|
|
||
All content © Bob MuIIins | |||
 WOR
EVENTS MICHELIN XCE SERIES 2018RD 4 – BADEN HALL- AUGUST HOARE WINS THE WOR “Baden Hall hosted WOR Events MICHELIN XCE 2018, Rd 4 last weekend and the brilliant Staffordshire venue offered it’s usual mix of top drawer Cross country, Multy lap Enduro action. The old MOD Bomb making site was in fine fettle and offered a near 5-mile lap with 8 different woods sections and lots of winding, twisty trails through open grass lands and even some “road” sections to make a complete mix of terrain. The Michelin XCE series is a compilation of 5 rounds of individual 2 hr races, almost a sprint in Enduro terms and a format that allows all riders a good go at pushing hard for the entire race due to the shorter duration. William Hoare and Gav Houson where out on a pair of Craig’s Motorcycles Husqvarna 2t Machine’s and looked resplendent in their matching Pink and grey kits and wow did they put on a bar busting display of racing. The pair went at it Hammer and Tong (pun intended there as William’s family run the Tong Parkwood Off road Centre near Bradford) for the entire race and looked super-fast and smooth in both the open field sections and indeed the twisty woodlands of this unique and Exclusive WOR Events venue. Come the end of the race it was the tall, leggy figure of Hoare that was to cross the chequered flag winning zone first as he got to Race Boss, Steve Ireland with only 12 seconds to spare over his sparring partner, Houson, both riders completing 11 laps in the 2 hours. Taking a well-deserved 3rd spot and final place on the podium was BETA mounted Jack Spencer, ensuring a new look line up on the top steps at WOR for a while. Spencer also completed 11 laps. It would have been interesting to see the WOR Regulars, the Humphreys brothers there and to have watched a battle unfold between the new lot and them, it would have made for even more epic racing than was already on show, Maybe soon at a future WOR Event. Top Expert Veteran was as Expected the flying Bolton Bomber, Lincoln Brewster. Lincoln is a stalwart of WOR Events and is the most winningest rider in the Club’s history and at 48 years of young he is still out there trying his best and trying to come back to the speed of former years. He may not achieve the sheer speed of those days gone but the current pace he is on is plenty to hold off any Vets challenge as he shows week in week out. He topped the Expert Vets from Mark Houson and Mark Tebay and did so by completing, on paper at least, an extra lap on Houson and Tebay and matching the top score of 11 circuits to his credit. Mark Houson (Gav Houson’s Dad) deserves a mention too as he is a well over 50’s rider and is continuing to ride superbly into his more mature years of racing. Clubman Honours went to MX rider, Chris Neesam and he was the only rider in class to again, on paper at least, complete a lap more than his peers and score 11 laps to his credit. The MX style berms and whoops on certain sections of the course certainly suiting the hard-hitting MX skills of Neesam as he pushed Ben Haycock and Paul Engerelen into 2nd and 3rd place respectively with both those two Lancs based riders and friends battling hard to within 1 .5 mins of each other on 10 laps each. Clubman Vets was topped by Lee Parry and Andy Granger in that order in 1st and 2nd spot with Stuart James taking the final podium position with a last lap surge to the podium. All 3 riders completed 9 laps each and deserved their rewards for their efforts. The Over 50’s had a real battle going on and the top 3 where so close to
one another for the entire race. In the End it was Colin Griffiths that took
the premier from Runner Up, Duncan Humphreys by just 8 seconds with 3rd placed
Simon Nutter only 3 seconds down on Humphreys… A real battle indeed and the
in fact the top 4 Over 50 riders including Lee Sephton completed a brilliant
10 laps each.
Lee Anderton continues to dominate the Novice group and took a well-earned win in class from Runner Up, Ian Owen and 3rd placed, Simon Jones with all 3 riders completing a solid 9 laps each. Well done those 3. So wrapping up is easy, another brilliant event from the WOR team with clockwork organisation, a brilliant friendly atmosphere, Unrivalled safety marshals on course and venues on offer that cant be surpassed, merge that with a passion to see riders do well and continue to try and improve what it offers the riders and racers week in week out is what’s helping WOR keep growing in stature week in week out even after being so well established for all this time. As the Boss Steve says “Your only really as good as your last event, so we have to be sharp to keep the riders and racers coming back again and again for the playdays and races…” A massive thanks goes out as always to the staff, medics, caterers, Sponsors and land owners but the biggest shout out is for the riders that even in the quieter August/Summer months still come and support the events and make them happen. Check www.worevents.com for a very busy schedule of September events indeed again with some unbeatable venues and rides on offer including the Dogs of WOR, a new Extreme Enduro, the return for the final ride of the Year at the unreal Ludlow venue, Final Michelin XCE @Maeshafn, a brand new Stubble X weekend at Meifod and the final rd of the Putoline NHS at Manor Park, Welshpool. There’s a fun month for you on a dirt bike if ever there was…#keepitWOR “ |
Some
other riders that will be moving up to Clubman come the start of the Winter
series will be Paul Lightfoot and Anthony Foulkes and deservedly so as these
two have dominated the Sportsman Vets and Vets B class for the entire year,
going toe to toe in most of the races. Lightfoot has been getting the
advantages of late but both Riders completed 10 laps last week with an
advantage of 37 seconds going to Lightfoot. Foulke’s usual Husqvarna steed
suffered a mechanical gremlin and was not able to start the event on the
Sunday so Foulkes borrowed a big 300 SWM bus to go for his valuable points and
rode it superbly to be fair showing the right rider can make any bike be
competitive. 3rd place went to Kriss Farrar with a solid 10 laps score for his
efforts.