Enduro News - Bradley King

Bradley King

Brad's Bump

Whilst out practicing on the Saturday following the Muntjac I took a spill which has put me out for a while. I went to Hentsridge motox track to help improve my sppeeeeed but unfortunately I went a bit to hot through the whoops section, lost control and faceplanted the next jump. Although i can't remember anything from an hour before till the afternoon of the accident, I'm told it was a hard hit and I was knocked out for 10 minutes. I believe I was taken straight from the track to Dorchester hospital via air ambulance ( which is conveniently situated next to the track! ) I was then given full scans and it was found that my brain had swollen but no serious long lasting damage was done! I also had some x-rays on my right shoulder which i injured in 2008 but it was found that nothing was broken - just muscle damage. I had to stay in hospital for 2 1/2 days and was then allowed home to recover.

I'm now at home although have been signed off work for a while because i kept getting very tired and needing sleep plus when awake i lose concentration easily and lose track of time. My shoulder is also very painful but thankfully my family has been very supportive. It is looking likely that I'm going to miss round 2 of the British champs in Scotland as well as round 1 of the British Sprint Championships that i was really looking forward to. I'm hoping to still attend these events to watch and learn.

I'd like to that everyone that has helped me at the track and since the accident and Si Wakely for taking me and for bringing my bike back. Im hoping to return to racing asap once my head is back on track and my shoulders repaired. thanks. i have attached a pic of me on Saturday before the accident

Brad king - enduro and hare scrambles on GAS GAS UK EC300 - www.bradking25.webs.com - supported by GAS GAS UK, K4OFFROAD, TALON, STEVE PLAIN M/CS, MICHELIN, GAERNE, RENTHAL, MOTUL, KRIEGA, SMITH, ONE HELMETS, EVOKE CONCEPTS and ROGERSHILL RACEWAY

2nd place at the Brass Monkey Enduro

The brass monkey enduro made its return having not been run for many years. Id been looking forward to this event as i can remember watching my dad ride it a long time ago! I walked the test on Saturday and it was looking awesome! it took me nearly 2 hours to walk! it was mostly through twisty woods with some ditches and river crossing plus a nice stubble field section. An ace test defo one of the best i have seen. We arrived Sunday and the weather was perfect. The test wasn't timed on lap 1 so i used the chance to try some new lines through the ditches but decided that on the timed runs the safer options would probably be best. There were two time-checks on lap one with the test, some road work and some really nice woodland going. the second check got tighter every lap with abit of everything. I struggled to get to grips with the test on the first timed lap. I was making too many mistakes over the roots and through the trees and it was more slippery than i expected. still i managed to set the second fastest time although a long way behind Chris dustow. The 2ND test i was feeling alot better until i had a big moment when my back wheel hit an unseen stump that sent me flying off course through the tapes nearly taking out Sophie Thomas who was marshaling! A quick donut back onto the test and i was going again but struggled to get back onto the pace. I finished off the last laps trouble free and managed to make the time on the checks although couldn't improve on my test times.

I really enjoyed the event and apart from some small trouble with my back my fitness felt good after 6 1/2 hours riding. After after the muntjac i will be practising hard to improve my mud riding ready for the welsh events. Id like to say well done and thanks to all those involved in organising such a great event I'm looking forward to the next one already. This coming weekend i will training hard ready for round1 of the BEC the following weekend.

On August 14th whilst setting up my gasgas for the Slovakian round of the European enduro championship I had a big crash causing a double fracture to the thoracic vertebrae in my back. I spent 5 days in a Slovakian hospital but luckily I had the company of my dad and also the other British riders. I was then transferred back to England and spent over a week in Dorchester hospital on bedrest. I’ve now been fitted with a brace which has allowed me to go home and walk about. Im obviously gutted to have been ruled out for the rest of the season and especially the isde. I’m looking forward to getting back on a bike and preparing for next season but in the mean time im hoping to get out and watch as many races as possible and hopefully still go and support the brits in Portugal for the isde. Me and my family would like to thank everyone who was at the event, the acu, all my sponsors and everyone who has visited, sent messages or helped in any way.

