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All content © Bob MuIIins | |||
 
Kalem Hicks wins Wales & West Rd3 There was hot competition at the 3rd round of the Wales & West Enduro Club's Summer Series near Lydney as a top class entry raced for 3 exhausting hours in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees. Alvington is a new venue with plenty of parking and good mix of stubble fields and woodland. Clerk of the Course Glenn Thomas flagged the riders away at 10.00am . Tim Foreman (Beta) catapulted off the line to take the holeshot ahead of Kalem Hicks (W-Mounter KTM) and Matthew Jones (Husqvarna). Jeremy Box was the fastest Expert Vet in 4th and Derek Bawn was 5th. Andrew Taylor was quickest of the Vets into the first corner. The course skirted a couple of fields and it soon became clear that dust would be an issue before the riders disappeared into the woods. The shade was a welcome relief but the narrow track weaving through the trees was full of guile. Steep descents and climbs crisscrossed a muddy stream bed and the sound of straining engines soon harmonised with the drone of squadrons of horse flies.
At the end of the 2nd lap Matthew Jones was the overall leader. Tim Foreman was 2nd and Kalem Hicks was 3rd, Rhys Davies was the last of the Experts off the line but he was on a charge and had moved up into 4th alongside the silent assassin Derek Bawn. By the midway re-fuelling stop Rhys Davies had taken the lead but after an hour at the front he hit a tree with his shoulder and he was forced to retire.
Alvington proved to be another excellent Wales and West venue. Hopefully they will be back.
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The
original 4 mile lap had to be shortened at the last minute by a mile to
address some local concerns and the top riders emerged from the
woods after a little over 6 minutes. Kalem Hicks (Royal Logistics Corps) was in the lead closely
followed by Matthew Jones - fully hydrated after a relaxing week in Benidorm
and Tim Foreman was 3rd. The log jumps studded along the finishing straight
looked innocuous but several riders forgot to light up their rear tyres and
ended up kissing their front mudguards. Paul Simons went for the tuck and
roll while Alex Van Dyke opted for a Moto GP slide.
At the end of 3 exhausting hours Kalem Hicks - who
is used to hard work in hot places - was the overall winner. Derek Bawn was the runner up
and Tim Foreman was 3rd. Tim initially thought that he had seeded a place to
another rider on the last lap but unknown rider had taken a mid race break.
Luke Tarr justified his move up to Expert with a 4th place finish. Paul Biggs
in 5th was the Best Supervet closely followed by fellow vet Lieghton Roberts.
Leighton needed a new lever for the race so he bought one attached to a new
350. Nice. Matthew Jones was 7th, Ryan Bevan in 8th was the Best Clubman. Nick
Jones was 9th and Jonathan Xurreb rounded off the top ten. David Stokes in
11th was the 3rd Supervet. Paul Simons recovered from his earlier tumble to
finish 12th and Best Clubman 4T,