All content © Bob MuIIins

European still in sights.

Heading straight to Italy after returning home from the opening round of the British Championships, there was no rest for Tom. Tom finished second overall and retained his E2 class title in 2014 and had stated that in 2015 he wanted to challenge for the overall title.

Two opposites in two weekends, what changes did you have to carry out from Elgin to Italy?
“The main changes are to the bike set up, a change of compound on the Michelin tyre from a Comp 3 to a Comp 6 to cope with the hard packed terrain and loose gravel, change of the suspension settings, new air filter and we are ready to go”.

You didn’t seem to get off to the best start on Saturday, everything ok?
“Everything was fine, the tests weren’t really my thing, normally at the Italian round you get a really hard enduro test, these two test are quite fast and a little mistake will cost you a lot of time, so I was be cautious. We I was told there was only 2.9 seconds between myself and Marco Neubert, for the class win with two tests to go, I had to just push that little bit to go for the win”.

Sunday you had a better day, leading your class from start to finish?
“Day two was a better day, I wanted to go for the overall title this year, but Maurizio Micheluz has been in a class of his own this weekend, untouchable. On these tests you can’t afford any mistakes, I’ve been lucky to come away with the results I have”.

How does this affect your challenge for the overall title?
“Obviously last year was unfortunate, with the DNF in Spain that set me on the back foot from day one, at least I do have a finish result here and as they say points make prizes. I have made it difficult for myself but it isn’t over until it’s over. I’m looking forward to Croatia, new county, new terrain, hopefully I can pull a win out of the bag there”.

After a close battle with Macro Neubert on day one Tom finished the day 1st in the E2 class and 3rd overall not bad for someone who in his eyes was having a bad day. Day two Tom retained the class win and moved himself up into 2nd overall.

Current standings show Tom tied with French rider Benoit Fortunato for 2nd overall and leading the E2 class.

Tom next heads to the second round of the British enduro championships in Yorkshire on May 2nd and 3rd, with the second round of the European 3 weeks later. Photo Bob Mullins

2015 British Championship opening round.

Starting back after a long winter break is always a challenge for any rider, but when the first event back is on sand a terrain that you’re not particularly keen on its an extra challenge. Tom faced this challenge at the opening round of the ACU Edmondson Racing British Enduro Championships (BEC) at Elgin Scotland.

Opening round of the BEC on sand, a terrain you’re not 100% at home with how was it for you?
“Not my favourite terrain but I have been working hard with my sand riding and the bike setup for the deep sand. I knew this weekend was going to be challenging, the terrain and the competition was going to be tough. I had set myself on a top 5 finish and that was wanted I wanted to achieve”.

Did your test times surprise you?
“Yes they did, I’m no sand expert not by a long way and to be having a close battle with Jamie McCanney for the first three tests on Saturday was just where I wanted to be, I was riding comfortably, making no mistakes”.

What happened on the last two tests Saturday?
“I was actually unsure of my position and how much time there was between the top 4/5 riders, so I wanted to make sure I had tried my best to hold whatever position I could, unfortunately riding aggressively isn’t my style and I made too many mistakes and ended up crashing in both of the back to back tests. Not the ideal end to the day but I was happy that I retained 4th place, a second behind Steve Holcombe. So that just proved how closely all four of us were battling”.

Sunday you improved your result, what did you do differently?
“Sunday I rode with the same attitude I started with on Saturday, the course had took its toll on day one, the test was tricky, trying to pick the right lines was important and not to make the mistakes I had on Saturday. I won the test outright first thing on Sunday and I was in second place going into the final test of the day. As there was no test times displayed, I did not know that I was in second, I thought I was third so I rode the last test for position. Seeing the results on Sunday evening I was gutted”.

Tom is currently lying fourth in the overall standings and second in the E2 class. The next BEC is being held in north Yorkshire on May 2nd/3rd.

Tom now heads to Italy for the first round of the European enduro championships. Photo Garry Barnes

Santon Enduro

This weekend Tom headed back down to the Thetford forests to compete in Diss MCC’s Stanton Enduro. A mixed terrain of tight and twisty tracks on a sandy based soil, with a short test and a physically demanding check.

Tom enjoys competing at Stanton as it throws you in at the deep end after a season break, a short ride from the start line riders headed straight the for the test, to compete against the clock. It wasn’t a great start as an unusual stall on the third corner saw Tom on the back foot for the remainder of the test, dropping 2.3 seconds to fellow KTMStuff (Colwyn Bay Motorcycles) rider Brad Freeman.

Starting the second test Tom knew he had to push hard to gain back the lost time and take time back to take the lead. Making too many silly mistakes and trying too hard Tom dropped a further 3.3 seconds to Brad.

Pushing on the time check to ensure that he was clean and second place was secure, Tom cleaned the final check of 25 minutes giving him a solid start to the season.

Tom commented “I had a steady start, Stanton is always a good event to ease yourself back after the winter break. I knew it was going to be hard to beat Brad with such a short test, and after the stall on test one, it was going to be near impossible. The bike ran fault less over the weekend and using the same setup I used in the last BEC round of Michelin comp 4 front and comp 3 rear gave the grip level and confidence in the sandy terrain”. “Thank you to all sponsors for your continued support, riding Enduro’s are made so much easier using the brilliant products you support me with”.

Tom next heads to Dr Shox boot camp to help teach riders some of the  technical skills needed to ride enduros, 28th February & 1st March, for more details head to the Dr Shox website. http://www.drshox.co.uk/ Photo Bob Mullins