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SACU 2000 ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Round  1 SBEC Bon Accord Glenfarquhar Forest Enduro

Another damp and very misty day awaited the riders in this rescheduled event from the start of the year. Long anticipated the course was new to all the riders and no one knew what to expect. For the Clerk of the Course Dave Donald this was his first event and he was eager to provide a testing but rewarding event. 

With the return of Richard Hay and Euan McConnell from British and World competition it was always going to be a closely fought contest in the Expert class. Richard proving victorious with some extremely fast times but always hard pushed by Derek and Murray.

Rising Clubman Joe Gilroy produced some consistent and fast times to win the Clubman class. Obviously a force when the going gets tough.

In the over 40 class the continuing battle between Messers Walker and Wightman continued with Dougal again proving the winner with reliable rides. As long as the gearbox stays in one piece he is always in with a chance of the win.

Steven Goodall continues to improve in the Sportsman class with some fast test times - impressive due to the deteriorating nature of the test over later laps.Spike Donald gave the new Suzuki DRZ 400 a good run and the 4 stroke gets better each race.

From the start the course was fairly tight and very technical with stumpy climbs over virgin grassy rides leading onto some slippy off cambers and fast but twisty forest roads. Unlike other events there were initally no ruts to contend with but the rain of the previous weeks made to going soft in places and it cut deep ruts in soft peat areas. The deeply rutted parts and very slippy off cambers were cut out after a couple of laps and the special test was cut out for all but the Experts on the last lap. The test had only one tricky peat bog which proved the stopper for a lot of riders on the second onwards laps. The marshalls were on hand to provide support but all but the top riders were losing time here. The rest of the test proved fast but slippy with a tricky climb off the road catching out the unprepared. 

The event proved popular with the riders almost all of who stayed clean on time. A lot of the Sportsman riders retired after the second lap as the course was proving a bit too technical for the newcomers. The Clerk of the course and the marshalls did a power of work to keep the course open keep riders moving and are to be commended on a great first event.

More of the same next time and an even bigger lap please Dave.

David Ramsay was taken away with a broken collar bone sustained in a high speed crash. 

( See the PS at the bottom of the page  for true racers)

PS - THE WACKY RACERS were on tour. (Kenny Donaldson , Rab Moir and Stan Peterson) Driving to the event their prop shaft packed in. Stopping at the nearest garage they enquired about a repalcement (as one does on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of nowhere). They were then directed to a local dealer who just happened to have a second hand prop shaft only five months old. So out jumps Rab - gets under the van and just bolts it in place. In total 30 minutes after pulling into the garage they were on their way. True Enduro fashion.

As a reward for his efforts the team proceeded to buy Rab 10 - yes 10 - Aftershocks (and possibly 10 vodkas but he is hazy on that point). So not only did Rab fix the van and then consume copious amounts of raw alcohol he also went on the finish 3rd in the Over 40 class - probably form breathing into the tank at each check) . Way to go boys.

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