enduro news
© Bob Mullins   

Acerbis Sprint Scramble

"WOR Events unleashed one of the venues of the season for yesterdays ACERBIS XC round 3 at the awesome TYNO venue near the Horseshoe Pass in North Wales. The weather was the best day of the year so far and the picturesque setting of the event just added to the atmosphere and smooth running of the race. A 4 mile circuit was set out amongst massive green meadows and rock and root strewn woodlands in what can only be described as a "country park!" The lap was taking the fast guys nearly nine minutes a lap; however some riders loved the scenery so much they choose to sit out in the meadows and simply enjoy the weather and the view whilst still crossing the line for a well deserved finish.

One of the views that these "spectator" riders were having was of 4 time World Enduro Champion, Paul Edmondson in full flow, weaving his way through traffic and trees to seal another win for the Relentless Suzuki Enduro team. Fast Eddy was fresh from his awesome 4th place double finish at the previous weekends WEC event in Mid Wales and flew his RM250 2t to the chequered flag after entertaining the crowd and other riders with his superb riding. Edmondson even stopped several times whilst racing to "take the Mickey" and to even help put some broken track tape back up!!! Nice to see a World class rider still having fun on his dirt bike. KBR rider Lincoln Brewster (right) finished second overall after having a blast with Edmondson during the race that had the two riders "yeeha-ing!! Down some of the courses natural and flowing trails side by side. James Berrill was a very well deserved 3rd overall, steering his Honda 2t to a comfortable trophy placing. Berril was a lap down on Edmondson and Brewster though. Grant Hacking was always in contention on his KX 450 and a special mention should go to KBR rider Lewis Belfield. Belfield moved up to expert for the first time and certainly did not disappoint with a solid 4th place after a dramatic last corner pass on Hacking at the end of 3hrs.

Top clubman was Jamie Robinson with a fine ride to take the class from Young Owain Humphries and Ben Haycock. Humphries is improving with every ride and is certainly the next young rider to watch coming into the senior classes. Haycock is always there or thereabouts in the clubman class and powered his yzf 450 to a well deserved podium placing.

Jack Twentyman topped the over 35 class once again with a battling performance in the heat that left him shattered and needing a rest come the end. Jack came through from dead last to take the win after a crash from the start put paid to him leading early on. Flat Out racings Alan Vissian was a solid second place with Mick Rayson taking the bronze over 35 award. Nice to see Mick back competing at WOR.

Allan Hopwood is truly a WOR Warrior and proved again so on Sunday. Hopwood took the over 40's class win and collapsed once he had crossed the line, Earlier Allan had hit a tree in a racing crash and dislocated his shoulder!!! He then carried on for one hour in agony to complete the race. After a hospital visit it was confirmed that Hoppy had put his shoulder out and had done some ligament damage, Tough guy indeed. Paul Davies took a well earned silver place Just under half a minute behind Hopwood and Rob Lambert was third albeit a lap down on the top two.

In the competitive over 45's it was Colin Jones (right) turn to shine and stop the downward spiral of results he has recently had. Jones was on a mission as he removed Ray Whittle and Gareth Lloyd from the sharp end of the results took a very solid win indeed. Jones suiting the terrain and looking visibly more quicker than his peers was flying and had over 3 minutes from Lloyd in the runners up spot and a full lap on the tired Whittle in 3rd come the end of the race.

The heat of the burning sun was certainly having an effect on some riders, this heat coupled with a very fast and flowing XC track is a recipe for de hydration and several riders were offering their right arms for bottles of cool water that the marshals were carrying.

The race had two Sportsman classes with a 2hr group and a 3hr group, (giving riders more choice!), The top 3hr sportsman was AJ Stead from Ben Ball in second place and Andrew Cooper in 3rd. 2hr Sportsman front runners were Chris Wagstaff, Ryan Faulks and Mike Hicken, in that order.

Top lady was once again Jane Daniels (right) with a very strong ride; this young lady really can adapt to any riding conditions and is starting to shine. Special mention to Kate Lloyd, one of the other lady riders. She had a big crash and knocked herself out, bending the front of her bike and spending the rest of the day in a sling!!! Get well soon Kate.

The other young Humphries is Gethin; he was once again unstoppable in the Youth Class and stormed to almost a full clear lap ahead of his nearest rider. Adam Barrat was that man in second place and he in turn took his Yamaha and splendid white outfit to a 2 minute advantage from 3rd placed William Hillas.

Finally top Novice rider was Carl Thomas from Luke Williams and Jaroslav Ceri in second and third place respectively.

Race director Steve Ireland and the WOR events team were getting lots of pats on the back from the riders for this latest off road production and rightly so as the amount of tape and arrows out on the track was amazing.

Results

WOR's next event is at this same venue on WED night 30th JULY (2 days!!) it will be a 2 hour race and starts at 6.30pm. It is the final round of CF Racing sponsored Wednesday night series. For more details visit www.worevents.com 

RD 2 @ ROBINS MOUNTAIN, ABERGELE SUNDAY 25TH MAY 2008.

