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Great start to ACU Xtreme Championship for Graham Jarvis 

Graham Jarvis won the opening round of the 2018 ACU Xtreme Enduro Championship - hosted by Fast Eddy Racing - at Parkwood 4x4, Tong near Bradford on January 14th. 

Parkwood is a superb facility which annually hosts the British round of the World Trials Championship and this weekend attracted a World class entry of Extreme Enduro riders headed by the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna dou of Graham Jarvis and Billy Bolt. WEC Champion Danny McCanney was on the new GasGas. Paul Bolton always does well at Tong and he lined up alongside Eurtek KTM teammates Sam Winterburn, James Jackson, Charlie Frost and Sam Ludgate. Gethin Humphreys and James Dent were representing MRS Sherco and 2017 Expert Champion Matthew Jones was hoping to repeat his success in 2018 on the Wayne Mounter KTM. 

 This was the 8th Eddy's Xtreme at Tong and it has improved every year. A new innovation for 2018 was the reversal of the course. The 2 hour morning race for Sportsmen. Youths and Veterans was reversed for the Pros, Experts, Clubmen and Elite Vets in their 2 and a half hour afternoon race. The weather was cloudy but dry. The car park started to fill from before dawn and the line of headlights was reminiscent of the closing shot of Field of Dreams. "If you build it, they will come" - and they did. 

Paul Edmondson flagged the morning race away at 9.30am. Jamie Williams was the quickest Youth off the line. Darren Skillin took the Veteran  holeshot despite a sound T-bone hit from Mark Houson. Tom Knight had a poor start but he made his way through the feild and took an early lead on a GasGas with Will Stansbie in 2nd and veteran Mark Houson in 3rd. The lake at Parkwood is dammed by a bank covered in great slabs of stone to form a steep Rock Garden. There are times when gravity is our friend but there are times when it can be a pain particular when you are sliding over rocky slabs on your arse. 

By lap 2 Youthful exuberance had given way to mature experience and the very mature Mark Houson took the lead which he held to the finish. Tom Knight was runner up and Will Stansbie was 3rd. Veteran Karl Greenall was 4th and Surf Sella from Israel in 5th completed the Youth podium despite injuring his hands in the latter part of the race. Best Sportsman James Crookshank was 6th. Anthony Crowe (7th) was 3rd in the Vets. Joshus Haith was runner up in the Sportsman's class and Jack Winn was 3rd. 

The main race started at 12.30pm and as it was a Sunday there was time for a parable. To the right there was a broad path that was easy but to the left was a narrow way that was hard. Paul Bolton chose the narrow way and popped out of the trees in front of Sam Winterburn to take the holeshot  Graham Jarvis took his time firing up the 250 four stroke and he was last man away. 

With a clear run, the Pros made good progress and by the end of lap 1 Billy Bolt led from Danny McCanney with Graham Jarvis in 3rd, Sadly Danny McCanney sustained a fractured bone in his hand and he retired. Paul Bolton moved up into 3rd. Expert Will Westgarth was going well in 4th until a loss of momentum on the big hill at the entrance to the Valley of the Waterfall forced him to launch the Eurotek KTM like a space shuttle but the bike landed awkwardly and broke the rad. 

One of the features of Parkwood is it's accessibility so while the Clubmen stared up at the Rock Garden as if it was the North face of the Eiger the spectators wandered on a few yards to next formidable obstacle "The Jump". Emerging from the trees into the light the riders have the option of dropping into a stream bed and taking the long route or jumping a chasm filled with rocks. It is a place where a rider can be truly measured by the size of his boulders. 

By the halfway stage Graham Jarvis had taken the lead. Paul Bolton was runner up and Billy Bolt was 3rd.  Beta mounted Jonno Richardson was 4th and local rider Will Hoare was 5th, Sam Ludgate in 8th was the Best Expert. 

The rocks took their toll on the hardware. Paul Bolton had to pit to replace a gear lever; James Dent was in 5th until a rock took out his chain guard and he lost 3 places while making running repairs. 2017 Expert class winner Matthew Jones was on course for another podium finish until a collision with another rider took out his throttle assembly.

From the Jump the course followed the stream up the Valley to the Waterfall. One of the heroes of the day was AM race winner Mark Houson who spent the afternoon pulling riders up the steepest hill. Mark is showing the early signs of memory loss and sometimes he has no idea that he is 57 years of age.  

Graham Jarvis was his smooth controlled self throughout the race and he crossed the winning line spot on 2 and a half hours to take his 2nd Tong victory. Paul Bolton was the runner up and Billy Bolt was the runner over as closed on Paul at the line and almost took out the Fat Lady. Jonno Richardson was 4th and Juan Knight (GasGas) in 5th was the new Best Elite Vet class. Juan was in a class of his own as Harold Crowford finished runner up in 18th and Andrew Reeves was 3rd in 19th. 

Sam Ludgate in 8th was the Best Expert ahead of Chris Windle (10th) and Jack Spencer (12th). Army rider Stuart Mack in 22nd was the top Clubman rider. Thomas Johnson was 2nd and Matthew Alpe was 3rd.

Results - AM Race - PM Race - Photos