Enduro News - Knighton 08

Knighton 2008

Simon Wakely wins at Knighton. Results Saturday Sunday Combined

The picturesque market town of Knighton - nestling amongst the pine covered hills of the Welsh borders - was the venue of this weekend's 4th round of the Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship. With a Gothic clock tower at it's centre, the town has a European feel & so did the Central Wales Auto Club's event. The hard standing start area was in the car park of Benson's factory on the outskirts of the town with an adjacent field for the campers. The weather was glorious with 3 days of cloudless skies. Clerk of the course Mark Vaughan had laid out a course that would have been good to ride in the wet but in the dry it was fantastic.

Knighton was the final BEC round for the Championship class this year as next week's Natterjack clashes with the WEC GP of Italy. Tom Sagar has already won the overall & he chose to rest his injured hand. Edward Jones has clinched the E3 class so most of the attention was centred around the tight battles for the E1 2T & the E2 classes. E1 2T leader Dylan Jones was still recovering from the 3 broken ribs he brought back from Greece & he would be an interested spectator as his cousin Robert & Richard Hay tried to overtake his score of 91 points. In the E2s Paul Edmondson held a 6 point lead over Si Wakely but with 2 wins Si could snatched the class by the narrowest of margins.

On Friday, scrutineering began at 12 noon. There were 2 grassy tests 3 miles outside the town. After walking them both Derrick Edmondson described them as World class & an outright winner of the International Six Days Enduro should know.

Day 1 started at 9.01am. The course consisted of a 3 mile liaison stage out to first test then a 40+ mile lap. The Championship had 2.5 laps & the Experts/Vets/Clubmen had 2 laps. Despite a pinned femur, Greg Evans won the first 4 test on his Insight Renewables Wayne Mounter KTM but he dropped the bike on 5th test & lost time. Unusually for such a dry conditions the tests became slipperier as the day wore on. Simon Wakely won the day from Paul Edmondson who once blew his shock. Greg was 3rd. The times were slack. Only 2 riders incurred penalties. Darren Wheeler's chain got jammed around the sprocket & Euan McConnell stopped 50 yards short of the finishing line to eat his tea. Gethin Price fell heavily in a rocky gully & retired dazed.

Last year, Gareth Hopkins won the Clubman class in his first season & moved up into the Experts. He won the first day ahead of Phillip McLauglin. Gavin Hazlett retired with a holed piston.

Murray Thompson was the Best Veteran, 3 seconds ahead of Derrick Edmondson (right).

Jonathan Evans won the Clubman class from David Lloyd-Jones. Tyson Maytom-Jones' gearbox broke. Graham Lazzari was injured when he endo'ed his bike on the test. Craig Altas lost his clutch. Ian Hill didn't like a hill or the hill didn't like him. Andrew Seymour of Optoma Mortgages went through a bag of plugs when his Yamaha developed a coolant leak. There were only 7 retirements. There was no parc ferme so the riders fettled their bike in the evening sunlight as they fired up the barbeques. With so many happy finishers, there was a great atmosphere.

Day 2 dawned through a mist that became an Indian summers day with a light heat haze. Once again it was a 9.01am start. For the E2 class championship it would a straight race between Paul Edmondson & Simon Wakely. The quickest on the day would win. The schedule would be a re-run of first with a slightly shorter mileage. Bradley King lent Tyson Maytom-Jones his spare Gas Gas. Tyson would have a instructive day in 2T power. Simon Wakely won 4 out the 5 tests to win the day & clinch the E2 class. Euan McConnell won the 3rd test. He was probably in hurry to get back to his tea. It set him up the finish 2nd ahead of Paul Edmondson in 3rd. With 2 wins Robert Jones overtook his cousin Dylan to win the E1 2T. Andrew Edwards retired. It was 1st & 2nd again for Gareth Hopkins & Phillip McLaughlin in the Experts. Keith Horsnell was the best E3 expert on day 1 but he dropped down to 21st on day 2 when he clocked in 1 minute early at a check. Derrick Edmondson upped his pace to win the Vets from Murray Thomson. David Lloyd-Jones was the best Clubman.

After a tough summer in the Welsh forests, CWAC struggled to fill their entry list. Next year the riders will need to enter early to get an entry.

Husqvarna and Wakely claim ’08 Enduro 2 British championship with double win

Husky Sport backed MPS Racing Husqvarna team rider Si Wakely is the ’08 E2 British Enduro Champion. Coming into the final round of this year’s BEC series trailing Paul Edmondson by six points, Si did exactly what he needed to do to overhaul the former four-time world champion and topped both days to win the championship in style.

New to the BEC calendar the CWAC organised Knighton Enduro proved to be a worthy addition to the British championship series, and with both days enjoying some of the best weather seen this year in central Wales the event proved to be a highly enjoyable one. Featuring two grassland motocross style special tests, as well as a variety of forest tracks and trails, competition at the head of the Championship class was tight right from the start of day one.

It was consistency that ensured Wakely claimed the win on day one. Despite being eight seconds off the pace of Greg Evans on the first test Si dramatically increased his pace on the second and third tests before winning the fifth test as Evans’ hopes of victory faltered. Despite narrowly missing out on topping the sixth and final test on day one Si did enough to finish five seconds ahead of Paul Edmondson.

On day two it was a simply case of whichever rider finished highest, out of Wakely and Edmondson, would win the E2 British championship. Getting off to a flying start and topping the day’s first test outright Si little by little edged away from Edmondson following winning rides on second and fourth tests. Arriving at the fifth and final test with a slender advantage Si claimed yet another test win to secure the ’08 E2 British Enduro Championship title.

