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Putoline XC Championship - Organised by Fast Eddy |
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For many XC riders it is becoming traditional to attend the final round of the Putoline XC Championship at Jurby, on the Isle of Man, each October but this year there was a special test thrown in for good measure, which began for most competitors when the ferries left port and headed out into the Irish Sea. Wednesday and Thursday saw the area battered by Gale Force 10 winds and mountainous seas combined with driving rain. The outlook didn't look good for the weekend but, as if in the eye of the storm, Friday was sunny and the final round of the Youth Championship enjoyed near perfect conditions at the challenging Jurby Head course.
Seriously, conditions really were tough and had it not been for the fact that so many riders had travelled so far, the event may have been cancelled but Paul Edmondson is not known for giving up easily and he, along with his marshalling crew, battled the elements to put on the toughest Putoline XC race ever. This year the whole shooting match was based at the Grand Island Hotel on the outskirts of Ramsey at the northern end of the island. It is a welcome and social end to the season where riders can relax and discuss the day or the season in a lively atmosphere. A far cry from the normal race, pack up and go home of most other events. The presentation evening sees not only the awards for the weekend's races but also the Putoline XC Championship awards. Friday's sunny weather hosted an excellent turnout for the youth race. As usual, many Manx riders entered the event and Jamie McCanny showed the mainlanders how it should be done with and impressive 17 laps and the only sub 5-minute lap of the whole race, winning the 85cc class with ease. Callum Cooper wasn't far behind but a lap down in second spot with Fraiser Flockhart third, also on 16 laps. Brad Feeman cruised to fourth place a lap behind but one up on fifth placed Ryan Cringle.
Alex West and Michael Evans battled tooth and nail in the 125-150cc class. The two were within yards of each other throughout the race but West put on a spurt during the final lap to pull a two-minute lead as he took the win. Evans took second, followed by Tanya Denith in third, two laps down on the leaders. Callum Kinrade and Liam Sweeney completed the top five, all in double figures on laps. As Saturday dawned the winds picked up to Force 10 and the rain came in horizontally as riders prepared for the final championship race. The brave few who lined their bikes up early soon realised their mistake as every bike was blown over. In addition to the tough course rider had to contend with horizontal rain mixed with sand which literally sand blasted everyone throughout the race. The strong winds made the beach section extra tough as riders had a long part of the course heading straight into the wind before climbing up the steep banks and onto the scrubby cliff-top heather and sand sections where there was no respite.
Kev Sandland and Alec Trawford had battled all year for the top spot in the Novice 2T class and were neck-and-neck going into the final race. Disaster struck Trawford when his throttle cable snapped on the beach section and as he pushed back to the pits he saw Sandland pass twice as all hopes of the title evaporated. Callum Cooper took the win with Sandland second and Alex West third. Nathan Swift popped into fourth just ahead of the disconsolate Trawford in fifth. Mark Beresford and Jim Fitszimmons finished virtually together in the Novice 4T class but Beresford's win wasn't enough to dislodge Fitszimmons from the Championship pole position. Andrew McDonald tagged onto the two front-runners for third as Adam Huxham and Kenny Blain completed the top five, a lap down on the three leaders. Robbie Turner was a lap clear at the front of the Clubman 2Ters and did well to finish in the top 25 ahead of some very experienced riders. David Christian fought off serious challenges from a handful of other class contenders to take second place but Michael Winsor just nipped in for third place ahead of Dirty Habits team rider Davie McNulty while Simon McCane took fifth. Lee Hattersley's recent good form didn't desert him as he rode to victory in the Clubman 4T class. Sean O'Neill had an excellent outing to take second place before moving on to the Super-clubman class next season. Garath Delahay and Stu Keedwell once again did battle but it was for third and fourth places as Rory Parker followed them home in fifth.
Wily Veteran Richard Main (right) refused to release his iron grip on the Vets35 title and once more powered to a convincing win whilst finishing just outside the overall top ten on 13 laps. Chris Roberts and Dennis Harrison were a lap down on Main but continued to fight the fight right up to the finish line where Roberts took second and Harrison third. Jason Kendrick-Jones cruised to fourth a couple of laps down on the top three. There were only three contenders in the Super-clubman group and James Harvey flew the Scottish flag high and proud by taking the win ahead of Jamie Wright and Adam Reynolds. Fresh from his previous days victory in the 85cc class, Jamie McCanny romped home to win the Experts, again on an 85cc, ahead of Derrick Bourne and Ryan Bourne. The Manx lad certainly knows how to ride sand and it was disconcerting for many older riders to be continually lapped by a kid on a little bike. Certainly he is a talent for the future. Ben Begbie and Paul Herburt completed the top five, all on 13 laps, for one of their toughest finishes of the season.
The survivors all knew they had accomplished the near impossible by finishing a tough race in the worst possible conditions and anyone who did finish took away a real sense of pride and achievement. It was, without doubt, the toughest of the Putoline XC series and quite a mountain to climb at the end of a long season and credit must go to Paul Edmondson and his team for getting everyone through the race injury free. The return to the Grand Island Hotel bought welcome relief to every competitor, and many spectators, where they could relax and discuss the days events before the Championship and awards presentation which was followed by a great show from singer Miss Dynamite, in which many members of the audience were involved but shall remain nameless. This event and awards ceremony was the highspot of a superb Championship series of events, which started in the mud at Boreton Farm and tested everyone to the maximum over every conceivable type of terrain throughout the year. Plans for next season are already underway with new venues and challenges across the country. Fraser Flockhart rides a Storm to Clinch the Pultoline Cross Country Championship Big Wheel 85 Class Report by Campbell Chatham Melville Motor Clubs Fraser Flockhart 14 had to endure a horrendous ferry crossing to the Isle of Man for the final round of the Pultoline Cross Country Championship. Despite suffering sea sickness with many others on the crossing Fraser managed to finish third on the day and clinch the Championship. This result rewards Fraser and Dad Andrew for their efforts which saw them travel the length and breadth of Britain to achieve their goal of a national Championship. Frasers chance of riding in the championship this year was in doubt following the theft of his Honda 85 last year. The bike was never recovered and a new bike had to be purchased to chase the Pultoline Cross Country Championship. This was Fraser's last ride on the KTM 85 as he will move up to the Youth MX2 class next year. Fraser will now focus on the Melville Motor Club Winter Motocross series that takes place just a few miles along the road from his North Berwick home at Lochhouses Farm. Melville Motor Clubs James Harvey also won the Super Clubman class Championship with a win in the Isle of Man.
Youth
Championship Results Youth   Putoline
XC Championship Rd. 6 Berwyn Leisure Park
The penultimate round of the Putoline XC Championship was the toughest by far in the 2008 series of events. Organised by Fasteddyracing.com, event supremo Paul Edmondson knew this would be tough following horrendous weather the previous evening. Berwyn Leisure Park was the fantastic venue with a superb 5-mile course set in and around a magnificent Welsh valley but overnight rain really toughened things up as the numerous off-camber climbs and descents, up and down the valley slopes became a real challenge and the attrition rate amongst riders was high. A ballsy move by Mark Roberts to upgrade from Expert to Pro saw him take the event by storm, despite finishing with a hole in the engine casing and pushing his bike across the finish line. The Bank Holiday weekend saw riders flood to the impressive venue, just outside Chirk, for both Saturdays Youth races and Sunday's main event. This round of the championship was unusual in as much as it ran alongside a WOR event at the same venue and at the same time. The venue was previously used for the third round of the popular GBXC series and obviously made an impression as many of the riders came back for more. With both events running simultaneously over the same course, there were plenty of riders on the line at the start of the race but within 200 yards, many were on the deck as the first off-camber hill took its toll. Much of the course was a little more extreme than previous events in the series but those riders who managed to complete more than one lap went on to make it to the chequered flag as the course gradually dried and conditions improved significantly. The valley floor was relatively easy and gave many riders a chance to relax although this last section of the-five mile lap had its own hidden traps. Very wet ground soon churned up and riders had to contend with major ruts in some section, which wove their way over streams and across major whoops sections. Mark Roberts, (above) on his JKJ Kawasaki, looked like a winner right from the start and was one of the few riders to embrace the challenge head-on as he really attacked the course. A hole in his engine casing saw him stop before the finish line and push his bike across, he had done enough for a clear win. Jack Twentyman (left) topped the Experts with a gritty and determined ride which called on all of his experience and skill to make the finish line, Derek Bawn was another rider who went well but it was Tsar Sheane who took second with Steve Grimshaw third. Ben Roberts topped the Clubman 2T class with a lap in hand over Shaun Buchan and Simon Mackune while Sean O'Neill headed the Clubman 4T class, also a lap up on Royce Machin andGareth Delahay. A great ride from Alec Trawford saw him rewarded with victory in the Novice 2T class but it was a close thing with challenger Kev Sandland just a minute behind on the same lap. Mike Reynolds took third in class. Jim Fitzsimmons nailed the Novice 4T class with four laps in hand over Mark Bradbury in second, the only two finishers in the class. Genus Motorsport's Dave Grimshaw pulled a lap on second placed Darren Pyne in the Superclubman class with Youth rider Johnny Jones boosted by his excellent performance to take third. Dennis Harrison pipped Richard Main to the finish in the Vets 35 class with Andy Taylor in third some three laps behind. The Veterans fared well relatively speaking. They had most of their starter finish the race, proving that you cannot beat experience. David Lote took the win as Ivan Sheane, who considered quitting after the opening lap, in second place. Andrew Seymour followed Sheane to the line in third place.
Results Pro 1 Mark Roberts Expert 1 Jack Twentyman (left) 2 Tsar Sheane 3 Steve Grimshaw Superclubman 1 Dave Grimshaw 2 Darren Pyne 3 Johnny Jones Clubman 2T 1 Ben Roberts 2 Shaun Buchan 3 Simon Mackune Clubman 4T 1 Sean O'Neill 2 Royce Machin 3 Gareth Delahay Novice 2T 1 Alec Trawford 2 Kev Sandland 3 Mike Reynolds Novice 4T 1 Jim Fitzsimmons 2 Mark Bradbury 3 Jason Heartwell Vets 35 1 Dennis Harrison 2 Richard Main 3 Andy Taylor Vets & Ladies 1 David Lote 2 Ivan Sheane 3 Andy Seymour
As the Putoline XC Championship series nears completion, the youth riders are still battling hard for overall supremacy in their respective classes. Berwyn Leisure Park was the venue last weekend and a glorious late summer day gave the youth riders perfect conditions to bump up their Championship points totals. The Berwyn course was only slightly cut for the youth races and many of the treacherous off cambers were included, but dry weather made them relatively easy and passable even for the small wheelers. Chip off the old block Jack Edmondson once again fought of serious challenges from Oli Benton and Alex Walton, his two cosest competitors, to take the 65cc class in fine style as Benton took second place and Walton third. All three riders completed 14 laps of the tough course. Scotty Clifford put in a tremendous ride, clocking up 19 laps in the 125/150cc class, a lap up on rival Johnny Jones who took second in class. Thomas James was a couple of laps down in third place, just ahead of Alex West in fourth. In the 85cc class Fraiser Flockhart put in a very creditable 18 laps to take the class win by a lap over second placed Joe Wooton. Dominic Thomas took third just ahead of Sophie Thomes in fourth and Rhian George fifth. This was a tough event for the smaller riders but there was not a single DNF as the whole field enjoyed the good conditions and really took up the challenges on offer. Results 65cc 1 Jack Edmondson 2 Oli Benton 3 Alex Walton 85cc 1 Friser Flockhart 2 Joe Wooton 3 Dominic Thomas 125/150cc 1 Scott Clifford 2 Johnny Jones 3 Thomas James
The MOD certainly had their hands full last weekend as the fifth round of the Putoline XC Championship series ran on MOD land near Chattenden, Kent. As if dealing with scores of XC riders wasn't enough, local 'tree huggers' had invaded part of the property earlier in the week invoking quite a show of security from local police and MOD personnel. Organiser Paul Edmondson, of fasteddyracing.com, had to revise the course significantly, part of the planned course ran too close to the security operation, but he succeed in providing an excellent mix of terrain and challenges to make the fifth round of this popular series tough, but not too tough. Changes had also been made to the race format for Sunday. All riders were grouped into a single race, which ran for 2 hours 15 minutes, and surprisingly the format worked exceptionally well. The faster Experts and Superclubman riders, usually in their own PM race, inspired some very quick times from the Clubman ranks as the pace of the race definitely quickened. As is usual at Putoline XC events, Saturday morning saw a well-attended training session, with instruction from 4 times World Champion Paul Edmondson, followed by a single Youth race containing three separate classes; 65cc, 85cc and 125-150cc. With just two rounds to go in the series following the Chattenden event there was everything to play for as Scott Clifford and Johnny Jones battled for supremacy in the 125-150cc class. Clifford successfully narrowed the gap in the Championship standings by beating Jones by a lap to take the class win. There are now just two points between them, Jones still holding the advantage. Tom James matched Jones for laps and took a well deserved third place with Josh Hall fourth and Jo Price fifth. Brad Freeman and Fraiser Flockhart both matched race winner Clifford on laps, even though they were on 85cc machines. Fifteen laps of the flat-out MX field sections and three technical wooded areas saw only seconds between the three by the end of the race. Freeman narrowly won the 85cc class with Flockhart seconds behind, Steven Windsor cruised to third place some three laps down on the leaders with Hannah Hope fourth and Dan Martin fifth. Jack Edmondson stretched his lead in the 65cc Championship by taking his class win ahead of Oli Benton, his closest championship rival. Both riders clocked 13 laps as Alex Walton took third place ahead of Ben Clarke in fourth and Genus Motorsports newest team rider, Katie Grinshaw, in fifth. As if the course hadn't been testing enough, with tricky woods sections and a deep ditch, a couple of additions made it tough going in the first wooded areas the riders reached on Sunday morning.
