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Wentwood 2005

Wetwood

After 2 & half days of preparation in bright Spring sunshine - with the occasional light shower to freshen the air & soften the ground - the course for the 2005 Adrian Ellis enduro was in perfect condition. The organisers - Huw Watkins & Helena Hunt of Enduro Wales - were looking forward a repeat of their superb 2004 event (I rode it & it was) but away in the distance the vengeful gods of Enduro rumbled & sent a great barrel of black cloud thundering up the channel to deluge the forest in a million gallons of Schedule B. What was left was still rideable but to quote veteran Dave Bayliss - "there was so much of it". Huw as Clerk of the Course had made the most of a smaller area than last year & created a 20 mile lap out of little more than 1 square mile of forestry by running the shorter (8m) 2nd stage inside the larger (12m) 1st stage. To avoid confusion the 1st stage was marked in orange & the 2nd stage was marked in green. The weather on the day was fine with thin cloud & the event was sponsored by Ray Hockey Racing. There was a short delay while the ambulance driver visited some other local beauty spot.

Chris Bird & Keith Horsnell had taken up the challenge of the Championship schedule & their duel was one of the highlights of the day. From the start the riders travel east along the southern edge of the road toward the entrance then turn south to complete a clockwise circuit around of the forest. There were lots of aptly named thrashings which beat Howard Davis' Gas Gas plug into submission after less than a mile but following a tow & new plug he was able to restart & finish on a bronze. This 1st stage included the nose bleeding descent of Deadman's Hill but there were also some forestry roadwork to take a rest on. The Special Test was at the end of the stage & close to the start. The WTRA team of Keith Davies & Bob Jeffries did the timing. The 2nd (green) stage was tighter on the going & on each lap the times were cranked up. The demands of analysing the ground & checking the marking proved to be too much for some competitors & Gerald Poole was unfortunate as one of several riders who got lost & dropped time. Neil Ashton #4 was the only rider who required ambulance attention for a leg injury following a heavy fall on the test. Paul Morgan retired with a broken radiator. With less than 10 seconds between them at the end of the day, Chris Bird won the Premier & Keith Horsnell was the runner up. Neil Williams - who is at his best in tough conditions - won the Expert class ahead of Steve Plain & both finished clean on time. The Adrian Ellis is a round of the Welsh 4T Championship & Shane Lewis - 3rd Expert - was the Best 4T. Katrina Price was the Best Veteran & Wayne Golding was the runner up. Carwyn John won the Clubman class ahead of Geriant Rogers. Liz Millet & Tamsin Jones - in the Ladies - both finished. Despite the wet conditions, 50% of the entry were classified as finishers. Thanks to everyone who helped on the day, particularly Malcolm "Jock" Bell on the quad & the stalwarts who manned the checks & stayed on to clear the course. Results. Photos available from Helena Hunt & Keith Bowen.

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