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4 Hour Ironman/2 Man team Enduro Ashcombe Forest
Ian and Dan MUNDELL take the two man
BAWN is the Ironman
Report Dan Mundell

Core Off Road Events hosted the annual 4 Hour Ironman / 2 Man team enduro on Sunday 5th February at the brutal Ashcombe Forest, conveniently based on the roadside of the A388 just outside of Exeter.

A full entry of riders showed the popularity of this format and it was great to see a local event being supported so well. A long lap of tough but achievable challenges stood in front of the riders for a hard 4 hours.

First off were the Championship riders shortly after 10:30. Jamie Paget took the holeshot as the pack took chase. At the end of the first lap it was Paget at the front with Dan Mundell on his back wheel after sitting on the start line for a few seconds after a pathetic 4/5 kicks of the 125! At the first rider change it was Mundell out front followed by Paget and Nick Life. Simon ‘Pakky’ Comer was sat in a very respectable 4th position for team ‘Dave Racing’ as he handed his transponder over to the Ginger Ninja, Wayne Mundell. After 4 hours of racing with a few changes for the lead throughout it was the father and son pairing of 1998 Yamaha WR250Z mounted Ian and JD Racing KTM 125 mounted Dan Mundell, AKA Team ‘Dad and Lad’ who brought home the two man overall victory with 16 laps, followed by team ‘McLife’ (Nick Life and Gary McCoy) in second and team ‘Fat boys’ consisting of Jamie Paget and Mr. Turbo Shandy himself (James ‘Bud’ Benney) brought up the final step on the rostrum. Team Dave racing were 4th, ‘Im going the wrong weyyyyy’ were 5th, ‘Team Protein Water’ were 6th and Kevin Harris/Bradley Chugg were 7th. A very tough first event back into enduro for young Kev!

Rob Higgs was the only rider in the Iron Man Championship Class and after the 4 hours completed a very respectable 14 laps!
In the Experts it was team Faaaaast of Will Worden and Max Venables who completed 15 laps of the course, a lap clear of their nearest competitor in class. 2nd was Josh Lineham and Rob Rule, followed up by Ian Martin and Richard Holmes in 3rd. A quick mention goes to team MS Racing (Martin Lowe and Steve Martin) as it was Steve’s first ever enduro! Also the youngest competitor of the day (Ryan Mundell) at age 15 who also raced with his dad Stuart Mundell under the Stoked Clothing team name. Im not sure how impressed Stuart would be if I mention the fact he isn’t far off of being the oldest rider!!

In the Expert Ironman class it was Derek Bawn who took victory both in class and overall for the 4 hours ironman. Derek completed an impressive 15 laps of the course with consistency meaning he was at the front of the pack throughout. 2nd was Moss Macriner and 3rd Ben Harmon.

Jack Twentyman was the winner in the Expert Over 40 class and rounded out a very impressive 14 laps once the chequered flag fell which if he hadn’t lost his fuel can in the pits could well have been 15!! Geoff Brigden came home in 2nd with 13 laps to his name with Arnaud Didey in 3rd on 12 laps. Dave Brignall was the 4th and final finisher in the class on 11 laps.

In the clubman 2 man, Rob Taylor and Richard Maisey took the honours with 12 laps, one lap more than their nearest competitors which were Gary Taylor and Tom Pulley. The final podium position went to Nick Gulliver and Tom Ross.

The Clubman Iron Man top award went to Matthew Dark on 13 laps, followed by Lee Blackmore and 16 year old Jordan Brigden both also on 13 laps.

Clubman Over 40 2 man team victory went to ‘The Staggs’ (ADY and ANDY) on a cracking 12 laps. They were followed home by Richard Lennard and Simon Padley (118 combined) and the pairing of Gary Willett & Martin Parr (Back to the future). Both teams completed 10 laps.

In the Ironman Clubman Over 40 Class Jim Hawkins rode his Beta to a fantastic victory with 12 laps completed, followed by Neil Ross on a cracking 11 laps and Steve Rogers on 10 laps in third.

The last (and by no means least) class to mention is the Beginner/Sportsman Category. The 2 man team winners were Derek Basham and Pete Rogers on 10 laps (the only pair to reach double digits in terms of laps), followed by brothers Ross Rowe and Liam Rowe on 9 laps, and Honda pairing Kieran Palfrey and Jack Bushin in 3rd.

In the Ironman Sportsman class it was Jack Blacker in first on 10 laps, Joseph Laurence in 2nd on 9 laps and Guy Krumins in 3rd on 8 laps. 4th Place went to Alex Stevens who attended one of Core Off Road’s training schools at Ashcombe last year and is now getting some great results. Perhaps a podium next time?

The organisers would like to thank all of the riders, spectators, marshals and medics for their hard work and for supporting the event. Once again everyone was well fed by the Love Food Catering Van and it was great to see a spares van at the event!

Hope to see you all at the next one, and keep your eyes peeled at the CORE Website and Facebook page for all the news and information about future events.

Credit; Bob Ward Photographic