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All content © Bob MuIIins | |||||||||||
 
The Baja GB All Terrain Challenge On the wettest weekend of the year so far the Baja GB Rally event took place last weekend at the Sweet Lamb Rally Complex near Llanidloes, Wales. The event was for both four and two wheeled vehicles but the bikes were my focus of attention. Two special tests, not actually on Sweet Lamb but at nearby Hafren Forest and Myherin Forest made distances between tests considerable with the centrally based rally complex acting as paddock, service and base area. The tests stretched for 18km and 20km respectively along fire roads that were awash throughout the weekend and through soggy forest sections. It was a miracle of organisation that each heavy downpour coincided with the start of each test but apparently the weather was much better than 2015 when it was held in blizzard conditions. Thirty-six riders began the event on Saturday morning but the first day’s torrential rain saw the field reduced come Sunday’s start and even more so as the final day progressed. There was an excellent mix of machinery; Rally bikes, Trail, Big-bikes and Lites, some even verging on Classics, equally matched by riders of varying abilities and experience. Derrick Edmondson threw his leg over a bike for the first time in four years on a Rally Raid LC4-50 which in essence is a KTM 690 LC4 sleeved down to 450cc. It’s a tall bike and those who know Derrick will see the initial problem immediately. With number one on his bike he was first out and had the pleasure of fresh tests whilst getting to know the machine. Mike Wells on a Husqvarna 450FE and Tony Whitehead on a KTM 350 EXC-F followed him throughout the two days as the stages alternated between the four-wheelers and the bikes. There were a few delays while numerous cars were recovered throughout the weekend but that is the nature of events where cars and bikes mix. Derrick Edmondson (above) took third in the Rally class and fourth overall
Darren Soothill braved the condition on a CCM full kitted out for rallies and rode in the Trail class as it was only his second outing on the bike and he took the class win ahead of Richard Griffin. Chris Foster was top Lite 2 class winner from Dave Leach and Carl Fisher while Paul Robson headed the Bigbike group with Andy Myers in second spot and Paul Davies in third. Karl Linsell won the Lite1 class on his KTM EXC and was followed by Tim Stevens and Richard Robinson. Twenty seven riders finished the event out of 36 starters. Considering the conditions, that was good going.
Trail
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