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EVENT REPORT 05-10-14 The stage was set at last Sunday’s final round of the Dave Barkshire Two Man Enduro Championship to decide the winning pair in the Clubman Class. In contention were Ben Alexander (Woodbridge)/Tom Fazah (Bury St Edmunds) and Robert Aldridge (Diss)/Ed Pooley (Stowmarket) both equal on points and round scores. The rain Saturday afternoon and overnight frost created perfect riding conditions at Tye Farm Great Cornard Suffolk organised by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club. The morning session of two hours was hotly contended between Alexander/Fazah and Aldridge/Pooley with the lead changing every 30 minute sessions and after the final morning session Alexander/Fazah had completed 27 laps to Aldridge/Pooley 26 laps. It was still all to ride for in the afternoon sessions with the course ridden in the other direction and the first lap being timed to decide any ties. Aldridge/Pooley struck first blood with a special test time of 4 minutes 13 seconds four seconds faster than Alexander/Fazah so it was all down to which team could complete the most laps and fewer penalties. Again the lead changed regularly during the afternoon and the team Aldridge/Pooley completed 30 laps while Alexander/Fazah could only manage 29 and with both teams equal on 56 laps each it was down to time penalties for lateness at the end of each session which resulted in a win for Aldridge/Pooley on 54.83 laps to Alexander/Fazah 54.50 laps so Aldridge/Pooley were crowned Clubman Class Champions. The only other contender for the Title was Jake Gregory/Richard Squirrell who finished third on the day with 54.33 laps. Sudbury pairing of Jim Funston/Terry Hadwen secured 4th place with Chris Wright/Tristian Hales 5th and Ben Roper/Ryan McDonnell (both Sudbury) 6th.
With the Championship Class (top of the page) having been won by Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) and James Potter (Woodbridge) it was left to overall second and third places to be settled between Adam Ranson/Mark Chapman (Diss) and Paul Belton/Phil Roper (Sudbury) who was on equal points. However on the day it was going to be a battle between Jason Morland (Halstead)/Julian Harvey (Ipswich) and Jamie & Craig Roper (Sudbury) with the 2014 Expert Class winners Glenn Walsh/Ian Tutton (Sudbury) having a run out in the higher Class which they will be riding in next year. Throughout the day Morland/Harvey and the Ropers battled it out and the lead changed constantly but it was slip in the bog by Jamie Roper which enabled the other team to gain the advantage which resulted in a win for Morland/Harvey on 58.00 laps to the Ropers 57.00 laps. It was a great achievement for Walsh/Tutton with third place ahead of the Contest winner Braddock/Potter. It was credit to Ben Martin (Sudbury) who rides two Classes lower and with Brendan Mayers (Halstead) finished 6th while top Moto Cross rider James Cottrell riding with his father finished 8th. The Belton/Roper team managed 7th on the day to become runners up in the Contest. It was a great win on the day for Alex Walton/Andy Quorn (Sudbury) in the Expert Class beating Martin & David Stevens (Diss) and Dale & Gary Gladwin (Sudbury). With this Class already won by Walsh/Tutton the Stevens brothers have secured 2nd place with Walton/Quorn 3rd.
Last Sunday was the final round of the G H Motorcycles/ Husqvarna/ Eastern Centre Enduro Championship being staged by the Woodbridge Motor Cycle Club at Butley Suffolk. Locked together in the Championship Class was last year’s winner Jamie Roper and Chris Hockey nine times of this Title (both Sudbury) on 62 points each and waiting in the wings was Jason Morland (Halstead) on 54 points. However there was a surprise in the entry list British Enduro Champion Tom Sagar also Brad Freeman and Mark Roberts who also feature in the British Championships made the trip from Wales to compete. These three riders were first, second and third respectively on the day but all eyes were on Hockey Roper and Morland and Hockey drew first blood in the first special test with a time of 211.81 seconds to Roper’s time of 218.79 seconds and Morland’s 219.40 seconds. Hockey’s lead of 6.98 seconds was reduced by Roper to 1.82 seconds in the second special test while Morland had a better time than Hockey. It was now all down the third and last special test Hockey recorded 210.75 seconds, Morland 209.60 seconds and Roper 205.31 seconds and everyone were waiting with baited breath for the overall totals. Roper’s time was 631.72, Hockey 635.35 a lead for Roper of 3.63 seconds while Morland’s times were 641.36 however Ricky Roper (Sudbury) had a better time than Morland and Hockey of 634.94. Everything was down to the eighth and last session where all the Championship Class riders had 14 minutes to complete the course with penalties of 60 seconds for every minute last. Hockey and Roper were on the same minute and Hockey got in front first but Roper was not going to be thwarted and at the first possible opportunity passed Hockey and then had first choice at all the best lines. When the 14 minutes were up two riders were seen in the distance could one or both get to the finish line before the next minute and it was Roper in front of Hockey and as Roper negotiated the last four bends there was a loud applause from the spectators and Roper managed to finish 20 before the next minute and Hockey was just 5 seconds behind him. Although only 4th place on the day for Roper it was enough to give him a two points win to keep his Title. Hockey finished 5th as Ricky Roper incurred 60 penalty points for being one minute late while Morland had to settle for 7th place. The Expert Class was won by Glenn Walsh (Sudbury) with Ian Tutton (Sudbury) 2nd and David Stevens (Diss) 3rd. Lewis Bond (Lowestoft) had already won this Title while three Sudbury riders Walsh, Darren Nicolaou and Tutton finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively. The Expert Veteran Class was won by Michael Ridge (Woodbridge) with Mark Chapman (Diss) 2nd and Paul Davis (Sudbury) 3rd and Chapman’s second was enough to give him the Title with Graham Mays (Sudbury) 2nd and John Bishop (Woodbridge) 3rd. There were four riders in the reckoning for the Clubman Class Title and on the day Ross Taylor (Diss) won followed by Ben Alexander Woodbridge) 2nd, William Hughes (Braintree) 3rd while Dean Goggins Woodbridge) could only manage 8th. Taylor wins the Title with 84 points while Goggins secured 2nd place over Hughes by virtue of a better score in a previous round. Jason Fowler (Diss) won the Clubman Veteran Class with Mark Green (Sudbury) 2nd and Jason Ager (Sudbury) 3rd and the Title goes to Green 87 points to Fowler’s 79 points while Duncan Griffin (Diss) is 3rd. Andy Mason (Sudbury) won the Clubman Super Veteran Class with Clive Stevens (Diss) 2nd and Don Blackman (Colchester) 3rd. Mason wins the Title with Steve Finch (Braintree) 2nd and Stevens 3rd. The Team Dave Roper Challenge for Sudbury members between 15 and 21 has been won by Alex Rampton on 445 points, 2nd Jack Nicolaou 434 points 3rd Ben Roper 355 points 4th Ryan McDonnell 354 points and 5th Euan Miller 324 points.