In the Pro class James Jackman (right) and Tim Foreman (top) once again provided an exciting spectacle throughout the race as they were inseparable for the first 90 minutes. Jackman pushed hard and pulled over a minute gap but disaster struck in the closing stages. Jackman's woodland adventure saw his back wheel skip out at a critical point and he became the newest member of the tree huggers association. A massive impact saw the rider badly injure his left hand and the medical team advised him to retire. With so much at stake in the Championship standings, Jackman re-mounted and cruised to the finish, one-handed, being passed by Foreman in the process and finally finishing 28th overall.
Stu Keedwell took the lead in the Clubman 4T Championship race with a fine class win just ahead of Lee Hattersley (who finally managed to start his bike at the beginning of the race), Rich Cookland, Sean O'Neil and Royce Machin. All five Clubman two smoke contenders were on the same number of laps but Adam Smith took the lead and held on to the finish. Karl Day, Simon Coventry, Nick O'Neil and Jon Bloomfield followed him home.
For once Richard Main had to be content with second place in the Vets35 class. Ryan Griffith took the win but both were up with the race leaders throughout the 2 hours 15 minutes. Darren Blagg, Jason Kendrick-Jones and Colin Bott made up the top five. Christian Walton (left) was also at the front of the pack and won the Veterans class by over two laps from second placed Keith Padstone. Peter Clarke and Wayne Twidle pushed Padstone hard towards the end as Rich Martin joined the top five Vets. Once again the event at Chattenden was an overwhelming success. The atmosphere was great and the racing spot on, despite the last-minute course changes. The Championship leader boards across all classes are too close to call and with the penultimate round of the series in just two weeks time, at Carno near Welshpool, anything can happen. Results
The venue for the fourth round of the Putoline XC Championship, at Saints Well near Llandrindod Wells last weekend, was well organised once again by fasteddyracing.com over both days. he Saints Well course is generally one of the most popular in the Putoline XC series but there is no denying that the credit crunch is taking its toll as numbers were unexpectedly down on previous years and other meetings this year. Following on from the Welsh 2 day event, this meeting usually attracts a few dozen riders but this didn't happen this year. The rain that had plagued the Welsh didn't show up on Saturday and although the course was a little damp in places it was very rideable.
Despite the patchy downpours the event ran well. The entry was down but the competitiveness was as strong as ever between all riders and the course held up very well. It was tough, especially for the Sunday afternoon racers, but it was rideable and enjoyable, if you like being knackered, soaked and covered in mud! Results Sunday AM PM Race
Deep in the heart of WOR country the long-awaited third round of the Putoline XC Championship, organised by fasteddyracing.com, ran last weekend with a somewhat depleted field, due mainly to the horrendous weather during the previous week. Despite rain throughout Saturday, when the Youth race ran, Sunday was completely different, cloudy with plenty of sunshine, ideal for XC racing. Although the main event took place on Sunday, Saturday saw a decent entry in the Youth race following a Saturday morning training session. The 5.5 mile course at Llandrillo, North Wales, was a mixture of fast fire-roads turning into technical wooded areas, with quite a few steep climbs and descents thrown in for good measure, and rolling field sections where riders could relax for a short while. The main event of the weekend was the Pro, Expert and Super Clubman race on Sunday afternoon. With two wins already under his belt from events earlier in the week, Paul Edmondson (left) was the man on form and he didn't disappoint in the Pro class. A last minute change of plan saw him riding the new Relentless Suzuki RMZ450 instead of his usual 250 2T. Edmondson reckons that the power delivery on the 450 is very smooth, rather like riding a 350, and ideally suited to the Llandrillo terrain. True to form he powered to victory, a lap up on nearest rival Lincoln Brewster, who eventually took second. This event saw the return of Dutchman Mike Kock who lead the race initially, as Edmondson started from the back of the field, and was going well until a front wheel puncture saw him lose places as he pitted to replace the damaged wheel. He scrambled back to third as the two hour thirty minute race concluded.
Ben Wooton was another on-form rider. In the Expert class he was the only contender to match the Pro's lap for lap and took the class win on 15 laps, ahead of second placed Jack Twentyman, who suffered a huge off in the final few minutes of the race but, in his usual fashion, picked himself up and got to the chequered flag to hold the runner-up spot. Craig Reynolds closed the gap on Twentyman to just over two minutes as he took third in class ahead of Stanepoke Racing's Drew Harvey in fourth, just 6 seconds behind him. Garath Hopkins made the last top five spot and had the honour of posting the fastest lap in the Expert class, the only Expert rider to break the 10-minute barrier. The top five Super Clubman riders all clocked 14 laps around this fast and demanding course. Joe Deakin and Lewis Belfield battled for supremacy all race long. Deakin pulled a 30 second gap in the closing stages and took the class win as Belfield followed him home. Jamie Robinson took third although he was less than a minute behind the leaders, he had a clear three minutes over fourth placed Gary Daniels and James Harvey in fifth. Richard Main took the Vets Over 35 class with ease, a lap up on second placed Dennis Harrison. The multi-talented Main is heading for Mallory Park in two weeks time to participate in the Vets class, this weekends outing was a great confidence booster for him. Alan Vissian took third in class, three minutes behind Harrison, followed by Jason Kendrick-Jones and Darren Blagg. The AM race saw Derrick Edmondson get the first family win of the day in the Vets and Ladies class and was first past the post overall. Fresh from his outing in North Africa he went well despite describing himself as 'knackered'. Gareth Lloyd matched him on laps but was just under 90 seconds behind as the race finished and took second in class ahead of Peter Clarke and Keith Patstone while Rob Prosser sneaked into the top five in fifth place. Kev Freeman headed the Novice 2T field, a lap up on everyone in his class. Second placed Alec Trawford was last off the line at the start but soon went through the field to take second place a minute ahead of Kev Sandland in third. Johnny Jones finished in fourth, just ahead of Dirty Habits Racing teams newest member Davie Macnulty in fifth. Liam Garbett was a country mile clear of the field in the Novice 4T class. He finished with a seven minute advantage over Lee Carpenter. Mark Beresford, also on 9 laps took third just seconds ahead of Jim Fitszimmonds in fourth and Sam Strong, fifth. Joe Jones led the Clubman 2T home and was joined by Steve Holcombe and Karl Day all on 10 laps. Huw Jones grabbed fourth spot and Lance Hurdsman fifth. Sean O'Neill, Lee Hattersley and Gareth Delahay were top three in the Clubman 4T class all completing 11 laps while Rich Cookland and Stu Keedwell completed the top five, a lap down on the leaders. Jack Edmondson started the triple family win over the weekend when he won the Youth 65cc by two clear laps on Saturday afternoon. Alex Walton was closest to him on 23 laps of a somewhat slightly course and he too was two laps up on third placed Brad Edwards. Scott Clifford took the 125-150cc class with ease ahead of Johnny Jones and Thomas James. Joe Wooton and Fraiser Flockhart was the contest of the day as they battled it out in the 85cc class. Wooton just took the win ahead of Flockhart, both on 20 laps, ahead of third placed Dominic Thomas. Good weather certainly helped this event. The course was very good, competitive and challenging with a few places to rest during the long lap. A little down on numbers but with the GBXC only two weeks previous, it may have taken its toll on the entry. A very good event all the same. Results Youth
Round 2, Chatham, Kent The second round of the Putoline XC Championship ran on a beautifully clear, sunny Saturday and Sunday in Kent, a far cry from the muddy opening round in Shropshire. The event ran on M.O.D. land close to Chatham, hastily arranged when the Culham venue became unavailable. It was a little further to travel for many competitors but it was well worth the long drive South. The Putoline XC Championship is a National event and this season will see more new venues added to the list. A great course involved two woodland areas, two fast MX type field sections with numerous jumps and a few steep bank sections but best of all was the hard-standing paddock area. Typically the all-weather surface was unnecessary because the weather was superb, the track was in great shape and the event was very well organised. Relentless Suzuki's Paul Edmondson headed the Pro class although James Jackman was first off the line and took the hole-shot. Fast Eddy was closing him down after a few hundred metres when Jackman's Husaberg found some unexpected grip on one of the straight sections and looped out in spectacular fashion. He picked himself up and went on to the finish but Fast Eddy has taken the lead and stretched a massive gap between himself and the rest of the field, finishing a lap up on everyone, 26, by the end of 2 hours thirty minutes. Darren Carter took second in the Pro class followed a few minutes later by Tim Foreman and the fully recovered Jackman. Lee Jones took fifth while Chris Tett crossed the line for sixth place. Tetty and TM's Philip McLauglin had battled lap after lap for third and fourth spots. Tetty finally took the Irishman only to lose the bead in his rear tyre and have the mousse pop out. On-the-spot repairs with baling twine got him slowly to the finish line as, amazingly, McLauglin ran out of fuel just yards after Tett's disaster and withdrew from the race. Mark Roberts (left) steadily put over 18 seconds between himself and Garath Hopkins in the Expert class. Not much of a gap over the whole race but the course was fast for all riders and Roberts' performance was terrific. Matty Holcombe was a lap down on the leaders, finishing third, but two minutes up on Jack Twentyman in fourth. Craig Chamberlain worked his way through the field as the race progressed and took a deserved fifth place in the Expert's. James Gidding rode to victory in the Super Clubman class as three minutes covered the tyop three riders. Richard Ely finished only yards ahead of James Harvey in third, all three posting 23 laps. Sam Robinson, fourth, was a lap down on the top three and a minute ahead of Mark Mealham in fifth. A great line-up for the morning race saw over 100 riders tear around the course, which held up extremely well. The two-hour race had quite a few quality riders with vast amounts of experience. By the end of the two hours, the five of the top seven riders were from the Veterans class. Experience triumphed over youth and enthusiasm. Chris Walton and Peter Clarke had a great tussle and it wasn't until the latter stages of the race that Walton stretched a 80 second lead to take the win with Clarke second. The top five riders all banged in 18 laps, with only 3 minutes between them. Yet another Edmondson claimed a podium place, Derrick took third in the Vets class and fourth overall, much to his surprise. David Lote took the Veterans fourth spot, a lap down on the front-runners but just 40 seconds ahead of Peter Benton in fifth. Sean O'Neil headed the Clubman 4T taking third overall in the race but Stu Keedwell pushed him hard to the finish and narrowed the gap to a minute and a half, both riders posting 18 laps. Gareth Delahay fought his way to third in class, a lap down on the leaders and two minutes clear of Gary Sims in fourth. Bob Allen took fifth a further two minutes behind Sims.
