DAKAR 2012 is GO!

Scrutineering is complete as with the start podium preliminaries for Stan and will set off in the next 6 hours on the first sage of the 2012 Dakar Rally onboard the Crescent KTM 450RR.

The 6 days in Argentina so far … ...morehave been productive with preparing the bike and support vehicles plus some testing outside the town of Mar del Plata, which will see the start of the event on 1st January.

443 vehicles will take part in the 2012 Dakar, which will start from Mar del Plata and head towards Lima, where the pilots will arrive following an 8,300-kilometre trek through Argentinean, Chilean and Peruvian territory. The battle for the four titles at stake is about to begin.

At this time of the year, beaches in "La Feliz" are packed with holidaymakers every day. But today, all eyes are focused on Plaza Colón, a bit further from the sea, where a podium has been set up for the presentation of the teams to the public before the race. This ceremony is usually held before tens of thousands of spectators, who have 443 vehicles to marvel at and applaud this year. Despite the festive ambiance in the city, the atmosphere must feel quite chilly for a handful of competitors who will have to forget their ambitions. Indeed, seven quads failed the technical checks, since they were too different from the production models they were supposed to represent. "Prototypes" are not allowed in this category! Although they will be allowed to participate, Josef Machacek (5-time winner), Lukasz Laskawiec (3rd in 2011), Christophe Declerck (4th in 2011), Rafal Sonik, Antoine Leconte, Norberto Cangani and Maciej Albinowski are no longer eligible for the general classification. The path to victory seems clear for the Patronelli brothers, or at least for a battle among South Americans.

Although their fate is yet to be decided, four motorcycle riders are also in a situation which will probably make them smile in a few days' time, but which is giving them quite a few headaches at the moment. Iain Stevenson, Neil Scott-Thomas, Darryl Curtis and Greg Raaf's motorcycles were delayed on their trip from the United States. As of December 31, the ship carrying them has only reached Delta Dock, roughly 500 km from Mar del Plata. In order to give them a chance to win this first time trial, the organisers decided to make headway with the administrative part of their scrutineering and call for help from the Argentinean authorities to speed up customs procedures, but seeing these four riders at the starting line is not a done deal. The deputy manager of the rally, David Castera, has asked them to be ready for tomorrow morning at 5 am if they are able to bring in their motorcycles for a simplified technical scrutineering process.

The four victims of sea transport misadventures would be happy just to start the race, but other pilots are already thinking about the top step of the podium in Lima. Among them are Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, who walked around the aisles of the scrutineering area clad in identical orange shirts. Their relaxed mood and companionship contrasts with the tense relationship they have had over the last few years, and the defending champion shows he wants to keep things that way: "Things have calmed down a lot between us, I think it is much better to start the race in this state of mind." In the car category, Nasser Al-Attiyah has also teamed up with a former rival, Robby Gordon, who has put him at the wheel of a Hummer H3 decorated with the colours of Qatar. He will probably have to beat a former teammate if he wants to mount a successful title defence: at the wheel of his Mini, it looks like Stéphane Peterhansel has got what he needs to finally take his 10th win after years of trying

HAPPY NEW YEAR from all at Front Row GB

Front Row GB/Edmondson Racing Take the Honours at Dawn to Dusk

The weekend seen the 10th Anniversary running of the Dawn to Dusk endurance race at Walter's Arena in South Wales, with an exceptional entry of nearly 1,000 riders across a variety of races ranging from 24hrs to 6hr … ...moreIronman and 2 to 3 person teams.

Front Row GB produced a group of riders competing across the event with Stan Watt taking on the 24hr Ironman event on his Edmondson Racing KTM350XC, Tim Forman and Carl Jones competing in the 12hr race on a pair of Edmondson Racing KTM250XCs and last but not least Garin Rosser and Keaton Allen on a pair of Edmondson Racing KTM250XC-Fs in the 6hr race.

Saturday was for setup and preparation for the start of the 24hr race at 7pm, with around 90 minutes of daylight before each rider was plunged into 10hrs of darkness on a 1/2 distance lap of 9 miles.

Carl, competed in the Sprint Challenge shoot-out throughout Saturday afternoon coming away with the forst of 3 victories over the weekend.

