“The most successful Scottish Trials rider of all time.”

Words: John Moffat & Gary Macdonald

Photos: Iain Lawrie, Kinlochleven; Kim Ferguson/Kimages; Gary Macdonald personal collection; Barry Robinson Estate, Ilkley; Iain Ferguson/The Write Image, Fort William.

“Gary Macdonald just kept re-writing the history books.”

For many years Gary Macdonald, from Kinlochleven, Argyll, Scotland dominated the Scottish Trials scene, winning twelve Scottish Premier Trials titles, this in itself makes him the most successful Scottish-born trials rider of all time.

But he had gone that one step further, by winning the British Expert A Trials championship in 2010 riding a 300 Gas Gas, this made Macdonald the first Scotsman to take a British trials title.

Born on the fifteenth day of November 1983, son of a trials riding joinery contractor, Arthur H. Macdonald a local to Kinlochleven. Younger brother of David Macdonald who also rode trials in his younger years.

Gary began riding at nine years of age on a TY80 Yamaha, many noticed that he had a natural ability. He had other interests such as shinty, in which he played for the Kinlochleven High School team, taking the Highland cup.

The TY80 Yamaha was his first trials motorcycle, but it was given as a ‘shared’ Christmas present by his parents, Arthur and Sandra to both Gary and his older brother, David.

The Scottish ACU Trials Championship began officially in 1955; the first winner of the ‘Trials Trophy’ was the late A.M. ‘Laurie’ MacLean from Haddington, East Lothian who won it three times on the trot. Macdonald would lift this trophy eleven times, the first occassion being 2001 followed by ten times in succession, 2006 – 2015.

Other multi-winners include Leslie Winthrop from Humbie, Midlothian (nine times) and Gavin Johnston, Inverness (eight times), Macdonald aspired to win and he did so, rarely surrendering even a round to his rivals, such was his dominance of the Scottish scene.

Inspired by his Dad and his Uncle James, a motor engineer from nearby Ballachulish, both trials riders in the Lochaber & District club, young Macdonald used to stick a coke can between the frame and rear tyre to make his push-bike sound like a motorised trials bike.

When Gary left Kinlochleven High School, he started work at his Uncle James’s Lochside Garage at Ballachulish as a mechanic, he attended college at Kilmarnock for two years. However during this time it occured to him that he was unable to hone his trials riding skills, so he quit and went to work for his father as a joiner which he does to this day. This gave Macdonald the opportunity to ride more often and practise his skills. He was also able to take a month off and travelled with Graham Jarvis, minding for him at the World Trials Championships.

Macdonald: “Graham actually carried out minding duties for me at a European round in 2002.”

As a young boy, Gary used to watch many trials videos before and during when he first started out competing; his favourite being Steve Colley’s training videos. Later he studied Steve Saunders, ten times British Champion and Wayne Braybrook’s trials videos. Macdonald was also studying world round and Scottish Six Days videos to see how the professional and experts riders cleaned the hazards.

Gary had the ability to then go out and imagine himself riding like the superstars of the day and that is how he learned his craft, almost self-taught. He effectively emulated his heroes and copied them.

Gary: “I watched the SSDT and Pre’65 trials when their routes were around my home in Kinlochleven, I would be about six or seven years old and that most definately inspired me to take up the sport. My favourite riders back then were Steve Colley and Rob Crawford at that time. I broke my leg when I fell off my TY80 near my house and Rob signed the cast, which I still have.”

Young Macdonald, tried hard and with it came the pain of the broken leg which was put in plaster, but he was also very fortunate to have areas of ground where he could legally practise within walking distance of his home.

Gary’s first ever event was an overnight success, he completed the event with a clean sheet on the Youth C-class route to take the win.

Macdonald: “It was a Dunfermline Trial, I was ten years old, it is my most treasured win of all!” said Gary who has never lost his schoolboy enthusiasm for the sport.

Being brought up in Kinlochleven, it was many miles to travel to compete in the Scottish national events and to this day Gary is eternally grateful for the time, effort, encouragement and financial help given by his parents, Arthur and Sandra.