With the expected weather of heavy rain predicted last Sunday the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club laid out an easy course for their Four Man Team Enduro at Chappel and this proved to be the right decision. As the first riders from the 25 teams lined up for the start it started to rain lightly and at the end of the first lap it was Jason Morland for Team 22 in the lead followed by Chris Hockey for Team 3 and Jamie Roper for Team 1. These three teams battled for the lead for the first hour despite the rain becoming very heavy making the course very muddy and difficult in places. However Team 22 coped better in these conditions and was a lap up on Team 1 and Team 20 and 2 laps up on Team 20. The best team in the Expert Class was Team 6 (Mark & Stephen Green, Kelvin Vant and Daniel Piper) while best in the Clubman Class was Team 19 (Ben Roper, Josh Smith, Brendan Meyers and Joe Marsh). Into the second hour the rain became heavier but the riders battled on and at each 15 minute changeover it was becoming more difficult for the riders to run up hill to their holding bays to hand over their racing jacket and transponder. It was still Team 22 in the lead followed by Team 1 and Team 20 while Team 6 still held the lead in the Expert Class also Team 19 keeping their lead in the Clubman Class. During the third hour the rain eased up then stopped and started again and Team 22 were still in the lead three laps up on Team 1 and four laps up on Team 3 which had taken over 3rd place from Team 20. Team 6 still were leading the Expert Class while Team 12 had now taking the lead on the Clubman Class. The rain stopped during the fourth and last hour followed by blue sky then sunshine but these conditions made the going harder for the riders as the mud was sticking to their bikes. On the stroke at the end of the fourth hour the Finish Official John Hart who was at his post for the entire time through the extreme weather waved the chequered flag resulting in a win for Team 22 three laps up on Team 1 and five laps up on Team 3. Team 6 won the Expert Class and Team 12 the Clubman Class.
On a cloudy and overcast day the stage was set for the 4th round of the G H Motorcycle/ Husqvarna/ Eastern Centre Enduro Championship. There a light drizzle at the start which made the going on the open fields a little slippery but the top three in the Championship Class coped well with the conditions. On the second and third lap there was the special test for all competitors and in the first one current Champion Jamie Roper (right) recorded 4 minutes and 7 seconds while nine times Champion Chris Hockey and Jason Morland had equal times of 4 minutes 17 seconds. Roper had laid down the challenge to Contest leader Hockey and in the second special test recorded the same time of 4 minutes 7 seconds.
The scene was set for Hockey and Morland to better Roper’s time and take the lead on the day, Hockey recorded 4 minutes and 10 seconds three seconds better than Morland. As these three riders reeled off the remaining sessions it was down to the ninth and last session where the time allowed was 10 minutes to complete the lap and every minute late would incur 60 penalty points. The clock flipped over to 10 minutes and now the drama was set could they finish before the eleventh minute. Morland appeared first with Roper a few yards behind and they both arrived in time and where was Hockey, he suddenly appeared and the countdown was on and he just managed to arrive on time with two seconds to spare. It was a win for Roper with Hockey 2nd, Morland 3rd, Julian Harvey 4th, Tim Rose 5th, Ian Parker 6th, Sam Toy 7th, Craig Roper 8th and Gavin Hockey 9th. In the Championship Contest Hockey and Roper are joint leaders on 62 points with Morland 3rd on 54 points and these three riders will battle it out at the last round on 24th August. Lewis Bond once again won the Expert Class although he was lying 2nd after the first special test but nailed the second special test to beat Ian Tutton who had his best ride in the Contest by 10 seconds. Glenn Walsh was 3rd, Stephen Green 4th, Darren Nicolaou 5th, Daniel Piper 6th and Rob Blackman 7th. Bond has now won this Class and will be upgraded to the Championship Class next year and could well win that Class. Walsh remains in 2nd place with Nicolaou 3rd, Green 4th and Tutton 5th. In the Expert Veteran Class it was a win for Mark Chapman with Andy Quorn 2nd, Graham Mays 3rd, Gareth Young 4th and John Bishop 5th. Chapman has a 15 point lead in the Contest over Graham Mays and a 11th place in the last round will secure him victory but if he slip up Mays who is ten years older could sneak the Title. Ross Taylor was back to his best with a win in the Clubman Class with Jake Gregory 2nd, William Hughes 3rd, Tom Sargeant 4th and Ben Alexander 5th. Taylor now leads the Class on 62 points from Dean Goggins 56 points, Hughes 50 points and Alexander 46 points. It was another win for Mark Green in the Clubman Veteran Class with Jason Fowler 2nd, Duncan Griffin 3rd, Paul Wilkinson 4th and David Meehan 5th. Green extends his lead in the Contest to 11 points from Fowler and a 4th place in the last round will secure Green the Title. The leader in the Clubman Super Veteran Class, Andy Mason was on holiday so could Steve Finch regain the lead. The winner of the Class was Paul Davis with Simon Thake 2nd, Quenton Ramsey 3rd, Finch 4th and Russell Miles 5th. With Finch only finishing 4th Mason retains his lead in the Contest over Finch by 6 points and Davis is now 3rd and could still win the Title. Three of the members of Team Dave Roper featured in the points in the Clubman Class with Ryan McDonnell 6th, Jack Nicolaou 9th and Alex Rampton 11th. Rampton’s lead in the TDR Challenge has been reduced to five points by Nicolaou but Ben Roper still retains 3rd place with McDonnell hot on his heels in 4th.
There was thrills and spills, drama and emotion at last Sunday’s 3rd Round of the G H Motorcycles/Husqvarna/Eastern Centre Enduro Championship at Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham Essex staged by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club. Jamie Roper (Sudbury) got off to a good start in the Championship Class but was soon passed by Jason Morland (Halstead) while Ricky Roper and Chris Hockey (both Sudbury) were in 3rd and 4th place. However a lot can happen over the 2.5 hour session where concentration and stamina is very much needed. J Roper was content to say in 2nd place as his nearest challenger, Hockey was in 4th place and would be able to increase his lead in the contest. Things did not go J Roper’s way he dropped his machine twice relegating him to 5th place while Hockey ploughed on passing R Roper to go into 2nd place. During the last 30 minutes the race was between Morland and Hockey with Hockey gradually eating into Morland’s lead and could the 41 year old overhaul the younger rider. The two of them were neck and neck during the last minute and as they came across the finishing line there was 30 seconds left and they had to do another lap. The odds were on Hockey because Morland was holding his broken sub frame together with his knees and it became a do or die in the bog. Hockey took a different line to gain the advantage but that did not work out as he lost precious seconds enabling Morland to pull away which he managed to hang onto his lead at the chequered flag. The emotion was for Jason Morland as his youngest son Kyle had been in hospital over the last few days and he was not going to ride but Kyle wanted his daddy to ride and win in which he did and Jason dedicated his win to his son. All was not lost for Hockey in 2nd place as J Roper could only finish 4th with his brother Ricky riding is heart out was 3rd followed by Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) 5th, Craig Roper 6th, Ian Parker 7th and Sam Toy 8th (all Sudbury). Hockey now leads the Contest with 45 points, J Roper 2nd 42 points, Morland 3rd 39 points and R Roper 4th 35 points. Meanwhile in the Expert Class current leader Lewis Bond (Lowestoft) was having a battle with Glenn Walsh (Sudbury) but got the better of him in the end. Stephen Green (Sudbury) on his new bike