Andy Broadley had a great outing. To say he was riding Novice 4T his performance was impressive, matching the Clubmen lap for lap and winning his class a lap clear of the rest. Wayne McGill finished in second place ahead of a flurry of chasing riders. Third place went to Paul Austin with Lee Carpenter fourth and Duncan Moore fifth. The Army entered a complete novice in this class. Andy Brown had never raced before and did well to finish although conditions were in his favour and he looks set to be chosen for a spot on the Army team in future. Johnny Jones banged in another great ride, he took fourth in the Youth 125-150 class the day before and went on to win the Novice 2T class by a clear two minutes ahead of Jason Boyle, second. Lee Day, third, had quite a breathing space between himself and Colin Wilson in fourth, a lap in fact. Wilson also had a lap advantage over fifth placed Gary Wright. Richard Main was at his best in the Vets35 class. Twentythree laps and a three minute lead of Ryan Griffiths saw him take the class win. Chris Roberts, third and Dennis Harrison, fourth gave the top four riders a 23 lap race, onlyColin Bott who took fifth was a little way behind on 19 laps. The Youth Championship ran on Saturday afternoon following a well attended morning training session Matt Burrows showed his determination by taking the lead early on and holding it for the full 90 minutes over 14 laps, winning the 125-150 class by a long way. His only real challenger was Scott Clifford who posted the same number of laps but trailed into second place some 40 seconds behind the winner. Thomas James grabbed a well-deserved third place, a lap down on the leading two riders. Johnny Jones trailed in nearly two minutes behind for fourth spot, a lap clear on Grant Harrioson in fifth. The only other rider to post 14 laps was Brad Freeman, winner of the 85cc class. Brad rode out of his skin to claim a well-deserved victory, despite being chased for most of the race by Fraiser Flockhart, who eventually took second in class finishing nearly two minutes ahead of Joe Wootton in third. Aaron Coupland and Sophie Thomas virtually tied for fourth but Coupland took it by less than a second. The Edmondson winning ways continued as Jack Edmondson landed his first victory by taking the 65cc class win. Henry Williams, second, and Oliver Benton, third, matched Jack Eddy on 12 laps but couldn't close on his two-minute lead. Alex Walton was two laps down on the leaders, finishing in fourth, just ahead of Kieron Mills in fifth. Both days ran extremely well and there is no doubt that this is all due to Steve Price and his team who helped Paul Edmondson in organising every aspect of the event. The were more marshals than ever before, especially static marshals at the trickier sections of the course, and plenty of roving marshals on bikes and quads who were on the spot at a moments notice to give assistance where necessary. Great location, excellent course, superb marshalling and fierce competition from all riders made this one of the best Putoline XC Championship rounds to date. Results: Youth Results
Mid-January is a risky time to organise any off road event and the opening round of the Putoline XC Championship organised by fasteddyracing.com, at Boreton Farm near Shrewsbury, got tougher as the weekend progressed. The Youth championship on Saturday went well, the area hadn't suffered the torrential rains plaguing the rest of the Midlands region but Saturday evening saw a constant downpour overnight with gale force winds which left the course a little waterlogged, but still very ride able. The winds played havoc with the course markers and Fast Eddy and the crew did their utmost to replace them all but time was against them and the race just had to start. The Sunday morning race was wet but the mud didn't cling to bikes and, consequently, the pace was fast. A large entry of riders, 175 in all, desperate to get some bike time under their belts, packed the start line for the Novice and Clubman classes. The freshly constructed rhythm section and numerous jumps held up fairly well until half way into the race when they began to rut out badly but the riders stuck to task and charged hard. The top five Clubman 4T riders all clocked 12 laps but it was Dan Coyle who led them home, just over a minute ahead of Chris Nunn in second. Kieron Jackson kept pace to retain third in class and was over 5 minutes ahead of Ryan Armitage, fourth, and Stu Keedwell some 10 minutes behind in fifth. Not to be outdone, the top five 2T Clubmen also clocked a dozen laps and heading them home was Karl Day, who kept a consistent two minutes between himself and Paul Lloyd in second spot. Karl Greenhall, Michael Wright and Lance Hurdsman had just two minutes separating the three of them in third, fourth and fifth places respectively. Mike Alty and Rob Prosser put up an excellent show in the Vets class. They too nailed 12 laps and Alty finished just 44 seconds ahead of Prosser in what was a great battle of wills and determination. John Burrows cruised in a lap down on the two leaders to take third, just ahead of Keith Padstone and Andy Prosser in fourth and fifth. Even the top two novice 2T riders managed twelve laps, quite a feat in the conditions. Class winner Lee Day managed to gain 10 minutes over Chris Wagstaffe in second while James Pickering took third, a lap down. Kirt Groves, fourth, held his forty second lead over Ed Turner in fifth. Phil Cooper and Kevin Sanderland were level pegging for most of the 2 hour race but Cooper dug deep towards the end and stretched a four minute lead to take the Novice 4T class. Shaune Clorley posted 10 laps, a lap down on the two class leaders, to take third place while fourth placed Julian Ashton and fifth placed Simon Brenton finished less than half a minute apart. It had been gruelling towards the end of the race as the track began to dry and the going got heavier. To a man they were glad it was over! By the time the Pro's and Experts took to the line, the rain had stopped and the wind had dried the track and turned the mud claggy, so the afternoon race was a real trial for most competitors. The width of the track grew significantly as lap-followed lap. There was considerable course cutting by the majority of riders but this was almost impossible to stop. Tapes and markers had disappeared completely during the morning race, it was an uphill struggle to replace them all so riders sought the straightest, fastest line. It happens at many events and there is no denying it certainly happened at this one. Finding and penalising the offenders was an impossible task, they were all just brown blokes on brown bikes. Thank God for transponders!
Thomas took the lead into the first corner and never looked back. The was no doubting his speed as he set the fastest lap time of the event, but Rowson was only eight seconds behind, both riders broke the seven minute lap barrier, quite a feat in the worsening conditions. Rowson's race finished after six laps when mechanical failure left him stranded. Jason Thomas won with a clear lap on the rest of the field as Genus Motorsport's Chris Tett took up the challenge and banged home 15 laps to take second place in the Pro class. Tim Foreman closed on Tetty towards the end and got the gap down to three minutes as he finished in third spot. Shane Careless held fourth place just ahead of James Jackman in fifth. Gareth Hopkins led the Experts and maintained position to the finish flag. Mxer Craig Chamberlain showed that his new fitness regime was working as he chased Hopkins to the very end and finished just over a minute down in second. Gavin Hazlett had to work hard for third place as the rejuvenated Jack Twentyman closed the gap to 5 seconds at the chequered flag, not bad going as Twentyman showed he was back on form following his horrendous crash last season. Sean Tranter followed the pair home for fifth in the Expert class. Sam Robinson had a slightly easier time in the Super clubman class, finishing with a lap to spare over second places Martin Pearce. Pearce was in no danger of losing position as the following three riders were all a lap behind him. Gary daniels clung to third place with three minutes to spare over fourth placed James Giddings and fifth placed Adam Reynolds. The Over 35 Vets had their own class in the afternoon race and best of these was Chris Roberts who posted 13 laps, one up on Ryan Griffiths in second. Jason Kendrick-Jones took third but complained that his hair had been getting in his eyes, slowing him down. Andrew Tott took fourth while Malcolm Buck cruised to fifth. As the race neared conclusion the rain returned, just to add insult to injury but there were very few DNF's from an overall field of 65 riders. They were all there to race no matter what the conditions. All credit to the guys manning the massive tractors who tirelessly pulled truck in and out of the event all weekend long. The landowner always pulls out all the stops to make sure the event runs. In retrospect, the conditions were not that bad for mid January, especially considering the massive floods all around the area, but that is little consolation to the riders who braved the mud, wind and rain at the opening round of the Putoline XC Championship 2008.
Pro 1 Jason Thomas 2 Chris Tett 3 Tim Foreman 4 Shane Careless 5 James Jackman 6 Ben Smith 7 Jamie Paget 8 Geoff Walker Expert 1 Gareth Hopkins 2 Craig Chamberlain 3 Gavin Hazlett 4 Jack Twentyman 5 Sean Tranter Super Clubman 1 Sam Robinson 2 Martin pearce 3 Gary Daniels 4 James Giddings 5 Adam Reynolds Vets Over 35 1 Chris Roberts 2 Ryan Griffiths 3 Jason Kendrick-Jones 4 Andrew Tott 5 Malcolm Buck Clubman 4T 1 Dan Coyle 2 Chris Nunn 3 Kieron Jackson 4 Ryan Armitage 5 Stu Keedwell Clubman 2T 1 Karl Day 2 Paul Lloyd 3 Karl Greenhall 4 Michael Wright 5 Lance Hurdsman Novice 4T 1 Phil Cooper 2 Kev Sanderland 3 Shaune Clorley 4 Julian Ashton 5 Simon Benton Novice 2T 1 Lee Day 2 Chris Wagstaffe 3 James Pickering 4 Kirt Groves 5 Ed Turner Veterans 1 Michael Alty 2 Rob Prosser 3 John Burrow 4 Keith Patstone 5 Andy Prosser
The opening round of the 2008 Putoline XC Championship Youth Series kicked of last Saturday at Boreton Farm near Shrewsbury. Paul Edmondson and the crew from Fasteddyracing.com were very shrewd in their choice of venue. Despite horrendous downpour all week long, Saturday was relatively rain-free. Even though the West Midlands was battered by gales the Shrewsbury area was fine and the course was in excellent shape. This is mid-January and a little mud can be expected but the flat stubble field held up well and even the jumps and rhythm sections withstood the battering from over 50 youth riders hammering their way around this very fast course. Matt Burrows and Liam Garbett had a terrific battle in the Youth 125-150 class. They were neck and neck for most of the 1.5 hr race and with around three laps to go, Burrows lead began to grow and by the time the chequered flag was waved he had pulled a lap up on the rest of the field. Liam Garbett had to settle for second but he had a great ride and managed to hold off a strong challenge by Zac Stealey over the final few laps. Rob Cross, fourth and Sean Buchan, fifth, were the only other riders to get into double figures on lap count. Joe Wootton (above) nailed the Youth 85cc class with 9 laps and a two minute lead over nearest rival Fraiser Flockhart. Initially the two were locked together but gradually a gap appeared and Wotton took the win. Brad Freeman was safe in third, eight minutes ahead of Luke Lucas in fourth. Fifth place went to Dominic Thomas who was a lap down on the top four.
This event was a good start to the 2008 Championship series. Many of the Youth riders had attended the morning training session and it certainly showed as they finished the afternoon race in style. Results Youth 125-150 1 Matt Burrows 2 Liam Garbett 3 Zac Stealey 4 Rob Cross 5 Sean Buchan Youth 85cc 1 Joe Wootton 2 Fraiser Flockhart 3 Brad Freeman 4 Luke Lucas 5 Dominic Thomas Kids 65cc 1 Henry Williams 2 Jack Edmondson 3 Oliver Benton 4 Jordan Saunders 5 William Putney Photos available from http://www.foto-x.co.uk/ Next Round Entries Photos by foto-x.co.uk For the second year in succession, the grande finale of the Putoline XC Championship, organised by fasteddyracing.com, was held at the magnificent Jurby Head track on the Isle of Man. In this mecca of motorsport, there is no more fitting a place than the home of the TT races and of Enduro World Champion David Knight to finish this premier Enduro Championship. Paul Edmondson had already claimed the Putoline XC Pro title 2007, but many of the other classes still hinged on a good outing in the final round and many of the classes were too tight to call going into this tough event. A large contingent of local riders swelled the ranks but for many, it was the first time they had seen the deep sand and terrain that the Jurby Head track offers. It takes, on average, at least thirty minutes to acclimatise to the conditions, by which time many riders are feeling the strain. Virtually none of the mainland riders ever get to see conditions such as the course at Jurby Head and it is a real shock to the system having to deal with the hard-packed sand of the cliff-top and the loose, deep sand of the beach and dunes.
