Scottish Riders Report from the Muntjac Metzeler British Championship Enduro
24/02/2008 - Campbell Chatham
The weather conditions were perfect for the 220 riders entered in
the first round of the Metzeler British Enduro Championship in Norfolk. The Diss
motorcycle club were relieved that the icy conditions experienced the previous week were
not repeated. Instead the course was power dry and the cool breeze provided perfect riding
conditions.
The excellent special test proved a great spectacle, especially
the Championship rider’s final test at the end of the hard day. There were two tests
in the first two laps and the subsequent lap times were tightened to ensure only the top
riders in each class stayed clean on time. Paul Edmondson crashed during the day and
damaged his bike, ending his challenge prematurely. 2007 British Enduro Champion Tom Sagar
took advantage of the situation to take the overall win. Daryl Bolter had been fastest in
the early tests, a crash and problems re starting his 250 four stroke saw him drop down
the standings.
Euan McConnell was top Scot with a gritty ride to fourth place on
his TM 530. Euan muscled his bike around the tests reaching amazing speeds on the
straights. Richard Hay looked totally at ease on his KTM 125 finishing clean on time in 15th
place overall and fourth in the E1.2 class.
In the Expert Class Paul Chatham set the 11th quickest test time
on his Honda CR250 beating Derek Little on his KTM 125 by 2 seconds. In the second test
Derek was the quicker rider and a clean time sheet saw him finish best Scot in the Expert
class in 11th place and third in the E1.2 class. Paul dropped two minutes that saw him
slide down the order, although 8th E2 was his best result in the Expert Class so far.
Murray Thomson finished second in the Over 40 class on his D3
Racing KTM. The sandy going at the Muntjac is not his favourite terrain so he was very
pleased with this result. Graeme Naismith on his Mickey Oates Kawasaki was disappointed
with his special test times but pulled himself up to third place as he ended the day with
a clean time sheet. Colin Bryan put in a solid ride in his first British Enduro outing.
Colin dropped seven minutes that cost him dearly in the results; he did enjoy the
experience and vowed to continue in the British Championship.
29 teams entered the British Enduro Championship Team Competition
with Scotlands Team Ecosse Graeme Naismith, Richard Hay and Euan McConnell finishing
3rd.The second Scottish team, Ecosse Elite including Derek Little, Murray Thomson and Paul
Chatham finished 10th.
MPS
Racing Husqvarna
’08 British Enduro
Championship – round 1: Muntjac Enduro, 24.2.2008
Husqvarna and Wakely top E2 class at ’08 BEC opener
Husky
Sport backed MPS Racing Husqvarna team riders Daryl Bolter and Si Wakely got their
’08 British Enduro Championship campaigns underway at the Diss MCC organised Muntjac
Enduro on February 24 where both riders performed well at the head of the Championship
class. Switching from a 125cc two-stroke to a 250cc four-stroke for ’08 Bolter came
agonisingly close to claiming his first ever overall BEC win only to finish fifth at the
Diss MCC organised event following a mistake on the third and final test of the day. For
Si Wakely the event marked his first in BEC competition mounted on a 450cc four-stroke and
following three consistently fast special test performances he placed a deserved second
overall as well as topping the Enduro 2 class.
Recording
the fastest overall times on both the first and second runs through the sandy Muntjac
special test Bolter looked to be heading towards his first ever overall BEC win as he took
to the start of the third and final test of the day. Close to one second ahead of reigning
British champion Tom Sagar on test one, on test two Bolter claimed an even bigger overall
winning margin of close to two seconds, but on the decisive third and final test the
European Enduro Champion fell and stalled his bike losing valuable time. Unable to start
his bike instantly Daryl knew his hopes of winning the event were over and he cruised into
the end of the test to claim an eventual fifth place overall result and as runner-up in
the Enduro 1 class behind Sagar.
Thankfully
the opening round of the ’08 BEC series ended on a much more positive note for MPS
racing Husqvarna’s Si Wakely. Placing third on both the first and second timed
special tests, Wakely held a comfortable lead in the Enduro 2 class going into the third
and final test of the day. Placing second in the last test of the event, having at one
point momentarily stalled his bike, he finished less than half a second behind eventual
event winner Tom Sagar to claim a deserved Enduro 2 class win as well as finishing as the
overall runner-up.