finished 3rd with Darren Nicolaou (Sudbury) 4th and Rob Blackman (Castle Colchester) 5th. Bond leads the Contest on 51 points with Walsh 2nd 34 points and Nicolaou 3rd on 33 points. Current Leader in the Expert over 40 Class, Mark Chapman did not have a good day with two punctures, the first one he repaired and after the second one he kept riding and finished 6th. Overall it was a 1-2-3 for Sudbury riders with Andy Quorn 1st, Les Rampton 2nd and Graham Mays 3rd. Chapman is still leading the Contest with Gene Womack 2nd and Graham Mays 3rd. The morning session was for Clubman and Sportsman and in the Clubman Class it was a win for Ed Pooley (Stowmarket) with Ben Alexander (Woodbridge) 2nd and Dean Goggins 3rd and Goggins maintained his lead in the Contest with 48 points, Ross Taylor (Diss) 2nd with 41 points and William Hughes 3rd on 33 points. It was a win for Mark Green (Sudbury) in the Clubman over 40 Class with Duncan Griffin 2nd and Phil Roberts 3rd. Green now leads the Contest on 50 points from Jason Fowler (Diss) 45 points and Griffin 30 points. Andy Mason (Sudbury) won the Clubman over 50 Class beating Gary Drage (Sudbury) and Clive Stevens (Diss). With this win Mason leads the Contest on 54 points with Steve Finch 2nd 35 points and Clive Stevens 3rd 30 points. Another 1-2-3 for Sudbury riders in the Sportsman Class with Warren Whitaker 1st, Paul Webb 2nd and his daughter Samantha 3rd. Results - Interview with Jason Morland
It was a nice sunny and warm day for the first Dave Roper Memorial Enduro at Tye Farm Great Cornard and there were 90 riders spread over three Classes. Class One consisted of Evo, Twinshock and Pre 65 machines from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and they started the meeting competing in Events 1, 4 and 7. Events 2, 5 and 8 were for Clubman and Events 3, 6 and 9 were for Championship and Expert Classes. The pre 1990 machines got the meeting off to a fine start and in their first two events Les Rampton (Sudbury), Gary Gladwin (Sudbury), Mark Chapman (Diss) and Paul Owen (Southend) were the main contenders and this proved to be the same in their last event. Owen got a good start with the oldest of the Roper brothers Stevie riding his late father's Tribsa up amongst the leaders. Four times Eastern Centre Enduro Champion Chapman had a poor start and over the twenty minutes time allowance he showed his class and gradually overhauled most of the field and with five minutes left was in the second place but Owen was too far ahead to be caught thus winning with Chapman 2nd, Gladwin 3rd and Rampton 4th. S Roper was unlucky he snapped his chain on the last lap while in 3rd place. In the Clubman Class the main riders were Phil Whiting, Jason Carboult, Matthew Smith, Mark Fenwick, Matthew Moore (all Sudbury) and Jake Gregory (Stowmarket) and they battled out their first two events. The final event was a different story as the event progressed the field spread out and Gregory secured the victory followed by Moore 2nd, Fenwick 3rd, Smith 4th and Whiting 5th. The Championship and Expert riders rode in the same three events and over their first two events Steven Green, Jack Berry, Glenn Walsh, Ricky Roper, Sam Toy, Craig Roper, Jamie Roper (all Sudbury) with Phil Burton (Halstead) fought for the positions. Their third and last event was all set to a thrilling occasion as Jamie Roper decided he would start after the rest of the field and see how many riders he could overtake. It was Craig Roper who took the lead followed by Ricky Roper with Burton, Toy and Kelvin Vant (Sudbury) hot on their heels. Over the first 20 minutes C Roper and R Roper battled away for the first two positions with the distance between them shortening and then lengthening. Meanwhile J Roper was craving his way through the field and with time running out could he catch the leaders the tension mounted. With five minutes left he passed his brother Ricky and got passed his cousin Craig and with one lap to go not only a Sudbury 1-2-3 was on the cards but a Roper 1-2-3 but it was not to be as R Roper crashed and before he could remount Toy had passed him. At the chequered flag the victor Jamie Roper not only passed every rider once, some he passed twice while C Roper was 2nd, Toy 3rd and R Roper 4th making a Sudbury 1-2-3-4. Phil Burton (Halstead) finished 5th coming between the other three Sudbury riders while Vant had to retire with machine problems. At the presentation Dave's widow Bev Roper thanked everyone for supporting the event and those who had made the cakes which raised £200. The icing on the cake for her was that she presented the award for the main event to her youngest son Jamie the current Eastern Centre Enduro Champion.
What a difference a year makes, the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club's Foxborough Endurothon last year was covered in snow and for this year had brilliant sunshine with a warm and pleasant day. However the conditions for the course was mixed with the bogs being the wettest for years other parts drier but some very tricky which caught a lot of riders out with several of them falling off and receiving minor injuries which is unusual. This event was for the first time being electronically recorded and everything was ready for a 9am start, however it was delayed because the Medical Services were late arriving and the time was reduced from 6 hours to 5 hours. There were 48 teams and 29 solos line up for the Le Man type start. First it was the Championship Class rider running to their machines then at 30 seconds intervals the Expert Class, the Clubman Class then finally the Sportsman Class and Ironman Class. After the first hour it was cousins Craig & Jamie Roper leading from cousins Ian Parker & Ricky Roper (all Sudbury) with Tom Howe (Woodbridge) and Sam Toy (Sudbury) in 3rd place in the Championship Class. In the Expert Class it was Ross Taylor (Diss) and Tom Sargent (Bury) leading from 15 year old Alex Rampton and his father Les (both Sudbury) followed by another father & son duo Peter and Ian Tutton. The first three in the Clubman Class were Paul Bailey (Sudbury) & John Austin (TBEC), Mark Green & Martin Baker (both Sudbury) and Martin & Clive Stevens (both Diss). Stevie Roper (Sudbury) decided to ride Ironman Class this year and was a lap ahead of the next eight riders with Jake Gregory (Stowmarket) 2nd and surprising in 3rd place was Daniel Piper (Sudbury). Over the next three hours there were several changing of positions in all the Classes due to getting stuck in the bogs, falling off, and fatigue. In the Championship Class C & J Roper lost their lead to Parker & R Roper who then lost their lead to Howe & Toy. Experts Taylor & Sargent lost their lead during the third hour when Taylor fell and had to receive medical attention and then withdrew while the Rampton pair took the lead. Clubman Bailey & Austin kept their lead while Ed Pooley (Stowmarket) and Robert Aldridge (Diss) crept into 2nd place with Green & Baker slipping back to 4th place but regained 3rd place later. Ironman S Roper was romping away while Jason Carboult (Sudbury) had taken over 2nd place with James Hockey 3rd but later Brendan Myers (Halstead) had surged through the field to take over second and Hockey managed to hang on to third. With an hour to go Championship riders Parker/R Roper were only 20 seconds behind Howe/Toy and could they pull back that time and take the lead. Yes they did and won by 2 minutes and 21 seconds from Howe/Toy followed by C & J Roper 3rd, Phil Roper/Paul Belton (both Sudbury) 4th and Glen Walsh/Jack Berry (both Sudbury) 5th. In the Expert Class with Taylor out injured his riding partner stepped up to the mark and rode all their sessions which was a great achievement and managed to secure 3rd place with Rampton duo winning and Paul Spurgeon/Carl Walker (both Woodbridge) 2nd. The Clubman Class saw Pooley/Aldridge take 1st place with Bailey/Austin 2nd and Green/Baker 3rd. The Ironman Class was a win for S Roper with Myers 2nd and Hockey 3rd. The Sportsman Class was won by Alan Sweet (Sudbury) & Tyrone Wall (Cambs) with Joey Vince and Peter Salter (both Sudbury) 2nd and Philip Mingay (Sudbury) and Adrian Thake (Braintree) 3rd.
