2026 MONTROSE CUP TRIAL - ROUND 4 MCI CHAMPIONSHIP

1 May

MONTROSE CUP TRIAL 26.04.26 - M.C.I SOUTHERN CENTRE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4

Lovely Spring weather greeted over 45 riders at one of most established venues, Butter Mountain for the MEC Montrose Cup and final round of the 2026 MCI SC Championship.

With weather having been unusually good in the lead up to the Trial, the river sections were low on water, however that didn’t make them any less challenging!

We had a great turnout of Youths with over 15 riders from Youth B to Youth D.

In the Youth C MW grade Eli Tolan had a great day on the bike with just 27 points dropped, with Henry Doyle providing lots of competition in many of the sections. Unfortunately, Arthur Hampshire had a technical problem and had to retire. We look forward to seeing Arthur on his 80cc next season. Definitely in the DNA of these three rising stars!

Kudos to the Youth C’s who took on the Blue Line on the Senior Course. Congratulations to Charlie McNulty on his first trial and taking the win. Well done to Emer Molloy and Lillaymae Lawless who we welcomed back after a break.

In the Youth C+ grade we saw the Scanlon twins battle it out with Aaron taking the win over Shane. The lads have had a great season attending the MCI trials and also the nationals. Well done to Ruadhan McGinn, his first season on a bike he has progressed in leaps and bounds over the last couple of events.

The Youth B’s had a challenging but enjoyable day on the pegs. Riding a demanding clubman line, it certainly put them through their paces, and it has been great to see them develop their skills since January in the Youth B grade. Well done to Harry Schmelter on the win with Conor Keogh keeping the pressure on all day with a strong second followed by Shane Heaney and Ollie Smyth.

The Sportsman win was taken by Mark Scanlon with just 3 points dropped. Undoubtedly next season we will see Aaron and Shane put Mark under pressure points wise. For now, it was Michael McDonnell and Derek Kehoe who came 2nd and 3rd with retirements from David McCann.

In the Clubman class Adam Harris took the win with Roger Callaghan a close second on their pre-65 bikes. No doubt in preparation for the Scottish 2-day pre-65 trial happening this weekend. Cian Lawless nipped ahead of Barry Lawless to take third place with Wayne Yore in 4th and Ken Ryan in 5th. Good to see Adam Bourne out again with the Youth crew and we hope to see him back in September.

Undoubtedly the battle of the day was between Gary Wall and Mark Harris in the Semi-Expert class. Gary dropped just one point for the day with Mark a very close second with 4 points. Scott Callaghan on his pre-65 came in third with a great ride by Charlie Lawless in 4th spot on 8 points.

Congratulations to Alex Guthrie in the Expert Class who rode an excellent trial on the red line and who dropped just 3 points with Craig Doyle coming in second on 12 points.

In the Elite class we only had Sean Doyle riding who came in on 8 points - again a very strong day on the bike.

On the Youth course we had an excellent day on the pegs. In the YD MW grade Jake Walshe had a great day. In the YD SW grade Jonathan Walsh took the win by one point followed by Meabh Molloy, Ewan Bublis and Elsie Lawless. Well, done guys!

Ailis Doyle, Lucy Hampshire, Ruben Manning and Jack Regan had a fun day in the YE grade. Lots of thrills, spills and above all laughs!

Thank you to the MEC Club course markers, officials, Joanne and Barry Lawless who organised the youth course and above all the team of observers who gave up their time to observe the sections. We are always grateful for the time and effort all the volunteers put into running our sport.