Alexz Wigg of Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire won the Manx National Two Day Trial at the first attempt at the weekend.

He beat off an early two-pronged local attack from Barry Kinley and Juan Knight, with the latter ultimately slipping to fifth behind fellow local Chris Madigan.

The event was generally welcomed back after the two-year lay-off by the UK’s trials riding community, but the maximum entry of almost 250 was compromised by the high number of Covid cases across the country.

Wigg rode day one without loss until group 12 at Ballachrink, East Baldwin where he dabbed two subs in succession.

He added another on the final section of the day at Ballacreetch on the outskirts of Douglas to finish on three.

Kinley and Knight went round for four marks apiece, although Kinley - who had not ridden a trial for some time - started shakily, losing three of his marks in the first nine sections, and the fourth on section 20 at Glen Mooar Gulley near Agneash before the lunch break.

Knight had dropped only one to that point on section eight, the second at Ballawyllin in East Baldwin.

Also on single-figure losses for the day were Sam Wooldridge on the Vertigo Nitro with six, along with Hugo Jervis (Beta) and local Chris Madigan (Gas Gas) on eight apiece. Jervis was runner-up to Josh Brain in 2019.

Knight’s hopes of winning his home event for the second time were destroyed with a five on section 13, unluckily for him, at Cooil Slieu, Greeba on Sunday morning.

A dab in the next group at Slieau Whallian plantation, two more single dabs plus a three in the penultimate group at Ballanicholas dropped him to fifth in the final order.

Kinley rode three-quarters of day two for a single dab, but then fived the second sub at Renshent to end his ambitions of a third Two-Day success.

Wigg, meantime, stayed feet up on the 300 Vertigo until reaching the first sub at Ballanicholas, observed by David Harding, requiring two dabs to get through, leaving him on five for the trial.

Cornwall man Wooldridge, a regular in the expert class of the TrialGB series, had a dab on the third section at King’s Forest, followed by a couple of twos in quick succession at Slieau Whallian Plantation and Ballaspit for a total of five for the day and 11 overall.

Glen Vine man Madigan rode the first 25 sections for a solitary dab on Sunday, then had two more singles on successive sections at South Barrule Quarry, another at Renshent, and a final two on the first at Ballanicholas for six on the day and 14 overall.

The final two special awards went to Knight and Jervis, with Owen Chestnut the under-21 award winner in 12th spot.

The Ramsey teenager was disappointed to lose out on a top-10 position after being eighth overnight, but learned a lot from riding with Knight and Kinley all weekend.

Winner Wigg, from Milton Keynes, was very proud to win the event and add his name to the roll of honour in one of the country’s most popular national trials. His normal schedule is very busy and had only recently returned from the world round in Germany where he was minder for Toby Martin in the TrialGP series.

The overwhelming impression at the end of Sunday evening’s presentation was that it had been a really successful weekend and there were lots of smiling faces.

RESULTS

National class: 1, Alexz Wigg (Vertigo) five marks lost; 2, Barry Kinley (Gas Gas) 10; 3, Samuel Wooldridge (Vertigo) 11; 4, Chris Madigan (Gas Gas) 14; 5, Juan Knight (Scorpa) 15; 6, Hugo Jervis (Beta) 16. Local finishers: 12, Owen Chestnut (Scorpa) 26; 17, Bobby Moyer (Beta) 59; 18, Aaron Molyneux (Scorpa) 75; 20, Robin Arnold (Beta) 111; 22, Daniel McCanney (Gas Gas) 168; 23, Craig Norrey (Gas Gas) 184; 24, Jake Subachus (Montesa) 296.

Clubman: 1, Kaytlyn Adshead (250 TRS) six; 2, Andrew Reeves (Beta) seven; 3, Wayne Wardell (Gas Gas) 11. Local first class awards: 8, Jamie Teare (Scorpa) 15; 16, Andrew Woodward (Gas Gas) 23; 17, Dylan Cain (Montesa 4RT) 27; 19, Damian Owen (Beta) 30; 20, Neil Christian (Beta) 30; 22, Graham Christian (Beta) 31; 23, Matty Lund (Beta) 31; 25, Corey Peters (Beta) 33.