The penultimate round of the Bowers Motorcycles 2 Man Championship took place recently at Kenton by the Stowmarket Motor Cycle Club and the results have set up a grand finale for the last round on Sunday 20th October at Tye Farm Great Cornard being staged by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club. The Diss pair of Adam Ranson and Mark Champion beat the current Championship Class leaders, Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) and Toby Morley (Woodbridge) with Stephen Revett (Stowmarket) and Lee Whitney (Diss) 3rd and Andy Tyler/Steve Mason (both Sudbury) 4th. The Expert Class was a win for Michael Ridge (Stowmarket) and Paul Whitehead (Colchester) over Graham Mays/Nigel Ross (both Sudbury) who pushed current Contest leaders Phil Roper/Paul Belton (both Sudbury) into 3rd place. Sudbury’s Stephen/Mark Green finished 4th relegating Contest contenders Martin Spence/Graham Lazzari (both Lowestoft) into 5th place, with Julian Mair/Andy Mason (both Sudbury) 6th and Jeff Sharp (Sudbury))/Tim Ford (Lowestoft) 7th. A win in the Clubman Class for Tom Sargent (Bury) and Ross Taylor (Diss) put them now joint leaders with Martin and Dave Stevens (Diss) who could only manage 3rd on the day with the Stowmarket pair of Jake Gregory and Richard Squirrell taking the runner up spot. Sudbury members in the points were Dan Hunt and Colin Brand (Diss) 6th, Paul Webb and Stephen Howard (Woodbridge) 9th and Dean Curry with Duncan Griffin (Diss) 10th. The official Contest Standings are being collated and it is expected to show the three Class Titles are up for grabs at the last round on 20th October.
Sudbury Motor Cycle Club ran their sixth meeting of the year which was a non championship 2 Man Enduro at Chappel Essex. There were 45 teams competing over the three Classes of Championship, Expert and Clubman and there was keen and close racing in all these Classes. In the morning session the course was ridden clockwise through two woods, part of the moto cross track and long grass which was very slippery due to heavy moisture, while the afternoon session the course was ridden in the opposite direction with drier conditions. Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) and Toby Morley (Woodbridge) were out to show everyone why they are this year’s winners of the 2 Man Championship Class with Braddock first out taking an early lead. However the opposition were not going to allow them an easy day with 2013 Eastern Centre Solo Enduro Champion, Jamie Roper (Sudbury) partnered by his cousin Ian Parker (Sudbury) and the other two Roper brothers, Stevie and Ricky, (Sudbury) riding together in hot pursuit. Throughout the morning and afternoon sessions these three teams battled it out with the lead changing consistently with the older pairing of Stevie and Ricky Roper taking first place with 38.00 points while Braddock/Morley and Jamie Roper/Parker tying on 36.83 points but Braddock/Morley secured second place with a better special test time. Other positions were 4th Craig Roper/Jack Berry (Sudbury), 5th Gavin Hockey/Steve Finch (Sudbury), 6th Chris Hart/Mark Waller (Sudbury), 7th Lee Whitney (Diss)/Stephen Revett (Stowmarket) and 8th Michael Wyatt/Chris Wright (Diss). The Expert Class was also closely contested with cousins Richard Walters/Andy Tyler (Sudbury) taking first place pipping Phil Roper/Paul Belton with William Hughes riding all the sessions solo 3rd. Graham Mays/Nigel Ross (Sudbury) secured 4th place with Tim Ford (Lowestoft)/Jeff Sharp (Sudbury) 5th and Kelvin Vant/Stephen Green (Sudbury) 6th. The Clubman Class was a clear win for the Stowmarket pairing of Jake Gregory/Richard Squirrel with father and son, Gary and Dale Gladwin (Sudbury) a worthy 2nd holding off Jeff Turner/Daniel Piper (Sudbury). Other positions were Phil Roberts (Halstead)/Don Blackman (Colchester) 4th, Dean Curry (Sudbury)/Duncan Griffin (Diss) 5th and Sam Dimmock (Whitley)/Greg Simon (Sudbury) 6th.
Last Sunday was the show down at the 6th and final round of the G H Motorcycles/Husaberg/Eastern Centre Solo Enduro Contest where in the Championship Class Chris Hockey could rewrite the history books with his 10th win or a Jamie Roper win could make history by joining his siblings Stevie and Ricky being the only brothers to win the Championship Class. What ever happened on the day the winner was already the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club as either Hockey or Roper would make it 20 wins for Sudbury members over the past 25 years. This round was organised by the Lowestoft Invaders MCC at Tunstall, Norfolk and staked out an excellent 5.6 mile course which took the top riders an average of 15 minutes per lap to complete. The Championship Class were first off for this 4 hour marathon with Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) storming into the lead followed by the Title contenders and by the time they reached the back straight Hockey was in the lead followed by Roper and the battle for the Title was on. There was a surprise at the end of the first lap because it was Braddock leading by several seconds followed by Sam Toy, Roper, Hockey, Craig Roper, Steve Mason, Jason Morland (Halstead) and Gavin Hockey. During this lap Chris Hockey caught his back brake disc on a log in the woods which disabled his rear brake for the whole session. Despite this he continues with only a front brake but could he overhauls Roper and this was possible with over 3.5 hours left. Braddock was in storming form but Roper did not try to chase him down because this was no threat to him so he rode a steady race. Meanwhile Hockey was closing the gap on Roper who later on passed Toy to take second place however Morland seem to be on a surge after being 7th on the first lap he just gained on everyone passing a surprise Hockey and with 20 minutes left Toy suffered machine failure. At the flag it was 1st Braddock, 2nd Roper, 3rd Morland, 4th Hockey, 5th Craig Roper, 6th Steve Mason and 7th Contest Sponsor Gavin Hockey. The 2013 Championship Class Champion is Jamie Roper by 7 points over Chris Hockey with Morland 3rd. Phil Roper had a very outside chance of winning the Expert Class but the winner of the round was the 2013 Clubman Class Champion Lewis Bond (Lowestoft) who try his hand in the higher Class, 2nd Tim Rose (Diss), 3rd Phil Roper and 4th Graham Mays. Other Sudbury members in the points were Paul Belton 6th, Jason Warren 7th, Jez Moss 9th, and Ian Tutton 12th. Rose has won the 2013 Expert Class Contest with Phil Roper 2nd, Michael Ridge (Woodbridge) 3rd and Graham Mays 4th.The Clubman Class was won by Jack Grice (Lowestoft) and the best Sudbury riders was Mark Green 4th with James Hockey 11th, veteran Jeff Turner 14th and Jack Nicolaou 15th. The Team Dave Roper Contest was a win for James Hockey, with Jack Nicolaou 2nd and Ryan McDonnell 3rd. The next Sudbury Motor Cycle event is a 2 Man Enduro on 22nd September at Oakland Farm Chappel which is being recorded electronically more details to follow.