Young Matt Moffitt (left) had ridden in the training day, the youth race and then in the Pro class race where he finished second, a talented rider with a great future ahead of him. Matt Lund and Rob Meek were always in contention and along with Moffitt, all three finished on 20 laps, a lap down on Fast Eddy. Justin Wilson grabbed the hole-shot off the start but proceeded to crash into one of the hay bales and he admitted he had no idea where he was going. He loved the course although it was tough and was well pleased to take fifth spot. Another young talent is Alex 'Rocky' Rockwell who powered to sixth place just ahead of James Harvey in seventh. Harvey had already ridden the morning race but decided to have a go in the Pro event to uphold the family name as brother Drew was injured and whining about broken ribs!
Danny McCanney was outstanding in the Super Clubman class. He finished two laps up on Dennis Harrison who is normally way out ahead of the field. Dave Pearce nailed third just ahead of brothers Warren and Gavin Hazlett in fourth and fifth. Saturday morning saw the Clubmen, Novice, Vets and Ladies take to the sand in near perfect conditions. The overcast sky kept temperatures down but most riders were gasping after a couple of laps. All the usual suspects were hard at it in the Clubman 4T line-up. Stu Mowbray took the class as James Harvey pushed hard up to second, demoting Stu Keedwell to third. Lee Hattersley was alone in fourth on 16 laps followed by Ryan Armitage in fifth. The Clubman 2T was equally as close. Matt Holcombe's timing saw him just cross the line before time ran out and he grabbed an extra lap on Mark Mealham in second. Two minutes later Robbie Turner finished in third followed by Karl Day and Scott Clifford in fourth and fifth. Shaun Buchan was pushed hard all the way in the Novice 4T class. He won but Anthony Robson in second place had certainly given him a run for his money. Dan Parry wasn't far behind in third, a lap up on fourth placed Wayne Gornhill and fifth placed Jay Littler. Steve Holcome made the Novice 2T class his own by putting two extra laps in over second placed John Holt. Holt had quite a lead over Peter Cambell in third and Steve and Philip Asbridge in fourth and fifth. Kate Harrington was once again the only female competitor and is hoping for some competition in the Ladies class next year. The Vets saw Andy Watkins post a creditable 18 laps to take the class win, one lap up on both Peter Clark in second, Mike Turner in third and Bryan Mundy in fourth. Genus Motorsport's Dave Grimshaw suffered badly after a huge fry-up breakfast which he regretted eating just minutes into the race. He managed fifth in class but was nowhere near his best. Friday saw an excellent entry in the Youth races. Matt Moffitt pushed his way to victory in the 125cc class. His KTM seized just yards short of the line but he had time to spare and a lap in hand as he pushed the stricken machine to victory. Shaun Buchan had over three minutes on nearest rival Scott Clifford to take second spot. Jay Littler was all alone in the 150 class but battled hard with the 125cc boys. Jamie McCanney, Jake Gowan and Steve Hulcombe were locked together in the 85cc class but McCanney eventually pulled a two minute lead for the win as Gowan took second and Hulcombe third. Ben Watson had an easier time in the 65cc class, as he rode to victory, although Mark Turner and Alfie Rowtell were gaining near the end of the race and took second and third respectively. Once again The Ginger Hall Hotel was the venue for the prize giving ceremony and was packed to the rafters until the early hours and the race was relived over and over by the weary competitiors. A fantastic event and a fitting end to a superb Championship series which has seen keen competition throughout the year. This event is one of only a handful where the social aspct of Enduro in on equal terms with the competition itself. The Isle of Man proved once more to be the perfect place to round off the Putoline XC Championship series. Results Pro 1 Paul Edmondson 2 Matt Moffitt 3 Matt Lund 4 Rob Meek 5 Justin Wilson 6 Alex Rockwell 7 James Harvey Expert 1 Barry Kinley 2 Jon Hinam 3 James Jackman 4 Ryan Bawn 5 Derek Bawn 6 Mike Jackson 7 Mark Cringle 8 Andy Walton 9 Jack Faragher 10 Tsar Sheane Super Clubman 1 Dan McCanney 2 Dennis Harrison 3 David Pearce 4 Warren Hazlett 5 Gavin Hazlett 6 Jamie Wright 7 Grant Churchward 8 Paul Smyth 9 John McCanney 10 Andy Taylor Clubman 4T 1 Stu Mowbray 2 James Harvey 3 Stu Keedwell 4 Lee Hatersley 5 Ryan Armitage Clubman 2T 1 Matt Holcombe 2 Mark Mealham 3 Robbie Turner 4 Karl Day 5 Scott Clifford Novice 4T 1 Shaun Buchan 2 Anthony Robson 3 Dan Parry 4 Wayne Gornhill 5 Jay Littler Novice 2T 1 Steve Holcombe 2 John Holt 3 Peter Cambell 4 Steve Asbridge 5 Phil Asbridge Veterans 1 Andy Watkins 2 Peter Clark 3 Mike Turner 4 Bryan Mundy 5 Dave Grimshaw Ladies 1 Kate Harrington Youth 150 1 Jay Littler Youth 125 1 Matt Moffatt 2 Shaun Buchan 3 Scott Clifford 4 Liam Sweeney 5 Liam Rice Youth 85 1 Jamie McCanney 2 Jake Gowan 3 Steve Holcombe 4 David Pearce 5 Nate Watson Youth 65 1 Ben Watson 2 Mark Turner 3 Alfie Rowtell 4 Aaron Coupland 5 Jack Edmondson Culham, Oxfordshire The pen-ultimate round of the 2007 Putoline XC Championship was held at Culham, Oxfordshire, over the weekend. Last year's event was highly successful and the organisers, Fasteddyracing.com, made sure no one was disappointed this year. The pro class finished controversially as Jason Thomas crossed the line in first place, ahead of LPE Kawasaki's Ryan Voase and Maximum Solutions Suzuki's Paul Edmondson, who had never been more than a few yards from each other throughout the race. Thomas crashed out at the first corner of the high-speed start (left) and then rode brilliantly to make up time and take the lead by the second lap. He led for virtually the whole two and a half hours of the race, but an error of judgement on the final lap saw him disqualified for cutting the course. With a 40 second lead he had it in the bag. All the top contenders were posting laps in the region of 9 minutes 30 seconds but Thomas's final lap time was 8 minutes 36 seconds. He did hold his hands up and admit to his mistake but the Clerk of the Course decided on disqualification. The surrounding area had suffered severely in the recent flooding but the course laid out by Paul Edmondson was perfect. Just about 7Km in length, the lap time for the Sunday morning race was generally around 12 minutes while the Pro racers in the afternoon were clocking just under 10 minutes. Fast twisty, flat field sections led into woodland areas, which made the layout well balanced for MX and Enduro riders alike. The Moto-x riders really like Culham, they can take full advantage of the open field sections to gain ground on the Enduro riders who do a little better in the woods, and there was far more woodland this year than last, giving a great balance between the two. The training day, held on Saturday morning was packed to capacity and the Saturday afternoon Youth race was very well attended. The whole weekend was a real scorcher for everyone but the Youth riders put on a great display despite the heat. Jay Littler finally grabbed the elusive victory he had been after for so long in the 150cc class. Joe Jones, always in the reckoning, took second place with Liam Garbett third. The 125cc class saw a great battle between Scott Clifford and Ash Cotterill with under 4 seconds between them at the finish. Karl Brittain took third but was a lap down on the leaders. Only two minutes separated Arron Coupland and Jack Edmondson in the 65cc class. Jordan Pyne completed the podium line-up in third place. Steve Holcom was a lap clear in the 85cc class claiming victory over Marty Coombes in second and Jonathan Jones in third. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear and the temperature rose as the riders took to the line. Over 180 Clubmen, Novice, Vets and Ladies fought the rising temperatures to complete the two-hour ordeal. A this point in the Championship every place counts in each of the classes and many riders had personal battles with other riders in their respective classes but the overall win went to Stu Keedwell. The top 16 riders all finished on the same lap, 11, but the contest in the Clubman 4T class was between Keedwell and Stu Mowbray, who took second overall. Sean O'Neill, Gareth Delahay and Dave Livesey swapped places throughout the race but finished in order, which left Livesey disappointed with his overall performance.
Joe Jones managed to pull a lap on the rest in the Novice 2T class to take an impressive win ahead of a very strung-out field of fellow class riders. Sean Gorvin was next across the line for second place followed by John Batchelor, Freddy Davies and Glen Pettit. Anthony Robson took the class win in the Novice 4T group, riding really hard to complete 10 laps. Wayne Gurnhill chased him down, but couldn't close the two-minute gap Robson had built up. Martin Wiles cruised to third place just under a minute clear of Paul Reed in fourth. Jay Littler, still buzzing from his win in the Youth 150 class, took fifth place. Kate Harrington had some stiff competition in the Ladies class. She toughed out the challenge from Natalie Molyneux and took first overall ahead of Molyneux, second and Leila Moussa third. A large line-up of Veterans saw Richard Main take the win in a hotly contested race where Chris Koch pushed the leader hard for the whole race and was rewarded with second in class. Lindsay Hopkins set the fastest lap time of the race but couldn't get any better than third. Dave Salkeld took fourth, come two minutes clear of Peter Clark in fifth. Mike Willis, usually near the front of the pack, was spotted in a cloud of steam in the woods. He let his ride cool down, got back to the pits, refilled the radiators and went on to finish. Just what you would expect from this tough Welshman.
Thomas's disqualification jumped everyone up a place and Voase took the win with Fast eddy second and Chris Tett, third. Fast eddy's second spot was enough to secure the 2007 Putoline XC Championship title but the runner-up place is still up for grabs. Tom Sagar and Ryan Voase are both in the running and it will all come down to the final round at Jurby on the Isle of Man in October. Jon Hinam nailed the Expert class, a lap clear of second placed Julian Harvey and James Jackman in third. Alister Clarke took fourth, a minute ahead of Barry Kinley in fifth. The Super Clubman class saw Dave Livesey out for his second ride of the day, a glutton for punishment, but third spot was the best he could manage. He led the class for most of the race but on the final pit stop he lost places to the eventual winner Sean Tranter and second placed Mark Perett. The whole weekend ran without a single hiccup and hundreds of spectators dotted the course to cheer riders on as they flagged in the heat. One rider who didn't flag was veteran Motocrosser and Championship rider Marc Spruce. Sprucey is 45 this week and rode the Culham event as his first ever Enduro. He finished the course and rode well but was completely lost for words as he took his helmet off. Later he described the disorientation he felt at the mid-way point and commented that Enduro riders are a different breed. 'I take my hat off to them! They are tougher than tough!' he said, once he had regained his composure. Although the Championship Pro winner is already sorted there is plenty to play for at Jurby on the Isle of Knighter in October. There is still time to practice at the two Putoline XC Fun Events, one in August and one in late September so don't put the bikes away just yet. Photos available from www.foto-x.co.uk Results Pro 1 Ryan Voase 2 Paul Edmondson 3 Chris Tett 4 Darren Wheeler 5 Tim Foreman Expert 1 Jon Hinam 2 Julian Harvey 3 James Jackman 4 Alister Clarke 5 Barry Kinley Super Clubman 1 Sean Tranter 2 Mark Perrett 3 Dave Livesey 4 Dennis Harrison 5 Rich Thompson Clubman 4T 1 Stu Keedwell 2 Stu Mowbray 3 Sean O'Neill 4 Gareth Delahay 5 Dave Livesey Clubman 2T 1 Mark Mealham 2 Paul Wallis 3 Darren Pyne 4 Karl Day 5 Colin Chapman Novice 4T 1 Anthony Robson 2 Wayne Gurnhill 3 Martin Wiles 4 Paul Reed 5 Jay Littler Novice 2T 1 Joe Jones 2 Sean Gorvin 3 John Batchelor 4 Freddy Davies 5 Glen Pettit Ladies and Gentlemen: 1 Kate Harrington 2 Natalie Molyneux 3 Leila Moussa Veterans 1 Richard Main 2 Chris Koch 3 Lndsay Hopkins 4 Dave Salkeld 5 Peter Clark Youth 125cc 1 Scott Clifford 2 Ash Cotterill 3 Karl Brittain 4 Greg Clark 5 Jamie Fenning Youth 150cc 1 Jay Littler 2 Joe Jones 3 Liam Garbett Youth 85cc 1 Steve Holcom 2 Marty Coombes 3 Jonathan Jones 4 Jake Gowan 5 Ben Dowdeswell Youth 65cc 1 Arron Coupland 2 Jack Edmondson 3 Jordan Pyne 4 Ollie Benton 5 Lewis Dowdeswell
The Putoline XC Championship moved lock, stock and barrel to Wales last weekend. The event at Saints Well, Bwlch-y-Sarnau, ran right after the Welsh 2 Day Enduro and attracted plenty of newbies to the series in addition to all the regulars. The Saints Well location has to be one of the best in the series, rivalled only by the final on the Isle of Man. The setting offers a huge variety of terrain from motocross and open fields to tricky woodland tracks and a new wooded area with a special section for the Pro riders. Despite most of the country receiving torrential rain showers, the event had just a few spots and bright sunshine for much of the day, conditions were near perfect on Sunday and the track layout was well though out. Paul 'Fast Eddy' Edmondson, on the Maximum Solutions Suzuki, already had two wins in the series and close rival Ryan Voase, LPE Kawasaki, was ready to take his second win with D-3 Racing/KTM Tom Sagar looking for his first. The Sunday afternoon Pro race saw the addition of a log section in the woods, which caught out many riders who chose to ignore the 'chicken run'. Ednondson was first to it and went through clean followed by Sagar then Voase who had a couple of attempts. They stretched a good lead from the chasing pack and as the race developed the lead changed hands several times. Edmondson has a small fuel tank and had to make at least two stops while Voase and Sagar needed only one and this really made things interesting. All three riders had big crashes as the race neared the finishing time but with 10 minutes left on the clock the positions were sorted, a brief downpour changed the condition somewhat but the effect was not noticed by the top three riders.
