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2005 Championship ENDURO

Round 8  - Scottish Borders MC - Little Clyde Enduro

4th September 2005

Results for Little Clyde

I never thought I would see the words sunny and Beattock in the same sentence - but this is global warming and the SBEC event at Little Clyde was one of the driest for several years. In fact the road sections were causing a problem with dust ...

However the course is not run on the road and as usual it lived up to it's reputation as one of the real enduros of the year with several deep boggy rutted sections and lots of rocks. Line choice paid a big part in the event with riders choosing the right line getting by easily and those who missed the line having to haul their bikes out of deep clinging mud. Duncan Braid and his team have put a mammoth amount of work into this event and used a lot of new track  rerouting riders away from the old ruts and hills that have caused a problem in the past. There was a new test for this year - fairly simple to look at but with lots of tricky bits and a few wee bogs. By the time the riders arrived at the test they were generally fairly tired and in some case the test was the last straw when the front wheel buried itself.

With two checks on a figure eight course riders were frequently back in the pits - some deciding to stay there rather than face another lap. The first hill was an Experts and Clubman only hill with Sportsmen directed along the road. There were several places where Sportsmen had an "easier" choice - in an effort to ensure as many finished as possible. This also meant cutting out the test for the Sortsmen - using their course times with a tight lap to decide the places.

A big improvement on last year with 75 starters and only 33 retirals. Duncan must be getting soft in his old age !

With all the riders coming in clean apart from Sportsmen the lap times were about right leaving the test to sort out the winners.

Crawford Carrick Anderson continued to lead from the front with some fast times - followed by Murray Thomson and Derek Little - who continue to keep up the pressure at the top of the table. Mark Godfrey had a 4th after travelling up from England just beating new Dad Grant Smith - sleepless nights not slowing him much.

Sean Wooley continues to keep up the pressure in the Over 40 class to win from Andrew Flockhart. Dougal Walker has seen some top placings this season with the tracks well suited to his riding style. Stewart Livingstone put in a rare appearance at the top of the field - thes course must suit him ! Ian Paterson suffering  start penalties when his plug fouled on the start line - no luck this year.

In the Clubmen Alan Lauder continues to lead the class ahead of Richard Neaves and Colin Bryan. Iain McMullen continues to improve and moved further up the field to finish in 4th.

Tony Hume, Michael Rathbone, Allan Poynton ad David Fergus all managed to stay clean on the tight lap and finished 1st equal. With only 60 seconds separating Garry Scotland who enjoys his first year in the class.

A few boiled bikes and riders meant several retirals - but well done to all those who finished a really tought event.

Thanks to The SBEC for all their effort and solving last minute problems to put on another tough event.

Photos by Linda and Betty with a few from Charlie - click to enlarge

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