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 Steady Eddy X-treme Round Two, Cowm Quarry
Report by Christine Parkes Well the weather gods were not kind to us for this final round of the Steady Eddy X-treme series at Cowm Quarry but despite this we had a good field of keen, mainly novice and beginner, extreme riders. With the new wood section making the track a super long lap as the pack came through the finish on the first lap out in front was Matthew Thompson (who was actually riding for no points and acting as the expert hare to the extreme hounds as Jack Spencer had done in round one) closely followed by Jamie Williams and Robert Crayston. Lap two and Robert came around in the lead with a lead of less than a second from Matthew with Jamie around 40 seconds behind them. By lap three Matt was back in the lead and pulled a little lead out on Robert and this is where they stayed for the next few laps. The end of lap five saw Jamie Williams head for the pits and this meant he dropped down the order quite a few places leaving Robert Allen to take over third spot in the Clubman class.
The early lead in the Sportsman class was held by Ben Hurley with Chris Tennant in second and Joe Quirk in third. By the end of lap five Joe Quirk took the lead with local Cowm rider Brendan Whittle in hot pursuit. Early leader Ben Hurley once again suffered mechanical failure as he had in round one. Third place was now taken over by Dean Pallister and this is the way it continued straight through to the finish with Joe Quirk having nearly a two minute lead over Brendan and Dean being a good six minutes plus behind Brendan.
As the event progressed the battle for first place overall continued between Matt and Robert with the gap between them being less than a second most of the time. As they past the finish at the end of lap 9 Robert had crept past matt to take the lead but as they crossed the chequered flag Matt had regained the overall lead by less than five seconds from Robert. Both heartily congratulated each other for such a good battle and obviously with matt only riding for fun, Robert took the event honours which gave him the overall series win in the Clubman class. It was not a good day for early contender Jamie Williams, who suffered throttle trouble during the event as was having to visit the pits frequently to have it adjusted. He managed a well deserved 13th overall and seventh in class in the end giving him third place in the series. The final third place event honours in the Clubman went to Robert Allen which gave him second in the series.
As the flag went out after the full two and a half hours there were some very happy faces, Cowm at what was a very wet and cold day and they had completed the full time. It didn't matter to any of them whether they had done one lap or ten they had completed, what was the first time for some, an extreme endure in very extreme conditions. Once again a very hearty well done must go to everyone who rode including Abbie Piggot who was once again the only lady rider, Haden Stansfield for his first ever adult race and he chose an extreme to do it and of course Bert Boam who will be catching his Dad, veteran extreme and trials champ Mick, sooner than he thinks. Oh and not forgetting John Whittle who was still smiling from ear to ear as he passed the chequered flag after two and a half hours. Results Round Two:
Series Overall Class winners: Clubman: Robert Crayston Sportsman Vets: Mark Fenwick Over 50’s: Geraint Rogers Sportsman: Brendan Whittle Novice: Steven Horgan
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Meanwhile veteran extreme lover, Mark Houson, was sat comfortably in fifth
overall and first in the Sportsman Vets class. He was followed by Andy Harvey
and Mark Fenwick (Sportsman Vets winner from round one). In the Over 50's
class Rob Elston took the early lead from Geraint Rogers with Rob Gregory in
third. As they started lap six Geraint had pulled his way to lead the class
with Rob Elston in second and Rob Gregory in third which is where they stayed
until the flag.
Top Novice was Mark Fletcher with Steve Horgan in second and Mitchell Cooper
in third. By the end of lap five Mark Fletcher had pulled a superb seven
minute lead over second place Steve Horgan. Top Youth honours went to local
lad Dylan Adshead who was determined to complete the race after having dnf'd
in round one. In second place was Bert Boam and third place was Hayden
Stansfield who was taking part in his very first extreme event.
The weather and conditions did play their toll on the field of riders as
the event progressed. We saw numerous mechanical breakdowns due to water
getting where it shouldn't and several punctures. Some tried to last the bulk
of the event with flat tyres, even the likes of Liam Done who was running a
very creditable 31st overall with a flat tyre from the first lap. He lasted to
lap five and then had to pull out before he killed his wheel totally.