The Experts also saw a great two-way duel. Barry Kinley and Jon Hinam were inseparable until the final few laps where Kinley pushed hard to gain nearly three minutes on second placed Hinam. The third of the Three Musketeers, Derek Bawn, followed them in a lap down for third spot while Julian Harvey nearly caught him on the line. James Jackman was the only other Expert on 18 laps and was content to take a solid fifth place. Sean Tranter put a lap between himself and Mark Perrott in the Super Clubman class, to take the win and close his grasp of the Championship series title. Sam Robinson and Gavin Hazlett both clocked 16 laps with Robinson taking third and Hazlett fourth. John Perrott cruised in three laps down on the winner for fifth place. Sunday Morning saw one of the biggest entries so far in this popular series. The short start straight led almost directly on to the motocross section of the track and there were a few crashes as riders went too quickly near the start of a 2-hour race. Charlie Evans battled with Stu Mowbray for most of the race and was eventually the first 4T clubman across the line, followed less than a second later by Mowbray. A really close finish to a fast and exciting race. Dave Livesey had a terrible start and was last off the line, but managed to work his way up to third overall in class pulling nearly six minutes over fourth placed Stu Keedwell. All four clocked 16 laps while fifth placed Tom Neesam nailed 15. The Clubman 2T saw Matt Holcombe pull a clear lap between himself and the rest of the class to take the win and another step towards the overall champion position. Karl Day was left to fight off Mark Mealham for second place and beat him to the line by 16 seconds. Anthony Griffith was a little way behind in fourth but over three minutes clear of Andrew James in fifth. Lloyd Price was the only Novice 4T rider to clock up 15 laps and won with time to spare. Liam Griffith was the best of the rest as a host of riders raced for the line. Anthony Robson just pipped Karl Rees and Kevin Sandland to third spot in what was a very close race.
Genus Motorsport's Dave Grimshaw claimed victory in the Veterans class but Peter Clark kept him hard at it and Grimshaw finished with less than a minute between himself and Clark. Rob Prosser was one of six riders on 15 laps in this hotly contested class, and third place was an excellent result for him. Paul Sagar maintained his pace throughout and was rewarded with fourth in class just ahead of Greg Ogilvie in sixth. As usual, the Youth race had run on the previous day over a shortened course but in much slippier conditions. One of the bridges over the stream became a real hazard and riders were diverted through the water to avoid accidents. Scott Clifford took the 125cc class ahead of Nathan Holtby and then Greg Clarke in third. The 150cc class went to Alex Davies, closely followed by Joe Jones and then Jay Littler while the 85cc class went to Jake Gowan. Steve Holcombe took second with Jonathan Jones third and finally, the 65cc class went to Aaron Coupland with Jordan Pyne second and Jack Edmondson third. Special mention to Katie Grimshaw in her first race as the newest member of the Genus Motorsport team. Well done. A great event, at a great venue. It was very well supported across all classes and for the many first timers to the Putoline XC Championship it will definitely be on their schedule for next season. A large woodland section looks set to be added to the course, which will really make this place stand out for variety of terrain. Results Pro 1 Paul Edmondson 2 Ryan Voase 3 Tom Sagar 4 Rowan Jones 5 Chris
Tett Youth 125cc 1 Scott Clifford 2 Nathan Holtby 3 Greg Clarke
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. It was without doubt the most impressive venue yet in this prestigious Championship Series. A full weekend's activities saw a busy Youth race on Saturday afternoon followed by the Clubmen and Novices on Sunday morning and the Pro, Expert and Super-Clubmen on Sunday afternoon. The weather was wet and windy for the Saturday training session and race but Sunday saw glorious sunshine with no wind which made for near perfect conditions. The series has thrown up three winners from three events in the Pro class. Maximum Solutions' Paul Edmondson (above) took the first, LPE Kawasaki's Ryan Voase the second and Red Bull KTM's David Knight the third, so the Championship was wide open going into the fourth round. The afternoon race saw quite a few DNF's as the morning race had really improved the bog monsters appetite and the going got really tough in a few places.
The leading pair swapped positions a couple of times before Suzuki mounted Edmondson pulled an ever growing lead over Sagar, who had a big crash a one point and was visibly shaken. The D-3 KTM rider hung tough and continued to the chequered flag, a minute and 40 seconds behind the victorious Fast Eddy, both on 18 laps. Sandiford Honda mounted Paul Bolton was a lap down on the leaders but rode exceptionally well to take third place, four minutes ahead of Ryan Voase in fourth. Voase had spent over 5 minutes at one point as he battled with the mythical 'Welsh Bog Monster'. He was well and truly stuck and only survived the bog when his crew found him and helped drag him out.
Genus Motorsport's Chris Tett made his return to enduro following a long spell out with an injury and made the top ten, quite and achievement over such a tough course on his come-back ride. John Wheeler steered his Owen Devlopments Yamaha into 11th spot while PAR Honda, who had a depleted team due to injuries, rider Ash Woods stuck to task and took the newly-developed 250X to a creditable 12th place after shearing his gear lever halfway around the course. He made it back to the pit area and a lengthy search finally saw him back on track but he had lost a lot of time. Special mention must go to Max Nyburg, riding for Maximum Solutions Suzuki. Max regularly flies in from Sweden to compete in the MX2 Championship but this was his first enduro outing and a hard introduction to the sport. He faired well until an 'over-thebars' crash dug the handlebars into his groin and he retired, looking for a cold sponge. The Expert class was no less enthralling. Barry Kinley, on his Knight Yamaha, nailed 16 laps and took the class, a lap clear of the chasing pack. Derek Bawn, second, put himself six minutes clear of Jon Hinam in third while James Jackman took fourth, all on 15 laps. Only a few seconds separated the next five places, all on 14 laps. Stu Day cruised to fifth just ahead of Genus Motorsport's Steve Grimshaw, who was followed in by Craig Bounds six seconds later. Chay Granby took eighth just ahead of Drew Harvey in ninth spot while Tsar Sheane complete the top ten finishers. Martin Jones grabbed the Super-Clubman class and put a lap between himself and second placed Warren Hazlett, who, in turn, was a lap up on brother Gavin in third spot. Anthony Crowe kept pace and finished eight minute behind him to take fourth place while Sam Robinson was a further lap down in fifth. Sunday morning saw a great line-up for the Novice, Clubman and Veterans. It was always going to be tough over such a challenging course but the weather was fine and this certainly helped. AJ Stead was one of only seven riders to make the 13 lap mark. He was the only Clubman 2T rider to do it and he took the class a lap clear of Neil Donoghue in second place. Donoghue was pressed to the line, as his lead was reduced to less than thirty-seconds by Adam Lovett, for third place. The Clubman 4T class saw the top three finish on the same lap but Stu Mowbray maintained a three minute lead to boost his Championship position as Sean O'Neill finished second, nearly two minutes ahead of Gareth Delaney in third. The Novice 2T saw Kev Freeman steer his Gas Gas to victory just ahead of five other riders, all on the same lap. John Holt followed Freeman to the chequered flag just seconds ahead of Chris Lloyd in third. The Novice 4T class had a clear winner as Shaun Buchan got an extra lap in on second placed Wayne Gurnhill who had a minutes grace over third placed Mark Sherry. The Veterans and Ladies class saw some fierce competition as Andy Watkins, Peter Clark and Dave Grimshaw took the top three places. Genus Motorsports Grimshaw started in dead-last but fought his way up to third over the next 13 laps and he was quite chuffed with his performance. Maximum Solution boss Stewart Lines had his first outing as a solo enduro rider and despite having to stop at the mid point of the race for a rear wheel change he continued to the finish for 19th in class, not bad for an old 'un! Saturday's Youth race was no less eventful as showers and sunshine were driven across the course by strong winds. Gary Daniels somehow managed to get in eight laps over the one hour race to win the 125cc class with Nathan Holby second and Greg Clark third while Danni Sutton had an un-opposed run at the 150 class. The Youth 150 4T class went, once again, to Joe Jones with Liam Garbett second and Thomas James third. Jordan Pyne took the 65cc class just ahead of Jack Edmondson with Aaron Coupland third. The 85cc class saw Aaron Paskin nip in for the win 15 seconds ahead of Joe Deakin while Jonathan Jones had to settle for third spot. In addition to the Youth races, Saturday morning saw the debut of yet another Maximum Solutions rider. Jordan Lines had his first taste of the enduro scene and is already asking for a bike upgrade before the next event. This was by far the most challenging round of the Putoline XC Championship so far. The course was superb and varied in terrain and the Fast Eddy Racing crew had put in plenty of hard work to ensure the event ran smoothly. If you missed it, you missed a real treat! Update Tom Sagar/D3 Racing report Results Expert 1 Barry Kinley 2 Derek Bawn 3 Jon Hinam 4 James Jackman 5 Stu Day Super Clubman 1 Martin Jones 2 Warren Hazlett 3 Gavin Hazlett 4 Anthony Crowe 5 Sam Robinson Clubman 2T 1 AJ Stead 2 Neil Donoghue 3 Adam Lovett 4 Mark Mealham 5 Matt Holcomb Clubman 4T 1 Stuart Mowbray 2 Sean O'Neill 3 Gareth Delahay 4 Stu Keedwell 5 Royce Machin Novice 2T 1 Kev Freeman 2 John Holt 3 Chris Lloyd 4 Phil Ball 5 John Batchelor Novice 4T 1 Shaun Buchan 2 Wayne Gurnhill 3 Mark Sherry 4 Liam Beaty 5 Karl Rees Vets & ladies 1 Andy Watkins 2 Peter Clark 3 Dave Grimshaw 4 Steve Davies 5 David Salkeld Youth 125cc 1 Gary Daniels 2 Nathan Holby 3 Greg Clark 150cc 1 Danni Sutton 150cc 4T 1 Joe Jones 2 Liam Garbett 3 Tom James 65cc 1 Jordan Pyne 2 Jack Edmondson 3 Aaron Coupland 85 cc 1 Aaron Paskin 2 Joe deakin 3 Jonathan Jones
World Enduro Champion David Knight returned from the USA to blast his way to victory at the third round of the Putoline XC Championship, held at Whittle farm near Pilsworth, Lancs on Easter Sunday. A full schedule saw a busy weekend for the Fast Eddy Racing crew as Saturday morning training was full to capacity and the Saturday afternoon youth race had forty junior riders battling over the course during their one-hour race. Knighter turned up as a surprise late entry with his tricked out KTM 450 and gave the crowds of onlookers a real treat as he battled with Paul Edmondson and Tom Sagar in the Pro class on Sunday afternoon. The 6km course included a few technical sections that proved the downfall of many riders but the top Pro's really showed how it should be done. A tough wooded section was entered over a deep ditch which most of the Pro's jumped with ease but they made it look much easier than it really was. This section was a huge crowd-puller and hundreds of onlookers gathered to watch the mayhem which ensued as well as the technical skills of Knighter, Edmondson, Sagar an the other Pro's. As both the AM and PM races progressed, the section was cut as riders stacked up waiting to enter the woods, so, with safety in mind, the course was altered slightly, much to the annoyance of many of the top riders who seemed to really enjoy the challenging section. The remainder of the course consisted of fast, open field sections dotted with ditches and deep ruts, which twisted and turned around the venue to give riders a respectable 10 minute lap time, although Knighter posted the fastest lap of the event with a 6.24 once the course was altered.
