AFTER a season-long battle with his brother Shaun, Ian Martin from St Day has emerged triumphant as the new 2011 Cornwall Centre Trials champion.

Martin, aged 21, who is a member of the Pendennis Motorcycle Club, held his nerve to clinch the title with victory in the final race of the season, staged by the West Cornwall Motor Club.

The race for the championship was so close in the final round that either rider could have claimed the title, but with Ian picking up 15 points to his brother’s 10 he could celebrate winning the centre title for the first time.

Throughout the previous eight rounds, Ian, who rode a RCM Gas Gas trials bike, performed consistently well over the courses hosted by the motor cycle clubs of Camel Vale, Camborne/Redruth, Pendennis, and West Cornwall, and it was this consistency that earned him his success.

Ian won the title with 96 points, ten ahead of his brother Shaun with George Edyvean third with 60 points.

However, he still has a long way to go to emulate his father, Robin, who has been a dominant figure in the Cornwall Centre event who has claimed no less than eight Cornwall Centre championships.

With a little more good fortune Ian could have been celebrating a magnificent double in the experts class of the South West Enduro/Hare and Hounds championship. Ian only lost out on that title by 0.5 of a second on the last special test of the last round.

That may have proved a little disappointing for Ian having been in the lead for most of the year, but it’s still been a great season for a young rider who you will hear much more about in years to come.