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enduro
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Tom Sagar |
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  Rodeo
X Endurocross Masters Series 2008-2009 Eternit-Werke
Vocklabruck, Austria 15/16th August
KTM D3 Riders Tom Sagar and Greg Evans drove out to Austria to take part in the first round of a new EnduroCross series called Rodeo X, organised by the team who have successfully hosted the famous Erzerg Hare Scramble for several years. The event was staged in the grounds of a large Factory called Eternit near Linz in Austria, Eternit manufacture tiles and other materials for roofing and building and also were the major sponsor for this event. The man made Rodeo X circuit was built completely on Tarmac and consisted of many log sections, some tyres, stones and a small sand section which gave a lap time of around 1 minute, but being outside and exposed to the elements became very slippy. Two days of solid rain made the logs sections very difficult and the organisers placed carpets on them to allow more traction. Both D3 Riders choose to ride 250cc 2 Strokes which seemed best suited to the small and tricky circuit but only having Enduro tyres fitted struggled on the wet Tarmac start against bikes with Trials tyres. Local favourite Rudi Poschl on his 530 KTM had a trials tyre and he just rocketed out of every start and made Tom really work hard for his results. Tom won both days of the Enduro X but not easily as he had to work his way through the pack, on the first day he had to battle with the fast starting Poschl and only took the lead at the final turn. On the second day it was far more interesting, the organisers removed the carpets from the logs for the final race and they were just so slippy that every rider crashed and got stuck on them. Tom actually took the lead in this race because he could push his bike faster through the log section quicker than the others !! . The crowd were going wild as riders crashed and got stuck each lap and certainly this race was not predictable, for Tom he just rode carefully and kept out of trouble as he tried to pick his way through the fallen riders, but Greg had a terrible time and just seemed to be always be in the wrong place at the wrong time and got stuck several times. At the finish Tom won by nearly a lap and Greg finished in 5th. Results 1. Tom Sagar KTM 250 EXC 2T 2. Gerhard Forster 3. Rudi Poschl KTM 530 EXCR 5. Greg Evans KTM 250 EXC 2T
2008 Metzeler ACU BEC Round 1 Muntjac Winner Crychan BEC rd 3 Round 3 of the British championship and finally the weather has improved and the riders could enjoy the challenging Crychan event in warm sunshine. The weekend didn't start well for the D3 team as in testing prior to the race Juha Salminen had a very rare crash and damaged his shoulder. Juha had to fly back immediately to Finland to seek surgery so that we will be ready for the final WEC rounds in 3 weeks. The responsibility now to get results for the team rested solely with Tom and he once again put in a faultless performance on his 450 KTM to win both days of the event. Day one Tom rode cautiously to win by 13 seconds from Euan McConnel but on Sunday with a bit more confidence and feeling more relaxed he upped the pace to win the day by 42 seconds from just 4 cross country tests to beat Paul Edmondson. Tom "Each week I become more comfortable with the 450, I was Little steady on Saturday, but I just wanted to ride safe and get a good result without risk, also I was thinking a little about Juha's crash and I hope he's fixed up soon, but Sunday everything just seem to flow really nice and I was riding very easy and relaxed and this suits the big bike, I'm now looking forward to the last 2 WEC rounds in a few weeks." Tom missed round 2 of the BEC championship because of a date clash with the WEC round in Canada but the rules allow for a rider to discard his worst two days results and with that in consideration Tom now leads the overall British Championship with 4 day wins from 4 starts. Result Day 1: 1. Tom Sagar D3-Racing, KTM 450 EXC 2. Euan McConnel, TM 300 3. Jason Thomas, Yamaha 250 4. Paul Edmondson, Suzuki 250 5. Darryl Bolter, Husky 125 Result Day 2: 1. Tom Sagar D3-Racing, KTM 450 EXC 2. Paul Edmondson, Suzuki 250 2t 3. Darryl Bolter, Husky 125 4. Euan McConnel, TM 300 5. Simon Wakeley, Husky 250 Tom gets first Junior Win in USA Tom Sagar's season