"BREWSTER WINS ACERBIS WOR!"REPORT BY G.TURNER. PICTURES BY WOR EVENTS. RESULTS BY DIXON TIMING.

"Round 2 of the WOR Events ACERBIS XC SERIES took place at the brilliant Robins Mountain circuit near Abergele on the Coast of North Wales last Sunday and what a cracking event it was. With a 5.5 mile loop that was taking anything from 14 minutes a lap to 40 minutes a lap, depending on your ability, offering twisty woodland paths with flowing open rolling grass mountain tops to rocky quarry sections and sandy MX berms. Judging from the rider's reaction to the event as they crossed the finish line it was a resounding success that gave a really nice feel to the atmosphere in the paddock. It was almost like the dreary weather and gloom that has surrounded certain events recently had just disappeared and everyone was reminded about how good this sport really can be.

It was a real rider's track, with speed and technical sections having an equal share of the 300 acre estate. As usual WOR run the two race format with the intermediate classes going first for 2 hours and then the "full on" classes riding in the afternoon 2.5 hour race.

THE 2 Hr Race…….

Holywell based Milkman, Paul Davies (left) took a superb overall and over 40's win in the morning event. Davies on his Honda Crf250x was a clear 3 minutes plus ahead of his nearest rival, Over 40's class front runner, Allan Hopwood. Hopwood was the early leader but Davies was never far from his rear wheel and eventually passed Allan around the halfway mark and steadily pulled ahead. Third place went to the hard charging Dave Ellis.

Ryan Faulks was out on his new KTM 200 and rode superbly to take a well earner gold at the top of the Sportsman group. Faulks was 1 minute ahead Kev Freeman on his gasser 250 in the runners up position. Ben Ball was in third securing a constant run of podiums for him in recent events. In the Novice group it was Daniel Pritchard in third place with Darren Moloney in 2nd and the spoils went to Oliver Coop who now moves up to the sportsman ranks. All the Novice riders matched the 8 laps of the Sportsman and Over 40's riders, So maybe a few people riding out of class there.

Kate Lloyd put in a great performance on her GG 125ec and finished as top lady by quite a way come the end of the race.

The Youth class was once again topped by the up and coming Gethin Humpries, Gethin riding with a very neat and speedy style on his KTM 125 and showing the rest of his classmates the way forward. Gethin took a near 3 minutes advantage from little Joe Wootton, who in turn was nearly two minutes clear of Simon Jones. Again these top youths matched the 8 laps of the events overall winners.

With the race running like clockwork a neat podium presentation was made and and the Hard working WOR track team were ready to go again for the afternoons main race.

THE 2.5HR RACE

As Paul Edmondson had done the week previous in the PUTOLINE XC series, the events top man, Lincoln Brewster choose to start behind the entire entry and pick his way through the riders, in a practice/fun exercise.

Lincoln was out in front of the rest of the pack by the one hour mark with a stylish display of neat and controlled riding on the circuits rocky and unforgiving whoops sections etc. The little KBR KTM 200 seems to suit the tall and leggy Brewster down to the ground. With Brewster starting at the back it was left to Alun Jones to lead the way for the first 1 hour, and do so in style he did. Battling with Ben Wootton in a true epic it was exciting stuff to watch as Wootton started to close the gap. Eventually it was Lincoln taking the best Elite rider award with Ben Wootton taking the experts. Brewster and Wootton were the only riders to complete 12 laps, leaving Jones as the runner up in the experts from Warren Hazzlett on 11 laps.

CF Racing's young, up and coming rider, Daffyd Jones (left) took a brilliant overall clubman win on his little GG125. Screaming his way around the big off road loop with the speed of a much bigger bike saw the Corwen based youngster take a near 1 minute advantage over second placed Ben Haycock and Jamie Robinson in a solid 3rd place. Things are really competitive at the top of that Clubman class and only 2 minutes separated the top 6 in that group. Daffyd even took a splendid 6th overall, showing his true expert class credentials.

The over 35's class as always had loads of great racing taking place, but once again it was that man Jack Twentyman that was on mission. Leading from start to finish, Jack stormed to a class win and a fine top 5 finish overall. Come the end of the 2.5hr marathon, (ask the riders how knackered they where come the end??!!) Ian Barnett had got himself to within 55 seconds of Twentyman. The hard charging Barnett more worried about beating one of the lads that works for him at Barnett Engineering. Barnett managed to do just that as he beat Carl Claybrook by nearly 3 minutes, although Claybrook had a rather bad start. All 3 finished on 11 laps to their credit.

Finally onto that super competitive over 45 group. These guys are older than the rest but by no means any slower and week after week the racing stays true and honest till the chequered flag comes out. With only seconds separating the top 3 come the end of the race it was that man Ray Whittal (left) that took the top spot on the rostrum. Whittal was just ahead of the really hard charging Colin Jones. Jones was setting really quick times towards the end of the race and was unlucky not to have caught Whittal after being some two minutes down at the half way stage. Denis Harrison on his two wheeled drive KTM was only seconds behind Jones after holding onto to the runners up spot right up to the last lap. Again 11 laps was the tally for these top 3 vets.