Gary continued: “Many people provided help and support over the years, Malcolm and Rhoda Rathmell at Malcolm Rathmell Sport from 1999; John Lampkin of Beta UK, who signed me for the BETA GP team in 1999. John Shirt of GasGas UK supported me in the 2010-2011 seasons. It was an amazing time which saw me become ACU British Expert champion.”

He continued: “I had an enormous boost when Adrian and Mandy Lewis who ran the local trials business ‘Lewisport’ at Strontian. They supported me as a youth on a Gas Gas 125 and a Beta 125, they’ve since moved to the USA where they still run Lewisport to this day.”

Gary also obtained support from local tree-surgeon Ken Oliver. “Ken has been brilliant, he is a true gentleman and has been a massive help to me over a period of years. He did nice things like getting my helmets customised, one of which was the tiger skin Shoei. Also Mark McComisky helped me, he is the funny-man of trials, who also supported my efforts in the last few years”.

Macdonald was also fortunate to have the services of local men, Ally Morrice and Peter Davidson to call upon as minder at British Championship and World rounds.

Gary also commented: “One man who is sadly no longer with us, John Davies from Dunfermline, himself a former Scottish Scrambles Champion, he believed in me and was a fan from day one and did the best for me and guided me whenever he could. John was chairman of the Scottish ACU trials committee and made sure that I went to Rugby to be trained at the ACU. This allowed me to coach riders for a few years. The SACU covered my travelling and accommodation costs for the course, but it was John that made it all happen.”

Gary hasn’t stopped trials riding completely, but his main sport now is cross country cycling at which he excels. Macdonald has applied his experience gained in trials sport to that of the push-bike. He trains physically even harder than he did when riding motorcycles.

In 2017 Gary decided to enter the Pre’65 Scottish Trial, he won at his first attempt and is the very first Scotsman ever to have won the Pre’65 event.

Gary: “I am indebted to Martin Murphy of Kinlochleven for his support during the 2017 and 2018 seasons by supplying me with a BSA Bantam on which I won the Pre’65 Scottish and the Drayton Triumph twin, both specially built by Drayton’s Jim Pickering. He also lent me a Honda TLR200 on which I won my class at the Highland Classic Two-Day at Alvie Estate“.

There is one piece of unfinished business that is always at the back of Macdonald’s mind, that of the Scottish Six Days Trial.

The last Scotsman to win the SSDT was Bob MacGregor of Killin who won it twice, first in 1932 when the event became a one winner event and then again in 1935, Rudge mounted both times.

Macdonald’s aim was of course to take the win and he came very, very close to achieving his goal, not just once but three times. A third place in 2003, when Joan Pons took the win, another third place in 2013 with Dougie Lampkin in first position and a runner-up spot in 2015, again Lampkin taking the win. This in itself makes Gary Macdonald the highest placed Scotsman ever in the history of the event, other than MacGregor’s two wins of course. The only Scotsman to be on the podium of the Scottish Six Days Trial other than Bob MacGregor is some achievement.

Gary: “The Scottish Six Days is worth more to me than the world championships, it’s the one thing I wanted to have and I was so close in getting what I wanted, that North British Rubber Company trophy in my hands. The first time I lost my grip on it was in 2003 on Pipers Burn, that will haunt me for life.”

Macdonald has competed against the best riders of his time, but who did he admire?

Macdonald: “Thinking about it I was really impressed by the achievements of a Scots rider, the late David Page from Edinburgh, although I never met him, I did hear about his achievements. David Page was the best we had in Scotland back in the late 1980s, he was an amazing rider who mixed it with the best of his time. He dominated the youth scene in Scotland and was unbeatable. The sad thing was he died of leukaemia at aged 18 and never got to realise his true potential. I am sure he could have been a British champion or even higher than that“.

And what does Gary Macdonald do now, after all he has achieved more than any other Scottish born trials rider?

Gary has more recently taken up cycle sport, particularly Cyclocross, like a steeplechase with road push bikes.