Thanks

Brad king

Brad king - enduro and hare scrambles on GAS GAS UK EC250 - www.freewebs.com/bradking25 - supported by K4OFFROAD, TALON, STEVE PLAIN M/CS, MICHELIN, GAERNE, NAU, RENTHAL, MOTUL, KRIEGA, ROGERSHILL RACEWAY AND RUSH RACING.

First European points for Brad

The 2nd round of this years European championship took place on the last weekend in may in tokod Hungary. In my previous two trips into Europe i had failed to make the top 20 and get any points so that was my aim for this weekend. Most of the British riders bikes were taken over together in a lorry provided by purple helmets team members Robo and Leo. we all flew on Wednesday with Thursday and Friday involving lots of test walking bike testing and signing on. The enduro and motox special test were right next to each other and very dry and dusty. There was a very relaxed atmosphere inn the Brit camp with everyone helping each other out and i was confident of good results. On day1 my test times were a tad off the pace on the mx test but i felt quick on the enduro test and was told my times were very good. there were no results for day 1 until mid day Sunday and i was pleased to find i had finished 13Th e2/e3 junior and 68Th overall. i also managed to place 2nd best Brit on the day. Just after i had finished on day 1 it rained hard for a hour which transformed the track for the start of day 2 changing from loose and dusty on day 1 to perfect grippy tests. Lap 1 on Sunday i struggled to find the speed from Saturday but put in a good mx test at the start of lap 2. As i was riding away From the mx test it started raining again which made the track very slippery. I made some mistakes on the remaining tests but made some time back on the going because alot of riders lost time on the tightest time check when the rain came. i had to work hard to stay on time having to overtake a group of 6 riders and getting taken out by a out of control Italian! My Sunday result was 14th in class and 69th overall. Full results and pics will follow. Id like to say thanks to everyone involved in organising a great trip and everyone who helped me during the weekend. Also get well soon to the unwell and injured Leo, Ash wood, Tom Braddock and Matt Riidgway after his collision with the Hungarian bush pig!

SCEC Inside Park
Report: Bradley King
Photo: Kwacker Snapper

SCEC hosted their 1st 3 hour hare scramble race of the year today at inside park. There was a strong Championship class including British enduro champions riders Si wakely, Jamie Paget, Phillip Mclaughlin, Tim Lewis, Rich Warner plus local legends Mark Cornick & Stan Watt.

I got a good start and quickly slotted into second behind Si until he had a small off &I led for the remainder of lap 1. Into lap 2 we quickly caught up with the back of the sportsman class. Si & Phillip managed to squeeze past me in the traffic and I then had a collision with a lapped rider losing valuable time. Struggling to get to grips with the track I was caught and overtaken by Jamie on lap 3 but managed to tag on to him and started to feel more comfortable. Me & Jamie had an ace battle all the through to the two hour mark when Jamie unfortunately had to stop having injured his hand. I was then in what i thought was a comfortable 3rd place. I had to make a quick stop for fuel with 45 min's left. I then decided to settle for a "safe" 3rd having had many uncomfortable moments trying to overtake on what was a very fast narrow track. unknown to me Mark Cornick and Rich Warner who were "one stopping" were catching me and as i looked over my shoulder on the last lap i saw them right behind me. so i had to pin it for the rest of the lap to make sure of 3rd place. I'm really pleased with how me and my bike rode on a track that would normally not suit me and I'm feeling confident for the future especially as I felt fit and fresh at the end of the race. Once again thanks to everyone who has helped me this week and all of my sponsor's

Bradley Kings's Ardua
8th Feb 2009

After two full weekends of training, practice and bike setup with the rest of the GGUk team, I entered the Ardua enduro at the Bagshot training area hoping to get more preparation towards the 1st round of the BEC - the Muntjac enduro. The week long snowy weather certainly played its part on the track with most of it being deep ruts or slippery hills and some dodgy icy tracks. I actually nearly decided not to ride when we arrived with car park completely white with snow and inch thick ice. After a quick walk of the special test I decided to ride with 90% of the track in the trees it would provide good practice and a test of my fitness although I took it steady on the open icy sections.

