|
|
||
All content © Bob MuIIins | |||
|
WOR EVENTS EXTREMISM HARD ENDURO SERIES 2018 WOR Events produced what could be called the best Extreme Enduro ever to hit the UK last weekend at the clubs pheromonal venue on the Powys mountain ranges near Newtown. The SUOMY HELMETS sponsored TOUGH ENOUGH Extreme did exactly what it said on the tin and just as Race Creator, Steve Ireland had envisaged, had riders crossing the finish line with huge smiles and chants of “that was tough enough” and “what an amazing event”.
Riders from literally all over the UK came and took part in the event and gave it a truly National feel with the various accents that where around the friendly and welcoming paddock. SUOMY Helmets had proudly come on board as the event partner and title sponsor and kindly offered a brand new “Mr Jump” off road helmet to the class winners, all adding to a superb big event feel to the race.
As stated earlier all the class winners won a brand new SUOMY helmet for their efforts and each one can hold his hand on his heart and say it was well earned, non more so than Clubman Winner, Elgan Williams on his GG300 2t, who rode superbly to complete 7 laps and take a 7 minute advantage over his nearest class rival. Williams conquered all the bogs and challenges that lay before him and was on full gas as he climbed the monster hill climb that faced every rider in the first mile of the course. Runner Up Clubman was Mark Mealham, making the long journey from Kent very worthwhile with a podium visit. 3rd place Clubman spoils went to Paul Taylor from Axminster matching the top 2 riders 7laps albeit a tad over 4 minutes down on Mealham. Top Club Vets rider was Beta 2t mounted Darren Heyes, a stalwart WOR rider from the early years and a very neat and tidy experienced rider that showed his composure and skill to be the only rider in class to complete 7 laps a she revelled in the extreme conditions. Runner Up, was James Pinder on his little 150 KTM. Pinder from Newport is a TV expert correspondent from BBC’s rouge traders and it was nice to see him take the podium on his little high revving machine on 6 laps and with a 2 minute plus advantage over 3rd placed Clubman Vet, Andy Longden from Sheffield.
Sportsman Victory went to the very strong Performance of Scott Booth, Booth from Sheffield rode at a very strong pace all race and at the half way point was up in the top 4 of the Clubman class so a change of group may be on the cards for him next event and fully deserved too as he earned the class win. Runner Up Sportsman was a successful ride too for Scott Griffiths from Reading as he finished on the same 6 laps as Booth and was 2 and half minutes ontime adrift at the end of the 3 hours. The Bronze award in the Sportsman belonged to Halifax’s Aden Overend who put in a great shift and fully deserved his place on the podium especially nice to see after Overend suffered a nasty leg break in the Sucker Punch Extreme a few years back. The Sportsman Vets had Mick Reece (HUSKY 250) as the victor in his first Extreme event. Mick Loved it and put in a superb effort and ride to take the class by a very comfortable 15-minute margin from Silver placed Mark Lewis. Lewis on his KTM from Northampton made 46 seconds his comfort zone from 3rd placed podium rider, Nigel Lynn (Husky) with all the top 5 in class on 5 laps. Novice Rider, Carl Harmston put in a great ride to finish on 6 laps, maybe a sportsman performance though as the other Novice podium riders Steve Horgan and Ben Heycock (Heycock in his first ever enduro!!) finished in 2nd and 3rd place respectively on 5 laps. To sum up this event is easy, it was simply Top Drawer from WOR, everything about the event displayed class and unrivalled organisation and the atmosphere, general good feeling and vibe along with hordes of quality marshals strategically placed everywhere around the course and the superb weather just made for one of the events of the year so far. WOR Events as always would like to thank all involved in the running of their events, from the Land owners, caterers, medics, sponsors, staff, helpers, officials and of course and most importantly the riders that support the races and without them there would be no events of this standard. WOR’s next Rd of the EXTREMISM series 2018 is SATURDAY 2nd June at Llywn Ynn Hall, Ruthin for a Extreme Special test sprint event, The CF Racing NAIL BITER … And if you want action before that then the club have their major championships running in May with the MICHELIN XCE 2nd round and the PUTOLINE NATIONAL HARE SCRAMBLES Rd 3 for solos taking place at superb, exclusive venues around Shropshire. All entries and details at www.worevents.com
|
A
cleverly crafted and designed 10 mile lap of simply fantastic off road,
extreme enduro terrain with a huge, rock infested stream section, massive
never ending hill climbs, deep, unforgiving bogs of humongous proportions and
lots of off camber, steep woodlands and quarry banks was on offer along with
vast blasts of unbelievable mountain tops along with the beautiful
Mediterranean like weather that mixed together and created an event that could
truly claim the words epic, classic and supreme in its description and not in
one way be making it up, this was a simply brilliant production in every way
from the leaders and originators of the UK Hard Enduro scene and Steve and his
WOR Events team fully deserve the post event congratulations and adulation the
event has been receiving.
The Worlds most decorated Enduro rider and regular WOR special
event competitor, David Knight MBE, was in unstoppable and very success hungry
form as he blasted away from the start with startling speed and ability,
simply eating the zapping terrain and making the hard bits look like they were
not there, almost with a super human aura about him. The 300 GasGas UK machine
was on fire and it would have been hard to envisage any rider anywhere on the
planet being able to match the Knighter on this track in this form on this
day. It was awe inspiring for all the lucky spectators and his fellow riders
to watch as his masterclass earned a start to finish victory and the spoils of
the winner of this inaugural TOUGH ENOUGH extreme classic. Knighter eventually
finished with a 9 minute and 20 second advantage over Runner Up, Owain
Humphreys (CF Racing 350 Husqvarna). Knight’s performance should in no way
drown out that of Humphreys as the hard charging North Wales based racer was
flying himself, looking awesome on the challenging terrain and standing out
along with Knighter as a simply amazing rider and the only one to match
Knighter’s 9 laps in 3 gruelling hours. Special mention to Humphreys to for
doing 2 laps with no seat as he lost it early on and had to stop and fit a
borrowed one in the pits. A few lads as well as David Knight from the Isle of
Man had come across for the event and Grant Thomson was one of them, having
already excelled last year in the Clubman class at some of WOR’s Extreme’s
he was now in Experts and fully deserved his 3rd place podium finish in the
Experts and 3rd overall in the event, a very smooth and steady rider that
looks at home in gnarly terrain with his long legs and svelte stature on the
bike. Charlie Frost was an early race front runner and running with Humphreys
till not only a knackered clutch, but a popped tyre came off the rim too
ending his race on lap two, better luck next time for the likeable Bath based
young rider. Martin Wells took his 300 Husky to a well earned Top Expert Vets
place.
Gary McCoy is some rider, the Over 50’s master from Devon
made the long trip up for this event as he does all the WOR TOUGH ONE’s over
the years at Nantmawr Quarry. Gary was in his usual amazing form as he blasted
round the track to take a superb class win and also a stunning 9th place
overall. A brilliant ride. A massive mention to him too because at the end,
despite being knackered from such a great performance and the daunting drive
back to Devon to face, he walked around the event paddock with plastic bag and
collected in rubbish and litter that folk had left ..If only everyone did that
at events, the World and venues would be such a better place. WOR thanks Gary
McCoy for that. Simon Nutter was a well-deserved Runner Up with Richard Lewis
in 3rd place. Both Riders really enjoying the event and stating so at the end
of their 6 completed laps each.