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A win for Wakely at Kingston 'M'.
Report: Lee Davey
Images: Imageconsortium.co.uk
Simon Wakely still had time for the camera.
The rolling countryside of Kingston Maurward, just outside Dorchester, Dorset was the venue for the Southern Counties Enduro Club Hare &
Hounds on the 16th September.
Being held with the kind permission of the Agricultural College, this was an all-new venue for the club and consisted of a sweeping Motocross course that was laid out by Poole & Parkstone Motocross club, which led into a couple of feet-up (if you were lucky) trials-type sections - one in a technical "pit" and the other being an off-camber woodland section.
Conditions were perfect, parking was close to both signing-on and scrutineering, and the burger-van was open for business. All was looking rosy.
Having already seen Simon Wakely and Andy Frost as we arrived at the meeting, I was certain that this pairing would finish first and second - and they didn't disappoint. Wakely led from the start, carving a continuous arc around the first corner, but Frost had the bit between his teeth and was with Wakely until the third lap, when Simon pulled a small, but significant 10 second gap. From here, Wakely continued to build his lead with a further 10 seconds each and every lap until he disappeared from view. Initially, third place was a four-way race between Bradley King, Gary Wright, Andy Scuamore and Simon Thomas, but King eventually claimed the final podium spot.
The Expert class was won convincingly by Gary McCoy who led from the start and couldn't be caught. Behind McCoy, was a freight-train of Expert riders constantly passing one another, but it was Andy Claxton and Dave Nuttall who eventually finished second and third respectively.
The Over 40's class entrants enjoyed a little space between one another. Peter Archer stormed into the lead, not to be seen again, finishing some 7 minutes over second placed Michael Hughes, who in turn had an initial battle with Paul Hart before pulling a 1 1/2 minute lead and forcing Hart into third.
Mark Cornick finally gets underway.
The E1 Clubman class win could have been anyone's for the first half of the race, as the top three were constantly changing place. But Lee White made a break for it and started to gap the chasing pack. Dean Reed (in second) then followed White's example and created a gap between himself and third placed Gareth Pearce.
Looking at the gate-times, the E2 Clubman class win could have been literally anyone's from the start, as a matter of seconds separated the top 20. When the dust settled, eventual E2 winner Matt Guppy was a minute behind the leading trio of James Courtenay, Ian Challoner and Tony Primmer, but after 2 hours had closed the gap and made the pass shortly after, relegating Courtenay and Challoner into second and third respectively.
Last, but certainly not least were the Sportsman riders. Again, as is so often the case, the leader, Glenn Drinkwater took to the front and then proceeded to build on his lead, leaving the rest of the field to follow. A net could have been thrown over the chasing pack of six or so riders and this bunch continued to circulate for the 2.5 hour duration on the Sportsman race. Drinkwater took the win with a 6 minute lead over second placed Brendan Reese, who in turn, had an 8 second lead over third placed Mike Owen.
For me, things didn't quite go to plan. Having worked on my bike for a good deal of the previous week to make sure it was tip-top, the damn thing refused to start on the line. On the last occasion I tried to make up precious time after a non-start, I crashed a matter of yards from the line and ended up in the back of an ambulance. So you'd think I'd have learnt from this experience, and with a 3 hour race in prospect, used the 90 minutes to make up the time that I'd lost; which in reality was only 10 seconds or so. But me being me, I pitched myself over the bars within the first half a dozen laps and spent more precious time in the pits, fixing my bike and then visited the Paramedics where they attempted to do the same to my wrist before I ventured out again. True to their word, freezing my wrist only lasted a lap, so I decided that intelligence should prevail.
Back at the van, I fished out a mixture of tablets and took a seat until they took the edge off things a little, allowing me to get my gloves back on. With a rousing cheer from my wife (I think that's what it was), I re-joined the race to finish way, way out of the points in a heady 27th place. But hey, a finish is a finish.
But I wasn't the only one encountering problems:
Mark Cornick's bike wouldn't start (like mine) and he eventually got away 4 minutes after the rest of his class. But he still managed a highly creditable 5th place (unlike me). And the top three guys all suffered rear brake problems due to overheating - Bradley King's dad stationed himself at the transponder point and doused his calliper with water each lap in an attempt to cool it down.
Lee White tries the taps-open approach.
And last of all, I have to mention Andy Elliot who entered the Championship class on a 1981 Maico 250 and finished an unbelievable 8th in class!
The next event is the 28th October. I might spend a little extra time prepping my bike between now and then.
SCEC Enduro results 16-9-2007:
Championship: 1st Simon Wakely, 2nd Andy Frost, 3rd Bradley King.
Expert: 1st Gary McCoy, 2nd Andy Claxton, 3rd Dave Nuttall.
E1 Clubman (up to 125cc 2-stroke, 250cc 4-stroke): 1st Lee White, 2nd Dean Reed, 3rd Gareth Pearce.
E2 Clubman (over 125cc 2-stroke, 250cc 4-stroke): 1st Matt Guppy, 2ndJames Courtenay, 3rd Ian Challoner.
Over 40: 1st Peter Archer, 2nd Michael Hughes, 3rd Paul Hart.
Sportsman: 1st Glenn Drinkwater, 2nd Brendan Reece, 3rd Mike Owen.
For further details and full results of this
race visit www.enduro.org.uk
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