The test was timed on laps 1 and 2 after that we had six laps which got tighter each lap with the last 3 going 24,23,22 minutes. My first test I took steady and was 3rd fastest behind leader Daryl Bolter and 2 seconds behind Darren Wheeler who was riding well on his new yamaha. I upped my pace on the next test and was 2nd on lap 2. daryl was once again very fast but i managed to pull 2 seconds back on darren in the short rutty test.

The next 3laps were slack but still challenging with the track getting tougher by the lap and many clubman and sportman riders stuck round the track. The last 3 laps would decide the full results and i managed to come in with 30 secs to spare on the 24 min lap still taking it steady on the worst icey sections. i upped the pace on the penultimate lap and was racing behind rich warner but lost ground when i made a mistakes on a hill and had to make a second attempt. i came in to the check just after my minute had finished therefore losing 1 minutes penalty. i pushed hard to regain time and had nearly caught up behind Rich only to have a big crash and land in a big muddy puddle!! I ended up losing another 3 minutes with a total of 4 minutes I think I ended up 4th in the championship class.

Although disappointed with the result I'm happy with my 09 gasgas ec 250 and my fitness as I still felt strong at the end of a hard 4.5 hour event

Hi guys. heres my report from the last 2 bec rounds.,,

The last two rounds of the bec took place on Consecutive weekends. rd4 was a new event - the knighton enduro - in wales run by the central wales auto club. There were two special tests which were both grassy mx style. Day 1 started ok with a good time on the first test. Unfortunatly my day was let down by slow times on both laps of the second test. I ended day 1 5th expert and 4th e2 rider. I started day 2 with another good first test 1/2 a second of the leader. But i then had small crashes in the 3 tests which dropped me to 8th expert and 5th e2. I was dissapointed with my results having struggled to get to grips with the tests all weekend but was hoping to make up for it a the natterjack.

The natterjack has been runing for many years and is organise by team -reme. there was once again to tests. on mx test in a big sand bowl and a long enduro test by the start through the trees. Bad times on the first two tests including a mistake on the mx test put me a long way behind the leaders. I pulled back through the day to finish 4th expert and 3rd e2. day 2 went alot smoother than day 1 and although i only managed 5th expert and 4th e2 i put in better times on the mx test but struggled to ride like my usual self on the enduro test.

I think my results over the last to round have put me down to 4th place in the expert championship and 3rd in the expert e2 points. I may have been higher if not for a rule in the bec where a rider gets to drop his worst two rounds. Next year i will move up to the championship class and will be training hard to do well. i still have 3 more events in the next 3 weekends - weymouth beach mx, weston beach race and then my first european championship event in holland.

i would like to say thanks to all of my sponsers for there help this year; GAS GAS UK, TALON, K4OFFROAD, RENTHAL, KRIEGA, ALPINESTARS, SCEC, STEVE PLAIN SUSPENSION AND RUSH RACING. for more info please go to my sponsers page.

Id also like to thank; ... My family for all the hard work, money and time they have put in to help me. especially my mum and dad and sister Zoe. Also my uncle tony for Kingsporting my bike.

Rob sartin for all his help and advice with training and my riding.

John shirt for all his help and support this year.

Danny and Danielle hall at rogershill raceway for letting me ride at the track and danielle for giving me physio in the last part of the year to get my shoulder as strong as possible.

The wakely and Padgett familys for all there support.

Steve plain for setting up my suspension.

Everyone who has helped me this year. Whatever it be every thing helps. Everyone who has cheered me on a special test or pointed me a line.

