the surprise of the season was the first ACU BTC win for John Lampkin on the SWM at the Alan Trial.

1982: YRJO VESTERINEN (BULTACO)

The winner’s name is foreign, correct, but the ACU granted Finland’s Yrjo Vesterinen a licence to compete in the 1982 Solo British Championship. There were some rumblings amongst some of his competitors, and more so when he went out and won the first four rounds. However, he built up an early lead in the championship on the Comerfords Bultaco, which he never let go of, consistently finishing off the rest of the season. No one had an answer to his sheer resilience to win as Martin Lampkin (SWM) won four rounds, Malcolm Rathmell one, and Peter Cartwright gave Italjet their only win at the season finale.

1983–1992: STEVE SAUNDERS

As a young motorcycle trial rider, Steve Saunders hit the adult ACU Solo British Trials Championship in 1982, his first adult year on the Comerfords-supported Bultaco. As an apprentice on a youth employment scheme at BVM Motorcycles under the eyes of Mark Kemp, it was soon evident that he had a very natural feeling for throttle control and finding that all-important grip level from a motorcycle. Maturing into a young man had its pitfalls for the young Saunders, with the season being interrupted before it got going when he broke his collarbone in a road crash on the eve of the FIM World Championship round in Yorkshire in March. However, the full potential of Saunders came to a head when he won the British Experts Trial and then took over the vacant seat that John Lampkin had left when he moved to Fantic to ride the two-stroke Hiro engine Armstrong in 1983.

1983: STEVE SAUNDERS (ARMSTRONG)

History was recorded at the first ACU Solo British Trials Champion with a win for Steve Saunders at round one, the Trispen De Cunha Cup, on the second week in January; it was also the first BTC win for Armstrong. The year would be a very exciting one in the fight for the title between Saunders, who won six rounds, and John Lampkin (Fantic), who won four.

1984: STEVE SAUNDERS (ARMSTRONG)

What a year! Throw in another new young talent from Sheffield, Tony Scarlett, on the latest and exciting mono-shock Yamaha, and you have a fight on your hands for the title. Under pressure from his two main rivals, Lampkin and Scarlett, it was another successful year from Saunders as he won five of the ten rounds. John Lampkin won two, and Scarlett, Nigel Birkett (Yamaha) and John Reynolds won one each as ‘JR’ recorded the last BTC win for the once-dominant Bultaco brand.

1985: STEVE SAUNDERS (HONDA)

I believe this was one of the best seasons in trials as everyone waited to see Steve Saunders in action on the new RTL single rear shock Honda at round one, the Colmore Cup. Having received the new machine only a few days earlier, he blew away the opposition on a memorable day for motorcycle trials; we had a four-stroke winner once again. After winning seven rounds, it was left to Tony Scarlett (Yamaha) to take the other three.

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1986: STEVE SAUNDERS (HONDA)

No one was ever going to beat Steve Saunders on the Rothmans Honda, and he duly delivered another title, taking six wins along the way, with Tony Scarlett (Yamaha) winning two, Gerald Richardson (Yamaha) and John Lampkin (Fantic) one each. However, the season was left with a damp note as, after winning the BTC Jack Wood Trial in the summer, John Lampkin would be involved in a road traffic accident as an innocent victim, putting him out of action for 12 months. With a badly broken thigh and other injuries, it would finish his career as a professional rider.

1987: STEVE SAUNDERS (FANTIC)

It was a move back to two-strokes for Steve Saunders and the Italian Fantic for 1987, but the winning continued. He was again on fire, winning five, with Tony Scarlett, now on the French-built JCM, winning four and Gerald Richardson (Yamaha) just one.

1988: STEVE SAUNDERS (FANTIC)

No one could get near Saunders as he marched on towards another title with eight wins, the remaining two going to Philip Alderson (Yamaha) and Rob Sartin on the two-stroke Honda TLM, the Japanese company’s only two-stroke win in the history of the championship.

1989: STEVE SAUNDERS (FANTIC)

Making it a hat-trick of wins for the Italian manufacturer Fantic, Saunders reigned supreme with only Tony Scarlett, now on the Gas Gas, interrupting Steve’s six wins with three of his own, the very first for the Spanish motorcycle manufacturer. However, the year’s highlight for so many motorcycle trials enthusiasts was watching John Lampkin win the Allan Jefferies Trial on the Beta. With his professional riding career now over, he became the official UK Beta importer in 1987. It had been a long three years since his accident as ‘Johnboy’ became the only UK rider to win a championship round on a machine he imported; it was also the first win for Beta.

1990: STEVE SAUNDERS (BETA)

It was a move to his good friend and official Beta UK importer John Lampkin riding the new aluminium frame, water-cooled Beta for 1990. With new machine motivation, the winning continued as Saunders tucked another seven wins under his belt to retain the title despite the threat of the new Irish rider Robert Crawford (Beta), who won three rounds; it was a win, win, win for Beta.

1991: STEVE SAUNDERS (BETA)

As Isle-of-Man-based Steve Colley (Beta) won round one, Saunders was fired into action, winning the next three rounds before another Beta-mounted rider Wayne Braybrook stopped him from taking his one-and-only BTC win. Next up was Robert Crawford, a formidable rider who was now on the Montesa and took two consecutive wins. Saunders took one more, as did Colley, before Crawford rounded off the year with another win; Saunders had come under attack but was still the number one.

1992: STEVE SAUNDERS (APRILIA)

Could Saunders continue with the motivation to win his tenth ACU Solo British Trials Championship? He moved to the Italian Aprilia, powered by the ageing Rotax engine; it had been given a new lease of life with the addition of water cooling. Saunders excelled under pressure and won five rounds, followed by Robert Crawford (Montesa) on three and Steve Colley (Beta) on two.

SAMMY MILLER VERSUS STEVE SAUNDERS 1959–1992

From 1959 through 1969, Sammy Miller won the ACU Solo British Trials Championship 11 times compared to Steve Saunders’ 10, 1983–1992. It is tough to make a comparison as they were both very successful in their own right at that moment in time. Saunders had a successful ACU Youth Trials career, winning all the way. When Miller entered the sport, there was no youth class. They both won on two, and four-stroke machinery and neither was from Yorkshire, classed by many as producing the best trials riders in Great Britain. On paper, history records that Sammy Miller holds the upper hand with that one extra title, but what I do know is that both he and Steve Saunders were formidable competitors in their time, and I take my hat off to both of them.