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All content © Bob MuIIins | |||||||||||||
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Enduroland’s 2017 season got off to the best possible start with a full entry, great weather conditions and an excellent venue. The Mud, Sweat & Gears event was in memory of Nik Fisk, a great friend and long-time supporter of Enduroland. It was held at the superb Deepdale venue, which was in great shape despite heavy rain throughout New Years Day. Aylesbury Husqvarna supported the event along with Acerbis The sand based quarry had just a couple of wet patches to start with but as racing progressed the course improved to near perfect condition. The quarry floor and start straight were tricky to start with but improved throughout the day, as did the tight and technical woodland section and the hill sections linking the two areas. A terrific turnout of young riders saw over 40 take to the start line for the first race of the day and despite the initial tricky conditions the youngsters were soon banging in fast laps around a slightly shorter course than the adults, the woodland section and tricky hills were not included in this race but it was plenty tough enough, especially for 50cc Auto riders and some 65cc’ers. Ethan Etheridge took the overall win and the 125cc Rookie class posting 10 laps, the only youth race rider to reach double figures. Jude Morris was second overall and had a terrific race on a SW85cc machine. BW85cc rider Charlie Selleck was third overall. Finley Thompson was second placed 125cc Rookie with Olivia Avis third in class. In the SW85cc Harvey Cashmore followed Jude Morris home with Tyler Etheridge taking third position. Archie Date and Travis Field completed the BW85 top three. Jack Sandland continued his 2016 good form into 2017 with a win in the 65cc class ahead of Jack Davis and Josh Knight. A special mention must go to Harley O’Callaghan who managed to clock 7 laps as the only 50cc Auto rider in the race, quite an achievement considering the number of 65 and 85cc’ers that didn’t quite manage that many laps.
The Clubman Plus riders were first away and Dan Boam nailed the hole-shot and seemed to be getting away from the competition but a sudden surge by Sam Nunn saw Boam demoted to second place as the pack disappeared towards the woodland. Boam was back in the lead by the time the first riders reached lapscoring, he had the edge in the twisty woodland section while Nunn was faster around the quarry floor area. Dan Boam retired after five laps, a series of small crashes gave him a reality check and he thought it was only a matter of time before one of them really hurt so called it a day. Nunn roared into the lead unopposed. With so many riders on track it was hard to follow who was where but it was always clear that Nunn was in the lead. What was not clear was that Jordan Wright was only 12 seconds behind him, much closer than imagined, even more of a surprise was that Brad Lilburn was in third place just four seconds behind Wright. Matt Maxted headed the Clubman charge to the line, just ahead of Barney Thurgood and Tim Hammond while early leader James Palmer slipped to fourth place.
Justin Carter had a terrific ride in the Vets, taking the win in his final season before qualifying for the Masters class. Darren Bedford and Andy Sykes battled for second and third with Bedford just grabbing second as time ran out. Matt Taylor and Terry Lewis has a great race in the Sportsman class, matching each other lap after lap but it was Taylor who eventually came out as class winner with Lewis second, both a lap ahead of third placed Ross Higgins. In the Youth 12-16 class it was Chris Bailey who took the honours, two laps clear of Will Gorringe. It was hard going for these young riders but the both held up very well amongst a large entry of very experienced riders. The whole event was a terrific start to the 2017 season. The venue provided a variety of terrains and challenges on a day made for racing. Well done Nigel Wheatley and the Enduroland crew. Results
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Enduroland
The
adults race was extremely well attended with near 150 riders filling the
start line for two and a half hours of fast and furious fun. They faced a
long drag race to the first corner over a sodden grassy and muddy surface
but in reality that was the wettest part of the course, although it did make
for quite a few slides and slithers, watched with great interest by crowds
of spectator on the hillside behind the start.
The
Master class always provides great entertainment and this event was no
exception. Mick Belcher didn’t know where he was (as usual) and was
shocked to find he had won the class with a great ride of 11 laps, a
cracking performance overshadowed slightly by the fact that he struggled to
get onto the top step of the podium! Belcher was a lap up on Richard Wright
in second spot. Dave Lote matched Wright on laps but was just a slight way
adrift to take third.