Gary began cycling in 2012 aged twenty-nine, initially just for messing about and general fitness, but within one year this led to racing cyclocross in 2013. Trials rider, Woody hole mentioned the Yorkshire Three Peaks cyclocross, it is the hardest cross-country cycle race in the world held at Helwith Bridge in North Yorkshire.

This event now means as much as the SSDT to Gary Macdonald. It started his obsession or love for cycling. By 2014 he had a great result of eighth place, now with five top fives with best being fourth place which is highest Scotsman in the history of this event. Gary has become one of the regulars and thought after in this huge event. Along with this, three elite senior Scottish cyclocross championships, multiple ‘Superquaich’ Cycle-Cross titles, a Veterans 40 Scottish Cycle-Cross championship, MTB Cross-Country racing, British masters Cross-Country champion 2018, plus three times V40 XC Scottish champion; ‘Ten under the Ben’, Ten Hour Cross-Country race; multiple solo winner Top 10 elite British marathon champs and V40 championships in 2025.

Gary managed all this while still competing at top level in trials and winning Scottish championships and top three results in the SSDT.

Gary met Jo Doeg-Smith in 2017 and are now happily married since 2023, with Jo going through cancer treatment in 2021 but very much here being Gary’s best supporter.

Gary continues his day job as a joiner with his father Arthur’s business and the plan is to take over the reigns of Arthur Macdonald Joiners in 2026 when his father retires. As for trials, Gary still looks forward to doing two of his favourite ‘local’ events, that’s the Pre65 Scottish and the Highland Classic.

Article Copyright: John Moffat / Trials Guru 2024

Photographic Copyright: Various photographers, names in captions

Apart from ‘Fair Dealing’ for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright, Design and Patents Act, 1988, no part of this article may be copied, reproduced, stored in any form of retrieval system, electronic or otherwise or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, electrical, mechanical, optical, chemical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the author as stated above. This article is not being published for any monetary reward or monetisation, be that online or in print.

Coming on to the bookshelves in February 2018 is a new biography written by Ian Berry on Jeff Smith, a man who really should have no introductions, he was of course not only World Motocross champion but also was a very good trials rider, who won the SSDT (1955) and Scott Trial (1954 & 1959).

The book, which is hardback and has 450 pages will be published by Motorsport Publications LLC and Ian hopes to have copies available for the Telford Off Road Show on the weekend of 17/18 February. Price to be announced shortly.

Short video presented by TRIALS GURU on Carlos Casas, the ‘SSDT Ambassador’.

For many years Carlos has enthused about the Scottish Six Days Trial to Spanish and Catalan competitors that this has ensured a healthy interest in the event.

With acknowledgement to Trial Magazine UK

Also an article on Carlos HERE

Click on the centre button to run video:

 

 

Franz Kadlec is the 2017 German National Trials Champion riding for Gas Gas.

From Bad Tolz, Bavaria, Kadlec clinched the series at the final round at Wusten, Nordrheine-Westfalen earlier this month, this is the fourth German title he has to his credit. He is a former European Champion.

Photo copyright: Hans Greiner/Trialsport DE

Keith Leslie returned home to Shetland last week after securing a top five place in the SACU Scottish National Trials Championships. He becomes the first Shetlander to make it into the top ten in the overall championship results since it began in 1955, a feat which has not gone unnoticed by his peers.

To commit to travelling south from Shetland for the eight rounds that make up the Championships has been a tremendous effort, along with the associated costs this brings, but he crossed the line last Sunday at Fersit, Spean Bridge to warm applause and lots of handshakes, safe in the knowledge he’d finished in the top five in Scotland in the Over 40 class, narrowly missing out on 4th place overall by just four points.
All the more remarkable is the fact that until this season began, Leslie had only visited three of the five venues that were chosen to hold Nationals, a disadvantage, with his rivals all being seasoned campaigners who’d visited each venue multiple times over the years.