goes from strength to strength and finally after taking his first win last weekend at the Hafren BEC round Tom also takes a top podium place in a WEC event on his first trip to the USA. Originally it was not planned to compete in America because of the costs and travel logistics and the fact that it clashes with a BEC round, but so far Tom has shown great potential at WEC events and is holding a strong 3rd in his first season. KTM Factory and KTM UK have recognized Tom's achievements so far and have kindly increased their support of Tom to allow him to compete and maintain his championship position. So the next round of the BEC the KTM D3-Racing team will be absent as both its riders Juha Salminen and Tom Sagar will be fighting for top honours again in Canada, fortunately it is possible to miss two rounds of the BEC as only 8 days results out of 10 count towards the championship. Day one and Tom rode well within himself getting used to the new 450 EXC loaned to him from KTM USA, the only thing familiar to him was his Renthal Bars, Metzeler tyres and he took his own suspension. The technical course mostly in the trees with many rocks was very much to his liking; Tom even managed to take an overall position on one of the extreme tests. By the end of day Joakim Ljunggren had pulled out a good lead but Tom took a very strong 2nd position and claimed back a few championship points on rival Christophe Nambontin who could only manage 5th. Day 2 and Tom started in a much more confident mood, knowing that the course had deteriorated and that his rivals would struggle, he raised his game not only taking another extreme test win but placing top ten overall on many of the MX and cross-country tests, Tom on a stock bike was mixing it with the factory boys !! . At the finish top claimed his first WEC class win ahead of Joakim but just as important a solid 8th overall , Tom still is 3rd in the championship but now moves within 7 points of Nambontin who holds 2nd position. Tom "I'm not so surprised, it's been a really good day for me. Joakim Ljunggren rode well but everything has gone better for me. With my trial background, the extreme Test was the best for me. I just get used to the Enduro and Cross Test, it's a good thing. Now no party, I'm ready for Canada next weekend" Good luck Tom in Canada. Result Day 1: 1. Joakim Ljunggren, Husaberg 450 FE, Sweden 2. Tom Sagar D3-Racing/Farioli KTM 450 EXC, GB 3. Marc Bourgouis, Husqvarna , France Result Day 2: 1. Tom Sagar D3-Racing/Farioli KTM 450 EXC, GB 2. Joakim Ljunggren, Husaberg 450 FE, Sweden 3. Thomas Oldratti., Farioli KTM 125 EXC, Italy Next Event: WEC Rd 6, Canada 21/22nd July D3-Racing Team Sponsors: Van Bodies Lancaster Ltd, Insight Consultants, KTM UK , Triple-D Motopsport, Metzeler, Motorex, Acerbis, Scott, Sidi, Airoh, KTM Powerwear, Renthal, Regina Chains, WP Suspension, PG Graphics. Putoline Fast Eddy XC - Rd 4, 20th May, Welshpool The fourth round of the Putoline XC Championship, organised by Fast Eddy Racing was held at the superb Cwm Derwyn Farm venue, near Welshpool. The 4-mile course was a proper Welsh Enduro, which took in open moor-land, rocky stream-beds, steep ravines and a few peat bogs thrown in for good measure. The week prior to the event had seen allot of rain so this course would really suit the experienced enduro riders who could pick their way around the bogs and ditches. Ryan Voase once again took the holeshot with Fast Eddy and Tom right behind, several corners in and Eddy and Ryan collided, both going down so Tom took control at the front and quickly pulled away from the chasing pack. Eddy recovered quickly and used all his experience to quickly get back up with Tom and followed him for a few laps, the pair were circulating at quite a high pace and it was inevitably that they would need to back off if they were to last 3 hours. After about 4 laps Paul took the lead and Tom just followed in his wheel tracks, the pair then just backed off and cruised knowing that they both had similar speed and would pace themselves until nearer the end. At around the first hour point Tom once again lifted his pace and passed Eddy and took control at the front, by now no one else was in the hunt, Tom and Eddy already had about half a lap on the remaining Pro Class. Tom pitted for fuel just before the half way point and Eddy once again hit the front, a lap later Eddy pitted but rejoined the course just in front of Tom.