Stan set off well in 2nd position but a loose light fitting diagnosed on the first lap, dropped him momentarily back to 3rd as it was tightened up by the crew. Patrick Coady from Ireland had set a fast initial pace, pushing out into the lead and as darkness fell was not going to let up through the night.

A solid ride by the first two riders through the night seen them emerge into daylight hours well ahead of the rest by 8 laps and on eventual corrected laps, 4 minutes apart, with Stan missing out on a shortened night lap by 90 seconds, which unfortunately would mean he needed to make back a full 35 minute lap in daylight hours.

Patrick Coady, incorporated intelligent tactics ensuring he kept Stan well in his sights where only a mechanical failure would spoil his win. By the finish, Stan was still a part lap down with Patrick completing a total of 49 laps and Stan 48 to finsh second.

At 7am on the Sunday morning Carl set off in the 12hr pairing setting a blistering pace to immediately hit the front, which wouldn't change for the next 12hrs.

The expert class pair did not slow for the duration setting fastest lap after fastest lap, swapping rider every two laps. This tactic paid off with Tim and Carl keeping momentum and by the 2nd changeover were a full lap and 9 minutes ahead of their nearest rivals.

By the 6hr mark, they had extended their lead by over 2 laps (60mins) and maintaining a fast pace, by the end of 12hrs had over 4 full laps in hand to take a substantial and impressive victory for Front Row GB.

1pm would see the final pairing from Front Row GB start the 6hrs enduro with all 3 riders on course completing the 24hr, 12hr and 6hrs together. Garin Rosser set off from the Le Mans start hitting the front and as per the 12hr team, this would not change until the finish line at 7pm.

The same rider routine was implemented and again, the younger and less experienced riders proved they could maintain control over the rest of their competitors and by the 3hr mark, were over a full lap ahead and continuing to push the pace to ensure a much deserved victory.

Keaton Allen, kept the relentless pace with no concession for their rivals and by the end of the 6hrs and completion of the 12hr and 24hr, the pair had taken a convincing win by over 2 full laps.

The final 3 riders on course, Carl, Garin and Stan completed the final lap together to cross the line as a team and to take the majority of honours from the event.

Many thanks to everyone who helped, as it would have all been a lot more difficult without you! ;

Ivan, Mark, Kane, Dai, Layton, Graham, The Wright Family, The Jones Family, The Rosser Contingent, The Forman Group, the Watts and everyone who popped n to show support. (apologies if we missed anyone, not intentional)

Front Row GB would also like to thank;

Edmondson Racing
Talon Engineering
Pro-Printing
Adventure Spec
Voltcom Group
Mini Marquees
Crescent KTM

Arrival of the KTM450 Rally Replica

Front Row GB's rider Stan Watt has completed the first tests of the KTM450 Rally Replica in preparation for Dakar 2012. The Crescent KTM supported machine arrived almost 3 months earlier than expected, to the excitement of the Team who now have time to carry out extensive testing prior to shipping everything to South America in mid-November.

The Devon coast was the test location to put the bike through its paces in deep sand and fast dirt trails.

Initial impressions are good, as KTM have proved yet again they can produce the goods when it comes to specific machinery. Keeping the previous KTM690 rally chassis, the 450cc engine is very loosely based on the motocross 450sx engine with a number of modifications in order to increase durability and reliability for the arduous encounters imposed by the nature of Rally Raid events, including the Dakar.

Improvements to suspension is an advantage to that encountered with KTM690 Rally Replica and the power of the 450cc lump was the biggest pleasant surprise after expecting an much lower powered bike to the previous 690 Rally bikes.

All-in-all, an excellent first test with some minor adjustments being made to the carb. and the suspension in preparation for further UK set-up checks before heading to Northern Spain at the end of September.

The bike is back with Crescent KTM for the work to be done. The Team will continue to post updates as progress is made towards the end of the year and Dakar 2012.

FRGB

4th for Stan at 2hr REME Evening Race

A good turnout of 120 riders braved the hottest evening of the year with the humid temperatures touching 32 degrees by the 6pm start time.

As per usual, the REME team were well organised and the 2hr hare and hounds race would be underway on time with the expert class leading the way; all classes were well supported and departed at 1 minute intervals on a route, similar to that of the 4hr race earlier in the year, only in reverse.