Riding a Gas Gas in the Bon Accord Motorcycle Club, the first test was a ‘local’ trial, if any could be classed as such coming from Shetland. Round one is usually always held at Craiglash Quarry at Banchory on the first week of April, a place Leslie knows well having been there often. This showed in the results as when the points were tallied up he’d secured a career best 4th place, agonisingly missing his first podium by two marks!

Spurred on by that result, and after spending 4 days at the beginning of May in Fort William watching the Scottish Six Day Trial, Keith had to return there with his bike the following weekend for Round 2 at Glen Nevis. Having never really ridden those typical ”Scottish” type gulley sections, and being one of the venues he’d not visited yet, he came away delighted with a 5th place, securing more valuable championship points.

Five weeks passed until another journey south beckoned, this time as far south as he’d go all year when Galashiels was the venue for Round 3. Another one Leslie hadn’t seen yet but some solid riding on the National route saw him set off for home after securing another solid 5th place and more points.

Another five weeks passed before Keith headed away on the boat again for the Dunfermline & District club’s Round 4, Drumcarrow in Tayside was the venue this time, another new one to contend with. Some great riding on the first 2 laps had Leslie in contention for a top 3 finish, but a broken rear brake lever on the third lap meant he had to limp home in 8th place cursing the stone that had shattered his hopes as well as his brake!

Only a month at home before the Perth & District club Aberfeldy Trial in Perthshire was the venue for Round 5. Another place Leslie hadn’t visited, and for all it’s beauty it will be remembered painfully as the scene of his biggest crash of the year! A miscalculation during a steep rocky climb saw Leslie fall with the full weight onto his left leg. Had his good friend Robert James not been riding with him, we might have seen his first retiral of the season as he struggled to put any weight on his leg and had to drop more points on his last lap than he had on the first two combined. Spurred on by Robert, he made it to the end and was glad to finish 6th after his fall.

Another month of rest and physio on his injured leg saw Keith head off again, this time for Round 6 at the Inverness & District club’s Paul Kilbauskas memorial trial at Alvie Estate, near Aviemore. A place he’d visited before, and knew roughly. Conditions worsened as soon as Keith and his good friend Trevor Gibb arrived, and they knew they’d be in for a serious test. Torrential rain all morning made the burns almost impossible to ride, as foaming water meant nobody could see the line through. Seven riders had to retire with machines that had been drowned in deep water but Leslie persevered and finished 6th, securing more valuable points.

The end was in sight as only two weeks later he had to return south for the final 2 rounds of the Championship on consecutive weekends. Bob Macgregor Trials Academy at Dunlop in Ayrshire was the venue for the penultimate round, another new one for Keith but he rode solidly all day and ended up 5th overall in his class. The highlight of that weekend was seeing his good friend Craig Houston become the first Ayrshire man to ever win the Scottish Premier title for 2017.

A weeks holiday with his daughter beside family in Peterhead meant Keith travelled south feeling quite fresh the following weekend. The Lochaber club’s Grace Dignan memorial trial at Fersit, Spean Bridge was the venue for Round 8, the final round of the 2017 championships.

Rain and strong winds eased as the morning went on, but the ground was slippy and everyone seemed to be crashing Leslie included. A difficult moor crossing where the riders had to summit a Monroe before descending the other side on each lap took it’s fair share of casualties but Leslie hung in to end the trial 5th again overall, and finish 5th place in the championship, only missing 4th by four marks!!

Delighted with how his first attempt competing at National level had gone, Leslie said:

” It’s a dream come true really. Initially I had thought if I could make it into the top 10 in Scotland at my first attempt I’d be more than happy, so to have made it into the top 5 is unbelievable really, especially given I’d never seen five of the eight venues.
I only bought a trials bike when I turned forty, I watched a Julien Dupont video on YouTube and thought, i’d like one of those bikes. I’d had motocross bikes before that but had never swung my leg over a trials bike until I turned 40, and you know the saying about old dogs & new tricks! I was lucky as my good friend Gary Mcmillan helped me with the fundamentals, and we had a couple of coaching weekends from eleven times Scottish Premier Champion Gary Macdonald, and current Champion, Craig Houston which helped massively. All the people above me in the championship have been expert level trials riders in their younger days, so to be competing with them after only five years of practise is something i’m extremely proud of, if a little bewildered by.”

