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At last - the first round of the 2007 Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship. The Putoline Hafren 2 Day took place at Llanidloes on the 14th & 15th July. A cloud hung over the event right up until the weekend before. In fact a lot of clouds - as one on the wettest Summers since records began threatened to cancel the race. The start had to be moved across the river from the Rugby club at the last minute but the new venue turned out be an excellent alternative nestling in a bow of the Severn on a firm shingle base. Scrutineering was on Friday 13th & the riders who trusted to luck with their preparation were unlucky. The main object of scrutinee was the sky as sheets of rain drenched everything & every body. The gloom even infected Steve Ireland who left his bike in the van. Day 1 & the rain stopped. The first 2 riders - Edward Jones & Greg Evans - were flagged away at 9am. The course ran along the banks of the river & across a bridge to the MX test. Ed had to repeat his test when a timing cable became unplugged. Unphased he set the fastest time. Following their test the riders retuned across the bridge, went through the town & travelled out to the Hafren Forest. There was ample time to get to check 1 so none of the Championship class were killed by the clown in a black Peugot driving against the course. Stage 2 consisted of the cross country test. This was an series of whooping climbs & descents. Most riders enjoyed it but some discarded plastic at the end of the day suggested that some riders had enjoyed it too much. Steve Dustow lost time with a slack security bolt on his rear tyre. Tim Scott Patterson injured his shoulder & required medical attention. Check 2 to 3 took the riders out across the open moorland to the first service area at Sweet Lamb. Roger Dawson's gear selector became too selective. The 4th stage took the riders back to the Hafren on stony tracks. Derek Little fell victim to the shaily going when a stone cracked his clutch cylinder. The 2nd service area & Check 4 was at the Picnic site. A track alongside the road completed the 42 mile lap. The schedule was 3 laps for Champ/Experts & 2 laps for Clubman before the riders returned to Llanidloes for 2 MX tests run back to back. Juha Saliminen was the winner & Tom Sagar was the runner up. Darren Carter was the best Expert. The day ended with a glowing sunset that was repeated all around the campsite by the glow of smoking barbeques & the warm feeling that comes at the end of a good days racing. Day 2 & the rain started again. Salminen also started as he meant to continue with the fastest Mx test but Greg Evans was a close second. The schedule was reduced to 2 laps for everyone. 2 checks was enough for Paul Edmondson who enjoyed Day 1 - finishing 5th - but he lost his motivation overnight & he retired at Sweet Lamb. Juha Salminen was awesome on his first ride in Wales. He won 8 out of the 10 tests - out once to Ed jones & once to Tom Sagar. Tom was very happy with his 40pts although he will miss round 2 as he will be competing in the Canadian WEC. Paul Bolton - 7th at Erzberg - finished 11th in his first time card enduro. Jamie Paget won the Experts overall riding a TM for the first time ahead of Jon Hinam on a Mounter KTM. Neil williams won the Veterans class & Simon evans was the runner up. Luke Lusher tried to fit a new clutch but it didn't take him far. Oliver Moyce retired with a seized rear brake cylinder. Steve Ireland took his bike out on Day 2 but the rear wheel collapsed. There were a couple of late changes which do not appear in the results: Nick Bartle replaced Craig Beattie & Heinrich Primic replaced Leo Cordingley. Only 15% of the entry dnf'd & the majority of them were mechanical breakdowns. Everyone agreed that Wyn Hughes & his team had laid out another great event.
