enduro news
© Bob Mullins   

Kielder

The Dirtbike-action crew made some major changes to last year's event, altering parts of the 65 mile lap to include 3 enduro loops, 2 of which were new. The course with mainly flowing forestry roads and hard based tracks in the kielder forestry complex provided the big rally bikes with ideal conditions for some major sideways action. The team were dreading the worst as Tuesday and Wednesdays weather was appalling, the rain lashed down but the Dirtbike- Action crew continued relentlessly setting up the course. Thursday was much better with glimpses of sunshine coupled with a drying wind. By Friday we now had real hope for the weekend as the sun shone. Saturday dawned bathed in glorious sunshine, the wisps of smoke rising from camp stoves as breakfast and brews where made readying the riders for the day ahead.

As the bikes departed the campsite at the rate of 4 a minute and headed over Dunterley towards Pundershaw a famous RAC rally stage of old, the full entry was soon on the road and moving towards the first check. A few of the big rally bikes opted for the enduro loops. Lyndon Poskitt on his multicylinder KTM 950 was on one of the biggest bikes and muscled the mighty machine around all 3 of the enduro loops on day 1, an unbelievable feat as some of the enduro class riders made heavy work of them. Craig bounds was on the gas on the test as he set the fastest times of the day with 2 tests within 5 seconds of each other. This was a great feat after he lost a brake calliper after a rider drifted across the road forcing him in to the ditch just after the first test. Lyndon Poskitt set the second fastest times of the day on the multicylinder KTM. Russell Spray had his own adventure on the test as rider and machine leapt into a deep ditch within 10 feet of the end of the test. After a team of marshals failed to wrestle the heavy weight machine out, a quad bike was summoned to extract the beast. Mark Mollinneux as ever was enjoying himself as the impressive sounding BMW HP2 scorched around the test to claim second in the multicyliner. The two side cars running in event for the first time were enjoying themselves until one of them rolled it in the first test. Tony Whitehead lead the under 250cc trail bike class after day 1. As the remaining riders finished the test a short uphill section towards the end of lap 2 was starting to prove difficult for the riders. The riders helped each other as is the case on rallies and the sweeping marshals extracted the last few riders, every one made it back to camp and the finish of day 1.

Day 2 started an hour earlier again bathed in sunshine and blue skies. With some revised course times and the troublesome section towards the end of the lap bypassed, the riders set off at a prompt 9am start. Craig bounds once again won the tests in the rally class while Lyndon Poskitt won the multi cylinders. Lee Kelly won the rally plus hard route for the second day and Patsy Quick finished off a solid weekends riding with a third in the rally class and forth overall . As the riders finished off the second test and headed for home, the feedback from the riders was excellent and on the enjoyment factor everyone was a winner. The enduro sections 1 and 3 where the most challenging and it was good to see so many riders giving them a go from all the different classes, other than the rally plus for whom it was part of the route. Changes are already under way for next year with a longer test with duration of 10 minutes and changes to the route. I would like to thank all the riders for making the event so enjoyable to run. We are still developing the event and i think the blend of flowing gravel roads and trails and the optional enduro routes makes the event appeal to a wide variety of riders.

A special thanks to all the marshals, Forestry Commission and Colin and Michelle of Kielder Organic Meats for the start area and the fantastic catering. Hope to see you all next year at the 2012 K2 and until then Rally on!!

Report John Kerwin

The Putoline k2 Rally 2010
17/18th July

The Desert Rose shines at the kielder rally
As Patsy Quick wins the rally class

The Dirtbike Action crew set up camp at the Kielder Organic Meats farm on the outskirts of the town of Bellingham in the stunning Northumberland national park, to set up the first K2 rally. With a carefully planned route of 60 off road miles, coupled with a scenic 9 mile road liaison stage to the start of the forest stages at Elf Kirk view point overlooking Kielder Water and the dam. The liaison was ridden once in the morning and again in the afternoon as the riders returned to Bellingham. Saturday's mileage would be 160 miles as the riders completed 2 .3 laps and 3 special tests. Dirtbike Action always innovative had provided riders with 3 optional extra routes of true enduro going. Short in distance but never the less testing for those who wanted to be challenged and a good percentage of the riders tried the options during the weekend.

The special test proved to be a good mix of gravel tracks and trails with a few short sections of fire roads thrown in. With a little sting in tail as the final few meters dropped into a grass section before a short steep climb out on to the fire road and the finish. The conditions on the test varied as intermittent showers and sunshine were the order of the weekend, with Sunday suffering some longer spells of rain. With 4 tests Patsty Quick won the flagship rally class by 2 minutes, from Trevor Newton. David Griffiths made his long trip to Kielder worthwhile as he set the quickest times to take the win in the sports enduro class over 250cc, with David Watson finishing as runner up some 2 minutes behind. Richard Griffin won the multi cylinders class, while Anthony whitehead won the trail class up to 250 with Tony Woodhams not far behind. The award for best sports/enduro up to 250 was claimed by Ian Tyler-Bond, while Michael Cheneler won the over 50 class. Dirtbike Action were pleased with the riders comments at the end, and it was clear that the format of the event was well received. We feel that we can easily improve on this event to include a awards presentation at the end of the event and more optional sections. We would like to thank the new riders that we met over the weekend for supporting the event and to say it was one of the most pleasurable events we have ever run. We will certainly do more rallies in the near future in other parts of the UK. Pictures and comments on www.ukenduro.com .

Finally a big thanks to the Marshals, Landowners, Kielder Organic Meats Farm, Bellingham and especially to Northumbrian Air Ambulance.