It is often said that the best Enduro riders come from a Trials background and it was notable that the top three are all excellent trials riders Second round winner Ryan Voase started well and held firm third place but two big crashes saw him retire after seven laps. The ever-present Edward Jones, on his KTM UK 250, nailed 20 laps to take fourth spot, a lap up on PAR Honda's Ash Woods in fifth. Barry Kinley took the Expert class following a close battle with Jamie Paget who eventually took second place. The pair were inseparable for most of the race but Kinley managed to pull nearly three minutes over Paget in the final few laps. John Hinam took third in this very competitive class with James Jackman in fifth and Gavin Houson in sixth all on the same lap and separated by just seven minutes. Rob Taylor tasted victory in the Super Clubman class finishing nearly five minutes clear of second place Warren Hazlett. Hazlett took second just five seconds ahead of Andy Noakley in third while Gavin Hazlett nailed fourth place. All four were on 17 laps while fifth placed Dennis Harrison was just a lap down on the leaders. The Sunday morning race was packed to capacity as 200 hundred riders lined up in five classes for what turned out to be a spectacular race and a real treat for the onlookers. Just three minutes covered the top five riders in the Clubman 2T class. Mark Mealham took the class win two minutes ahead of Dave Wilson in second. The gap between third placed Darren Pyne was only a few seconds with fourth placed Carl Critchlow just five seconds behind and fifth placed Matt Holcome less than a second down on Critchlow. The Clubman 4T saw Stuart Mowbray finish a lap up on nearest rival Sean O'Neill with Dave Livesey taking third spot just ahead of James Harvey in fourth. Dean Sanderland took fifth, two laps down on the winner. Ed Turner just edged ahead of the opposition in the very close Novice 2T class. The top ten riders all posted 13 laps but Turner took the win just three seconds ahead of John Holt with Russell Baker third. Baker has gradually improved his finishing position with each round of the Putoline XC Championship and looks set for a class win soon. David Molyneux was seconds behind in fourth as was Liam Ward in fifth. Anthony Robson nicked the Novice 4T class from Kevin Sanderland by 20 seconds, the two were neck and neck throughout the race but Robson pulled a slight lead over the final three laps. Wayne Gurnhill was a lap down on the leaders but secured third place, just ahead of Dean Short in fourth and Richard Bates in fifth. The Veterans class saw Andy Watkins take the win despite being hard pressed throughout the race by second placed Mark Houson and David Selkeld, third. All three completed 16 laps and finished less than two minutes apart. Roger Dawson and Peter Clark had their own tussle for fourth and fifth spot and three seconds separated them by the chequered flag. Saturday afternoon saw plenty of action as the one-hour Youth race used the full course and provided plenty of entertainment. Four classes saw 42 riders battle their way through the tough, wooded section. Steve Holcomb took the Big Wheel 85cc class with Davd Pearce second and Jake Gowan third while Scott Clifford won the competitive 125cc class with Josh Taylor close behind in second and Gary Daniels third. Joe Jones once again ran away with the 150cc class, a lap up on closest rival Liam garbett in second. Jay Littler took a crediable third place. The 65cc class went to Arron Coupland with Oliver Benton in second and Jack Edmondson third. This was a spectacular event. The crowds gave the place a real buzz and Knighter turning up just added to the atmosphere for the Pro race. Three events and three different Pro class winners means the Putoline XC Championship is wide open at the mid-way point. KTM D3-Racing media information Event: Fast Eddy XC rd 3, 8th April, Pilsworth, Bury, Lancashire Knighter returns to Fast Eddy Round 3 of the Fast Eddy cross-country championship was held on the Pilsworth MX circuit and adjoining farm land, the event was honored with the return of Multi World Enduro champ David Knight. This was a last minute decision for David because of his busy schedule in America and surprised many, especially the regular front runners who suddenly had another contender. The circuit was mostly open grassy fields and very easy like a big mx track but at the end of each lap a wooded section with a few mud holes , each lap would take just over 6 minutes to complete, not that the course was short but the average speed quite high. The four fastest riders took the start with Eddy leading from Voase, Sagar and Knighter, quickly as expected Knighter took control at the front but what wasn't expected was that Fast Eddy had him under pressure for many laps, Eddy looked to be riding very well, and the speed of the front runners kept the many spectators very interested. The two front runners pulled about a 100 metre gap on both Voase and Tom. Several laps in and Ryan had two bad crashes and had to pull out, Tom who had crashed the day before was struggling with allot of pain in his legs and just to be content with holding onto his 3rd position, 4th place was over a lap behind such was the pace of Eddy, DK and Tom. Just before the one hour mark eddy pitted for fuel and Knighter then broke loose, David was warming up now and put in some blistering laps to make sure no one would get any where near him. Tom took just one pit stop on his 2 stroke at the 1½ hour mark, he asked how far back 4th position was and could he slow his pace a little because of the pain in his legs. Although with the pressure off he looked to go just as quick. By the finish DK took the win by around 3 minutes with Eddy second and another solid 3rd position for Tom.
Pro 1 David Knight 2 Paul Edmondson 3 Tom Sagar 4 Edward Jones 5 Ash Wood 6 Dylan Jones 7 Darren Wheeler 8 Darren Carter 9 Andrew Edwards 10 Justin Wilson Expert 1 Barry Kinley 2 Jamie Paget 3 Jon Hinam 4 James jackman 5 Gavin Housin Super Clubman 1 Rob taylor 2 Warren Hazlett 3 Andy Noakley 4 Gavin Hazlett 5 Dennis Harrison Clubman 2T 1 Mark Mealham 2 David Wilson 3 Darren Pyne 4 Carl Critchlow 5 Matt Holcombe Clubman 4T 1 Stuart Mowbray 2 Sean O'Neill 3 Dave Livesey 4 James Harvey 5 Dean Sanderland Novice 2T 1 Ed Turner 2 John Holt 3 Russell Baker 4 David Molyneux 5 Liam Ward Novice 4T 1 Anthony Robson 2 Kevin Sanderland 3 Wayne Gurnhill 4 Dean Short 5 Richard Bates Vets & Ladies 1 Andy Watkins 2 Mark Houson 3 David Selkeld 4 Roger Dawson 5 Peter Clark Youth 65cc 1 Arron Coupland 2 Oliver Benton 3 Jack Edmondson 4 Henry Williams 85cc Big Wheel 1 Steve Holcomb 2 David Pearce 3 Jake Gowan 4 Jonathan Jones 5 Jim Lycett 125cc 1 Scott Clifford 2 Josh Taylor 3 Gary Daniels 4 David Hathaway 5 Ross Benton 150cc 1 Joe Jones 2 Liam Garbett 3 Jay Littler 4 Tom James 5 James Smith
LPE Kawasaki's Ryan Voase (left) was a very happy chappie last Sunday. He rode magnificently to take his first win at a Putoline XC Championship round, beating Paul Edmondson in the process. The second round of the Putoline XC Championship took place last weekend at Boreton Farm near Shrewsbury. A massive entry and dozens of spectators gave the event a real buzz. The trade area was far bigger than usual and Derek Edmondson really made an impression with a Dakar race truck next to his KTM stand. Big, open fields really gave riders the chance to have a blast and none more so than Voase, who won the Pro class on his XK250, by over two minutes from nearest rival Paul Edmondson on his Maximum Solutions Off-Road RM250. Good weather throughout the weekend had left the course in perfect condition and despite a few ruts appearing it rode well and had a bit of everything. The course was fast. Plenty of field sections, which suited those from a Moto-x background, plus a few jumps, whoops, twisty wooded areas and a stream which was crossed twice but not in the usual manner. Paul Edmondson gave due consideration to environmental issues and arranged for two bridges to be constructed by Rob Garbett and his crew from Scaffold Services, who did a very impressive job. The whoops section really sorted out the men from the boys and attracted many spectators for some impressive displays of aerobatics. The stream claimed one victim who will remain nameless, how he did it we will never know! The weekend started with a training session, which was, once again, fully booked. Once training was over the afternoon on Saturday was dedicated to the Youth race, which held four classes. In the 150 4T class, Joe Jones pulled a lap on the rest with another impressive win. Aaron Paskin took second with Liam Garbett taking third. The 125 class went to Scott Clifford, followed by Shaun Buchan then Max Woon. The 85cc class was won by Steve Holcolm with Jake Gowan second and Ben Howell third, all on nine laps. The 65cc class once again went to Jordan Pyne. Aaron Coupland took second and Henry Williams third. Sunday saw a massive line-up of riders for the morning race as five classes stacked the start straight to capacity. In the Clubman 2T class, Matt Holcombe never let up during his charge to the overall win. He was the only rider in class to post 14 laps. Simon Bladwin came in second ahead of a host of riders a lap down on the winner. Paul Sleight nailed third spot. The Clubman 4T was close, the top six riders all finished on 14 laps. Stuart Mowbray led them home with Dave Livesey second and Kev Rogers third. The Novice 2T class was also tight, the top ten were all on the same lap. Mark Hughes put a three-minute gap between himself and Nick Moss in second to take the class win. Lewis Belfield was home a minute later in third. The Novice 4T went to Anthony Robinson who was a lap up on the chasing pack. Paul Read took second place, closely followed by Dean Short in third. The Vets saw Mike Willis take the win. Willis may qualify for the Vets on age but his ability would see him in the top three of the Clubman 4T class, which he contested last year. Peter Clark, second, and David Selkeld, third, all matched Willis on laps but couldn't catch the wily Welshman. Kate Harrington once again won the ladies class. Sunday afternoon saw the biggest ever line-up for the Pro, Expert, Super Clubman race. The Pro line-up had attracted some big names once again, Edmondson, Voase, Sagar, Woods, Carter, Special Greg Evans, Edward Jones, Fraser, Wheeler, Warner and the rest of the Jones boys.