All the organisers and helpers of all the events.

And anyone i have forgot! thanks very much

Brad king - enduro and hare scrambles on K4OFFROAD GAS GAS EC250 - www.freewebs.com/bradking25

GBXC & XMOOR; 5TH + 1ST

I rode 2 events over the bank holiday weekend with GBXC on sunday and XMOOR on monday.

I got a bad start at gbxc and had 2 crashes trying to pass on the first lap of the super fast track. I pushed hard all race but with the track being so fast and the race shortened to only 2hours struggled to make time up and ended a disappointing 5th placed expert.

Xmoors event was held at the awesome Storidge wood with a 20 minute lap all in woodland. I got a reasonable start and managed to work up to second behind Wayne Mundell at the end of lap 1. i got into the lead on lap 2 and pulled a gap. at the start of the last lap i had a 4 minute lead but had to make a second stop for fuel. At the flag i managed to win by 2 minutes to get my first ever overall win. My next event is the Brechfa enduro on the 18th of may.

Thanks to all of my sponsers; GAS GAS UK, TALON, K4OFFROAD, RENTHAL, KRIEGA, SCEC STEVE PLAIN SUSPENSION AND RUSH RACING.

7th and 2nd in Scotland

The second round of the BEC was last weekend in snowy Scotland. The lap was 65 mile lap with 2 awesome special tests making probably the best event i have rode.

Day 1 started ok with the enduro test but 2 crashes in the sand querry of the mx test - the second of which saw me facing the wrong way struggling to start the bike -.left me playin catch up. luckily there was a tight check which most lost time on but i stayed clean which moved me to 7th expert and 2nd in the E2 class

Day 2 went a lot smoother with just one lap and no crashing!! I finished 2nd expert - behind day 1 winner Derek Little - and 1st E2 rider.

The next round is in August and I have lots of events before then to help me up my game. I'd like to thank my sponsors - GAS GAS UK, TALON, KRIEGA, K4OFFROAD, SCEC, STEVE PLAIN SUSPENSION AND RUSH RACING. I'd also like to thank everyone who helped me during the weekend especially Rob Sartin. Also the padgett family, danny hall, stan watt, the edmondsons and especially my family!!!

Brad king - enduro and hare scrambles on K4OFFROAD GAS GAS EC250 - www.freewebs.com/bradking25

2 x 2nds in one weekend

I rode 2 H&H's this weekend and finished 2nd at both. On Saturday I rode a ORE event and Sunday raced SCEC at Inside Park. The idea was to practice towards 2-day BEC events.

Saturdays race started well as I got the holeshot but made a mistake and Jamie Paget slipped past. He pulled about 1 1/2 minutes in the first 2 laps as I was struggling to get to grips with the super slick (after the quads had polished it) and super fast track. I got faster as the race went on but I couldn't reel Jamie in.

Sundays race was on the awesome inside park track run by southern counties enduro club. I got a got start and was leading on the first lap followed by Andy Frost - who was determined to win his last SCEC event before going to live in Australia - and Mark Cornick. mark toke the lead on the 2nd lap but took a fall. me and Andy were racing through the back markers on lap 2 &3 but i had a big crash when I hit a log overtaking a slower rider. this dropped me some time and I couldn't catch Andy as he was on a mission and was quicker than me through the traffic. this was my 5th second place in a row and I'm getting a bit fed up with it now!!! so i will be out to change things at round 2 of the BEC in Scotland. Pictures are on my 08 PICS PAGE. Thanks to all of my sponsors; GAS GAS UK, TALON, K4OFFROAD, KRIEGA, SCEC AND RUSH RACING. for more info please go to my sponsors page

2nd at first round of BEC

Diss mcc ran round 1 of the BEC in Brandon forest. the Muntjac runs a short 20 mile lap ridden 5 times. the first 2 laps are slack and both include a timed special test. the last 3 didn't have a test but the check times got tighter. the day started good when i won the experts first test by 3 seconds over Gavin Houson. The second test didn't go quite so well as i was 9 seconds slower than lap 1. I was disappointed because over the 2 tests Gavin beat me by 0.9 seconds!!. The last 3 laps went 49 - 47 - 44 minutes. On the third lap i rode at a fast but steady pace and completed the check in 44 minutes so i knew id be ok for the last lap. the last 2 laps went without problems and i ended the day 2nd expert and 1st e2 class rider.