A narrow start line meant riders were jostling for an initial position to get away into the first left hand corner followed by a single line track, which was likely to see a clash of bikes and riders as they fought to gain an advantage into the tight woodland.

Daryl Bolter was easily favourite on the KTM Off-Road Racing 250cc four stroke followed by any one of the Midwest Husaberg UK Racing riders.

As the flagged dropped for the start, it was a complete lottery on who ended up where, as the 19 expert riders banged handlebars heading into the first woodland section. As expected Daryl Bolter took the holeshot followed by Husaberg's Aaron Smith and behind that it was a tight fit for everyone to get through.

Stan from Front Row GB had a poor start but through the mayhem of everyone trying to fit onto the single track, made up a few places and slotted in behind the Crescent KTM 250XC of Danny Hall as the riders took any opportunity to force a pass in the tight going.

On the first two laps as the riders were closely packed, dust made it difficult to make a defined pass and generally rider error was to blame for most of the position changes.

Stan on the Edmondson Racing KTM350XC and Danny on the new Crescent KTM supported 250XC two stroke made their own race for the first half of the event, where Danny over ran a 90 degree left hand turn for Stan to get ahead to be passed by Danny within less than a lap through a more technical section.

Lap 3 saw Stan get back in front of this tight local battle and Danny staying close behind until he had to pull up to refuel just over the hour mark. This allowed Stan to push on with no interference and increase the gap, although with no idea where he was running in the race overall.

The Edmondson Racing 350XC ran perfectly throughout with Stan making good headway on a course that covered an excellent mixture of terrain and ground conditions. Still at the finish line, it was with surprise that Stan picked up a 4th overall considering the depth and talent of the competition on the night.

Many thanks to;

Edmondson Racing
Voltcom
Talon
Adventure Spec
Arai

Front Row GB & Stan Watt Confirmed For Dakar 2012

The Dakar organisors have confirmed the motorcycle entry list for Dakar 2012, deciding to restrict the number of entrants to 220 from the 310 applications received.

Front Row GB have been fortunate to be confirmed an entry today after a late decision to take part and were only successful due to their reliability as a team structue for the event.

Stan Watt will be the sole rider being joined by a 5 man strong support squad, bringing together new and old experience including Dave Marton again from KTM Australia as crew chief for the team in South America.

Stan will continue to be supported by the KTM manufacturer, on the all-new KTM450 Rally Replica. Watch this space for news updates as further information is released on the Rally itself and those supporting Front Row GB in the 2012 Dakar.

This year, the New Year festivities in Mar del Plata - Argentina will take on an extra dimension, with the start of the Dakar rally. Over a period of several days, holiday makers will be able to meet the teams who will progressively be arriving in the city to take part in technical and administrative scrutineering that will take place on 29th, 30th and 31st December in the morning.

In the afternoon, newcomers to the rally will get their first taste of the welcome from Argentinean fans. In Buenos Aires, crowd numbers reached hundreds of thousands each time the rally's vehicles were presented at the foot of the Obelisk. The waterfront at Mar del Plata is preparing itself for similar numbers for the start ceremony which will kick off at 4 pm and finish in the early evening.

Afterwards, the riders and drivers will leave their vehicles in a secure enclosure, before returning to take starter's orders the next morning. An intense programme will await them on New Year's Day, with a stage that will immediately require good performance and concentration levels.

FRGB

REME Tea 'til Dark Round 3

Borden hosted the 3rd round of the REME 'Tea 'til Dark' evening hare and hound series for the second time this summer.

The course was a great mixture of flowing woodland and deep sand with a single extreme section. The course had been shortened considerably from round 2 after a number of comments that it was too long. This would drop lap times from 12 minutes to between 7 & 8mins for the fast guys.

Although entry numbers were a little lower than expected, the expert class still fielded 15 riders with the majority of the Midwest Husaberg enduro team attending.

Stan from Front Row GB brought out the KTM300XC to do battle with wet conditions looming. The rain showers cleared well before the start drying the open sand sections with the sun doing its best as the flag dropped at 6pm for the two hour race.