Conditions were perfect for last Sunday's 4 Man Team Enduro at Tye Farm Great Cornard and eventually there were a line up of 19 teams with one team having only 3 riders because their fellow team member was injured a few days earlier. Last year's winning team of Stevie & Jamie Roper, Ian Parker and Steve Mason decided to split up and form a team by make of machine so Team 1 was KTM (Roper J, Roper C, Parker and Waller) with Team 2 being Husaberg ( Mason, Morley, Mays G and Hockey J) and Team 3 was Suzuki ( Roper S, Roper R, Berry and Walsh). However Team 17 consisting of top Moto Cross riders of Morland, Bales, Talbot and Dow were out to spoil the party. The 5 hour marathon consisting of 15 minute session saw Jamie Roper of T1 take the lead from the start and at the end of lap one was still leading, with T17 2nd, T3 3rd and T2 4th and on lap2 T3 had overtaken T17 with T18 now 4th and T2 5th. Lap 4 saw T17 regain 2nd place from T3 while T12 took 5th relegating T2 to 6th. Lower down the order there were private scraps going on between various friends with positions changing regularly. T17 were catching T2 and on the half hour took the lead and the positions after the first hour were: 1st T17, 2nd T3, 3rd T1, all on 20 laps with 4th T2 and 5th T18 a lap behind. In the first session of the second hour T1 regained 2nd place from T3 while lower down the order T18, T16, T4 and T12 were swapping places with T8 was surging up the order after a poor start. The top five after two hours were 1st T17 (41 Laps), 2nd T1, 3rd T3 (both 40 lap), 4th T2, 5th T16 6th T18 (all 38 laps). Lap 43 in the first session of the third hour T3 took over 2nd place from T1 only for T1 to re-take this place on lap 46 but on lap 47 T3 were again back in 2nd place. Meanwhile T17 were storming on, the format of 15 minutes sessions seem to suit them as they are used to riding flat out in 15 minutes bursts while the Enduro riders are used to pacing themselves over a continuous 5 hour session. T17 completed 62 laps at the three hour point with T3 2nd and T1 3rd both on 61 laps with T2 4th, 59 laps and T16 5th on 58 laps. During the fourth hour the first seven places remained the same although the leaders T17 were lapping the lower end of the field. While positions 8th to 12th were constantly changing places. T3 must have second wind as at the end of the fourth hour although still in 2nd place completed 83 laps the same as the leaders T17 but were just less than two minutes behind which was 5/6ths of a lap. T1 were still 3rd (82 laps), T2 4th (79 laps), T16 5th (78 laps) and T18 6th (76 laps). With the arrival of the last hour will there be any change of places, retirements or surprises as it has been hot and sunny and the riders needed all the stamina they can muster. The only casualty was the overheating of the decoder which was recording the rider's laps with 30 minutes to go and the good news was although it was not communicating with the computer it retained all the information which was later transferred to the computer later on Sunday evening. By lap 83 they had lapped four of the teams and were showing no slowing of speed and how many teams could they lap before the finish and they managed to lap all the other teams by lap 105 and finished the five hours with 106 laps. T3 and T1 managed 104 laps with T3 taking 2nd place by 21 seconds with T2 4th (100 laps), T16 5th (98 laps) and T18 6th (97 laps. T18 must be congratulated with their 6th place as they started the day with only three team members and one of them injured his hand about half way through and could not continue and the remaining two members led by the veteran leader Adrian Coppen and Kelvin Vant with his first ride since his major operation earlier this year rode the remaining sessions between them. Although there were fewer teams competing this year, the organisers Sudbury Motor Cycle Club were pleased with the outcome on the day and several competitors have started a countdown to next year. The introduction this year of Electronic lap scoring and timing was another success and there is talk of introducing Classes and a Trophy presentation next year.
Conditions were perfect; despite rain on Saturday for the 4th Round of the G H Motorcycles/Husaberg/Eastern Centre Solo Championship at Home Farm Little Hadham Herts. The organisers, the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club, were well pleased with the total entry of 118 competitors which 73 were members of the promoting Club. The early sessions the riders had plenty of time to complete the required number of laps and to familiarise themselves with the course and to do the special tests on laps 2 and 3. It is the last two sessions when the time allowance is reduced to 15 and then 10 minutes with penalties for lateness. It was a day of surprises with a sonic boom during the morning which must have spurred some riders on to achieve some of their best results. In the Championship Class Jamie Roper (Sudbury) did not ride as he was in Barcelona for the Moto GP so it left for Chris Hockey (Sudbury) to capitalise on his absence. In the first special test Hockey was fasted with a time of 4 minutes 16 seconds, with Jason Morland (Halstead) and Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) two seconds behind. Braddock pulled out all the stops in the second special test with a time of 4 minutes 8 seconds, Hockey was 3 seconds slower and Morland 4 seconds. All Championship Class riders received penalties for lateness the first seven 60 seconds and the others 120 seconds and this resulted in a surprise win for Braddock over Hockey by one second and Morland by 4 seconds. Fourth place was 15 year old South African Travis Teasdale riding for the home Club who is in the U K for a few months and the Hockey brothers have taken him under their wing. 5th Sam Toy, 6th Steve Mason, 7th Craig Roper all Sudbury while Sudbury Chairman and Contest Sponsor Gavin Hockey secured 10th place. In the Expert Class current Contest leader Michael Ridge did not ride and Tim Rose (Diss) took advantage of this with a fine victory of 21 seconds over another surprise ride by Phil Roper (Sudbury) and again with another bigger surprise with Club Secretary Graham Mays 3rd. Dan Rose (Woodbridge) was 4th, Ian Tutton (Sudbury) 5th and round 3 victor Dexter Wharton 6th. In the Clubman Class it was three wins out of four for Lewis Bond (Lowestoft) with a 10 second victory over David Stevens (Diss) and young Ross Taylor (Diss) 3rd, Jack Grice (Lowestoft) 4th, Tom Sargent (Bury) 5th. Again there were surprise finishers for Dean Curry (Sudbury) 6th and in joint 7th place were Jeff Turner and Simon Larner both Sudbury. A special mention for Team Dave Roper squad member James Hockey with 11th place and scoring his first Contest points and dedicated this triumph to the Dave Roper Fund and the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club. The Sportsman Class saw a win for Paul Willis (Sudbury). Other placings for Team Dave Roper Squad were Matt Rampton 28th, Ryan McDonnell 36th, Jack Nicolaou 43rd and Ben Roper 59th. 15 year old Alex Rampton riding in his first event finished 30th so older brother need to watch out. The unofficial Contest positions after four rounds shows Hockey has a 12 point lead in the Championship Class over Morland and 13 points over Roper. All is not lost for Roper as the rider’s best five out of six scores count and with good finishers in the last two rounds could see him in contention for the Title. Tim Rose victory in the Expert Class has leapfrogged him into first place over Ridge by eleven points and Phil Roper is also jointly in 2nd place. Lewis Bond is outshining everyone in the Clubman Class with a 26 point lead over second place Stevens and only need a 9th place in the next round to secure the Contest while Grice has leapt up to 3rd place. Fifth round takes place on 25th August at Butley and is organised by the Woodbridge Club and there may be a few surprises on that day.