The Experts saw Luke Meredith post 18 laps for a well-deserved class win. He was nearly a minute clear of Jon Hinam in second place and three minutes clear of James Painton in third. Barry Kinley and Rob Reese completed the top five, all on 18 laps. The Super Clubman race was the largest to date. Entries had grown significantly since the opening round of the Championship. All of the top five riders completed 17 laps and were separated by just three minutes. Amazingly, Dave Livesey, who had taken second place in the Clubman 4T in the Morning race, took the class win. Two races in one day, four and a half hours of riding, and this guy nailed first place ahead of some sharp competition. Sean Tranter followed him to the flag just 11 seconds behind for second spot while Neil Chatham took third place 11 seconds later. Once again the Putoline XC Championship produced some excellent racing and the venue was outstanding, as was the organisation and running of the event. The weather was good and the atmosphere electric, especially during the Pro race on Sunday afternoon. A great job by Fasteddyracing.com Tom Sagar's Report Ryan Voase's Report Steve Ireland's Report Scottish Riders Report by Campbell Chatham Photos from http://www.foto-x.co.uk
Pro Class 1 Ryan Voase LPE Kawasaki 2 Paul Edmondson Maximum Solutions Suzuki 3 Tom Sagar D-3 Racing KTM (left) 4 Ashley Woods PAR Honda 5 Darren Carter PAR Honda 6 Greg Evans Mounter KTM 7 Edward Jones KTM UK 8 Mike Kock Maximum Solutions 9 Rowan Jones Morris Lubricants Yamaha 10 Andrew Edwards One 11 KTM Experts 1 Luke Meredith 2 Jon Hinam 3 James Painton 4 Barry Linley 5 Rob Reese Super Clubman 1 Dave Livesey 2 Sean Tranter 3 Neil Chatham 4 Sam Robinson 5 Adam Smith Clubman 2T 1 Matt Holcombe 2 Simon Baldwin 3 Paul Sleight 4 Jon Pucci 5 Andrew Fletcher Clubman 4T 1 Stuart Mowbray 2 Dave Livesey 3 Kevin Rogers 4 Sean O'Neill 5 Stu Keedwell Novice 2T 1 Mark Hughes 2 Nick Moss 3 Lewis Belfield 4 Ryan Hunt 5 Russel Baker Novice 4T 1 Anthony Robson 2 Paul Read 3 Dean Short 4 Mark Sherry 5 Liam Garbett Vets 1 Mike Willis 2 Peter Clark 3 David Selkeld 4 Dave Grimshaw 5 Steven Davies Ladies 1 Kate Harrington 2 Liela Mousa Youth 125cc 1 Stuart Clifford 2 Shaun Buchan 3 Max Woon 4 Jamie Carroll 5 Scott Hughes Youth 150cc 4T 1 Joe Jones 2 Aaron Paskin 3 Liam Garbett 4 Jay Littler 5 Billy Robinson Youth 65cc 1 Jordan Pyne 2 Aaron Coupland 3 Henry Williams 4 Oliver Benton 5 Jack Edmondson Youth 85cc 1 Steve Holcolm 2 Jake Gowan 3 Ben Howell 4 Jim Lycett 5 Joe Deakin
The opening round of the 2007 Putoline XC Championship blasted off to a spectacular start last weekend. Nearly 100 riders in the Pro/Expert afternoon race and 250 in the Clubman/Novice/Vets morning race saw virtually a full line up for this high profile Championship Series. Maximum Solutions Off Road Team rider Paul Edmondson (left) won the Pro class in style on his standard spec Suzuki RM 250, giving Suzuki their first major win for many a season. Fast Eddy held off LPE Kawasaki's Ryan Voase who rode like a man possessed, and pushed Edmondson hard throughout the race. D-3 Racings KTM mounted Tom Sagar battled his way to third with PAR Homes Honda rider Shane Carless fourth. The event, which was held at Buildwas Leisure Park near Ironbridge in Shropshire, was originally scheduled to run at nearby Boreton Farm but heavy rain throughout the preceding week meant a last minute change of venue. The decision was made to change on Wednesday, which left only two days to prepare the course and the whole of the Fast Eddy Racing crew dug deep and worked hard, then walked around with fingers crossed throughout the weekend, but it worked! They pulled it off in fine style. Buildwas has seen many Enduro events, but nothing on the scale of the Putoline XC Championship. Three hundred and thirty riders on Sunday and forty plus on Saturday, made parking very tight but riders understood about the last minute change and complied with parking directions. The venue packed to overflowing. The hard-standing area accommodated most of the rider's vehicles and an unlucky few had to park on the grass but help was on hand to tow them out. Never has so much of the terrain been used as part of the course as at this event. A motorcross section, several wooded sections, long (muddy) straights and pools all added to the challenge with some very tricky bits thrown in as extras on for the top riders. The Youth race on Saturday saw a shortened course to help riders cope with the very muddy conditions. Four classes were contested and all riders struggled to come to terms with the mud but surprisingly there were very few DNF's. Jordan Pyne took the 65cc class withDylan Bainton second and Aaron Coupland third. In the large 85cc class Ben Howell took first, ahead of Joe Deakin second and Jonathon Jones third. The 125cc's went to Scott Hughes followed by Scott Clifford and Nathan Holby and the 150cc's was won by Joe Jones with Liam Garbett second and Aaron Paskin third. Sunday's course was greatly enlarged and still had more than it's fair share of mud but the Sunday afternoon race had a few extra loops for the Pro, Exert and Super Clubman riders. Sunshine throughout the afternoon dried the track out and conditions were excellent, for February! Sunday afternoon saw a quality bunch of riders line up for the Pro class. Paul Edmondson was out for the first time on his Maximum Solutions Off Road Suzuki RM 250, despite feeling really ill an hour before the race. Ryan Voase on the LPE Kawasaki. PAR Homes Honda had the MX squad out; Bradshaw, Smith, Carless and Yarranton plus Ash Wood and Darren Carter from the Enduro fold. D-3 Racing's KTM mounted WEC contender Tom Sagar, Yamaha/Morris Lubricants had the Jones boys out, plus AMCA MX Champion Brad O'Leary and AMCA Championship rider Charlie Hollis. Edmondson led from the start with LPE Kawasaki's Voase just a wheels length behind him.
Voase really pushed the pace but Edmondson held the lead for most of the race, Voase passed him briefly but Fast Eddy was determined to win on his new Suzuki. Ryan Voase: ''I really enjoyed the race. I had a good start and a good race with Ed for the first hour. I got by him then got roosted really badly and everything got heavy. I had to throw my goggles then led for a lap or so. The race got faster as the time went on but I was really pleased with my result. Ed is a quality rider and to beat him at his own event will be difficult. The track was great, very challenging with a bit of everything in it.' Edmondson posted the only sub six minute lap of the day and went on to win with 25 laps and a four minute lead over Voase in second place. D-3 Racings Tom Sagar had to battle his way through the field and pulled his way to third place by the finish line, four minutes down but he had an excellent ride. Tom Sagar: 'This was a good result for me. I'm not really very good at these Hare and Hounds events but I wanted to try and get a few good results in before the World Championships started. The course was good and as it dried out and roughed up, it really suited my style which is why I got faster as the race went on.' Par Homes Honda's Shane Carless nailed 23 laps to take fourth spot with Fast Eddy Racings Mike Kock three minutes behind in fifth. Brad O'Leary was once again struck by bad luck as a puncture put him out of the running: ''I was doing alright, I picked a few off and was up to eighth place when I had a puncture. I was really enjoying it. I didn't bother to go to look at the wood section this morning and I realise now that maybe I should have because when I got over there it was absolute carnage. The track was good and considering it was all very last minute they did a hell of a good job'. The Experts saw KTM mounted Jon Hinam take the top spot some three minutes ahead of Rob Reece, the pair had battled together throughout the race but Hinam pulled a lead in the dying stages. Gethin Price came in a minute later for third place with Lincoln Brewster fourth, all on 21 laps. Shane Lewis took fifth, a lap down on the class leaders. The new Super Clubman class had 28 entries and was won by Martin Jones on 19 laps and three minutes over closest rival Barry Furber in second. Craig Reynolds and Sean Tranter swapped placed a couple of times but Reynolds got an etxra lap in to take third, pushing Tranter to fourth while Jim Buchanan rode well in a very competitive class to take fifth.
The Sunday morning line-up was huge. Six classes were on the line for the 10.00am start, Clubman 4t and 2T, Novice 4T and 2T, Veterans and Ladies. The opening few laps were a struggle for many as the bunched-up pack got stuck at a few points around the course, but a few changes to the layout helped considerably and as the 2 hour race progressed conditions improved slightly and the racing hotted up. Simon Douglas led the Clubman 2T class home with a two-minute margin over AJ Stead in second. Mike Evans was a lap down on the leaders but took third overall in class. The Clubman 4T saw Stuart Mowbray two laps clear of second placed Simon Jones while last years 4T Champion Dave Livesey was down in third place on a borrowed bike. He put this down to lack of race fitness and age. The Novice riders struggled in places. The top 2T rider was Marcus Jones who pulled a two-lap lead over Alan Mugglestone in second place. Third placed John Batchelor was a further lap down. The Novice 4T title went to Dean Sandland. He completed 16 laps, one more than Gene Morgan in second and two more than Justin Evans in third.
Dave Grimshaw on the Veterans race: 'The race went very well. It was a challenge to start with but the track started to dry out after 45 minutes and from then on it was very good. The bike went well and I really enjoyed the race. I'm happy with second place'. A few people had to wait to be towed out but, all in all, the event ran well. The muddy conditions didn't suit some riders but the majority took it in their stride. Despite this dip Max Woon went on to finish 5th in the Youth 125 class. The Novice, Clubman and Veterans looked on enviously as the Pro and Expert class enjoyed a much drier track for the afternoon race. Boreton Farm is next on the schedule and a few dry weeks will ensure a good outing there on a completely new course. Solid 3rd position at Fast Eddy XC
The venue had seen allot of rain recently and the track looked very slick and clay based, the organizers due to bad weather had to switch venues at the last minute and in the time they had did a great job with a superb track. The circuit looked very quick and mostly of motocross style, not really best suited to tom who prefers the tougher stuff but ideal for him to improve his technique on this type of terrain. Unfortunately the start area was very small and Tom had to start from the 2nd row of the pro class. As usual Fast Eddy was in the lead after about 4 corners with ex motocrosser Ryan Voase in tow, Tom was getting filled in back in about 10th position. Tom had never raced here before so he needed a few laps to get familiar with the circuit and to try and make ground. After a few laps he settled into 5th with a close battle between Ed Jones, Mike Kock and Tom. After the hour mark Tom started to build speed and his brand new KTM 250 was starting to loosen up and he moved up into 3rd. The leaders had a good lead at this stage of around 3 minutes and Tom was lapping in just over 6 minutes at a similar pace to the first two, so it was now just a case of holding position until the flag. During the last half hour Fast Eddy was really pushing hard and had lapped up to 4th and had Tom in his sights, Tom was determined not to get lapped and lifted his pace and actually in the last few laps pulled a little from Eddy. It had been a good return to the series and Tom really enjoyed the event and is looking forward to the next round were he hopes to mix it with the leaders using the experience gained from this round. Next Event: 25th January, Muntjack Enduro, Thetford D3-Racing Team Sponsors: Van Bodies Lancaster Ltd, Insight Consultants, KTM UK , Triple-D Motopsport Ltd, Metzeler, Motorex, Acerbis, Scott, Sidi, Airoh, KTM Powerwear, Renthal,Regina, WP Suspension, PG Graphics. Results Pro Expert Super Clubman Clubman 2T Clubman 4T Ladies Novice 2T Novice 4T Veterans Youth 65cc Youth 85cc Youth 125cc Youth 150cc 2007 Putoline XC Series |
Saturday was not so lucky as the wind and rain returned for the
Putoline XC Tough One Iron Giant Extreme Beach Race Hurricane
Championship where points were awarded simply for standing up, something
which few riders actually managed.
Jack
Edmondson had already wrapped up the 65cc class but he was determined to
finish the series in style and took his class by a clear lap over second
placed Oli Benton who headed a pack of riders on 12 laps. Reece Crelin
and Alex Walton were virtually inseparable taking third and fourth
respectively while Leo Denith took fifth, a lap down on the leaders.
Peter Clarke and Keith Patstone were close throughout the race in the
Vets and Ladies class but it was Clarke who pulled a gap on the final
lap to take the win as Patstone happily took second ahead of a charging
Chris Ball in third. Gary Kirby, fourth, had a comfortable lead over
Robbie Quayle in fifth and held it to the finish line.
Manxman
Matt Moffatt (top left) continued the islands strong enduro record by
winning the Pro class with ease ahead of Matt Mund and Andrew Edwards.
James Jackman, (left) a Pro contender all season long, had a tough race
and settle for a fourth place finish and second overall in the
Championship behind Tim Foreman, who followed him in fifth place on the
day.
Results
It was tough and challenging to the extreme but those who managed to
dig deep were rewarded with the satisfaction of having completed
possibly the toughest Putoline XC Championship event of all time.
Organiser Paul Edmondson was pleased to see so many finishers over such
a tough course, confirming his belief that riding standards are
definitely improving.
Putoline
XC Youth Championship
A light
shower at the start of the Sunday race did nothing to dampen enthusiasm
as the riders blasted off the start line. A long, looping start section
suddenly narrowed to a steep downhill section as the riders entered the
first of three wooded sections, which took their toll on several unwary
contestants.