A steady start found Stan hanging towards two thirds down the field and with a number of riders getting 'bogged' down in the first corner sand bank, Stan took an alternative route to pass fallen riders, which just got him blocked further off-course. By the time he had returned onto the main course he was running at the back of the expert class.

The first section ran through open woods with a few log obstacles to clear, crossing deep sand sections. On the log obstacles, Stan was able to make a place or two past struggling riders and immediately started a race long battle with George Hebden and Dan Warner where Stan would pass both riders on the technical and extreme sections and then a little pot luck on open sand areas or coming up against back markers.

With the shortened laps, the quicker riders were into lapped riders by the 3rd lap. James Jackman and James Giddings had already pushed out a substantial lead with a clear track ahead of them.

With Stan moving through the expert field of riders along with George Hebden and Dan Warner, he decided to make a calculated fuel stop on lap 6 for a quick splash hoping it will last to the end. This dropped him back to 10th with a gap to close and by lap 12, Stan had found some extra speed from somewhere and in a good rhythm had made his way up to 4th.
Considering the gap was too large to close on Richard Ely, Stan decided to keep a good pace and unfortunately with 15mins to run went onto reserve, meaning another quick fuel stop on lap 15; missing an extra lap by 15 seconds, before the 2hr mark and dropping him back to 7th overall by the flag.

A big thanks on the night to Ivan F. for sorting the bikes and fueling and to Dave S. for keeping the 350XC warm.

Thanks to;

Edmondson Racing
Talon Engineering
Adventure Spec
Voltcom Group
Arai
Pro-Grip

Stan Watt 3rd at GBXC

The run of results continue for Stan Watt with a 3rd place at the Great Britain Cross Country Championship (GBXC) on the Edmondson Racing KTM 350XC.

The Fast Eddy crew had put together a great course in the Devon countryside, with a good mixture of woodland, technical sections and fast flowing areas.

Based near the training area of Wheeldon Farm, South Devon, local knowledge played a part with the two day event; the first day being a sprint challenge on a shorter course and day two a full on enduro with a morning race for the Vets and Clubman of 2hrs and the afternoon catering for the 2 1/2hr race with the Elite and Experts riders.

The days previous had seen temperatures rise to 27 degrees and with more of the same forecast, there was a concern that the unseasonal high temperatures may affect some of the riders. Stan from Front Row GB had been suffering from man-flu for a few days and wasn't holding out to be that competitive. As day two dawned, everyone was reminded that it was still April as the chilly northeasterly wind took some time to heat up.

By the start of the main race, temperatures had risen to 20 degrees and after a short delay, the Elite riders got underway, with Tom Sagar slotting into 2nd place while his team mate, Aussie Ben Burrell was left stranded on the line desperately kicking his KTM 250XC. Straight behind them the Expert riders set off, with Stan getting away in a solid 4th place.

Clear through the first section of corners, Jack Twentyman, who had sneaked a head start with the Elite riders, had taken a tumble, unfortunately breaking a wrist in the process. Everyone else stayed clean and immediately the groups started to settle into their pace.
Stan had moved up into 3rd by the second lap and would stay there until the end, unable to run at the pace Derek Bawn and Joe Wootton.

It was a good result in the Elite class for Edmondson Racing with team riders Tom Sagar and Ben Burrell taking first and second position respectively, even after Tom had crushed a finger during the Saturday sprint challenge.

The GBXC had set the scene for this weekend's showdown at Rogershill Raceway, hosting rounds 5 & 6 of the British Sprint Challenge Championship, which will see the best enduro riders in Britain go head-to-head for the 2 day event

Many thanks to;

- Edmondson Racing
- Voltcom Group
- Talon Engineering
- Adventure Spec
- Arai

FRGB

Front Row GB on the Podium Again

Stan Watt of Front Row GB took a hard earned podium finish at Round 1 of the Major Hadley Series organised by the Portsmouth Motorcycle Racing Club at Rowlands Castle, Emsworth.

A mini heatwave had spread across the UK over the April weekend with temperatures hitting a high of 24 degrees, enhancing the effects of a woodland course with zero sections that would give a rider any form of respite.

Stan lined up with the other 10 championship riders on his Edmondson Racing KTM350 XC and although the four stroke generally fires up easily first time, on the drop of the flag, for once it failed to start immediately and Stan eventually set of the start line easily 20 seconds behind the last of the championship riders.

