LEYBURN'S Richard Sadler just held on to win to edge Ben Hemingway and Adam Milner in Ilkley Motor Club's annual New Year Trial at Dob Park, Otley, on Sunday.

The latter two contenders rode the Nick Pullan 18 section two lap course in Dob Park and the adjoining Browns Wood, losing seven marks.

The decisive section was Crossers Rocks, seventh on the lap in Browns Wood where only Sadler, Milner and Thomas Housecroft mastered the near vertical rock face on lap one.

One error and a six foot drop on either side of the rock awaited customers.

By lap two the surface of the stone afforded some grip but only Sadler, Ben Hemingway and Dan Hemingway managed to master the section.

The Ilkley club divided the 98 starters into two groups. The expert and green course classes started at section one under the evergreens in Browns Wood while the clubman route dropped down into Dob Park and six traditional sections, three of which tracked the stream at the east end of the wood.

The 13th and 16th were green route sections. The Browns Wood featured a further five such sections.

Forty-six clubman contenders headed down Dob where Huddersfield front runner Ian Haigh dropped his three penalties in the opening section and then blitzed the rest of the lap, winning the clubman B novices class.

Local riders, Yeadon's Louis Haley and Ilkley's Graham Tales, finished second in the hard course inters class and first in the clubman A inters class, respectively.

In other trials, Ilkley heating engineer Andy Tales topped the 50/50 class in the New Year’s Day trial at Deer Park, Bingley, and former Cookridge rider James Dabill finished fourth in the Martin Lampkin International Arena Trial at Sheffield on Saturday evening.