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Thorpe

Video - Results 

An unusual thing happened this Sunday ( 7th June). Sir John Ropner invited 150 members of the North Riding Enduro Club, to ride around his private estate. The invite was snapped up, and 11am saw the riders set off in what was to be one of the best events of the year. The Thorpe H&H. North Yorkshire. Conditions were perfect. Sunshine, though not too hot. Damp ground to kill the dust, yet plenty of grip. The berms built up to inspire confidence, and the smiles got wider as the event went on.

Paddy Langhan (right) got the hole shot, followed by Mark (Gimmer) Houson. Mark showed how he can get faster as the years go by, setting the fastest lap, 20 seconds quicker than his nearest rival. He seemed to have the race in the bag until, on lap eight, he made a mistake passing a rider, breaking a radiator. Following were the youthful Tim Pattinson (left) and (Cool) Vince Harker. These two had been swapping places and were having a cracking race, that was to come down to the last of the 14 laps, with Tim the eventual victor, by a slim 10 seconds.

The best expert of the day, also on 14 laps was Michael Briggs on his 250 Gas Gas, a lap ahead of second. Yet again the "Iron Man" that is Dave Salkeld won the over 40's also on 14 laps, who said you have to be young to be fast.

The organising team showed their experience, showcasing a great event, for every level Their skill and efficiency was called upon when Lee Ioannou clipped a tree stump, his resulting accident, resting with a suspected broken Tib and Fib. We wish Lee a speedy recovery.

The spectators were treated to, in some cases great skill, and others great comedy, as competitors tackled the logs and tyres. Those that didn't fancy the challenge, a ride around the "Bedale bypass" a picturesque ride in it's own right.

As it turned out the field did have a lot of skill. The riding standards have definitely increased in recent years, and this course brought out the best in everyone. The faster of the riders commented on how un-hindered their progress had been thanks to attentive riding by both parties.

The ground held up easily, with so few bikes to ravage the going. The five wood sections flowed in a way genuine rhythm could be built, with short blasts between making this the event you shouldn't have missed.

The next round is at Camphill on Sunday 30th August. Regs are now available at the NEEC website. http://www.enduro-neec.org.uk/

The entry is limited to keep our events "run by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts"

Round 2 of the NREC Challenge Thorpe , 3rd June 2008
Houson wins Thorpe Challenge Report and pics by dirtbike - traxs

The north riding team started work on the Thorpe track some weeks ago set in the beautiful grounds of Thorpe Perrow estate near beadle north Yorkshire, with flowing woodland tracks linked by fast grassy trails and powdery berms, with a ride time per lap of 13 mins even for the championship riders, this event was to provide the 170 competitors with a quality days sport in the second round of the north riding clubs hare and hound 07 challenge, The day was split into 2 races with the sportsman and motocross class setting off at 9 am and the main race starting at 12.15, the weather was hot and sunny and some of the riders would find the heat testing. If not exhausting... At 9 am the sportsman E1 race got underway first back to race control was Brad Keyworth on his rm 125 , a lead he was going to increase during the race, Oliver Prosser was holding a comfortable 2nd place , while Craig Midas Thorpe got a poor start and was stuck behind slower riders but after some cool overtaking manoeuvres had moved into third place, these three would finish in this order and all completed 9 laps , in the E2 sportsman class the victory was claimed by john Wilson 2nd place going to Gareth Wilkinson and third john Hedley all completed 9 laps, in the mx class David Selkeld on his Honda put in a fine performance to take victory the only rider in the morning races that was to complete 10 laps in 2nd place was John Kerwin and Michael Mundy in 3rd both completing 9 laps.

After a short break, were the north riding boys repaired the track , the main race of the day got under way with the championship class off first as they disappeared into the woods, all eyes were then focused in on race control and it was mps husky rider Gavin "airtime" Houson who was back first with a 12 second lead over local man Vince Harker as the race progressed Gavin steadily increased his lead with his effortless style and set three of his fastest laps in the final stages of the race and then going on to win by a lap from Vince Harker in second and Gary Hutchinson in 3rd .the expert class was dominated by S Austin who took the overall win from Shaun Wilson and Dave Nellis all completed 14 laps, Stuart Mowbray won the overall clubman class completing 13 laps from Tim Pattinson on his dbt ktm 200 who had refuelling problems and narrowly missed getting out for the 13th lap by 4 seconds in third was Nathan kennel.

While the riders from the morning race were having a rest, the mornings motocross class winner elderly Dave selkeld went out in the 040 race and kicked there butts as well, winning by over 2 minutes from Glen Woodhead in second and Steve parry in third, well it's a great shame we will now have to wait for another year to get a chance to ride Thorpe again, but the final round of the championship moves to the camp hill estate near Ripon on the 19th of August.

Talking at the end to the north riding's Pete Weatherill said "the event has gone fantastically well. This course is one of the best around and we must thank Sir John Ropner of Thorpe Perrow estates for the use of his grounds".

Thorpe Hare & Hounds 2002

The second round of the North Riding Enduro "BIKESPORT" Challenge was run at Thorpe Hall Near Bedale in North Yorkshire on Sunday 2nd June. It was local ace Mark Jackson who took the top spot in the expert class, closely pursued by Paul Watson. Indeed, Paul had passed Mark just before the interval, only to run out of petrol just before the end of the lap. But Mark stamped his authority on the event in the afternoon session to end with a margin of some 12 minutes. Jason Eyre made it a KTM 1, 2, 3 finishing third in his first competitive ride in the sport.

The 4 mile course in private grounds was run for 2 hours in the morning and then in the reverse direction for another 2 hours in the afternoon. This gave another dimension to the route for the 114 starters, which is a mixture of woodland tracks and parkland.

Best Clubman 125, Paul Willis followed by Tim Spencer (2nd) were just two of the many riders who were obviously enjoying their day. The good riding conditions contributed to close competition in all classes. None more so than in the 250 Clubman class where Mark Houson held off the challenges of Mark Holmes and Shaun Bland who all completed 19 laps. Another tight tussle in the 4 Strokes revealed John Bowden the victor over Kevin Cowie (again, both finishing on 19 laps).

Although Anthony Briggs took another Sportsman win, the performance of the day in this class belonged to Adele Witham who finished a creditable 16th and fully deserved her Best Lady Rider award.