Result: 1. Paul Edmondson, Suzuki 250 2t 2. Tom Sagar D3-Racing, KTM 250 2t 3. Paul Bolton, Honda CR250 2t Next Event: WEC rd 4, Italy 26/27th May D3-Racing Team Sponsors: Van Bodies Lancaster Ltd, Insight Consultants, KTM UK , Triple-D Motopsport, Metzeler, Motorex, Acerbis, Scott, Sidi, Airoh, KTM Powerwear, Renthal, Regina Chains, WP Suspension, PG Graphics.
After last weeks solid result in Spain Tom entered the Portuguese round with confidence knowing that he could get closer to the championship leaders. Portugal always brings a tough and technical race, a challenging course and very hot conditions. From the first lap of day Tom controlled the 2nd position, Christophe Nambontin lead again and showed outstanding speed which should embarrass many factory riders and Tom kept series leader Joakim Ljungren under control in 3rd. The first day went without incident and Tom rode very well and was placed 19th overall in the scratch. Having shown good speed today Tom looked forward to Sunday and hoped that he could maybe get closer to Nambontin. However Sunday was a day of bad luck, Tom started off well and was in a 3 way battle for 2nd with Ljungren and Santolino on lap one, all three riders were within a few seconds of each other, Tom looked to be getting control of the situation on lap two when first he had a small crash and then he got stuck in a mud hole on the test which dropped him 30 seconds behind the leading trio. At this point all he could realistically do was to hold 4th and take championship points but cruel luck on the final test caused his chain to derail and he ended the day a frustrating 8th position, the only consolation being that he still holds 3rd in the Junior world championship. Directly after the race finished Tom left for the airport, with no time to dwell on the days result because Monday morning he will have started the Scottish six days trial and in between this he had a 9 hour drive Sunday night from London to Fort William!!! and then he will drive directly back to North Wales again to race a WOR cross-country event this coming Sunday, 9 days solid riding!!!. We think he's in training for the Dakar. Result Day one: 1. Christophe Nambontin Gas Gas 250 2t 2. Tom Sagar D3-Racing/Farioli KTM 450 EXC 3. Joakim Ljungren Husaberg 450 FE Result Day two: 1. Christophe Nambontin Gas Gas 250 2t 2. Joakim Ljungren Husaberg 450 FE 3. Lorenzo Santolino KTM 450 EXC 8. Tom Sagar D3-Racing/Farioli KTM 450 EXC Next Event: Scottish 6 days trial starting Monday 7th May!!! D3-Racing Team Sponsors: Van Bodies Lancaster Ltd, Insight Consultants, KTM UK , Triple-D Motopsport, Metzeler, Motorex, Acerbis, Scott, Sidi, Airoh, KTM Powerwear, Renthal, Regina Chains, WP Suspension, PG Graphics.
WEC Canada
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2007
& 2008 Metzeler ACU BEC Champion
Tom
once again had to follow Fast Eddy and the pair just circulated together
having fun and making the course look easy despite a few tricky sections.
At around the 2 hour mark Tom had a crash and he had already been feeling
quite ill before the start but this small crash seemed to make him feel
even worse. Paul had pulled out an over 20 second gap and Tom just did not
have the strength to try close him down, now it was just a matter of
cruising to the finish as every lap seemed longer with Tom's deteriorating
condition. So another 2nd position for Tom but each week he is getting
closer to beating Paul, both riders rode exceptionally well and lapped the
entire entry.
KTM
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