Foreman
took the overall win but it was a resurgent Jack Twentyman (left) who
cruise into second place and won the Expert class. All of the top ten
riders were on 21 laps and the next closest Expert, Gareth Hopkins,
finished in eighth spot behind a handful of hard charging Vets and
Superclubmen. Scotlands Drew Harvey nailed the number three spot in the
Experts ahead of Scot Hayworth and Tsar Sheane.
Scott
Clifford, Mark Mealham and James Gidding topped the Superclubman class
with Clifford winning ahead of Giddings and Mealham, all on 21 laps,
with Dan Bevan (right) and Dave Grimshaw completing the top five.
Rich
Lewis topped the Novice 4T class, beating Jim Fitszimmons by seconds.
Chris Stemp, Ben Butler and Mark Beresford completed the top five. Kev
Sandland (right) headed the Novice 2T's a minute up on second placed
Johnny Jones and Alec Trawford in third. Brett Richman cruised to fourth
ahead of Rich Day in fifth.
The
Saturday morning training session was well attended with the majority
of riders also entered in the youth races, which followed on Saturday
afternoon. The youth entry was up on previous events. The two way
battle in the 125-150 class continued between Scott Clifford and
Johnny Jones with Clifford claiming victory as he posted 16 laps to
Jones 15. Chris Evans rode strongly to third place as Seb Bashford
and Tom James took fourth and fifth. Jack Edmondson took the 65cc
class by a stroke of luck as Oli Benton, who was just in the lead on
the final lap, binned it to let Jack Eddy through for the win. Benton
took second, a lap up on third placed Alex Walton who held off Luke
Rudd in fourth and Ieuan Morgan in fifth. Fraiser Flockhart (right)
and Joe Wooton were neck and neck but Flockhart pulled a gap on the
final lap to take the win, and second in the race overall, from
Wooton as Dominic Thomas and Sophie Thomas followed them home. Andrew
Bull completed the top five.
Sunday
morning was a little overcast but the start was dry. Unfortunately a
rain shower just after the start slicked thing up but the course was
unaffected and easily manageable for most riders. Vet rider Christian
Walton lead the field to the chequered flag at the end of this 2-hour
race. He took the Vets and Ladies class win by quite a margin over
Peter Clarke who was a lap down on 14 laps. KP Equipe's Keith
Padstone clung on to a well deserved third spot ahead of Lindsay
Hopkins in fourth and Dave Mead, fifth. Shaun Buchan and Chris Price
were never far apart in the Clubman 2T class but Buchan just pulled a
slight lead on the final lap to take the win with Price second and
Anthony Griffith third. Martin Pearce and Marc Evans took the fourth
and fifth spots. Jonathan Evans nailed the Clubman 4T win, but had to
work hard to keep ahead of second placed Lee Hattersley and third
placed Richard Cookland, all on 14 laps. Gareth Delahay took a solid
fourth place, pushing Stu Keedwell to fifth. Kev Sandland had his
work cut out keeping Alec Trawford at bay, but he managed to doit for
13 laps as he took the Novice 2T win, putting Trawf into second
overall while Danny Morris took third ahead of Rob Hending in fourth
and Johnny Jones fifth. The Novice 4T's saw Richard Lewis (left)
claim victory, a lap up on nearest rival and second place Ryan Leary
who had Mark Beresford breathing down his neck in third spot. Jim
Fitzimmonds claimed fourth just ahead of a tiring Gav Faircloth in
fifth.
The
afternoon race suffered slightly from a torrential downpour right at
the start which added to the difficulty for the Pro, Expert and
Super-clubman riders, in addition to the extra woodland loop and log
section thrown in for good measure. With Fast Eddy out through a hand
injury picked up in the Welsh 2 Day, the Pro field was wide open. Tim
Foreman (top) and Darren Carter took the 2hours 30-minute race to the
line with nothing between them throughout the race. Foreman just took
the win by the narrowest of margins from Carter in second while James
Jackman and Lincoln Brewster batteld for third and fourth places.
Jackman had the edge slightly and nipped in ahead of Brewster at the
flag. Craig Reynolds took a convincing win ahead of Jack Twentyman in
the Expert class. Both riders had really gone balls out throughout
the race but it was Reynolds who triumphed. Si Thomas claimed third
place while Jonathan Hayman took fourth ahead of Scotland the Braves
Drew Harvey in fifth. James Gidding (right) barely put a foot wrong
in the Super-Clubman class and consequently victory was his. Lewis
Bellfield jusy beat out Carl Critchlow for second place as James
Harvey cruised to fourth ahead of Adam Reynolds in fifth. Richard
Main was as solid as ever in the Vets Over 35 class and once again
took the win. Jason Kendrick-Jones fought off Dennis Harrison for
second spot, pushing Harrison to third.
125-150 1 Scott Clifford 2 Johnny Jones 3 Chris Evans 4 Seb Bashford
5 Tom James
Putoline
XC Championship Round 3
Jon
Hinam's form improves with every outing and he was really going well
as he managed to hold on to fourth spot and keep a good 30-second gap
between himself and James Jackman in fifth place.
Karl Day
(left) loved every minute of his race, along with Steve Holcombe
this pair led their class from the word 'Go'. Seventeen laps later
there was just a minute and a half between the two with Day
triumphant and Holcombe second. Keith Jones and Trevor Jones had
their own private tussle for third and fourth spots. In the final
stages Keith put the hammer down and pulled a very slight gap to take
third pushing Trevor to fourth and James Burrows to fifth.
As
the Pro's lines up to lead the race off, there were three favoured
winners, Jason Thomas (left), Ray Rowson and Shane Careless. All
three are fast and Thomas, on a brand new Relentless Suzuki, had won
several events leading up to this outing. Paul Edmondson was missing
from the line-up. He never intended to enter the opening round of the
Championship series but he had his work cut out managing the event.
Results
Putoline XC Youth Series
Jack
Edmondson lead the 65cc Kids class for quite a while but eventually
the hard-riding Henry Williams (left) overtook him and kept the lead
to the flag. Jack Eddy took second and Oliver Benton third, only
seconds ahead of Jordan Saunders in fourth. The top four all managed
8 laps while fifth placed William Puntney was two laps down on the
leaders.
There
is nowhere to rest at Jurby and a momentary lack of concentration will
cost you dear. Balance and control are everything and no one demonstrated
this more aptly than Fast Eddy himself. With the Championship title
already in his pocket he was last off the line in the Saturday afternoon
Pro, Expert and Super Clubman race. The class entry included quite a few
top MX boys who ripped it up and initially gave Eddy a run for his money.
Barry
Kinley and Jon Hinam (left) were locked in their usual duel for
superiority in the Expert class. Kinley sneaked a lap on Hinam to take
first place but Hinam was solid as ever in second. James Jackman, third,
also managed to get an extra lap in on Ryan and Derek Bawn who were
chasing for fourth and fifth places.
Putoline XC Championship
Mark Mealham was the top Clubman 2T runner but Paul Wallis gave him a
real run for his money finishing less than 10 seconds behind him in second
place. Darren Pyne took third in class ahead of Karl Day, fourth, and
Colin Chapman in fifth, all had completed 11 laps of the fast, tough
course. Lance Hurdsman (left) was flying and well up in the rankings when he ran
out of petrol a few hundred yards from the finish line. He pushed his bike
in the baking heat to take 19th in class as the field streamed past him.
Bad luck!
As the temperature rose the Pro, Expert and Super Clubman riders lined
up for a gruelling two and a half hours which would test them to the
maximum.. The pros were first off the line and they were fast. Jason
Thomas went down at the first corner and the field left him for dead but
he recovered well and stormed to the front of the pack. Behind him Ryan
Voase and Paul Edmondson battled for places and switched positions
throughout the race. Genus Motorsport's Chris Tett held fourth spot to the
finish, although he was a lap down on the leading three riders. Darren
Wheeler was a minute behind Tett, in fifth place with Tim Forman breathing
down his neck in sixth.
Putoline
XC Championship '07 Rd5 at Saints Well, Bwlch-y-Sarnau
Edmondson
won with time to spare. He pulled nearly three minute from Voase (left) in
second while Sagar (right) was just beaten by the clock and finished a lap
down on the leaders. Rowan Jones took fourth spot following a great battle
with Genus Motorsport's Chris Tett in fifth, Jones stretched the gap to
three minutes by the finish but they had been close throughout the race.
The
Novice 2T had a really interesting line up. The top five all finished on
the same lap with Martin Pearce two minutes clear of Adrian Coyle in
second place. Suzuki's Hadrian Garle (left) and Maximum Solutions Stewart
Lines really should have been in the Veterans class but they toughed it
out with the youngsters and did well, Lines took third and Garle fourth.
Garle unknowingly stopped to pick Lines up near the finish and gave him
third place in the process. Chris Wagstaffe completed the top five
line-up, finishing some five minutes behind Garle.
The
Putoline XC Championship '07
As
the Pro's blasted off the line around a fast right-hander then up a farm
track, Edmondson and Voase were neck-and-neck. They both chose different
routes around the first big bog section and as they cleared it they came
together and both went to the deck. D-3 Racings Tom Sagar (left) took full
advantage and put some distance between himself and the chasing pack as a
dozen riders streamed past the fallen riders. Edmondson, on his Maximum
Solutions Suzuki 250, was first to re-mount and was back up to second
place by the end of the first lap.
As
usual the Yamaha/Morris Lubricants Jones boys were well up the field with
Rowan finishing fifth, 30 seconds after Voase, and brother Dylan (left) a
further lap down in sixth. Andrew Edwards, seventh, Tim Foreman, eighth
and Lincoln Brewster in ninth place were all on the same lap and chasing
hard.
Putoline
XC Championship '07 Round 3
Maximum
Solutions Offroad team Suzuki
mounted Paul Edmondson was hot on his heels for most of the 22 laps of the
two and a half hour race, and did surprisingly well to keep Knighter in
his sights although by the finish there was a four minute gap between the
two. D-3 racings Tom Sagar rode well on his KTM and avoided trouble to
cruise in third, a lap down on the leaders.
Results
Putoline XC Championship '07 Round 2 Boreton Farm
Organised by Fast Eddy Racing - 11th
March
The
Pro's were first off the line and Mike Kock nailed the holeshot and led
for most of the lap but had to pit-stop to adjust his rear brakes. Ryan
Voase took control and led for the next lap only to be passed by Paul
Edmondson (left). Eddy slipped up when he got cross-rutted and fell off
(yes, he does fall of just occasionally, just like the rest of us!), and
Voase took the lead. He began to stretch the distance between himself and
Edmondson and finished the race some two minute thirty seconds clear and a
lap up on 20 laps. Edmondson took second but D-3 Racings Tom Sagar pushed
his KTM to within 13 seconds of Eddy for third place. PAR Honda riders Ash
Woods and Darren Carter took fourth and fifth.
Results
Putoline XC Championship '07
Round 1 - Buildwas Leisure Park
17/18th February
Paul Edmondson: 'This was the first win for Maximum Solutions Off Road
and the first off-road win for many years for a Suzuki. It was amazing.
The bike is bog standard! An hour before the start I was in doubt if I
would make the line, I felt so ill. As he start time approached I decided
to give it a go and although I was first off the line Ryan Voase was
alongside me (photo: left). I was surprised at his pace and was hoping he wasn't going
to keep it up throughout the race. He passed me at one point but I
regained the lead and as the conditions improved I dug deep to really get
some distance between us but I was glad to see the finish on this outing!'
Kate Harrington took the top Ladies spot, she was competing on her own
in this class while the Veterans had many familiar faces from last years
Clubman line-up. Steve Davies pulled out a one minute lead over Dave
Grimshaw, but both completed 18 laps, one up on John Lofthouse in third.
This
weekend the D3-racing team returned to the Fast Eddy XC series after a 3
years absence, Tom by his own admission has never really enjoyed 3 hour
racing as much as Enduro’s but this is the growing side of the sport and
as they say practice makes perfect. The entry included several very
experienced GNCC riders and even a few top level British motocross riders
including Wayne Smith and Neville Bradshaw so we were using the event as
training to help Tom build his speed and confidence with his new KTM.