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East Coast Survival ...
RAW Style! The Final round of the RAW Challenge Series was held at the superb Driffield MOD training area in east Yorkshire, a return to the long lap saw average lap times around 15 minutes which was perfect for the 6 hour gruelling event, this was the final test for competitors wanting to scratch their name on the first running of this popular combination of events. The brainchild of Wayne Braybrook an ex Hard Enduro winner, who wanted to
create something which, until now hasn’t been done, was to have a series
of events which got gradually harder in race distance, 4,5 and 6 hours in
the saddle to see who had the character to survive.
Brad Lilburn rode a superb race, pushing hard to lead around lap one, the RAW Enduro rider worked hard to maintain his lead over the six hours, Alex Owen on his Ken Urwin Motorcycles supported Husky was always there and as ever grinding away ready to pounce if Lilburn had any problems. With Damo Butler taking an early bath due to an injury sustained the day before the race, this left Phil Hancock to take third overall at the flag on a borrowed RMZ 250F. Lilburn definitely earned his stripes in this series taking 3 wins from 3. Alex Owen stepped up to take second place overall despite being a veteran rider. Finding his enduro feet more every time he races Ben Hamilton will feature much more in 2017 in Enduro, him and his MX team mate David Rushton completed 28 laps in the six hours to take the expert team class win. John Bradford and Anthony tempest were delighted to take the overall Expert Team class series win, despite them thinking they had no chance at R1. In the fiercely contested Clubman Solo class it was a last round showdown between Kris Weston and Marc Vardy for the win going into this final race, Weston was on fire from the get go, with Vardy still nursing a knee injury it was always going to be a tough 6 hours solo. Weston took the win with Vardy placing second; a tie on points sees Kris Weston take the series win by virtue of the final race result being the tiebreaker. Close racing is always great to see, credit to both riders. Paul Daley Smith is a self confessed lover of hard enduro events, Paul took his Autosmart Sherco to a great third place on the day and in doing so claims third overall in the series the year before he becomes a vet rider. Clubman team class riders were at it hammer and tongs for the whole six hours, Danny Kidd and Luke Knight just held on to take the win from the young guns RG racing Dom Richardson and James Gamble, Dom and jimmy gave everything on the day to try win, second on the day and third in the series was a good end. Doltan and Ian Shannon have loved the father son banter, a solid third on the day graces them with second overall in a competitive class.
Vets Solo honours went to Andy Cooke who was kept on his toes by Martyn Thomas earning his best finish of the year to date. Shane Marriott showed grit and determination to take third place on the day and a well deserved second overall in the series on his Mansfield Motorcycles KTM. In the vets team class the winner takes all final race saw Neil Myers and John Leith kick the ball out of reach taking the overall series with second on the day. Steven Dean and Andy Kirby threw everything at the last race to try take the series, but it just wasn’t to be this year. Huge Respect to the novice solo riders, Jack Webster Owen used his youth and dexterity to take the final race win and the series overall, Runner up in the series went to Garry Peacock after a monumental effort at the final race, this sees him take second overall for his efforts. Queensbury Kitchens Director Daren Girvan and his teammate Josh Dunn won the Novice team class overall, and Nick Whitehead and Tony Adams bagged the Sportsman team series win.
Track conditions on the day considering it was six hours continua’s riding stayed pretty good, yes the course did get rough in places which tested riders ability to find smooth lines, all in all Driffield provided the perfect venue to stage this final series race. If any riders were missed out of this race report, don’t despair, as soon as the final series standings are published RAW enduro will get a full round up of the series online to acknowledge all the series winners. A big shout out to all the marshals and helpers on the day, and also to the family and friends who came to cheer on and support their riders, what a great day of RAW Enduro Action. Once again the focus for RAW Enduro turns to the Rock Oil Championship as the team prepare for the second visit of 2016 top the Lee Dell Complex high on the Lancashire hills above Rochdale. On September 17th and 18th the Pay and Play and Rock Oil race weekend will see the long lap for this round 6 of the Championship where standings are as close as ever across all classes All Event info including dates and the online fastrack entry system can
be found at: www.rawenduro.co.uk
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So
the objective of the event is solos simply tough it out for six hours
straight, 2 man teams are run relay style, so one rider clocks up the laps
and they can change in a team change area as many times as they like, some
riders opt for an hour each, others do a set number of laps, strategy is
everything as riders try match other teams decisions F1 style!