Last Sunday was round 3 of the 2013 G H Motorcycles/Husaberg/Eastern Centre Solo Enduro Championship being staged by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club at Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham Essex. Nine times Champion Chris Hockey was out to extend his lead in this year’s Contest from Jamie Roper but the eldest of the Roper brother past Champion and just back from his honeymoon took the lead at the start followed by Chris Hockey, Jason Morland and despite being caught napping on the start line Jamie Roper managed to slip into 4th place. Both bogs were included in the afternoon session for the Championship and Expert Classes although the riders had the option of riding the big bog or take the longer alternative route which included the extreme section around it. The quicker route was through this bog but if you got stuck the advantage was lost. At the end of lap one it was Stevie Roper, Jamie Roper, Jason Morland, Tom Braddock, Ricky Roper, Steve Mason, Chris Hockey and Sam Toy. Jamie Roper took the lead on lap two with Morland 2nd, Braddock 3rd Ricky Roper 4th and Hockey up to 5th after an incident of the first lap. Jamie Roper was in scintillating form riding through the big bog every time with great ease; Hockey was also riding the bog while Morland and the other riders were using the longing route. Hockey was riding hard to catch up with leaders but had another spill which ripped his front number plate off but with his skill and expertise battled on gradually moving further up the field. At the two hour mark Jamie Roper had a 78 second lead over Morland and 123 second lead over Hockey who was now into 5th place but 10 minutes later Roper came into the pits to re-fuel but managed to re-join the race still in the lead but this was now down to 15 seconds. However for the last 20 minutes Roper extended his lead to come over the line first meanwhile Hockey had gained third position and hard on the heels of Morland and was just behind him at the finish line and if there was another lap Hockey could have taken 2nd place. All of the day’s results are unofficial as one of the lady laps corers, Cathy Blackman had a fall while horse riding two day before and is in hospital so the computerised system was not in use. Championship placing were 1st Jamie Roper, 2nd Morland, 3rd Hockey, 4th Ricky Roper, 5th Tom Braddock and 6th Steve Mason and the current standing are ; 1st Jamie Roper 49 points, 2nd Hockey 45, 3rd Morland 35 and joint 4th Mason & Ricky Roper 28 points. The early leader in the Expert Class was Ian Tutton with Phil Roper, Jason Warren and Dexter Wharton hard on his heels but it was Wharton the star of the Class as he went on to win by a large margin. Michael Ridge came into his own by taking 2nd place while behind him Phil Roper and Warren were having a great scrap and it ended up with Roper 3rd and Warren 4th. Current standings 1st Ridge 44 points, 2nd Tim Rose 35, 3rd Roper 27 points. The morning session was for the Clubman Class with 115 riders lining up
being despatched in three groups. The early leader was Philip Waldron but lost
a lot of time sorting out the electrics on the bike. The Clubman had an easier
course the large bog was not included and they had the option of the small bog
or a longer diversionary route. It was the more experience riders that took
the main places with Lewis Bond 1st, Thomas Fazah 2nd, Jack Grice 3rd and
Jason Ager 4th. Down in 9th place was 1980 British Moto Cross Champion, Geoff
Mayes now in his late 50s and still has the ability to shine when his body
lets him. Current standings are: 1st Bond 57 points, 2nd David Stevens 34, 3rd
Fazah 32, jointly 4th on 26 points Ager and Grice. All six of Team Dave Roper
finished their positions are not known yet but three of them, Matt Ramption,
James Hockey and Jack Nicolaou,
Conditions were about perfect on the hottest day of the year so far for the fourth Dave Roper Memorial Moto Cross last Sunday at Tye Farm Great Cornard, however during practice it was decided to cut out the bog as there would have been long delays between races. Nevertheless despite strong winds the sun shone and the rain kept away. The organisers, the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club, introduced a Retro Class this year with Evo, Twinshock and Pre 65 machines all in the same line up over three races. Race one saw a battle between Nick Carter and Paul Owen (Evo) while Steve Finch and Mark Chapman did battle in the Twinshocks and lower down in the field in the pre 65s the legendary Jim Aim was hold off Perry Miller and Aaron Graves. At the end of race one the Evo Class winner was Carter followed by Owen while the Twinshocks saw Finch and Chapman first and second and Aim won the pre 65s with Miller second. Race two saw another battle between Carter and Owen but this time Owen past Carter and beat him to the finish line. It was also a reversal of places in the Twinshocks with Chapman getting the better of Finch however Aim again was the first Pre 65 with Graves second. Race three was another battle between Carter & Owen but this time Carter took the win followed by Carter and Jason Fowler. Chapman was first Twinshock with Jason Ager second and Finch did not ride while once again Aim was first Pre 65 followed by Nick Archer. Overall result Evo: 1st Carter, 2nd Owen, And 3rd Fowler: Twinshock; 1st Chapman, 2nd Ager, 3rd Stephen Farthing. The Pre 65 overall winner was 76 year old Jim Aim with Graves 2nd and Archer 3rd. The modern machines were split into two groups with the faster riders in Group A and the slower riders in Group B with the Enduro Class. Group B first race saw a battle between the eventual winner Scott Reed and Tom Crees with Nick Barrett 3rd on his Enduro machine. Race 2 again saw Reed and Cress battle for the lead with Cress taking the honours, Reed 2nd and Matthew Dow 3rd while Barrett again was best Enduro rider holding off the challenge of Phil Roper. Race 3 Crees made no mistakes and secured his second win of the day with Dow 2nd and Reed 3rd. Barrett was again best Enduro rider holding off Roper and Paul Belton. Group B Overall first three were Cress, Reed and Barrett. Group A was the race of the Eastern Centre giants and in Race one it was Jason Morland who took the lead with David Frankland and Syd Bales (past Champion and returning from a year off) following on behind while Brad Tomlin was further down the field. Bales were in rampant mood and after a few laps he passed the rider in front of him and pulled out a good lead to take the chequered flag. Morland finished 2nd while Tomlin secured 3rd with Frankland 4th and Jamie Roper 5th. Race two saw a determined Tomlin who managed to get an early lead but there was a battle for the next three places. Tomlin once in the lead looked unbeatable and won with Frankland 2nd Bales 3rd and Morland 4th. Roper slipped to 7th place but was still best Junior. At the start of Race 3 both Bales and Tomlin were joint top point’s scorers so it was everything to ride for. Once again Tomlin was first out of the starting gate with Bales, Morland and Frankland in close pursuit. These four riders battled away for the lead however at the half way stage Bales had a spill and dropped out of the top four and later retired. Tomlin who likes the Tye Farm track pulled away from the field to win with Morland 2nd and Frankland 3rd. Roper’s brake lever became loose on the first lap and came into the pits to fixed it and re-joined the race in 33rd position and he battle away for the last 17 minutes gaining place after place and finishing 10th. The Overall result proves that Tomlin is the Champion at Memorial Race events not only winning the Dave Roper for the third year running but is the holder of the Richard Fitch staged at Wakes Colne. Morland once again runner up to Tomlin with Frankland 3rd, Gary Hoptrough 4th and Bales 5th. Meanwhile after his valiant efforts Roper finished 8th overall and best Junior on the day. At the presentation Bev Roper thanked everybody for their help and support in raising money for her late husband’s Memorial Fund while her niece Samantha Parker presented the first three in each class bottle of champagne.
January and February has been a busy month for the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club with their Annual Dinner and Awards Night for the first time at the Stoke by Nayland Golf Club with a full house of 100 guests and 47 trophies were presented. A few days later the Annual General Meeting took place with another good attendance where the gathering were given a report on the Club’s 6 events held in 2012 with the 7th event lost due to the wet weather and were also told that 7 events have booked for 2013. The Committee for 2013: President Roger Chaplin, Chairman Gavin Hockey, Vice Chairman Ricky Roper, Secretary/Treasurer Graham Mays, Committee John Hart, Chris Hart, Jack Berry, Jamie Roper, Craig Roper, Les Rampton, Jason Warren, Ed Kerridge, Jeff Sharp, Andy Quorn and Alastair Aim. At the February Committee meeting the final details were honed out for the 2013 Team Dave Roper Squad. The support the Fund will be giving to the six selected youngsters this year ; entry fees paid for the six G H Motorcycles/Husaberg/Eastern Centre Championship rounds, a Team Dave Roper Race Shirt and a day’s training with nine times Eastern Centre Champion Chris Hockey. The six riders are James Hockey 21, Matt Rampton 18, Ben Roper 18, Ryan McDonnell 16, Jack Nicolaou 16 and George Warren 16. The first round is on 24th February at Santon Downham organised by the Diss Club. The first Sudbury MCC event is on Sunday 10th March being the six hour Endurothon stage at Foxborough Quarry, Sible Hedingham, Essex. The fourth Dave Roper Memorial Moto Cross is on Sunday 14th April at Tye Farm Great Cornard and the lap scoring will done by the Eastern Centre while Sunday 12th May and 16th June will be the third and fourth rounds of Eastern Centre Solo Enduro Championship at Foxborough Quarry and Home Farm Little Hadham. Sunday 11th August will be the second 4 Man Team Enduro at Tye Farm Great Cornard, Sunday 22nd September Enduro at Chappel Essex and Sunday 20th October the final round of the Eastern Centre Two Man Championship at Tye Farm Great Cornard.
