All content © Bob MuIIins

Cotswold Enduro Club
Club Championship & Rock Oil H&H Rd.2
Shuckburgh Hall. Northants.

A one-week delay for the second round of Cotswold Enduro Club's Rock Oil Hare and Hounds Championship at Shuckburgh Hall was a very smart move indeed. The ground and course had dried significantly and the venue was in pristine condition for three hours of top-notch racing. There were hares aplenty as the riders hit the woodland for the first lap, rocketing across the fields in all directions (the hares, not the riders!)

The stately setting of Shuckburgh Hall is a favourite venue for CEC riders. The venue hosts three CEC events each season and is large enough to ensure that there are three different courses with little or no overlap. It has a huge variety of terrain and this event benefitted from a new plantation section that was added to give riders a 15-minute lap on average although winner Matt Porter managed to get around it in a shade over 11-minutes.

The course was in great shape, mainly through woodland and the plantation with a handful of field sections thrown in for good measure, although exposed roots certainly played their part as the race wore on. The woodlands were wide in places, narrow in others, which made passing tight as Ben Coleman found out to his cost. Knowing when to pass and when to wait for an open section was crucial.

At 10.00am the Pro Championship riders roared off the start line with Adam Castledine grabbing a cheeky hole-shot but it wasn't to last as Matt Porter moved to the front and began his three-hour charge to the finish line. Brendan Griffiths was determined to keep pace with Porter and for the first half of the race was generally still in touch but the leader turned up the gas and pulled a six-minute gap by the finish. Griffiths enjoyed his best outing of the season so far. Craig Reynolds worked hard for third spot, battling past Castledine, Ben Amy (who unfortunately had a big off and injured his arm), while James Plant rode hard to take fourth place overall and in the class.

Even Porter found the last few laps to be tough going in places. His new Yamaha YZ250 proved to be a little fierce over the growing number of exposed roots and admitted it needed calming down somewhat for this type of race.

As usual the Veterans were amongst the front-runners despite setting off some distance behind the Pro Championship riders. Keith Jenkins matched the leading four riders on laps to win his class, the Veterans 50+, and to take fifth overall. Rob Sewell and Colin Griffiths were both a lap down on Jenkins, taking second and third in class.

Kev Freeman used every one of his 40+ years experience to take the Vets 40+ win by just over 40 seconds from a hard-charging Darren Bedford as the pair circulated almost together lap after lap. Carl Harmston was just over 10-minutes behind the leading pair and took third in class.

The Expert class held some very quick riders, Brad Sullivan being the quickest but even he didn't escape unscathed. He had great speed but tried just a little too hard to cut around a log and caught the rear wheel. He was catapulted forwards and looked as if he might save it for a fraction of a second but the inevitable happened and he hit the dirt. He picked himself up and put in some very fast laps to take the class win from Tom Collett in second while Steve Norbury rode to a terrific third place following his move from the Clubman ranks.

Jason Billam had a cracking ride to take the Clubman 2T win, posting an extra lap over second placed Ian Teverson and James Flannigan in third while Jason Wittering topped the Clubman 4T ranks by a clear lap over Andrew Whieldon and Neil Munton. The quality of the clubman classes has certainly improved this season and to get a top three position in either class is very well deserved.

Gemma Holtham once again won the Ladies class although she had plenty of competition from Anne Cherry as the pair matched each other lap for lap. Catherine James took third in the class.

The Sportsman/Novice class was once again by far the largest. Getting a result in this class really requires hard work and determination and two riders really stood tall, both posting 11 laps. Matt Davis and Teddy Coleman pushed each other hard for most of the race with Davis just edging a lead in the closing stages to win the class as Coleman took second spot and Tim Woodhouse third.

Within minutes of the race finishing it began to rain. Shuckburgh in the wet is very tough going and the dry weather in the lead up and throughout the race was very welcome.

With another two events scheduled at the venue most riders will grab the opportunity to race at one of the most picturesque settings in the country which holds some of the best XC terrain around.