He continued:  ”It has cost me a lot in travel, fuel & digs but it’s something I’ll never forget. It’ll always be in the history books now. Hopefully if I secure some more sponsorship for next year I’d like another crack at it, given how well I’ve done this year.
We’ll see though, as I’ve put an entry in for the Scottish Six Day Trial next year and will find out in December if I’ve been one of the lucky ones and got in. It’s often referred to as the hardest test of machine & man in the world, given it’s duration and the amount of miles you have to cover, and is way over subscribed each year, but fingers crossed, I think it’d make all my effort this year worthwhile if I got in and had a go.”

Finally, Keith would like to thank everyone who has helped him this year:

Northlink Ferries and their staff; Tay-CAD; Skretting; Highland Leisure Sport; GasGas UK; Factory Kev; Splatshop; Ewen Georgeson; Gary Mcmillan; Brian Gray; Robert James & Trevor Gibb.

Photos: Brian Gray Photography, Shetland

Few people in motorcycle sport will not have either heard, or come across, the name Barry Robinson.

Barry from Ilkley, West Yorkshire has been taking photos and reporting on events for over 60 years. He turns 86 on 19th October and shows no signs of slowing down.

Serious about his craft, he joined the National Union of Journalists and he has worked on The Motor Cycle; MCN; Daily Telegraph; Californian Biker; Newsquest; Yorkshire TV to name but a few.

Robinson got to know Eric Rathmell, father of Malcolm back in 1953 when he rented a cottage in the village of Otley and became life-long friends with the Rathmells from that moment on.

Trials Guru’s John Moffat said: “I came across the name Barry Robinson by reading reports of trials in MCN when I was still at school. In particular an event that I attended as a spectator at Rochdale, the ACU Inter-Centre Team Trial that was in 1973. I was fortunate to be introduced to Barry some years ago when attending a Scott Trial and to my surprise he had heard of me, through the sport. Like most motorcyclists, he is a true enthusiast and I think his experience led him to believe that I was too and we hit it off. Since then he has taken my photo many times when interviewing and he has allowed me to use these here on Trials Guru. I spent a whole day with him and Eric Kitchen at ‘Goats’ during the Reeth Three Day trial a few years ago, which was a very entertaining experience. It was a joy to see these two guys at work and the banter between them was hilarious”.

Richmond sidecar trials driver, Barry Watson told Trials Guru: “I first met Barry Robinson in 1976 at the Allan Jefferies Trial, which Ronnie Suttill and I won, beating Arthur Lampkin. In his words, he said, well I suppose I had better take a photograph seeing you have won!”

Robinson has actually ridden many factory bikes in his time, especially those of Malcolm Rathmell. These included the works Bultacos, Montesas and of course Beamish Suzuki.

He has also had close ties with the Lampkins, especially Arthur, the eldest of the Silsden brothers.

A very private person, Barry Robinson told Trials Guru: “Not a lot of people are aware of my long connection with the Rathmell and Lampkin families or that I actually rode trials, as an expert; scrambles, as an idiot, or that I was a Yorkshire and Lancashire champion grass track sidecar passenger and rode in televised scrambles as a solo and sidecar passenger”.

Robinson has also been a Speedway referee, a TT and Ulster GP mechanic for Alan Shepherd and Rob Fitton and an ACU road race steward. He was also an assistant clerk of the course of the Ilkley Grand National to Eric Rathmell for 25 years. He also ran the Dunlop press office at the SSDT for three years when the tyre company sponsored the event.

Barry has captured on both roll film and digitally all of the top riders of their day.

Happy birthday Barry on the 19th of October, you have a good few miles and events to cover yet!

This tribute to Barry Robinson on his 86th birthday is copyright.

Article: Trials Guru / MoffatRacing ~ 2017

Photographs: Barry Robinson ~ world wide copyright, All Rights Reserved