All content © Bob MuIIins

Cotswold Enduro Club
At Llansilin
Rock Oil H&H, Slow Pete, Club Champs

Cotswold Enduro Club rolled three events into one last Sunday; the AMCA Rock Oil H&H Championship plus the Slow Pete series and a round of the Club Championships so for such a special event, a special venue was needed.

Llansilin proved to be more than up to the task. A huge Welsh hillside setting gave the fastest riders a 12-minute lap over a course that seemed to have three times as many downhills as uphills. At first glance the course looked well suited to the faster riders but on closer inspection a great deal of technical ability was also necessary to negotiate the many traps that Pete Carter had included in his layout.

The tight and twisty lower part of the course fed riders out towards several sharp climbs to get onto the hilltops where riders could get their speed up before a snaking descent slowed them to a crawl for the first couple of laps. As confidence grew and new lines appeared the course flowed smoothly.

Also used as a MTB course, Llansilin provided plenty of jumps but they were not quite right for enduro bikes and care had to be taken as a few of them turned into kickers.

The three-hour race got underway at 10.00am and Brendan Griffiths reacted quickly to take the holeshot in the Pro Championship ranks but within less than a minute as riders exited the start field out onto the course Matt Porter was already in the lead. Andrew Edwards wasn't far behind and it looked as if Porter would have to work hard for his win with Aled Price also in the top three initially.

Porter turned on the gas with no sign of slowing at any point on the course he gradually started to gap the rest of the field. There was no catching him and another victory was secured. Edwards made second place safe but as the race neared its conclusion Price pushed to close the gap and got within eight-seconds of Edwards, taking third place overall and in the Pro Championship class.

With the first five places taken by Pro Championship riders it was somewhat surprising to see that Veteran 50+ rider Keith Jenkins made sixth overall despite riding with a very heavy hangover. His spectacular crash and roll on the first lap must have woken him up because he really kicked into gear once he recovered.

True Enduro sportsmanship was shown by Kev Freeman who was challenging Jenks for position at the time. Freeman stopped and checked Jenks was OK and waited for him to remount before continuing. Jenkins waived him past until he recovered his senses and the race between the two resumed at pace.

Jenkins won his 50+ class with ease by nearly nine minutes over Colin Griffiths in second place. Griffiths' position was safe as third placed Mick Belcher was a lap adrift.

The Veterans 40+ class was a battle to the end. Kev Freeman had matched Jenkins for pace early on and although in different classes, Freeman had gained quite a considerably lead in the 40+ ranks. Carl Harmston had other ideas and didn't fancy second place so on the final lap his persistence paid off as he passed a tiring Freeman to win the class at the death. Freeman took second while Darren Bedford powered to third.

Clubman 2T rider Rob Clark once again had a terrific ride. His performances lately have been outstanding and a move to the Experts next season is on the cards as he beat the best Expert on the day. His 2T class win saw him finish a lap ahead of Bo Anderson in second while Steve Norbury had his eyes on the 2T Championship overall and managed to hold third spot while his nearest rival, Tom Collett, took fifth.

Geraint Jones was the top Expert on the day, finishing 12th overall as Kirk Giles put in a great second half to finish in a solid second place ahead of Brian Anderson in third.

Sam Keen nailed the Clubman 4T class win but Dan Cameron and Richard Graham pushed him hard all the way to the finish line, all three on 12 laps.

The Ladies class proved interesting. Wendy Ellis-Smith amassed a huge lead after a couple of laps, Anne Cherry was second while Gemma Holtham spent 10-minutes clearing her rear wheel on the opening lap. It looked like game over for Holtham but a great fight back ensued and she eventually took the class win by 30 seconds over Ellis-Smith as Cherry took third spot.

Dale Phillips' win in the Sportsman Novice class was hard earned. He was constantly challenged by Ellis Frend and Jason Wittering throughout the race, all three were never far apart and eventually Frend took second place with Wittering third.

Jerry Adams rode so hard in the Classic (Pre 86 class) that the paint came off his bike, it was red when he started and white when he finished, or he just changed bikes during the race. Ian Jones ploughed a lonely furrow in the Trail class. This very senior rider plugged away for 3 hours to post just three laps but he was determined to get to the finish flag.

The addition of new blood into the Championship class certainly spiced things up and although Matt Porter took the win, he couldn't relax at any point but there is no getting away from the fact that he rode magnificently.

Llansilin was tough, the course reversed from last season proved to be at least twice as tough but as usual the turnout was terrffic and the racing superb.

Well done Pete Carter and Cotswold Enduro Club.