Rounding
off a solid opening round to the ’08 BEC series for the MPS Racing Husqvarna team
rider Gavin Houson placed his WR125 at the top of the overall Expert class results where
he finished just under one second ahead of Bradley King.
Si Wakely: “I
had three really good tests and felt I was getting quicker throughout the day. I injured
my ankle two weeks before the event and then hit my foot on a tree stump in the first
test, which meant I struggled to use the rear brake a little on that test. The rest of the
day went really well though. I’m really enjoying riding the 450. Because there was so
much traction and the bike has such great power I was able to spend most of the day
standing up and riding smooth. I stalled my bike in the last test but I only lost a second
or two. All in all it’s been a great event for me. I’m looking forward to round
two in Scotland now.”
Daryl Bolter: “I can’t explain how
disappointed I am. By winning the first two tests and cleaning the going I’d put
myself in a strong position to win the event, which would have been my first ever overall
BEC win, and then on the last test I made a small mistake, my bike stalled, and that was
it. My result went out the window. The first test didn’t go perfectly but I still
managed to win that. Then on the second test I again made a few small mistakes and won
that. The third and final test started perfectly, I know I was riding faster than on the
first two, and then I hit a small hole coming into a corner and fell. It was a stupid
little crash but the bike stalled and I couldn’t start it. This year is the first
that I’ve raced a four-stroke so I’m not 100 per cent sure how to get the
jetting perfect. I think the bike was a little too rich off the bottom and it just
wouldn’t start. The bike was great all day but I just couldn’t get it started on
that last test.”
Muntjac Rd1 British
Enduro Championship
24th March
2008
The
Optoma Mortgages D3-Racing KTM team got off to a great start in the first round of the British Enduro
Championship, defending champion Sagar on a Factory 250 EXC-F topped the podium and new D3
rider Greg Evans aboard a 250 2 stroke claimed his first overall podium position in a BEC event in 3rd place.
The Diss Club as
usual organised a first class event in the popular Thetford forest, championship riders
were asked to complete 6 laps of the sandy circuit, approx 20 miles in length with each
lap getting quicker. The first lap time there was a
70 minute allowance and gradually this was reduced down to 42 minutes on the final lap.
With these quick check times there was little time to rest or work on the bikes, the last
few laps our riders just had a few minutes to rest , fuel and drink. The tight controls
claimed pre event favourite Paul Edmondson as he hit a stump trying to pass a rider and
crashed out of the race.
The main positions
would be settled on the special test though, a tight and twisty test of just over two
miles in the forest, times would be very close on this and there was no room for error,
last year Tom crashed on this same test and lost valuable seconds, costing him positions,
this year he would not make the same mistake and rode safe but quick. The first test was timed on the first lap just 10 minutes after the
start, after the first two tests Daryl Bolter was the fastest rider with Tom 2.6 seconds
adrift in 2nd, Greg was about another 5 seconds back in 7th. After
the two tests the riders would complete the remaining 4 laps of the forest before the
final test at the end of the day, there was
allot of excitement for the last test as 5 or 6 riders were within 10 seconds of each
other and really anyone could have won.
Bolter set off very
determined and his split time showed he was one second up on the previous runs, however
Tom had turned up the heat also and was one second up on Bolter a third of the way into
the test. Bad luck for Daryl though as he crashed and lost around 30 seconds, you
can’t give one second in this place, Tom recorded a test time the same as his
previous two without incident and claimed the first place. Greg also put in a great effort
on his final test and moved up to 3rd overall. Thanks to all the D3 team who
put in a great effort this wekend to help these two riders perform.
Results
- Tom Sagar Optoma
Mortgages D3-Racing KTM 250 EXC-F
- Simon Wakeley
MPS Hussqvarna 450F
- Greg Evans
0ptoma Mortgages D3/Mounter KTM 250 EXC
- Euan McConnel
Electraction 530 TM
- Daryl Bolter MPS
Husqvarna 250F
- Gordon Crockard
Gas Gas 300