All content © Bob MuIIins

Rock Oil Hare & Hounds Championship R1
Monster Turn out for Driffield.
Report: Imprint Media
Images: CH-Images

The eagerly awaited RAW Enduro Rock Oil Championship fired back into life on the first weekend in March with an action packed Sunday Race Day. A record number of riders paid their annual pilgrimage to the superb Driffield site. Clerk of the Course Wayne Braybrook really knows his stuff when it comes to setting the perfect track for all abilities. Round 1 of the 2017 Championship was no exception to that, a wide fast flowing track saw real close competitive racing across all classes.

New Features included the new look Metzeler Sponsored MC360 Lap scoring area, and a specific Medic Centre on site, which thankfully did very little work on the day.

Youth Riders
Race 2 Off Road rider Shay Page set his intentions for a full season of enduro racing clear to all his rivals by taking a hard fought Youth A win. RAW Academy rider Richie Moorhouse took the holeshot and the pair couldn’t afford any mistakes setting a blistering pace around the Super long Driffield lap. Shay Page eventually just nipping the win from Moorhouse. Youth A upgrade Jamie Williams was right on the pace until a puncture slowed him up in the closing stages. Small wheel Youth B riders saw a record entry at Driffield with no less than 16 riders taking to the line, non member Cory Cookland was the winner on the day from Sam Boyd who takes the full Championship points from Round 1. Cristina Palmer made the long journey south to grab a very credible third place despite suffering during and after the race with sickness.

Morning Adult Race
A packed start area of Adult AM riders were flagged away just after 10:30am. RAW Academy rider Saul Hirst used his recent RAW Academy training sessions to good effect to take the win, Cole Cookland was runner up just over 2 minutes down. Stuart Gordon had a rare outing on his Sherco and thoroughly enjoyed his race at Driffield, he took the Sportsman Vets class win although second place finisher Phil Dodsworth takes a full haul of championship points as a RAW Club member. Darren Kendall continues to improve on his new Husky each week; his third place was a great start to his championship aspirations. A record number of Over50 riders attended Driffield; top of the tree was Andrew Dean with Hard Charging Andrew Maben taking second by less than a minute from D3 KTM Boss Neil Crayston in third.

It hasn’t gone unnoticed that RAW Enduro specialise in making their courses very rider friendly, many novice riders have limited ability having only been riding competitively for a short time. Sunday’s event was no exception and the huge Novice attendance at RAW shows that Wayne Braybrook’s experience in setting up the perfect track for all abilities is second to none. D3 rider Burt Crayston rode a great race to take the Novice class win, for round 2 Burt is looking already at a sportsman upgrade to challenge himself even more. James Wardingley had a rare outing on his Gas Gas to take runner up, and Bruce Hall had a superb ride to finish as the final podium place visitor.

Afternoon Adult race
A total of 64 riders took to the start line in the PM race which caters for the faster more experienced riders. After a stunning start to the day weather wise, at the start of the PM race the clouds were gathering, after around an hour of racing the rain became persistent which meant riders had to work harder and be smart. The event was billed as a 2.5 hour and that’s how it stayed as the Fast Boys skated around what had been a perfectly dry track for the morning events.

Riding on a high at the moment is D3 KTM rider Sam Winterburn, Sam’s technique had onlookers and fellow rivals watching him in ore, taking a convincing win in fine style the lad from Yorkshire blitzed the Driffield track. Man on a mission on Sunday was MRS Sherco Mounted Luke Lusher, Luke had a typical average start then settled into a great pace, his progress through the field was superb to watch, grabbing second place at round one was just the result Mr Lusher wanted. After Scott Austin was running top three, a monster crash saw him retire from the event despite running with the top experts. This left Zac Sherwin on his Appleyard FX350 to take third in the expert class after an hour-long battle with local ace Danny Culkin who continues to improve on his Motoshack KTM.

MX Hotshot Lewis Ellis ripped up Driffield in fine style on his MJMX Ktm to take the clubman class win with Thomas Weston taking the runner up spot. Fresh from his great start to the Extreme British Championship Dawson Marriott showed he hasn’t lost any speed taking a strong third in a very competitive class. Lee Pallet was Clubman Vets winner form Paul Daley Smith who used his new shiny Autosmart Sherco to great effect in the greasy conditions. Trevor Harvey now has his head firmly fixed on a great season with RAW taking a credible third place on the day. Expert Super Vet Alex Owen revelled in the conditions at Driffield on his Motorcycle Goodies of Doncaster KTM, taking the Expert Vets win from runner up John Bradford. Stu Mowbrey surprized the regulars with a great performance by only narrowly missing out on the lead lap of the first two in class.

RAW Enduro would like to say a massive thank you to all the RAW supporters and marshals who played their part in the start to this leading Championship in the North of England. Special thanks must go out to Rob Dawson and his track maintenance crew for their extra effort at this big venue.

Next Event
March 26th Rock Oil Round 2 at Ellington Banks Ripon, Fast Fire roads, Fresh woodland, and the sandy gravel Tank Testing area to keep the tech aspect of enduro Hare & Hounds in order. All activities are on Sunday Only at Round 2 due to other MOD users on site on the Saturday. Keep up to speed with RAW Enduro on socials and via the RAW Website.

Online entries, and Membership applications, are all on the easy to navigate RAW Enduro Website

2017 Memberships http://www.rawenduro.co.uk/memberships/.

More info www.rawenduro.co.uk