By the time Stan had left the short extreme section and area surrounding the paddock, he had made his way past two riders and settled into following the next group of riders into the main forestry section. Stan had closed the gap and moved into 5th place behind Lawerence Catt and No1 Simon Beken. Although Stan made his passes easily into 3rd place, Simon Beken immediately upped the pace to move back into 3rd for the next half lap before Stan retook 3d position and then pushed hard to catch James Jackman and Aaron Smith currently fighting for 1st place.

The podium was finalised from lap 5, unless something happened to the front runners. Stan pushed as hard as he dared in the tight and close forestry, setting consistent lap times but was unable to get close enough by the chequered flag on lap 12.

James Jackman led Aaron Smith over the line by all of 7 seconds to take top spot with Aaron 2nd and Stan making up the podium in 3rd a further 20 seconds adrift.

Thanks to;

Edmondson Racing
Voltcom Group
Talon Engineering
Adventure Spec
Arai

Dakar 2012 set for Peru

For its 4^th South American edition, the Dakar's route will be experiencing a change of scenery in 2012, with, instead of the previous years' loops, a journey that will take the competitors from Mar del Plata, in Argentina, to Lima, the capital of Peru, via Chile and the dunes of the Atacama Desert.

With the announcement of the route for the Dakar 2012, the organisers have approached the South American map from a new angle, to provide a different perspective. Between the 1st and 15th of January, the riders, drivers and co-pilots will be tackling a route that measures 9,000 kilometres in total, navigating between oceans, mountains and desserts.

Enhancing the relations built up with the continent, this year the rally will discover Peru, giving the adventure a pan-American feel: the three biggest Hispanic countries in the world are on the programme.

To officialise this alliance, the Chairman of the Peruvian Institute of Sports, Arturo Woodman Pollitt, travelled to Paris for the presentation of the event, where he was joined by Enrique Meyer, Argentina's Minister for Tourism, and by Gabriel Ruiz Tagle, the Secretary of State for Sport in Chile.

Front Row GB Takes Victory at REME 4hr Enduro

The clock change always signals the start of the full-on enduro racing season and Team Reme got it off to a cracker with an 11km Hare and Hounds course based over 4 hours.

The weather was excellent with temperatures in the mid to late teens, sun shining and a little early morning shower set the ground to be virtually perfect.

A lot of work had gone in to preparing the area; with a spectator friendly man-made extreme area to complete the lap for those brave enough, or a gentler but substantially longer 'chicken' route meandering through the woodland.

With a full entry, and bikes sufficiently warmed up, the expert group were to be first underway, to include Stan Watt from Front Row GB onboard the Edmondson Racing KTM350 XC. As a one-off, Dave Sawtell was onboard an Edmondson Racing KTM250 XC in the clubman class just to see if the bike fitted him as a long term prospect.

A different start was set up with riders stood behind the bikes on a dead engine, where they would have to move to the bike, get started and get underway.
The flag dropped and the KTM350 fired immediately into life before Stan stalled it on the line, allowing all but one of the first group to get away up the 400m start straight. Finally getting going, the 350XC was able to push past a couple of riders by the first corner and then Stan tried to settle into an instant rhythm and make his way through the front riders.

The course was constructed well and marked perfectly allowing Stan to push on and by midway through the first lap, he was in 2nd place behind Danny Hall. Not realising he was near the front, Stan settled into following Danny for most of the first lap, allowing him to make the mistakes before making a clean pass as the pair came back towards the extreme section.

Although, Danny maintained a trials style on the extreme area, Stan opted-for the 'brute force and ignorance' style, which proved to be faster allowing him to make some ground on lap one.
The pair circulated 3-4 laps together before a slight mishap allowed Stan to pull away keeping a good pace until the last 50 minutes, when he eased off slightly for two laps incase he needed a last lap dash for the win.

Stan took a convincing overall victory with only him and Danny Hall completing 12 laps on a course that was wonderful to ride for the full 4 hours.

A big well done to the organisers for putting in all the effort and a big thanks to;

Edmondson Racing
Voltcom Group
Talon Engineering
Adventure Spec
Arai
www.precious-memories-photography.co.uk