Si and the MPS Racing Husqvarna Team now head to Italy for the seventh round of the World Enduro Championship, which takes place next weekend near Rome. Remaining in mainland Europe they will then take in a round of the WSB championship before competing in the final WEC event of ’08, which is to be held in France, before heading to Holland for an event before heading home.

Si Wakely: “It’s great to have finally won the Enduro 2 class of the BEC. Twice I’ve been close so I guess it’s a case of third time lucky. Things have gone really well this season and with the help and support of Mick from MPS and Mike Carter at Husky Sport, and Wyn Hughes and my parents, we’ve achieved what we set out to do at the start of the year.

“No one knew what to expect of the Knighton Enduro as it was a completely new event, but it was really good. The sunny weather obviously helped but the course and the two special tests were great. I was a bit lucky to win day one as Greg Evans started the day well but then made some mistakes. I had a consistent day, which is what helped me to win. I only won one of the tests but managed to finish five seconds up on Paul Edmondson.

“Day two went really well. It was really close but I managed to win the first two special tests, which set me up well for the day. I then won the last two tests, which put me at the top of the results and importantly ahead of Edmondson again.

“It really is great to have finally won the E2 British title."

Impressive return to form from Greg Evans at BEC Rnd 4

Insight Renewables Wayne Mounter KTM rider Greg Evans showed that he is well and truly over the broken Femur that has sidelined him for much of the '08 season claiming a deserved third place overall result at the Knighton Enduro, round four of the '08 Metzeler British Enduro Championship, this past weekend. Competing aboard his 250EXC, and as the lone KTM UK backed rider as newly crowned British Enduro Champion Tom Sagar opted not to compete in order to let his injured hand heal ahead of WEC duties, Greg set a pace that no other riders could match early on day one. And were it not for a couple of small but costly mistakes as the day neared its close he would have earned himself his first day win of the '08 BEC series.

But as it was Greg placed an eventual third overall on day one. Winning the first test by close to six seconds, the Welshman went on to top the second, third and fourth tests to hold a slender advantage with just two tests to go. Disappointingly for Greg things didn't go as well during the second half of the day as they had during the first as mistakes on tests five and six saw him drop back behind Si Wakely and Paul Edmondson to his eventual finishing position of third overall.

On day two Greg was optimistic that he could do what he had failed to achieve on day one and top the Championship class results. But despite his best efforts Greg wasn't able to perform quite as well as he had on day one and although only a few seconds off the winning pace on each of the day's five tests he placed fourth overall and third in the E2 class. Greg showed at the Knighton Enduro that had it not been for his unfortunate leg injury and subsequent time away from competition he would have played a key role in the outcome of the Enduro 2 BEC series standings.

With the fifth and final round of the '08 BEC series a 'non-championship' event for Championship class riders due to a clash of dates with the seventh round of the '08 WEC series, this year's British Enduro Championship ends with KTM having secured the Enduro 1 and Overall title thanks to Tom Sagar, as well as Edward Jones having topped the Enduro 3 class.

Greg Evans: "It's great to know that I'm back on the pace, but it's a little disappointing that I didn't win the first day. Things were going great, I'd won the first test by six seconds and then won the next three tests as well. But then I made mistakes on the last two tests, which dropped me to third overall. I'm still pleased with that, as it shows that my fitness and speed are good again, but it could have been better.

"Day two wasn't quite as good, but I still feel I rode well. Every time I race I feel better and better and the leg that I broke earlier in the year is really strong now - it doesn't give me any problems at all. Third overall for the two days is good. I just need to keep racing now so that my fitness and speed continue to improve."

Impressive end to ’08 BEC series for TM UK and Euan McConnell

Electraction TM UK rider Euan McConnell came painstakingly close to ending his ’08 British Enduro Championship campaign with overall victory on day two of the Knighton Enduro as the Enduro 3 class TM rider finished just two seconds behind eventual day and event winner Si Wakely. With the Enduro 3 championship decided at the previous round of the series Euan’s hopes of ending the season with a win almost materialised but following a costly mistake on day one he eventually placed 15th overall, despite his strong showing on day two.

Although falling just short of matching the pace of day one winner Si Wakely, Euan was headed for a comfortable runner-up spot in the E3 class on day one having performed consistently during the six special tests. But at the end of the day a confused McConnell failed to check in on time at the final time control and incurred a 13-minute penalty. Euan’s mistake dropped him to 16th in the overall day one Championship class results.

Determined to make up for his day one error McConnell was clearly out to improve things on day two and came close to topping the opening special test. Just hundredths of a second behind winner Wakely on the second test Euan topped the third test before narrowly missing out on winning the fourth and fifth tests. Placing eight seconds ahead of Paul Edmondson, Euan missed claiming overall victory by just two seconds but claimed a deserved Enduro 3 class win.

With his British Enduro Championship duties now over Euan now heads to the penultimate round of the ’08 World Enduro Championship, the GP of Italy, where he will compete aboard a 300cc two-stroke for the first time this season.

In the Expert class Irishman Phillip McLaughlin continued to perform well in his first season of BEC competition with two overall runner-up results in the Expert class. With E2 class riders filling the top three spots in the overall Expert class on day one, Phillip placed half a minute behind winner Gareth Hopkins. On day two however Philip placed less than one-second behind Gareth to claim an extremely close runner-up result.

Euan McConnell: “Let’s just say that day one didn’t exactly go as I hoped it would. I rode pretty well on the tests but clocking in late at the end of the day messed things up. Day two was much better, although it’s disappointing to have got so close to winning. There wasn’t much to separate myself from Si Wakely and Paul Edmondson all day. I tried everything to pull a few seconds on them both of them but although I won one of the tests it wasn’t quite enough to beat Si and get the win. It’s a little disappointing but still a strong end to the season.”

Photos available from Keith Bowen