SACU 2003 Championship ENDURO
Round 7 - ELRAT - Devils Beef Tub Enduro - Moffat
14th September 2003
Set up at record speed after being loaned use of the Forest by the Melville club the Devils Beef Tub Enduro turned out to be a great day in the woods with a special test that specators could see a large chunk of. Ian Paterson designed the course with a great help from Kenny Donaldson (Melville) who also brashed an event saving ride avoiding THE BIG MUDDY HOLE which could have cancelled the event.
High up in the clouds the ground was wet in places but stood up well. It is easy to see why this is the source of the river Tweed. On the day it was dry even if the ground was wet. The course followed most of the 2002 track with new rides to extend it and add in some blasts through the trees . Last years main bridge was moved and set up with help of a certified transport engineer (Malky Bisset from Halcrow ) - even though he was a roads man and not a bridge engineer - but it lasted the day.
On the day Murray Thomson finally got the win he was looking for this year over one of the most varied and flowing tests - the test changing from lap to lap with severe mud on the last round. Derek Little is getting back to fitness and confidence again and put in an impressive 2nd place on his RIDE ON Yamaha 450f. Kyle Deswert kept pushing to the end for 3rd place. Becoming a regular visitor to ELRAT enduros Colin Macrae was entered in the Expert class despite initial reservations - but proved that he is well up to speed on 2 wheels. Riding a KTM 125 he produced some very exciting riding in the test delighting the few spectators there to see it. Despite losing 13 seconds after a high speed crash on his last test he managed to secure 4th place against some of the top riders in Scotland and the North of England. Joe Gilroy must wonder when his luck is going to change as he lost compression on the first lap and had to retire.
In the Over 40 class Andy Flockhart proved unbeatable again and set the fastest time of the day on his first timed run. Ian Patterson chased hard all day on the course he designed and came in in 2nd place 3 seconds ahead of Dougal Walker - both riders impressing with their speed up the hill in the test. Finishing the event Ian and Andy then set out to take the course down - the fastest marshalls this year !
Chris Stewart got his first win of 2003 with a very fast first test. This now makes the championship very close at the top as Duncan Jamieson lost time on the last test and finished down the points - Chris Buchan is still in with a chance over the next two rounds.
Another "Rally regular" to ELRAT events Robbie Head was doing well until a puncture near the end meant he dropped time. Mousses next time.
In the Sportsmen class Stephen Black and Alan Reid battled it out for top honours over a course which proved very testing for a lot of the Sportsman. Phil Perkins (91) was very relieved when he got back the start - "glad to be out of there alive" were his immortal words.
With the marshalls clearing new paths where required and guiding (hauling in some cases) tired riders out of the forest the event was seen as a success - if a tough event. Well done to all those who managed at least a lap.
Thanks to Tilhill Forestry for the use of their land for this event.
NAME NO. T1 T2 T3 T4 Total Penalties Event Position seconds seconds seconds seconds seconds Start Course Total
EXPERTS
