At three feet high, the Patchquick trophy is the largest (and one of the most prestigious) awards in the world of scrambling, and the list of past winners reads like a ‘who’s who’ of off-road greats.
The list of famous names etched upon the cup includes Dave Bickers, Bryan Goss and Graham Noyce, but also that of a man who was arguably one of the best West Country scramblers of his generation – Devon farmer John Trible.
History has seen some memorable scraps for the huge cup but, for a legion of scrambles fans, the meeting at Haldon Hill in May 1960 will forever be regarded as the greatest of the lot.
The setting was the steep slopes that overlook the city of Exeter where, on a hot summer Sunday, the crowd witnessed three epic races, with number 30, John, locked wheel to wheel with his friend (and fierce rival) Paul Jarman on their pair of booming of BSA Gold Stars.
Read more in the March edition of TCM
