70 |AUTUMN 2019
is nolongeravailabletothe Mosel ey
(Birmingham) club butTimhas stamped
his undoubted classfirmlyonthe main
event, theJeff SmithTrophy. He haswon
the awardnolessthan seventimesandI
have seen them all. His ability to rise tothe
occasion is phenomenal, justlike theman
himself, whohad along chat withTimat
the 2018 TelfordShow.
Over thelast seasonortwo Timhas
reduced his ridingactivitie ssomewhat.
He hasafull-timejob asatanker driver
withWestern Fuel in Devonand he now
tends to pickand choose themeetings that
he prefers.
These days, because oftheamount
of tr avelling involved, the classic
championship is lowonhis list of priorities.
Earlier thisyear herode in thefirst round
at YattonKeynell, thefirst meeting to
officiall yhaveaPre-68 class, andwonboth
races, butsince thennumber 164 andTim
have been conspicuousby thei rabsence.
He hasdevelopedakeeninterest in big
international ‘marquee’ meetings that
attract hugenumbers of entriesfrom far
and widelike DrumlanriginScotlandand
Kleinau in Germany.
It comes as no surpriseto discoverthat
Tim’sfavourite tracks include Hanbury,
HawkstonePark and Abbeycwmhir in Mid
Wales and that therider he most admires
is another MidWalian, AndyRoberton.
Tim’sabsence fromanumberof events
has beenkeenlyfelt among hisnumerous
fans, male and female, includingyoung
Rory,who is probably hisbiggest fan, and
Sid Meredith and GeoffJones from Mid
Wales, who,atone time,travelled many
miles towatchhim in action.Just likeTim
they, too, were ‘men onamission’.
IhopeTim doesreturn to actionin the
championship as nextyear seesits 25th
anniversary and whataway to celebrate
withTimonboard.
