All content © Bob MuIIins

Graham Jarvis dug deep to win the Extreme Ravines

23rd April - Helmsley

Extreme Ravines - the 4th round of the 2017 ACU  British Extreme Enduro Championship - was hosted by DirtBike-Action at Helmsley this weekend. The weather was perfect. Several weeks without rain produced the rare sight of April dust in Yorkshire. 

The course was longer than last year and consisted of an18 miles lap with 9 check points and a tough inner  loop  between check points  1 and 5 that .the pro riders would complete 3 circuits with the experts  completing 2 circuits of the inner loop before heading to check 6 homeward bound

From the start, the race became a titanic battle between two familiar giants of Extreme racing - Graham Jarvis (Rockstar Energy Husqvarna) and David Knight (Eurotek KTM). Knight took the holeshot but Jarvis soon caught him up and for 2 hours they fought side by side. Their handlebars spent so much time locked together they looked like they were riding a quad. With the finish line in sight there was barely a log between them until Graham launched the Husky and the log to take the win by 14 seconds. Billy Bolt was 3rd, Paul Bolton 4th and Keelan Hancock 5th


David Knight

Olly Megson made the trip from the Isle of Man worthwhile with a win in the Expert class. Chris Madigan was runner up and Ben Wibberley was 3rd, At both ends of the age range Young Matthew Jones was 4th and 50 year old Mark Jackson was 5th.

With no outside assistance allowed Graham Jarvis' spannerman Damo Butler took a late entry in the Expert class. He broke his thumb 15 minutes into the race but he carried on to finish in 10th. Fortunately for Graham it was Damo's left hand.

Sam Ludgate had the Expert class so sewn up he was in 6th overall but - mixing with the Pros - he took a wrong turn and he put in an extra lap of the loop. He still salvaged a point with a finish in 15th.

Ashley Bell won the 36 strong Clubman class ahead of Fred Adams and Lewis Ellis.

Mick Boam   made short work of the Vets class finishing in just over 90 minutes. Andrew Reeves was runner up and Kieran Hankin.

Youth was no obstacle on a course full of obstacles. Dawson Marriott was the winner ahead of Jae Jarvis and Tom Knight.

Richard Hawes won the Sportsman class. Chloe Richardson was runner up and James Walker was 3rd.

Organiser  john kerwin said at the end I was pleased with the positive comments  from the riders as they finished especialy  clearly liking the format of the event,    I must  congratulate everyone that finished within the 4 hour limit  , and finally I must thank all the marshals , check point staff  and especial the key team to many to mention but you know who you are. We will see some of you back here in 3 weeks as Helmsley welcomes the BEC    

Results 

Photos: Chris Hudson