D3 Riders lead the way in Series opener For the last 3 seasons D3-Racing KTM have dominated the British Enduro championship with the skills of World Champion David Knight but with David opting to race GNCC in America it has opened the door for the up and coming stars of the British series to battle for the title. Without David several riders have a chance to take top honors, and this season should see some very close racing and it's certainly not a forgone conclusion as in the past. Although D3 and KTM UK have drafted in the services of Multi world champ Juha Salminen from Finland who has chosen to race this series as practice and testing for the WEC, although Juha's presence should not spoil the party for the Brits as he can only score overall points for the "British Open Title" leaving the UK riders to battle for the British championship classes. Effectively there will be 4 champions at the end of the season so there's allot to fight for and hopefully our Tom Sagar will be the one to fight for the British E2 championship aboard his D3-Racing 450 EXC. Running up to the event the team was very confident, obviously Juha is on top form and currently leading the WEC and Tom is getting faster race by race and starting to become comfortable with his 450 KTM. Thursday prior to the race the team had a successful test and Juha gave Tom a few riding tips although not enough from preventing Tom from having a huge high speed get off which left both bike and rider very badly bruised, so Tom started the event very second hand, but on a positive note the testing had improved the set up of his bike so we were still hopeful of a good result. For this race only, D3 have the services of 5 times World Champ veteran Gio Sala on the team riding the Electric start 300 EXC-E. Gio's job for the weekend was not to fight for the podium but to inspect the course and give feedback to WEC promoters with a view to the Hafren club running a world round next year, I'm sure everyone hopes they get the chance as despite the worst weather for years the club put on a brilliant course and special tests that withstood the weather, both Juha and Gio had allot of praise for the event. Everyone should get behind the club to support this including the motorcycle manufactures and the ACU, we have a great club, a great course and I'm sure a great deal of fans and riders would love to see a world event back in the UK very soon. The structure of the event is at the start and end of the day the riders have a grass motocross test of around 5 minutes close to the paddock and then ride off up to the Hafren forest to complete 3 laps of the course with a cross-country test each lap. The morning's MX test due to heavy over night rain would benefit the early numbers whilst the grass was still there, as each rider went through the times dropped but Juha and Tom both opened with very respectable times behind local man Edward Jones. But it was onto the cross-country test were the KTM D3 riders would stamp their authority finishing only a second apart, the team mates were several seconds faster than any one else on each of the two timed tests before returning to the MX test were Juha once again took overall honors . Fortunately the rain stayed away for the day and the event went smoothly and all three KTM riders completed the day without problems with Juha and Tom finishing 1st and 2nd overall and taking maximum points at round one. Day 2 the rain came but the event was shortened to two laps, 2 cross country tests and 3 motocross tests, Juha rode well within himself and as the conditions deteriorated gave everyone a riding lesson and Tom followed closely behind with a good cushion over the on form 3rd placed Daryl Bolter. Both Tom and Juha had to leave quickly after the event as both fly Monday to New York for the 5th round of the WEC in Canada and then onto Round 6 in USA so they will both miss the 2nd rd of the BEC the Tywi in two weeks, but the rules allow 2 days results to be dropped in the series because of the clash between BEC and WEC.
Electraction TM UK rider Euan McConnell has taken an early lead in the Enduro 3 class of the ’07 British Enduro Championship after the Scott placed his 300cc TM at the top of the E3 class results on both days of the Hafren Dirt Bike Club organised Hafren Enduro. Placing in seventh overall on day one, and as best E3 class rider, McConnell improved his result on day two to place in fourth overall as well as collecting his second E3 class win. Joining McConnell in claiming two overall top 10 results was Tim Lewis who placed ninth on both days aboard his TM 125. Riding at the rear of the Championship class entry McConnell was faced with an increasingly slippery opening motocross test on day one and despite his best efforts was unable to match the times of the riders ahead of him, which meant he would have to play catch up throughout the day. Performing well on the day’s two timed enduro tests McConnell again failed to match the times of the riders ahead of him on the two back-to-back motocross tests at the end of the day and despite comfortably topping the E3 class placed in seventh overall. McConnell made a much better start to the second day and continued to ride well on each of the five timed special test. Again easily the fastest E3 class rider the Scott claimed fourth overall behind Juha Salminen, Tom Sagar and Daryl Bolter.
Competing in the BEC aboard a TM for the very first time Expert class rider Jamie Paget produced a winning start to his British championship campaign as he claimed the overall top spot in the Expert class. Finishing in third place overall and as best E2 class rider on day one Jamie moved to the top of the overall Expert class results on day two to claim a deserved win at the Hafren Enduro. Also competing in the Expert class for TM Irishman Gordon Clark claimed the top spot in the Enduro 3 class on day two after finishing third in class on day one. Euan McConnell: “It was a bit difficult on the first test on day one because I was right at the back of the Championship class. The test got slower so I lost quite a bit of time. My enduro tests went pretty well but again I wasn’t quick enough on the two motocross tests at the end of the day. “The second day was definitely better. I put in a pretty good time on the first test but wasn’t quite as quick as I should have been on the enduro test. The last two motocross tests went ok so I finished fourth, which I’m pleased with. It’s been a really good event.” Tim Lewis: “It’s been a great event, despite the weather. The enduro test was brilliant, just like enduro tests used to be. You could really attack the test, it was great fun. I had two pretty good days really. The first test on both days was slippery but the enduro tests were great. It’s been a while since I last rode a British championship event but I really enjoyed it and I’m pleased with my results.”
