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Cotswold Enduro Club |
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Rock Oil AMCA H&H Final Round There could not have been a better setting or more impressive course than Haresfield, served up by Cotswold Enduro Club, for the final round of the Rock Oil - AMCA Hare & Hounds Championship. A impressive course, just shy of six-miles, looked as if it would favour the faster riders with long, sweeping sections across the undulating fields but bogs and woodland sections provided some relief for the more technically capable riders to pull back time in the dry and sunny conditions on the day. The bog section featured some very deep holes and riders took organiser Pete Carter's advice and steered well clear of them but the woodland sections and MX section were a pleasure to ride and flowed well, even with so many riders on the course. With many classes still wide open there were plenty of valuable points up for grabs which prompted an entry of around 130 riders for this three-hour final event. The obligatory 'take it easy on the first lap' instruction was totally ignored as it is at all events and there were a couple of off's at the end of the start straight but once cleared, the riders hit a fast and open field section where the packed classes started to get strung out. Although there was a Pro class, the riders in it were overshadowed by the Expert riders when it came to posting laps. Expert James Paczynski lead the field with 15 laps to his credit, just ahead of James Berrill and George Bayliss but the saying that 'it ain't over til it's over' was never more appropriate as Paczynski was overtaken in the dying minutes of the race by Over 40 Veteran rider David Thomson, who went on to take the Premiere position.
Ben Swambo lead the Pro field home, clocking up 14 laps to take the win ahead of second placed James Berrill as Ben Adams took third. Adams had a tough time of it when his Kwak refused to start on the line and he eventually took off after the Sportsman class had left, leaving him with plenty to do to get to the front. Both Clubman 4T and 2T class riders were up amongst the front runners and Chris Pryce battled hard to keep ahead of Martin Kohv, the two swapping places on several occasions before Pryce eventually took the 4T class win with Kohv second and Ashley Stokes third. Ben Thomson also had his hands full on the way to a 2T class win, staying ahead of Jack Powell and Sam Hoskins, all three riders on 14 laps.
Tom Jennings had a straight out fight with Dan Mason as both riders fought for supremacy in the Sportsman class with Jennings narrowly holding on to first position as Mason followed him home with Henry Sampson in third spot. Wendy Swales had the ladies class sewn up as the only rider in the class and finished well with 10 laps under her belt while Alistair Fowlie pushed his old Kwak hard to win the Classic Pre 86 class. This was a fitting end to an excellent series that has seen races all over the Central region of the country, with great variety of courses and weather conditions throughout the year and deservedly remains the AMCA's premiere Hare and Hounds Championship series, sponsored by Rock Oil. Results http://www.cotswoldenduro.co.uk
Hard Rock AMCA/Rock Oil Hare and Hounds Championship The penultimate round of the 2011 AMCA/Rock Oil Hare and Hound Championship, organised by Cotswold Enduro Club, proved to be very tough as competitors battled against the heat, the course and each other at the superb Wymeswold MX track in Leicestershire. The Wymeswold venue is undoubtedly MX based but in addition to the impressive track the Hare and Hounds course ran out into the countryside for nearly five miles, giving a lap of over 10 minutes to the fastest riders. The course proved to be quite fast but several of the field sections consisted of large, rolling natural whoops, which saw riders adopt a variety of techniques to get across them quickly. The MX track had the obligatory jumps but careful planning from the CEC saw the course incorporate some of the huge pipe sections that riders rode through as other competitors were jumping above them. A very unusual sight. Although the sun was out and the conditions were dry and dusty the dust was not a problem initially as a strong breeze kept the MX track clear but as the breeze dropped an hour into the race the whole area was covered with a fine dust. Visibility was still good and had little or no effect on the racing as riders were well spread out by this point. Joe Jones took the lead initially with Darren Carter no more than a bike length from him. Carter was riding well, considering he had been out of action with a broken wrist since July, and he battled hard to stay with Jones.
Jones put three minutes between himself and Carter to take the Pro/Championship class win ahead of second placed Carter as Derek Bawn made his way to third. Bawn had run out of fuel at one point and spent 10 minutes pushing his bike, in the hot conditions, to the pits before rejoining the race nearly a lap down on the leaders. James Paczynski nailed the Expert class by a clear lap over second placed James Berrill. Paczynski held fourth place overall for most of the race and excelled on the MX section of the course. Aaron Edwards kept Berrill in his sights and finally took third place in class.
A two way battled ensued in the Ladies class with Emily Davey taking the honours over Helen Spiers as Eric Shaw won the trail class ahead of Ian Jones.