Rain days before the event, rain over night did not stop the 6th and final round of the 2012 Bowers Motorcycle Eastern Centre 2 Man Contest on Sunday 21st October at Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham. Some of the vehicles had to be towed onto the parking area but the organisers were determined to run this event as other motor cycle events in East Anglia had been cancelled due to the bad weather. Sudbury Motor Cycle Club set out a shorter distant course leaving out the extreme parts and the big bog but included the smaller bog after it was drained. The main part of the course consisted of the areas which are usually dry and can be dusty but on Sunday water was lying on these areas which produced very muddy and rutted conditions. Most of the competitors were struggling to keep a straight line which put more pressure on their arms and this sapped up a lot of energy, stamina for the first session of two hours. At the interval some of the riders looked tired, weak and lacking energy but most of them appeared for the second session of two hours. The first lap consisted of the Special Test for recording their times which may be needed to settle ties. Although there were spots of rain during the day the rain kept off but the riding conditions did worsen and some riders fallen off for no apparent reason other than tiredness. Most of the riders were glad to finish but they enjoyed themselves as the event lived up to the challenge of endurance. It was a very good day for Sudbury Club riders, 1st in the Championship Class, first three in the Expert and Clubman Classes and a 1st in the Sportsman Class. Championship rider Jamie Roper injured himself when helping to set up the track so Jack Berry took his place alongside Steve Mason. Berry reveled in the conditions having his best ride of the season and with Mason both wearing Team Dave Roper Racing Shirts won by point 33 of a lap from Championship contenders Stephen Revett/Lee Whitney which was enough for them to win the 2012 Contest. The other pairing vying for the Title Adam Leeks/Darren Mayhew could only finish 6th and are runners up. The Expert Class was a win for Richard Walters/Glen Walsh with Graham Mays/Nigel Ross 2nd and Jason & George Warren 3rd making it a Sudbury 1-2-3. This year's winners Michael Wyatt/Richard Bensley failed to finish. Mays/Ross have finished 2nd in the Expert Class Contest their best placing ever with Toby Morley/Stuart Milbourne 3rd and just missing out were father & son pairing Jason & George Warren in 4th place. Another 1-2-3 for Sudbury members in the Clubman Class, Ian Tutton/Gareth Young 1st, Stephen & Mark Green 2nd and Jez Moss/Jason Ager 3rd. The battle however for this year's Contest was between Lewis Bond/Carl Honeywood and Tom Sargent/Ross Taylor, both starting the day on equal points and it was Bond/Honeywood by finishing 4th taking the Title. Sargent/Ross could only finish 16th and scoring no points finishing runners up with the Green brothers taking 3rd place. The Sportsman Class was a win for Sudbury's Lawrence and Alex Motts.
Chris Hockey went to Chappel last Sunday and had his prayers answered as he won the 2012 EMG/Eastern Centre Solo Championship with one round to go and secured his ninth title over his riding career. However it was not an easy day for him at the 5th Round organised by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club. The 2 hour stint started with light rain which got heavy and heavier making racing conditions very tricky on some parts of the course. Jason Morland (Halstead) was race leader at the end of the first lap followed by Stevie Roper (Sudbury), Jamie Roper (Sudbury) and Hockey. Morland was in fine form leading for the first hour then pitted for fuel which let J Roper through to 1st place after passing his brother S Roper earlier. At the end of the next lap J Roper pitted for fuel and S Roper took the lead but J Roper managed to rejoin the race before Morland appeared and was now in 2nd place while Hockey who had already pitted was in 4th place trying to make up ground. S Roper was trying to go the distance without stopping for fuel but with 30 minutes left he had to pit as he was running on reserve which let J Roper through to 1st place and S Roper managed to rejoin in 2nd place. With 10 minutes to do drama struck for Morland as he had to pit again for more fuel which allowed Hockey to gain 3rd place. Everything was now down to the last lap Hockey was hot on the tail of S Roper and these two had a battle but S Roper held on for 2nd place with Hockey 3rd but the winner was J Roper. Tom Howe 4th, Morland 5th, Julian Harvey 6th, Craig Roper 7th and Ian Parker 9th. Hockey has scored 92 points to J Roper 84 over the 5 rounds of the 6 round contest where the riders best 5 scores count and J Roper cannot catch the 8 point difference as he can only score 5 points maximum in round 6. The Experts Class proved to be another contest on the day, series leader Phil Bishop (Halstead) needed a 3rd place to win the 2012 Contest with a round to spare having been beaten last week by Toby Morley (Woodbridge) and Phil Roper (Sudbury). P Roper got a flyer of a start being 2nd to the first bend behind Championship rider S Roper (no relation) and was in determinate mood after last Sunday 2nd place. However Burton was not going to give up easily and he battled with P Roper throughout the two hours but Morley was having a bad time coping with the conditions and retired from the race. As the rain got heavier the battle between the first two got more intense, Burton passed the finish line two seconds before the chequered flag and had to do another lap while P Roper was now 3 minutes ahead and had a great and well deserved win. Burton finished 2nd with Richard Walters (Sudbury) 3RD, Mark Waller (Sudbury) 4th, John Bishop (Lowestoft) 5th, Andy Quorn and Graham Mays (both Sudbury) 6th and 7th. Burton has now won the 2012 Experts Class Contest. Earlier in the day it was the turn of the 70 Clubman and although it was
overcast the rain held off for the 2 hour race. It was a good clean start the
course zig zagging over stubble field then into the first wood and to the
second wood, being used for the first time followed by part of the moto cross
track and open fields. At the start of the second there was a muddy ditch to
negotiate with plenty of assistance to help the rider through this tricky
section. Regular moto cross rider Adrian Coppen (Sudbury) took an early lead
and held on to it for the first hour however he was held up in the ditch which
let Ian Tutton (Sudbury) and Andrew Greenwell (Woodbridge) through. Try as he
might Coppen could not catch Tutton & Greenwell as they were having their
own private battle as they are 1st and 2nd in this year’s contest. This
battle continued throughout the rest of the race with Tutton securing the win
with Greenwell 2nd, while Coppen held on to 3rd place. Round 4 victor Paul
Belton (Sudbury) was 4th, Stuart Groves Woodbridge 5th, James Pearson
(Woodbridge) 6th, Gareth Young (Sudbury) 7th, Jason Ager (Sudbury) 8th, Chris
Wright (Diss) 9th and Matt Rampton 10th. Tutton now has a 10 point lead in the
contest and needs 11 points/5th place in the last round for the title.