Murray Thomson 7 151 151 165 168 635 635 1 Derek Little 1 159 162 162 171 654 654 2 Kyle Deswert 6 156 159 171 174 660 660 3 Colin Macrae 10 165 163 170 184 682 682 4 Mark Oliver 5 166 169 178 195 708 708 5 Richard Neaves 15 168 170 180 193 711 711 6 John Agnew 3 171 175 185 190 721 721 7 Paul Ferry 4 177 177 186 201 741 741 8 Adam Lynam 2 188 191 194 215 788 788 9 Richard McVicar 12 172 171 212 353 908 908 10 Malcolm Bissett 11 172 174 184 709 1239 480 1719 11 Joe Gilroy 8 0 0 0 0 0 RET
CLUBMAN Over 40
Andrew Flockhart 19 148 166 171 0 485 485 1 Ian Paterson 22 166 171 175 0 512 512 2 Dougal Walker 26 166 172 177 0 515 515 3 Kenny Donaldson 29 173 175 183 0 531 531 4 Keith Spence 25 169 176 196 0 541 541 5 Stuart Livingstone 31 180 180 203 0 563 563 6 Douglas Page 21 182 201 196 0 579 579 7 Alex Kirk 23 174 219 193 0 586 586 8 Andrew McConnell 28 196 202 212 0 610 610 9 Gary Dalzell 20 194 197 224 0 615 615 10 Grant Millar 27 210 244 236 0 690 690 11 Geoff Pennycook 30 179 194 401 0 774 774 12 Dougie Meek 24 196 0 0 0 196 RET
CLUBMAN
Chris Stewart 48 160 173 180 0 513 513 1 Scott Maxwell 53 174 176 207 0 557 557 2 Chris Buchan 39 167 175 235 0 577 577 3 Graham Smith 55 187 194 197 0 578 578 4 Iain McMullen 52 170 200 217 0 587 587 5 Rab Moir 42 183 204 213 0 600 600 6 Findlay White 40 195 202 210 0 607 607 7 Campbell Chatham 46 186 200 232 0 618 618 8 Neil Atkison 58 201 215 216 0 632 632 9 Mark Hartley 57 204 220 228 0 652 652 10 Duncan Jamieson 44 157 171 337 0 665 665 11 Gary Long 41 225 227 239 0 691 691 12 Steve Irvin 47 216 242 237 0 695 695 13 David Ramsay 50 195 258 260 0 713 713 14 John McGaff 54 191 201 358 0 750 750 15 Iain Wood 56 205 220 328 0 753 753 16 GarryMiddleton 60 200 225 235 0 660 60 420 1140 17 Robbie Head 45 178 199 233 0 610 600 1210 18 Ian Irving 43 225 262 443 0 930 960 1890 19 Jose Vega-Lozano 59 0 0 0 0 0 NS Alx. McGowan 61 0 0 0 0 0 NS Alan Lauder 49 158 0 0 0 158 RET Ally Gordon 51 214 357 0 0 571 RET
SPORTSMAN
Steven Black 78 197 198 0 0 395 395 1 Alan Reid 74 201 205 0 0 406 406 2 Craig Gordon 76 212 205 0 0 417 417 3 Alex Austin 72 206 216 0 0 422 422 4 David Jamieson 75 201 223 0 0 424 424 5 Alistair Crocket 89 220 221 0 0 441 441 6 John Lupton 104 225 243 0 0 468 468 7 Stuart Edgar 87 226 252 0 0 478 478 8 Martyn McMinn 79 246 245 0 0 491 491 9 James Darrie 71 219 293 0 0 512 512 10 Owen Gourley 84 225 288 0 0 513 513 11 Jimmy Partick 77 224 296 0 0 520 520 12 Kevin Ostroznik 82 271 299 0 0 570 570 13 Keith Wright 88 222 397 0 0 619 619 14 James Ballantyne 70 313 308 0 0 621 621 15 David Fergus 80 243 313 0 0 556 180 736 16 Mark White 85 318 975 0 0 1293 1293 17 Stephen Forrest 90 364 376 0 0 740 1380 2120 18 Paul Mason 81 307 336 0 0 643 3559 4202 19 Phill Perkins 91 0 0 0 0 0 (324- 1st Test) Alan Campbell 73 0 0 0 0 0 NS Derek Fortune 69 261 0 0 0 261 RET Alex Hood 83 255 0 0 0 255 RET Rudi Hubner 86 0 0 0 0 0 RET
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 The "STARS" of tomorrow ? - ready to race ! |
 Winner - Murray Thomson |
 Colin Macrae - still clean after 3 laps - and flying ! |
 Stan Peterson back on his feet
again after his broken leg at Lossie. |
Robbie Head - there are no friends when you get a puncture |
| Photos courtesy of Rosie Patrick - who captured the "feel" of the event | |||
 End of the test |
 1/2 way through and getting sticky |
 On the "going" |
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 Colin Macrae at speed |
 Some of the ground was new - no tracks here |
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 It was a bit dark in the trees |
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 Giving it some stick |
 The Muddy part of the test |
 Up the hill from the start of test |