Jason Hope on his new Edmondson Racing 300XC lead the Over 40's initially until a coming together with Dave Selkeld saw the pair change places. Hope found he was using more fuel than usual and had to pit twice to refuel as Selkeld stretched his lead to take the Over 40's win by two minutes with Hope in second place and Martin Jakeman in third spot. The Over 50's was equally as competitive. All of the top three riders completed 13 tough laps but it was Colin Griffiths who came out ahead of Eddy Tait with 50th Birthday Boy Keith Townsend in third. The Sportsman class also witnessed a very close finish. Andy Pulfrey took the win by four minutes from Ricky Franklin, who had a one-minute advantage over third placed Nathan Jenkins. Three hours in hot and dusty conditions at the beginning of October, when riders usually experience mud and rain, proved to be very tough but the course held up well and provided some very close racing across all classes.
Results Overall Premiere - Matt Porter # 400 - 16 laps Extra Sensory Perception For the second year running Tyn Twll/ Berwyn Leisure has been
cancelled due to lack of entries. 35 confirmed (not all paid) entries on
Sunday the 7th August. Whether its down to the events that have been
there recently or the distance for riders to travel or events on the
same weekend its not clear. We just asked riders to let us know if they
wanted to ride - we asked for no money up front which is always a gamble
because riders have no commitment to turn up especially if its wet
leading up to the event. This is a nightmare for Clubs and Organisers at
present. Many things need putting in place leading up to events such as
Caterers need to know numbers, how many loos, how many staff and so on.
All helpers involved with the Cotswold Enduro Club have normal jobs or
work for themselves and all sacrifice a lot of time and in most cases
money. I know this will mess people about with which ever Championship
they are contending, time off work, dropped rounds and so on but would
any of you go to work on a Monday in the knowledge that come Friday it
would have cost you in the excess of £2000+ to do so "I think
not" that is what it would cost the CEC to run this event on the
riders that have booked in at present. The CEC is not all about the
money but we can not afford to run at that sort of a loss. Most events
this year have either ran at a small loss or small profit which is
acceptable and normally evens its self out usually as the year goes on.
The CEC although a Club is run like a business and in turn needs to be
solvent at the end of each year to pay for the Presentation/Trophies
& Vehicle Maintenance and so on. No one is to blame it is the
environment we are competing in at present. Riders have freedom of
choice to pre pay, not to pay, phone enter, turn up on the day book in
on the phone for several different events on the same weekend and make
their minds up on the morning who's event they are going to go to. Most
of the above do not help Organisers plan the events. Any decision to
cancel an event is not taken lightly and creates a lot of work in many
ways.It is such a shame Tyn Twll is not running - a lap had been planned
which would have been completely different to both the Elite Sprint and
the GBXC which have been there recently. My knowledge of the venue and
with the help of the land owner a superb lap was planned and that is not
PR Bull S**T. CEC was the first Club to run at Tyn Twll and early events
were 15 miles plus and were acknowledged as some of the best events at
that time. CEC always puts 100% into track building and running events
the riders have once again missed out on and if the effort is put in
this top off road venue. This round will not be replaced the next round
of the Rock Oil British and combined Club Champs will be for double
points so if you score 30 points for example it will double to 60 points
and so on. I know it will not suit all what has happened but there is
nothing we can do about it at this stage of the season. People that run
Off Road events have not got ESP (extra sensory perception). Sorry for
any inconvenience caused ensuring riders of our best intention at all
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The
massed ranks of the Veterans class saw the Over 40's and Over 50's all
start together. Rob Sewell got a flyer off the line and was first onto
the open field section where Dave Selkeld (right) proceeded to give
chase alongside the eventual overall winner David Thomson. As Thomson
disappeared over the horizon it was Dave Selkeld who lead the Over 40
Vets home with Martin Jakeman a close second and Rob Sewell third, all
three matching the Expert riders on laps. An in-form Colin Griffiths
took yet another win at the head of the over 50's class by a clear lap
over Eddie Tait and Colin Bush.
Local rider and AMCA MX star Matt Porter eventually caught and passed
the pair, holding his lead to the end of the gruelling three-hour race
and taking the Overall Premiere win.
Martin Kohv edged clear in the Clubman 4T's as Matt Keeling and
Ashley Stokes finished within seconds of each other in second and third
places. Jack Powell gradually took control of the Clubman 2T class and
put four minutes between himself and second placed Darren Thorpe with
Mick Reynolds a further three minutes behind in third.
The Veterans were as competitive as ever, both in the Over 40's and
Over 50's.
The event was very well organised and well run by the Cotswold Enduro
Crew with a well thought-out course that suited all classes of riders. Well done!