The first ever 4 Man Team Enduro in the Eastern Centre took place last
Sunday at the historic course at Tye Farm Great Cornard near Sudbury. The
event being organised by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club finally attracted 23
teams. One member of each team line up on the start line and after 15 minutes
left the course at the beginning of the holding box area then gave their
machine to another team member then ran to the Team's holding bay handed over
the riding bib to the next team to ride then this team member ran to the start
line where their machine was and started the next 15 minutes session and so
on. It proved entertaining to see the competitors running in full riding gear
on a very hot and sunny day but most bib changeovers were much better than GB
Relay Team Athletes or England Football Team penalty shoot-outs. With the
first 23 riders on the start line eagerly waiting for the countdown then the
clock hit 11am up went the union jack for the 4 hour gruelling marathon and
into the lead went Stevie Roper for Team 3. The racing was very intensive and
competitive and successful changeover was essential because lost seconds could
prove vital. The whole day was a battle between T1, T2, T3, T6 and T7 with the
first five places changing nearly every session. T3 Team Leader was Stevie
Roper, T6 Bradley Howlett, T1 Chris Hockey, T2 Ricky Roper and T7 Stephen
Revett. A completely different course was created in order to preserve the
Moto Cross track and this is proved demanding in the first hour with the
moisture in the long grass then everything settle down. The four hours seem to
fly by and at the end two teams finished on 97 laps with T3 rider taking the
chequered flag first over T6, T1 3rd, T2 4th (both 95 laps) and T7 5th 94
laps. The event was a success with everyone enjoying something different and
having fun.
REPORT ON HARE AND HOUNDS ENDURO 13-05-12 Report Roger Chaplin Sunny, warm weather, good close riding and sunburn was the order of the day at the 2nd round of the 2012 EMG/Eastern Centre Solo Enduro Championship last Sunday at Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham. The event organised by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club was run on the Hare and Hounds format and first up were the Clubman & Sportsman Classes and has there were nearly 120 riders on the line they were dispatched 40 at a time with a suitable interval between each batch. There was a lot of bunching for the first few laps of this 2 hour stint but as time went on the field thinned out. There was keen and fierce racing between Stephen Green, Ian Tutton, Gareth Young and Ben Alexander with the lead changing several times as these four stopped to refuel on difference laps. The bog was not used for this Class but with water lying on parts of the course which created muddy conditions in places and in other places it was dry and dusty. The provisional results showing a Sudbury 1-2-3 with Green 1st, Tutton 2nd and Young 3rd with Alexander 4th all four competing 13 laps averaging just over 9 minutes per lap. The provisional standings after two rounds sees Tutton 1st on 34 points, Young 2nd on 24 points, Green & Andrew Greenwell joint 3rd on 20 points, with Kevin Webb & Paul Belton joint 5th on 16 points. Next up were the Championship and Expert Classes who rode for 2.5 hours slightly amended route which included an extreme section and again one of the two bogs. With 40 riders lined up it was again another good clean start and racing into the lead was eight times Champion Chris Hockey with Jamie Roper and Jason Moreland in hot pursuit. They had no trouble in the bog and as they were in front of the pack they managed to negotiate the extreme section which consisted of three half tractor tyres sticking halfway out of the ground followed two lots of tree trunks the width of the track evenly spread apart which means riding with front wheel in the air to so as not to ground their machines. This proved difficult for most riders in the early stages as some got stuck on the obstacles and fell off narrowing the route down to one line and with riders arriving in second of one another it caused delays, giving spectators a treat. Around the half hour mark Hockey appeared at the beginning of this section and became stuck behind a stationery backmarker, then Moreland appeared having overtaken Roper and rode round Hockey to the next available line to take the lead before Hockey could change course. For the rest of the time the first three positions did not change, they all refuelled at the same time but Roper began to fall back on the front two, his injured shoulder was giving him problems. Moreland and Hockey battled it out and provisionally took the chequered flag 28 second in front of Hockey both completing 20 laps. Roper hung onto third place one lap behind with Julian Harvey 4th, Stevie Roper 5th and Ricky Roper 6th. The overall provisional standings after two rounds: Hockey 37 points, Moreland 33 points, J Roper 32 points. Julian Harvey 23 points and Ricky Roper 17 points. The Expert Class was hotly contended and provisionally it was a win for 52 year old Andy Mason by 12 second over Phil Burton with Nick Barrett wearing one of the Team Dave Roper shirts a creditable 3rd in his first season in this Class. Graham Mays, Club Secretary, had a steady ride throughout the whole 2.5 hours and finished a creditable 6th. The provisional overall position over two round is Phil Burton, 37 points, Andy Mason 25 points and John Bishop 21 points. All the positions and placing are provisional while the 3rd round is on 17th June at Home Farm Little Hadham Herts again organised by the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club.
There were 157 entries for the Sudbury Motor Cycle Club's six hour Foxborough Endurothon which included 47 of the riders competing in the solo Ironman Class. The course was in excellent condition, Wednesday rain settling the dust helping to create several riding lines on the open fields and freshening up the two bogs. There were longer diversion routes around the bogs however some of the Championship Class riders took up the challenge of riding through them, some with great success and others getting stuck or in the case of Jack Berry flying over the handlebars landing fairly and squarely in the mud. One of the diversion sections was the extreme route where the riders had to ride over fallen large tree trunks, tractor tyre and a big hole; here Julian Harvey excelled riding all the obstacles standing up on his footrests in true Trials riding style. The first to start were the Championship Class with a 50 yards run to their machines on the starting line, a minute later it was the Experts Class turn and halfway down the run one of the Experts tripped up. The Clubman Class started a minute later followed by the Ironman Class. The weather is the morning was dull and overcast with a little sunshine later on but in the afternoon the sun come out for the rest of the event which was enjoyed by the riders and the large attendance of spectators which resulted in the Caterers sending out for fresh supplies from a local cash and carry. Throughout the day the racing was fast, furious and competitive although in the last hour tiredness was creeping in, 15 year old Ryan McDonnell in the last minutes of the event dropped his machine on an easy part of the course and took nearly 5 minutes to get going again. In the Championship Class the first three pairs completed 45 laps each but on overall time 1st place went to Julian Harvey and Jason Morley with Chris Hockey/Sam Toy, Ricky and Craig Roper 2nd and 3rd. They were followed by Stevie Roper/Ian Parker 4th, Tome Howe/James Yearley 5th, Steve Mason/Jamie Roper 6th, Jack Berry/Chris Hart 7th, and Bradley Howlett/Lucas Harris 8th with the pairing of the two heroes from the 2012 Inter Continental Rally, Gavin Hockey/Steve Finch 9th. It was a win in the Experts Class for Sudbury pairing of Mark and Robbie Waller competing 40 laps, 2nd was father and son James and Jim Holt, with Richard Walters / Andy Tyler 3rd. Sudbury duo of Nigel Ross and Graham Mays were 6th and 15 year old Jack Nicolaou riding with his father Darren 10th. In the Clubman Class the winners were Ben Alexander/Tom Fazah competing 37 laps with Dean Curry/Danny Street2nd and Ross Taylor/Tom Sargent 3rd. The 15 year old pairing of George Warren/Ryan McDonnell completed 30 laps and finished a creditable 20th. In the Solo Ironman Class it was a win for Paul Belton competing 34 laps with the next three riders finishing on 30 laps 2nd place on time went to 17 year old Matt Rampton, 3rd Lawrence Motts and 4th his brother Alex Motts. The next Sudbury Club's event is on 15th April the Dave Roper Memorial Moto Cross at Tye Farm Great Cornard. Preparations have been underway for the last four weeks and to date 30 riders have entered. Share |
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