Enduro News - Wentwood Enduro 2010

Wentwood 2010

Wentwood Enduro
Report & Photos by Bob Mullins

After a break of several years, Caerphilly & District MCC revived the time card enduro in the Wentwood forest near Newport on Sunday 14th March. Unusually for the Wet-wood, the weather was dry & the ground was in perfect condition. The lap was 12 miles & the schedules ranged from 4 laps for Sportsmen to 8 laps for the Experts. Jon Hinam - who is still recovering from broken ribs - rode a timed lap in 28 minutes so Clerk of the Course Nigel Smith could set the Experts fastest lap at 24 minutes to ensure the event would be won or lost on the going.

From the start, the riders climbed a hill & dropped into a pair of old Foden ruts full of mud. Guy Rees selflessly threw himself into the deepest part to act as a depth gauge for the other riders. While he waited for assistance, he kept himself busy by mentally dividing the entry fee by the distance he had travelled in yards. Clubman sidecar team of J.Cuff & A.Dear from Bristol were the first retirements when their EML/Zabel expired. The course circled the forest counterclockwise & the riders had plenty time to sight the test & competed their first lap. Even Guy Rees was able to extract his KTM from the mud & the clock in without losing time. #29 S.Summer's front moose was disintegrating on the first lap but he carried on & finished on the flat. Ben Bishop's new tubeless front tyre became an old airless front tyre & he retired. GasGasUk's Gareth Hopkins was favourite to win the event - despite the disappointing results of his recent shoulder operation. He set the 2 fastest test times but on his 4th lap he lost all compression &.he also retired. C.Solley/P.Williamson lost their battery charge. A.Thomas/D.Welsh lost their clutch & C.Radford/G.Clarke lost their rad. Paul Davies was the slowest of the Experts on the tests but he was the quickest on the going & he only dropped 8 minutes to take the Premier. Derek Bawn was the runner up with a 10 minute penalty. David Williams won the Championship sidecar class from the Nevills. Ryan Golding won the Clubman class ahead of C.John. They both went clean. Robin Powell was the only over 40s rider to go clean but his test times let him down & A.&J.Giles were the best Clubman sidecar team. T.Powell & M.Curno were the runners up & the only other finisher. In the Over 50s class there was a "seniors" moment when Barry Quibell clocked in early & Anthony James went with him. Bless... As there were only two riders in the class it didn't really matter & Anthony took the win. Every finisher collected an award as they crossed the line. A momento of a memorable day.

Results Teams Photos available from bob@enduronews.com