With the rain coming down just as the riders were leaving the parking field it did not seem to matter as a great days XC racing had been had by all.

The next event in WOR's exciting calendar of events is the MOTUL GBHS rd 1 at the ever popular MAESHFN venue in Mold, just off the end of the M56 ON THE WEEKEND OF 7/8TH June 2008.

Visit www.worevents.com  for more details.

ROUND 1 @ LLANDRILLO FOREST. 6TH APRIL 2008. Report by G. Turner

"BREWSTER AND BELFIELD ARE SNOW JOKE!"

"After having had to cancel this round 1 of the ACERBIS Sprint Scrambles the previous weekend due to terrible wet weather at Mold, Imagine the Horror on the WOR teams face when they awoke to deep snow on Sunday morning in the superb Llandrillo Forest to run the rescheduled event. The snow however was no match for the hard working and vastly experienced track team. Lots of riders did not show up due to simply not being able to get there, The m56 motorway was shut and some of the roads surrounding the venue were very tricky indeed. However a substantial amount of riders did get there and were treated to a brilliant days racing. The circuit was 6 miles in length and was based on firm fire roads and also included some lovely open moorland sections and some rutted and rocky climbs and downhills.

Parking was all on solid forest roads and funnily enough more riders than ever commented "Great Track" as the crossed the finishing line in the 2 separate two hour races.

The morning event catered for the Sportsman, Over 40, Novice and Youth riders. Taking anything from 15 minutes to 35 minutes a lap depending on ability saw about 100 riders have this awesome quality track to play with as overcrowding certainly was not an issue. KB Racings boss Kenny Belfield was out in the over 40's class and took a very well deserved win and overall from 2nd placed Allan Hopwood. Belfield (GG250) managing 1 more lap than anyone else in the morning stint. Rob Lambert was third although he was 12 minutes down on Hopwood. Top sportsman honours went to Ben Ball with another great ride and a come from behind pounce late on in the race. Craig Parkes and Chris Wagstaff were 2nd and 3rd respectively in this class.

Jane Daniels was the best lady with her long legs helping her in some of the rutted sections.

The youth class had Gethin Humpreys flying to the win with Joe Wootton in the runner up position and Huw Jones on the 125 Gas Gas in 3rd.

Top Novice was Mark Fletcher who easily won his category from runner up Gareth Lewis and bronze placed Carl Thomas.

Onto the afternoon race and KB Racings podium king, Lincoln Brewster was on top form once again, making it a great day for KBR and GAS GAS with another convincing win. Leading more or less from start to finish the wiry Brewster loved the course, hopping and skipping his way through the unbelievably hard under foot circuit. Rob Reese was the runner up in the pro class from the hard charging Mark Roberts in 3rd. Reese and Roberts had a real battle for the 2nd and 3rd place for the duration and were never far off one another racing through the trees. The top Expert was Alun Jones with a strong ride that took him the spoils from Martin Jones who was 25 seconds behind Alun come the end of the 2 hour sprint Enduro. 3rd Expert went to Craig Reynolds on his Yamaha 250, Nice to see Craig getting back on the podium.

Jack Twentyman had another very good ride (over 35's) taking almost 3 minutes from runner up Richard Main. That in itself no mean feat as the big fella from Rugby goes very well indeed as his win at the opening round of the GBXC in mid February showed. Ian Barnett was 3rd with determination and a fair bit of speed helping him to within 1 minute of Main in 2nd.

In the over 45's it was once again the Ray Whittle show. Whittle leading home Colin Jones in Second place and Cf racings Gareth Lloyd in 3rd. Whittle and Jones completed one more lap than Lloyd though. In the end Ray had a 1.5 minute advantage over Colin and a good race had been had between the duo.

Top Clubman was Ben Haycock with a very spirited ride. However Gary Daniels in the silver runners up position deserves a mention for fighting on and coming through the riders to make a late charge and end up on the podium after losing the leaders early on. 3rd went to young Owain Humpries who is showing now that his move to Clubman from Youth is a real positive one.

The Hobby class riders had fun riding for no Silverware just the craic and it was Neil Hawksey beating his mate Gary Rothwell into winner's position. So the weather did not win this time, WOR Events did, so to did the riders. Some very different and lovely glass ware was handed out at the end to the deserved riders all emblazed with ACERBIS logo and results were presented within 2 minutes of the finishing rider crossing the line.

A quality event by any standards.

Acerbis Rd 1 Results AM race PM race

WOR's next event now is this coming weekend at the awesome Robins Mountain Circuit near Abergele. It is round 1 of the new FMF Junior Hare Scrambles Championship on the Saturday and also round 1 of WOR's prestigious MOTUL GBHS on the Sunday, this is the series that kick started the huge boom in off road racing in the UK about 5 years ago.

The track up at Abergele has had some grading work done to it and several new loops cut into the woodlands, to compliment this the landowner has also allowed the use of some new" grass going" incorporating some brilliant ski slope type hills and field work.

For more details visit www.worevents.com or call 07944378432