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RAW Enduro Round 9

Raw Enduro chose the new look Butts Quarry to host the final Hare & Hounds championship event of 2015. With a few class wins already decided, the tension was full on for the class titles which were still up for grabs. Heavy rain early on in the week meant track conditions were a bit sticky for the early morning youth event. As the sun broke through a light breeze had the course in almost perfect condition for the first of two adult events.

After a long season Thomas Widd had his final youth outing on his KTM and true to form took the youth A win and championship overall. Harry Conner finished runner up and Dom Richardson did an amazing job to hang onto third after his Husky rear brake rod came loose and fell off. Toby Flack had a great race to take the Youth B, with Finn Pearce taking runner up and Ben Wood rounding out his season in a fine third place.

The morning adult event was red flagged at just over half distance to allow the Air Ambulance to land to take an injured rider to hospital, the rider in question has since had an operation to pin a broken leg, he sends his sincere thanks to everyone who assisted with his safe handling, in particular the riders for understanding that safety really does come before any competition result.

After the pre event briefing was delivered by Clerk of the Course Wayne Braybrook, the packed morning event was flagged away. Mark Cockfield had one of his usual lightning fast starts, at the end of lap one Andy Harvey had taken the lead on his KTM, this left Cockfield chasing him down, needing a good result to seal the Sportsman Vets championship, he did just enough finishing runner up to take the overall. Title contender Mick Bottomley was the only other rider who could have won the class championship, Mick had a reasonable start and was running at a good pace in 4th position, the red flag incident may have played a part, but in competition the hounds don't always catch the Hare if the Hare stays on pace. Sportsman class honours went to James Cooke Thomas, James won the morning event outright, his pace is now good after a mid season injury, and his sight are now set on the clubman class pace for 2016. Michael Lee rounded his season out with a strong second place; Michael is another rider who will certainly be on the pace of Clubman for the 2016 season. Tommy Grimmer saved his best event for the last round; Tommy's third place was without doubt his best RAW result of the season. A huge Over 50 vet's class was topped by Brett Haley, Lancastrian Colin Blunt had a great race to finish runner up, and he was followed home by fellow red rose riders Ian Heyworth and Pete Fletcher keeping it competitive at the top of the Old boys group. In the Beginners class Liam Ryde took the win, his nearest rival and championship winner Dawson Marriott was not riding at Butts due to a broken ankle after a mucking about incident went wrong....Danny Philips had an awesome ride to take runner up with Nathan Smith delighted to have his first RAW trophy ready to sit above the fireplace. Not going unnoticed was Oli Franklyn's 4th place, in his first adult season, Oli can now look forward to having a serious attack on the class in 2016 challenging for the overall.

A small but talent packed PM event had many onlookers biting finger nails, the clubman class was wide open with 3 riders in with a chance of the overall. Expert 2nd to 3rd places were still in the balance, as riders were unleashed from the quarry basin Chris Hughes took the holeshot, after leading around lap one it was Lee Sampson who was edging forward to be the pacesetter, Luke Flack overcame a slow start to get up with the lead riders before his rear brake started to overheat. At the flag Lee Sampson took the win ahead of Luke Flack making it a Sherco one two. Chris Hughes took third place points after a great season of being right on the expert pace. Well done boys and thanks for entertaining our AM event club members who always stay on to watch how the fast boys do it. Clubman class contenders were made up of "in the red corner heavyweight Iain Robinson", "in the Blue corner bantam weight Brad Lilburn", and wildcard Josh Bailey hoping for the front two to trip themselves up. From the start Robinson set the pace, staying on line playing safe making it difficult for his rivals to pass, In contrast the Bumble Bee Lilburn was ringing the neck of his KTM doing a great job after a poor start. In the final laps the race and championship could have gone to either rider, on the day everyone gives their best and if it's not enough then no more can be done. Iain Robinson was super happy to take the race win and championship, Brad Lilburn we applaud you, massive effort on the day and your pit crew having balls of steel for refusing to bring you in for fuel. Runner up it was, and be proud of it Brad. RAW newcomer George Birchall had a strong race to take third in very competitive conditions. Josh Bailey never quite found his feet at Butts and had to settle for fourth place after his weeks holiday at Red Bull Sea to Sky supporting his mate Mick Boam. Boamy took the Expert Vets class win and championship, only after a superb battle with David Haith John Bradford which lasted the whole two hours. More of these in 2016 please chaps it's been great to see. One rider who has probably had his most enjoyable season racing to date is Danny Clarke, DC took the Clubman vets class win and sealed the championship at Butts Quarry, after being pushed hard by Yorkshireman Rob Pearce out on his new KTM. Danny had an easy day in the end as his nearest rival Mark Lodge had other commitments on the day, however taking nothing away from Clarke his season has panned out due to his efforts and his better half Sam kicking his arse during MTB training....

After a long season, RAW Enduro has against all odds shown that hard work and dedication never fails to get results. Thank you, to each and every rider for supporting RAW, thanks to family and friends who provide support to the riders. Last but not least thanks to all RAW Staff, you know who you are, thanks from Mr Braybrook.

Presentation Night November 21st only 12 tickets remaining then it's full to capacity. Next Event pay and play Practice Day November 8th at Westwood followed by the final 4 hour 2 man team event at Ellington Banks Ripon on November 15th.

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