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SEEC Enduro Canada Heights

Hosted by Sidcup MCC 20-09-2014

A very damp and sticky track is what the riders had to deal with at the SEEC Enduro at Canada Heights sponsored by Freestyle Husqvarna, a much more technical track than usual with a lot more emphasis on the enduro/trials side albeit some very fast bits as well.

Championship Class
Ben Wibberley is most certainly the comeback wizard as with a year out with an almost bike career ending injury he takes top spot with a solid performance and two good special test times and just pipped Jack Turner by a couple of seconds although the fastest test of the day was by 3rd placed Joe Wootton who had to play catch up after a big mistake in the first special test.

Expert Class
Have always said when Steve White gets it together he is solid and hard to beat over the full distance and today he did just that to take class win and was the man to beat that’s for sure, another great comeback after a year out with knee injury was the lovely Welsh beauty in Rhian George who seemed so happy to be back in the saddle and will be very happy with her podium and beating some top SEEC experts, 3rd and very much a rare sight these days Brad Armstrong whom over recent months had lost his love affair with the sport so i hopefully a great result and performance may rekindle that spark again.

Veteran Classes
Darren Osborne took the Over 40 class win but was made to hard on the tests and just managed to squeeze past Darren Lee who was not only on his first Time Card enduro but also his first event after a serious leg break some 6 months ago and i know for sure he will be a very happy rider with that comeback status, 3rd and as usual up the pointed end for Tom Moore.

Euan Harrison took the Over 50 class win in a very close and competitive class that had talent oozing from all quarters and Euan being the wily wizard knew what he had to do on the second test and he did just that and more, Steve Bird took runners up spot and seems to be running into some good form of late and feel his injury ridden season is getting behind him know, 3rd Joe Beard on new machinery and i do feel once the pair gel 100% and confidence is higher i feel Joe can be regular class winner contender.

Steve Haselden took the Vet B Over 40 class and victory was helped with a superb 2nd test time, runner up was Jason Ager who two very solid test times, 3rd to PMCRC guru Shane Babey who kept on time all day and posted 2 identical test times.

Vet B Over 50 class was very close between big Phil Davies and the very stylish Steve Scott and today the aggressive brutal riding of Phil out gunned the slick Steve into 2nd, 3rd went to Chris Welch whom less than 6 months ago broke his neck and has proved a lot of doubters wrong with such a strong performance.

Evo Class was left down to two riders after Manny Bernardez pulled out with a problem early on, which left David Witney chasing Croydon’s Colin Fox all day which was a great crowd pleaser and with near identical test times it was the Foxes day by a second from David.

Clubman A Class
With two years of Romaniacs behind his belt i am sure this was a breeze for class winner Steve Lander who was evidently enjoying himself out there, runner up Jason King whom we have not seen much this season but was certainly not ring rusty on his new steed, 3rd to regular SEEC podium finisher Felix Warren.

Clubman B Class
TBEC regular Max Barnett took class win over championship contender Lee Boulden whom yet again amazed me with his bike control, 3rd Nathan Baggott who rode from the off to the finishing flag with speed, aggression and fitness and was a joy to watch.

Sportsman Class
The biggest class of the day with Matthew Sale taking the top spot despite his second test being 15 seconds slower than his first, Portsmouth’s Lawrence Gordon took the runners up spot with a solid ride and two solid test times, 3rd went to Sidcup’s very own Alex Watkins .


SEEC Hare n Hounds at Canada Heights

Hosted by Sidcup &District MCC

Full entry of nearly 200 riders including a lot of Sidcup’s own motocrossers turned up on the most gorgeous Sunday of the year so far for round 3 of the SEEC Hare n Hounds Championship, a very fast course which included the famous MX circuit along with copses and woods and plenty of open fields akin to what the Americans call a Cross Country event which could help the mx riders.

Championship Class
Rich Ely got the holeshot and did not look back for the full 3 hours to take victory with a display of man and machine in perfect balance and what Rich is able to do is slow down his pace to match is closest rivals and then can do opposite by upping his game when needed to allow for fuelling and stops which makes Rich Ely very much the thinker, Phil Wiffen another thinker who has not missed a podium spot for a long while in the SEEC and is just silky smooth albeit he took a nasty knock towards the end but managed to match Rich Ely on 13 laps, 3rd and the veteran of the class Neil Bowker who generally prefers the trickier and more technical events but today he was on fire and rode the best i have seen for a long time if not ever and was not far behind the top 2.

Expert Class
Moto-Cross ace Mitchell Lewis certainly knew his way over the MX track and had to be the fastest over that sector all day, struggled a bit over the technical stuff for the first two laps and once he found his rhythm he looked faultless and could be a major threat if he changed his discipline to Enduro and very much deserved the class win with times and laps that matched top two in the Championship class, Runner up was another Sidcup regular Chris Thorpe rode a great event and was very consistent and to me looked one of the quickest in the open fast flowing fields, 3rd Gav Maggs who is having a very good season so far and confidence is growing without doubt and very much the showman when he is on this sort of form.

Vet A Class
Chris Stanger took the holeshot and led for best part of the race until about 30 mins from the end he ripped his exhaust off which handed the lead to his close racing rival Chris Howman who had been hounding him from the start, 2nd and another great result for Tom Moore who matched Howman’s 12 laps, 3rd and by far his best performance this year since coming up to Vet A was Mick Stradwick.

