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The AMCA Cotswold Enduro Club Rock Oil H&H Championship and Club Championship.

Round 4. Long Compton.

As the rest of the country coped with horrendous wet weather conditions, the small area of Long Compton in Warwickshire somehow managed to miss all the rain and the venue was in perfect shape for Cotswold Enduro Club's AMCA Rock Oil H&H Championship fourth round on Sunday.

The track was tight and technical with nowhere to rest and it was a smart move by riders to vote for two and a half hours race duration instead of the planned three hours, the course hammered all riders for the whole race with nowhere to rest for more than a few seconds around the four-mile lap.

There were plenty of grass-covered slopes, which meant easy on the gas initially but lines soon appeared once a few laps had elapsed and the track flowed well. The ridgeline running between the two main field sections made a great viewpoint and riders were barely out of sight for more than a few seconds. It's not often that it is possible to follow a rider for virtually the whole lap but the fairly open field on one side of the divide was more than matched by the cratered and undulating slopes of the other side.

In the Pro Championship class Matt Porter nailed the win, living dangerously on a Honda CR500 on very grassy hills, but fair to say he rode extremely well and had the beast mainly under control. Brendan Griffiths once again upped his game to take a solid second spot and improve his championship standing considerably ahead of third placed Adam Castledine who had grabbed the hole-shot initially but eventually slipped back a couple of spots.

The Cotswold Veterans are a great bunch of blokes, full of pre-race banter but when the flag drops it's every man for himself as the 40+ class and 50+ class fight for supremacy. Keith Jenkins, 50+ Vets adopted the silent but stealthy approach and followed 40+ leader Kev Freeman for a few laps before making his move and taking the veterans lead. He even had time to do a circuit of the pits near the end of the race but he had forgotten why he had gone in there and went straight back out to win his class and take third place overall. It's an age thing!

Rob Sewell took the 50+ second spot with Colin Griffiths third. Kev Freeman finished fourth overall, 15 seconds behind Jenkins, but at the front of the 40+ pack once again as Darren Bedford followed him home, just ahead of Lee Barnett.

Lee Richards decided to take on the Experts for once and had a terrific outing by winning the class, much to his surprise, finishing over four minutes clear of Bradley Sullivan in second spot as Chris Hill rode hard to take third in class.

Ellis Frend nailed the Clubman 2T win although it was closer than he though as second placed James Flannigan crossed the line just 21 second adrift. Ian Teverson, in third, was just over a minute behind the leading 2T pair.

In the Clubman four-bangers Andrew Whieldon took a great win. Before the race he was talking of quitting but with rides such as he performed on the day, he must be thinking differently now. He was over half a minute up on Neil Munton while Rob Latham took third in class.

Gemma Holtham decided to ignore her pit crew as she won the Ladies class. Instructed to 'Push' she duly went and crashed whilst already at the head of the class so decided to settle for just the one extra lap over Anne Cherry in second spot.

Dean Skerratt and Tim Woodhouse had a cracking battle in the Sportsman/Novice ranks with Skerratt just edging the class win by a minute and four seconds as both riders planted an extra lap on their rivals. Matt Davis took third.

Jerry Adams was back to his usual form in the Classic Pre 86 class. He started on a Honda and finished on a Yamaha, thoroughly enjoying every minute of the race. Poor old Eric Shaw only managed a single lap in the Trail class before disaster struck and his bike was parked next to a fence for most of the race.

Long Compton is a tough old place but well suited to technical riders. The speed merchants would not have enjoyed it too much but over the season the Cotswold Enduro Crew like to balance things out. Great event.

Results