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Fast Eddy's Enduro X |
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  Fast Eddy's Rock Oil Enduro-X And now for something completely different! Sunday saw the first run of Fast Eddy's Enduro-X, sponsored by Rock Oil, at CMX Motoparc in the West Midlands and it certainly was different to the normal XC or Extreme events usually delivered by Paul Edmondson and his crew. Set in a huge sand quarry the course needed few obstacles to make it an Enduro-X venue as the nature of the quarry lent itself perfectly to the event. Huge machines spent Saturday sculpturing the sand and banks into a challenging but fun course that most riders completed in around two minutes. The aim of the event was to give riders something different and it was a case of 'Mission Accomplished'. The format gave riders a transponder timed practice session then four fifteen-minute races with the fastest five riders in each class taking the front row of the grid at the start of each race. Four classes enjoyed sixteen races throughout the day, which began with the Pro/Expert class, then Veterans followed by Clubman and Sportsman. Fasteddyracing.com Honda rider Tom Sagar topped the list in Pro/Expert qualifying but Matt Moffatt was just hundredths of a second adrift and it looked as if there was to be a real battle in this class throughout the day with GasGasUK's Danny McCanney in third and MPS Racing Husqvarna rider Jack Rowland in fourth, most of them a little bleary eyed following the ACU presentation evening the night before. Sagar shot into an early lead in the first race but within a lap he approached the biggest jump on the course, cross-rutted and went down very hard. So hard that the race was stopped as the paramedics attended but he was just shaken up with nothing broken, but it was enough to put him out for the day. The re-start saw Danny McCanney take the lead as Matt Moffatt did everything in his power to catch the young Manxman. A battle that continued in every one of their races throughout the day. McCanney won them all with Moff-star in second as Jack Rowland and Tom Healy shared two third places apiece. Rowland took a tumble in the third race giving Healy third overall with Lewis Belfield taking fourth just ahead of Gary Daniels, the two had battled long and hard all day, with Rowland eventually taking fifth overall.
As they began their first race it became obvious that Parkes was struggling in places while Houson was using all his experience to keep challenger Thomson at bay, which he did for the first two races but Thomson had his revenge with two wins in the second half of the day. It finished honours even with two wins and two second places each for Houson and Thomson as Chris salt improved on his fourth place in the opening race to take three third places and third overall. Dave Hope continued his impressive Veterans performances, he only joined the class at the end of last season, finishing fourth overall, just ahead of Phil Rogerson in fifth. Jane Daniels blitzed the opposition in qualifying for the Clubman class and looked as though she would have the win in the bag but Liam Garbett had other ideas, as did Lee Sealy. Daniels disappointingly only took third in the opening race with Sealy winning followed by Garbett but then came back with two wins and one second place to beat Garbett by just one point to take the class overall win. Garbett came good in the third race but slipped to third in the final as Jon Hill grabbed his only top three finish of the day in second place. When watching the racing, it always seemed as if Jane Daniels was in the lead, she had no difficulties around the course and deservedly took the overall but it was very close. The Sportsman class was dominated by young riders who had entered this class because there was no Youth class for them. Jack Edmondson topped the list in qualifying with the only sub two-minute time in the class but qualifying is very different to racing as Jacko would find out. Jack Staines and Andrew Bull were perfectly matched. The both took a win apiece and a third place each while Jacko steadily took four second places which put all three riders on the same points at the end of the day. It was a case of mistakes at critical times giving opponents the lead. Jacko passed Stainer and pulled a huge gap on his way to a sure victory in the third race, only to stall in a bomb hole and let Stainer past to take the win. The racing was intense and non-stop throughout the day as each class took to the start line as the last rider of the previous race left the track. Spectators enjoy excellent views of the action from the main paddock area and from a strategically placed spectator point at the top of the course. Again, this was yet another cracking event from Fast Eddy. Really different to the usual stuff but great fun and enjoyed by spectators and riders alike. Results Overall |
The
usual tough competition between Mark Houson and Craig Parkes looked set to
continue in the Veterans class but speed triumphed over technical ability as
Houson topped qualifying with Parkes surprisingly in lowly fifth. Mark Thomson
qualified in second with Chris Salt third and Dave Hope fourth.