Vet B Class
A terrible start by Andy Sharp and Tim Newman handed the victory to Iain Judkins who found a rhythm early on and stuck with it whereas Tim Newman and Andy Sharp battled hard and made hard work of it but can be pleased getting on the podium with 3rd Newman and 2nd Sharp

Clubman A Class
Stuart King has been quiet so far this year on the Enduro Scene but made an appearance today at his home club and pulled off the class win with Nick Shaw taking the runners up spot but was pushed by final podium placer Tony Fletcher, top 3 all completed 12 laps.

Clubman B Class
The biggest class of the day and teenager Adam Brady from the Kingston club managed to get the class victory but it was not easy and had pressure from about 10 riders all within catching distance but young Adam kept his cool and rode well, runner up Brad Warton who will be a happy man as still not 100% fit, 3rd Lee Boulden who only missed out 2nd by a few seconds.

Vet A Over 50 Class
Another podium for Graham Reid and top place at that with 11 laps but was put under pressure by Croydon MCC rider Joe Beard who just need to ride a little more often as looked visibly tired towards the latter stages, 3rd Jerry Manthorpe.

Vet B Over 50 Class
The man mountain Hans Gilham will be one happy giant with the class win with 11 laps completed and runner up Carl Smye was the only one to match Hans 11 laps, 3rd Paul Hart who rode best i have seen this season.

Sportsman Class
Neil Marshall took victory with top Clubman B times and laps and should move up a class, runner up Witley rider Jack Norman, 3rd and a great result for Brett Hohls.
Andrew Greenwood won the Evo class with 8 laps.

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SEEC/Teamsnapper Hare and Hounds Championship
Round 4 - Canada Heights

Round 4 brought us to the well known moto cross and trials venue Canada Heights in Kent, both the trials and moto cross areas and some very big open fields were all used to create a 6.5 mile enduro/cross country loop, full entry of 200 riders and conditions perfect.

Teamsnapper Championship Class
Top 6 riders in the elite class all completed 13 laps with the top 4 having a close battle for the lead most of the race but as the race neared its 3 hour completion it was down to 2 and a last corner pass and victory by less than 3 seconds for Rich Ely over James Jackman that really was a spectacle to witness, Ollie Moyce was a short distance behind in 3rd with Max Varney 4th and James Burroughs 5th.

SMD Off Road Expert Class
Phil Wiffen the trials ace who generally likes conditions a bit wet and gnarly surprised himself with victory here on such a fast dry loop and that has sent a message to all his rivals saying that he is now the complete all rounder enduro rider, runner up and another trials ace Ben Wibberley who posted his best performance to date and has shown that he has all the right tools to become a top enduro rider, 3rd a very explosive hard riding Jake Morgan, 4th Roger Frean who had an all day battle with good friend Dave Downes 5th.

Veteran A Class
Top 7 riders in this class posted 12 laps completed with the lead changing a few times during the day but Neil Challice was the rider who looked liked he could up the ante when push came to shove and that’s what the Kingston rider did in the final stages to take victory by a minute and the next 4 riders were covered by less than a minute but Darren Osborne who has just come back from injury and surgery took a very much deserved 2nd from a disappointed Chris Howman who readily admits he made a schoolboy error in his fuelling tactics that could have cost him a place or two, 4th Paul Moore and 5th to Jason Warren who rode exceptionally well. Veteran A Class over 50 class was won by Steve Robb with 10 laps completed.

Tri-County Off-Road Clubman A Class
What more can i say about Richard Ball who is the dominant rider in this class and yet again shows what a great talent he and seems to improve with each outing and fingers crossed will be a top prospect in the Experts next season. For such a big man Donovan Pearce sure knows how to ride and the loop so suited him and his flamboyant take no prisoners style that the spectators loved, 3rd Nick Shaw who is predominately a motocross rider showed he has good fitness as well as the skills needed for 3 hours, 4th to the man in black Dan Brundell who really upped his game today and looked a very much happier rider, 5th to James Smith whom will be very happy with the result in such company on a loop he feels is his Achilles heel but again it proves with practice and passion you improve and improve well.

Veteran B Class
A superb battle between Tom Moore and Andy Sharp and the very spectacular Andy who took second place behind Tom by 18 seconds probably lost it with his love for air time and teasing the spectators whereas Tom was more planted and kept the wheels turning that gave him the top spot, 3rd was Mick Stradwick who had pretty much a lonely ride but a great ride and good points earned, 4th Manny Bernardez despite a first lap incident has proven many of us critics wrong after serious heart surgery to post a top 5 in such good company and is riding probably best he has for many a year, 5th to John Austin who was having his first outing ever at Canada Heights which did hold him back for the first couple of laps but once he got his bearings he was firing on all cylinders. Veteran B Class over 50 was won by runaway series leader Colin Cowley with a rejuvenated Hans Gilham 2nd , Stephen Scott 3rd and a very much rare face of Colin Smith in 4th and looked very competitive especially as the event wore on, 5th to Ian Wilson in his last event before doing the Romaniacs.

Woods Butchers Clubman B Class
The biggest class of the day with nearly 60 riders with local motocross rider Billy Stark taking top honours with Maciej Berdysz whom is having an amazing season so far in second, Felix Warren from the Kingston club in 3rd which is a superb result in such a big class for the teenager, 4th for ex Royal Marine Dean Southernwood in his debut outing at Canada Heights and 5th for London Fire Brigade rider John Gilbertson.

Sportsman Class
A very much mixed bunch of riders here that had a fair few motocross riders in but taking top spot was Kingston teenager in his first season of enduro was Ben Harding who was not at over awed by the Canada Heights motocross track and very much the star of the class, runner up was local club rider Jason Arnold, Ben Brooker 3rd with a very consistent ride lap after lap, Thomas Sutton from the Witley club in 4th with local rider Simon Wrigley completing the top 5.

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