|
enduro
news |
|
|
Corinium 2009 |
|
 Corinium
2009 Report by Bretton King
Aaahhh... the great outdoors in Gloucestershire's picturesque Cotwolds... where better for a pleasant day out in warm Spring sunshine? Clearly, 154 willing souls were equally adamant that Cirencester Park was the place to be last Sunday, as they were all champing-at-the-bit to blast off out of the Polo Grounds and circumnavigate the fantastic 22 mile track laid out by Swindon DMCC. And blast they did!! 2008 winner Tim Hunt was in the first quartet to leave parc ferme, alongside another former winner in the shape of Glen Foxwell. This pair were in very good company as BEC runner Matt Ridgeway was also in that little group and he was on a mission from the off, tearing up the woodland track at real pace. In fact, Ridgeway was virtually untouchable all day, setting fastest time in both special tests. A very welcome newcomer was Abingdon's Darren Wheeler - he's no stranger to this sort of event but bizarrely had never competed here before, although this didn't seem to hamper him too much as he came in just over five seconds down on Ridgeway after a stall cost him time. Barely a second behind him came Freddie Broadway and he looked super-smooth over the closing stages of test one, flowing through the twisting turns very cleanly and with style. The second test was where Ridgeway really sealed the win, finishing 19 seconds ahead of Broadway, and after another stall cost Wheeler precious seconds. Alistair Bramwell was next in line but the contest was over as a fight unless Ridgeway had a howler on the final laps, and in reality this never happened. The Bristol rider was a very worthy victor and on this form he should continue to thrive in the British Championship. A philosophical Wheeler was nonethless happy with his days sport and vowed to return next year to go one better, saying "Its a great course and I regret not having been before - can't wait for 2010!!"
The Sportsmen had slightly more space between the top three but the fight was still on for the overall. Looking favourite from the start, Darren Vincent had his KTM buzzing and his first test victory margin of nearly 8 seconds left the rest of the field with a lot to do. Enduro-newcomer Scott Thompson was on the pace but admitted that he could have been cleaner on some of the turns and felt he lost a little time as a consequence. Nonetheless, his pace was good and he set second and third fastest in the tests, which was enough to give the BVM storeman second place from Vincent, who was quickest again. Overall the day was extremely enjoyable for all, with only a handful of retirements and the Club wishes to thank Lord Bathurst for his continued support of one of the West's best enduros.
Corinium enduro took place in Cirencester Park Gloucestershire in bright sunshine in spite of the weather forecast for rain, the entry list was full weeks ago with riders knowing they would have long laps of over 18 miles laid out mainly in the woods with 2 timed tests. The first riders started at 10-00 o'clock with 4 riders each minute the first lap times where slack with times reduced each lap, the course was well laid out with a good ridable flowing route with the first test about 10 miles into the lap and the second test around 15 miles. Racing was very close at all levels but after 5 hours and 100 miles Matt Ridgway (left) riding his Meredith Suzuki was the overall winner with fastest test times from Darren Wheeler (below left) and Freddy Broadway (below right) in third. Provisional results posted soon after the finish. 1 Matt Ridgway No 4 489.53 2 Darren Wheeler No 8 515.35 3 Freddy Broadway No 12 516.8. Kevin Barnes was the best Clubman ahead of Nick Bartle. The venue for this event was in a large park with a big house and polo pitches used by the rich and famous, the weather was perfect with rock hard ground the trials tyre on the back worked well around the long flowing course. After the Snowrun I decided to make changes to my bike to make it more suitable in the tight tree sections so I fitted a duel program ignition system and a lower compression head supplied by Hardcore Racing. At the end of the first lap I new the changes made to the bike were working well but I had made mistakes on the two tests hitting tree stumps. The next lap I rode more smoothly making better time over the good flowing course knowing the bike was working really well. The next 3 laps I put my head down and rode to the finish not making any mistakes and passing slower riders without problems, thanks to Swindon & District MCC for putting on an excellent event with 5 hours riding i hope to ride this top event again next year . Thanks to Meredith MX Ltd, J G Bricklaying, Hardcore Racing, DEP Pipes, Guyan Mini Buses, Simply Saab & my team.
|
In
the Clubman class, an almighty battle raged all day, where ultimately only
four seconds separated the top quartet of riders. Martin Cheeseman was top
dog on his Gasser in test one and looked on for the overall win, but he
only just led... the gap being only a slender one and a half seconds over
Kevin Barnes going into the second test, with the Gary Wilkins and the
RAF's Nick Bartle (above) another second behind him, so there really was
everything to play for. This was Cheeseman's debut here and perhaps this
unfamiliarity with the Park cost him the win, as he drifted wide on a turn
and very nearly threw the whole plot into the trees. Miraculaously, he
stayed onboard, but the damage was done and eight fastest on the test
dropped him to fourth overall. Meanwhile, Barnes and Bartle slugged it out
blow for blow and they were only separated by four hundredths of a second
at the close of test two, and this meant Barnes had sneaked the win. Paul
Woolf was fastest on this test and happily for him, his late charge lifted
him onto the final step of the podium. Dan Brundell (pictured right)
starting ST1 with the new Tag Heur timing kit
Matt
Ridgway wins Corinium