I'm now really looking forward to round 2 in Scotland next month. id like to thanks everyone who has helped me so far this year especially my family and my sponsors - gas gas uk, talon, kriega k4 offroad and rush racing. for more info please go to my sponsors page

2nd at GBXC

My good start to the season continued with 2nd in the expert class at the all new Great British Cross Country Championship at Matchams. Conditions were dry. at the start of the 2hr 45mins race it was smooth but it got alot rougher during the race. I got a rubbish start but quickly worked my way through the pack on lap 1. On lap 2&3 I was part of a 4 way battle for 2nd in the experts but leader Mark Roberts had put a lead after getting a good start. By the hour mark I had worked my way into the lead of the experts and was pulling a gap. My pitstop went well but just before the 2hr point I noticed fuel leaking from the cap. I stopped and tried to fix it. I had to stop to top up and replace the cap. (thanks to Rob Wrayford for letting me borrow his!!!). I lost the lead and 2 minutes to Mark Roberts. I'm pleased with my riding and my fitness and I'm really looking forwards to the first round of the BEC this coming weekend when I will be aiming to at least repeat today's result. I'd like to thank all of my sponsors - Gas Gas, k4offroad, kriega, talon (especially Rob Sartin who has helped so much with my fitness and my diet), and rush racing - for more info go to the sponsors page

Bradley 10th in Tough One 08

Young expert Bradley King had a super tough weekend. He left his home in Dorset at 5pm on Friday night & got within 10 miles from Oswestry by 9.30pm when his van engine went bang. His only option was to accept National breakdown tow back home to Dorset - arriving at 3am - to swap all his gear into a second van & drive back to arrived at Nantmawr quarry to arrive at 8.30am. Brad had about 1 hours sleep & he was exhausted but he stuck to the task & finished 10th.

Bradley King injured - 24th May 2007

Bradley King has injured his foot. His mother reports "Last night whilst out practising a tree jumped out in front of him and hit him! He has broken 4 toes and cracked a bone in his foot. He is devastated as he will miss the Welsh - a week after his 18th birthday - and Hungary which he was really looking forward to. It could have been worse as he was only a few miles away from home. He hopes to be fit enough to do the Hafren. We see the orthopaedic doctor on Tuesday."

Update - 3rd July

Today I have been for a check up at the hospital. The x-ray showed that the break in my foot is repairing well but will not be back to full strength for a number of weeks yet. So I have taken the decision to not to ride at the Hafren Round 1 of the BEC as the risks of hitting and re-breaking it are too high. I am obviously very disappionted but I will focus on making my comeback at the Tywi only two weeks later than the Hafren with a good result.

Name: Bradley King

DOB: 13/6/89

Hometown: Dorchester, Dorset

Class: Expert E1

Bike: K4OFFROAD gas gas ec125

Sponsor: K40FFROAD, Kriega, Talon

I began riding at the age of 4 on a pw50. I started trials at 10 and rode that until I was 14 when I started motox. I started in H&H locally at 16. 2006 was my first season in the BEC and I finished 2nd clubman e1 and won the Rhayader clubman overall. im now 17 and hoping to be competing for the E1 Experts Championship and doing 2 rounds of the European series. My current website is www.freewebs.com/bradking25 but I am in the process of making my own personal site which will be www.bradking.co.uk . My email address is bradkingmx@btinternet.com

2007 British Enduro Championship