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Extreme Frost sparkles at Westwood The 2016 ACU Fast Eddy British Extreme Enduro Championship Report: Tim Tighe. Pics: Tilde Tighe, Jack Fleming. As the year draws to a close the long-awaited finale of the 2016 BEEC arrived at Westwood near Sheffield to provide a surprising conclusion to this outstanding series, one where the Experts outshone the Pros for once to provide a nail-biting finish over the final few laps. Always eager to provide great value for money, Paul Edmondson added a night race just for fun once the extreme championship had been settled and it proved to be hugely popular with both the riders and onlookers who witnessed the hundreds of small lights bobbing about in the Westwood woodland.
The packed entry line up was terrific. No David Knight, no Billy Bolt, no Graham Jarvis and no Jonny Walker left the race as open as can be and ready for a new name in the BEEC winners records. Just four riders stepped up to the Pro plate, all credit to them. Gary Daniels is always a contender and has been ever present in the pro class all year long. He was joined by MPS Sherco’s Luke Flack and two or the D3 racing stable of riders, Rich Ely and a revitalised Sam Winterburn, but the eventual winner was none of the above!
The Clubman class witnessed a real ‘old school’ battle between Fred Adams and Dan Knaggs initially, trading blow for blow over each obstacle but it was Adams who hit his rythmn by the midpoint of the race and then disappeared into the distance to win the class by over five minutes as Knaggs took second, a lap up on third placed Ryan Armitage who was virtually on home turf. Looking at the results it seems that Brad Lilburn dominated the Youth class and, fair play, he rode really well but there were a string of riders who gritted their collective teeth and charged around a course that became increasingly tough as the race progressed. Dawson Marriott took second spot and Thomas Widd third but young Tom Knight of the IOM dynasty had a great outing, as did Rosie Rowett who kept the princess in the box and continued to ride despite her ankle swelling in her boot! Henry Yardley was unlucky as he suffered head gasket trouble but made the finish all the same. Mick Boam, ‘suffering from old age, too many beers and not enough exercise’ ripped the Veterans class in his usual feet up style but was happy to see the finish flag for once. Anthony Ayrton followed him home ahead of Alex Owen.
As the main race finished there was just over two hours until the evening race began at dusk. The venue looked like an electricians convention as LED helmet and bar lights blinked into life, amazing to see how technology has moved on in recent years with 90 minutes of light from a single charge on some of the helmet lights and they were pretty powerful. The view of the start line was spectacular, proper ‘Close Encounters’ stuff. Once the race was underway it was awesome to see strings of lights weaving around the woodland as photographers did their best to obliterate riders night vision with their flashguns. Luke Flack swapped the 4T Sherco for a 2T and simply rode as if it was midday, never missing a beat as his portable floodlight arrangement illuminated most of the venue. He took the win and restored some repectablity to the Pro ranks. Ben Wibberley was the Expert winner as Ryan Armitage nailed the Clubman class. Anthony Tempest took the Vets win as Darren Cox was first Sportsman past the finish flag. Dawson Marriott headed up the Youth ranks. It was a perfect finish to a truly excellent day and fantastic Extreme series and there were many requests for further night races in the future. Fast Eddy will almost certainly accommodate such requests so sorting Christmas presents has never been so easy: A set of LED’s please Santa! Well done Fast Eddy and all of his trusty crew who put on a great event once again and another top notch series to boot! Results
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At midday the start flag dropped and the final two race-filled hours of
the championship began around a course that looked fairly straightforward
but proved to be anything but as the race progressed. Tight, technical
woodland filled with bomb-holes and streams, fallen logs and rock outcrops
bought the race into sharp focus for riders right from the start as the
inevitable log jams dotted the early part of the course, allowing the fast
boys to gain ground while lesser riders toiled with their machines over
slippery logs.
The battle of the day was in the Expert ranks as Keelan Hancock and
Charlie Frost yo-yoed at the front of the field, taking the lead then losing
it as they passed backmarkers littered all around the course until Hancock
made a slight error in the final few laps by following another rider who
became stuck, allowing Frost to build a significant gap to finish the race
in the number one slot. Luck may have been involved to a degree but
fantastic riding, commitment and determination also played their parts in
delivering victory to a worthy Charlie Frost. Hancock could be seen as
unlucky after he had lead the race on and off until over the halfway point
but finishing just 24 seconds adrift is no mean feat. It was close and just
one more lap could have seen a very different result. Ben Wibberley took
third in the Experts. Upholding the honour of the Pro ranks Luke Flack
grabbed third overall, winning his class into the bargain ahead of Rich Ely
and Gary Daniels.
Darren Cox headed the pack of the large class of Sportsman riders as
Reece Pickersgill and Ben Linklater filled the other podium spots but it was
a big old class with some very competitive riders in it, a few were large on
guts but fell a little short on talent and consequently the race was a
series of dead lifts over obstacles but they attacked the course with true
extreme enduro enthusiasm, which made for great spectating.