Husky Sport Husqvarna rider Daryl Bolter and MPS Racing Husqvarna’s Si Wakely got there ’07 British Enduro Championship campaigns under way in style finishing in third and sixth place overall at the Hafren Dirt Bike Club organised Hafren Enduro. With the two riders continuing their current run of good form Bolter finished in third place in the Enduro 1 class on day one before going one better on day two and placing as runner-up to six-time world champion Juha Salminen. Competing in the Enduro 2 class Wakely placed a solid third overall on day one and in second in class before repeating his E2 class result on day two. After a disastrous injury hit BEC season in ’06 Daryl Bolter proved as he did at the Welsh Two Day that he is returning to his best form by finishing in third overall at the Hafren Enduro and as best two-stroke mounted Enduro 1 class rider aboard his WR125. With conditions drier on day one than they were on day two Daryl failed to perform at his very best and placed in third in the E1 class and in sixth overall. On day two though Bolter found his form and placed as runner-up to Finn Juha Salminen in the E1 class and in a creditable third overall. Despite being ‘down on power’ on the fast enduro test Daryl attacked each of the second day’s five special tests to place comfortably ahead of the overall fourth place finisher Euan McConnell and just 21 seconds behind runner-up Tom Sagar. With Bolter performing best on day two MPS Racing Husqvarna’s Si Wakely did the exact opposite and claimed his best result on day one finishing third overall and as runner-up in the Enduro 2 class, just 18 seconds behind E2 class winner Tom Sagar. Despite not being quite as quick as he hoped he would be on the enduro test Si saved his best ‘till last on day one and posted the second quickest time on the third and final motocross test to move ahead of Paul Edmondson and Greg Evans and into third. Recording a time of 4.57 Si was one of just two riders to break the five minute barrier all day and posted a time just one second slower than Juha Salminen. On day two a crash on the first timed run through the enduro test meant that Si had a lot of work to do if he was to repeat his day one result and following a further fall on the penultimate motocross test he placed in sixth overall and as runner-up in the E2 class as he did on day one. In the Expert class MPS Racing Husqvarna rider Gavin Houson claimed the overall runner-up spot on day one and then finished in sixth overall on day to finish third in the combined overall Expert class results. Daryl Bolter: “I’ve had a great weekend and I’m really pleased with the way I rode. I tried a little too hard on the first test on day one but didn’t make any big mistakes. I was losing out on the enduro test. I was riding as hard as I could but I just couldn’t quite match the times of some of the other riders on bigger bikes. “I gave the second day everything. I rode as hard as I could on the first test, put in a good time, and set myself up for the day. I felt like I was riding better than on the first day, I felt like I did at the Welsh Two Day and in Hungary at the EEC round. I really enjoyed the event and it was good to me on the same minute as Juha Salminen. It’s always good to learn a few things from other riders so it’s been a good weekend all round really.”
“I crashed on the first enduro test on day two, which cost me some time. It’s so easy to make mistakes when you’re pushing hard. I found the conditions really slippery but just tried to attack the tests as much as I could. Things went pretty well for the rest of the day so I’m pleased with the way the weekend went.” Photos available from Keith Bowen
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Putoline
Oil Hafren Enduro Round 1 of the Metzeler British Enduro Championship -
14/15 July 2007
Results 
Hafren DBC have applied to run a World round next year on the back of their very successful European round in 2005. Giovanni Sala
was scouting this year's event & thoroughly enjoyed himself (left).
The atrocious weather would have been a test for any club but predictably Hafren DBC did a superb job of which the FIM should take note. 
McConnell
tops E3 class at BEC Rnd 1
Returning
to the BEC after an absence of several years Tim Lewis showed that he’s
lost none of his speed by finishing inside the overall top 10 on both days
as well as in fifth in the Enduro 1 class on day one and in fourth on day
two. Just three seconds behind fourth placed E1 class rider Ed Jones on
day one, Tim posted some impressive enduro test times throughout the
weekend to finish as the second best E1 class two-stroke mounted rider on
both days behind Daryl Bolter.
Bolter
& Wakely start ’07 BEC in style
Si
Wakely: “Saturday went really well for me. The first test of the day
seemed to be getting more and more slippery so I was a little slower than
maybe I could have been but it set me up nicely for the day. I felt good
on the enduro tests but I wasn’t quite as fast as I hoped I’d be. But
I put in two really good tests on the final motocross tests, which pulled
me right up the results to third overall.
2005 UEM round