HAPPY NEW YEAR AND BEST WISHES FOR 2010

Thank you for the continued support;

From All at Front Row GB

T'is The Season To Be Riding

THE FRONT ROW GB FESTIVE SPECIAL

THE BOG HOPPERS

A weekend of realising all riders are human.

Thanks for the invite! Many thanks especially to Porky for looking after us again, Rob Sartin, Steve Plain and Chris for leading the way across the many Welsh bogs of varying expanse




HITTING THE SOUTHERN TRAILS

With one day already cancelled due to the ground frozen from the cold weather. 30th December saw 11 riders depart for the lanes in Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. A total of 185 miles taking 12hrs in the pissing rain with 3 hours of night riding to finish the day.

A big thanks to Ivan, Dinger, Simon D, Simo, Paul C, Paul O'C, Phil, Andy, Tony K, & Kane.

Apologies for no big breakfast, lunch or dinner!!


THE TRAINING MUST GO ON

With everyone off work for the festive period the cold snap was not going to put us off. Dinger had paid for a GasGas 250 with his 'OWN' money and moved away from the orange machine. Ivan is getting to grips with the new KTM300 and appears to do more than whathe intended it to.

Stan is flitting between the KTM400 4T and the KTM250 2T, depending on the event or terrain. Both hold their own in the right circumstances and relly has the pick of the bunch.



WITLEY BOXING DAY EVENT

Witley MCC had changed the event from Boxing Day to the 27th for reasons unknown. This did mess up Stan's plan to race on Boxing Day at Longmoor, Weaver's Down and then Llandrilo Forest with WOR Events on 27th.

A large entry of 333 riders started the 3hr hotly contested event, with Stan lining up on the front row with his KTM400 EXC.

The Le Mans style start saw Stan get away in 15th position, and the mix of wet and frozen conditions meant Stan was in no rush to push on until he made sure there was no show stoppers on the first lap.

The KTM400 performed immaculately, the Steve Plain suspension worked very well in the sandy conditions and Stan made up numerous places in a strong field of championship riders to finish a positive 6th, less than 20 seconds off a top 5 to end the year.

FRGB

SCEC Final Championship Standings

As the year comes to a close, Southern Counties Enduro Club have issued their final standings, after the last round at the weekend in Pallington Forest in Dorset.

The weekend race could have caused an upset if Dave Nuttall was to put enough riders between himself and Mark Cornick, but, although the potential was there in the wet and difficult conditions, Mark finished ahead of Dave securing the Championship for 2009.

Stan Watt from Front Row GB secured 3rd position after a year of competing on a variety of machinery from KTM250 2 strokes to the larger KTM690 Enduro R.

2010 has some different asperations for Stan & Front Row GB, but don't be surprised if a KTM690 makes an appearance at some point, or a KTM400 or a KTM250.

A big thanks goes out to Gary Warr @ SCEC, for again putting together a great series on some excellent courses, enjoyed by all.

Championship

1st Mark Cornick

2nd Dave Nuttall

3rd Stan Watt

4th Gary Holland

5th Andy Scudamore

Expert

1st Tyson Maytom-Jones

2nd Jerry Box

3rd Steve Harding

4th Karl Langford

5th Toni Burrows

Expert Over 40

1st Mick Hill

2nd Gary Mc Coy

3rd Craig Beattie

4th Allistair Bramwell

5th Michael Brooks

Clubman E1

1st Jacque Stevens

2nd Stephen Mulliner

3rd James Boyce

4th Daniel Fidler

5th Trev Child

Clubman E2

1st Andy Claxton

2nd Barry Mitchell

3rd Andy Ball

4th Mark Goddard

5th Antony Guppy

Ladies

1st Clare Taylor

2nd Tamsin Jones

3rd Helen Spiers

Sportsman

1st Daniel Price

2nd Daniel Summerfield

3rd Rob Smith

4th Paul O'Connell

5th David Mears

Sportsman Over 40

1st Graham Reid

2nd Garry Price

3rd Neil Fripp

4th Glenn Woodland

5th Russell Harris

Novice

1st Matthew Jones

2nd Chris Jones

3rd Russell Matthews

4th Simon Butcher

5th Mark Coghlin

Stan is hoping to be out at the WOR EVENT's round 16 in Llandrillo Forest on 27th December on the KTM400 EXC

FRGB

Pallington Forest- Final Round of the SCEC

After substantial rainfall on the south coast for 10 days, the Southern Counties Enduro Club team of helpers, worked exceptionally hard to put on the final round of the 2009 championship.

The event was originally to be held at Somerley Park, on the Hampshire/Dorset border but weather conditions and a few other considerations, dictated the event would have to be moved 15 miles west to Pallington Forest. This forest has not been used for 3 years and was holding up well, considering the amount of rain that has fell during recent storms.

The course was a mixture of good flowing forestry routes linked by fast trails, great untouched ground incorporating sections to test the best riders, which was only acerbated with the heavy rain on the Saturday night.

An extreme route was marked and by Sunday morning the 'bomb hole' that started the section was 4ft under water, thus a few changes had to be made at the last minute. This was still to be a section that only a handful would attempt and clear adequately.

The race got underway with the championship class heading off first, not long after 11am, just as the first drops of rain fell. Stan Watt from Front Row GB on the KTM400EXC, couldn't find enough grip from his start position and immediately fell into last place of the championship group, catching every particle of dirt from the first 20 riders.

As the field started to spread out, the front runners definitely had an advantage as at the back, Stan got completely covered in mud due to the extremely wet conditions, but started to pick his way through the pack, passing where he could.

The compulsory rear trials tyres were not working well and as the championship riders split between the extreme and normal route, Stan decided to take the shorter but harder extreme section. He immediately found the first set competitors digging holes in the sodden virgin ground and blocking his path. With some physical altercations, Stan eventually cleared the section to find a number of riders from the later starting groups well ahead of him on the course.

Lap 1 was difficult, getting used to the grip limitations of the rear trials tyre and trying to make his way through not only the championship riders but half the expert class as well. By the end of lap 2 Stan had made up substantial time and was closing in on the front riders.

Lap 3 saw Stan close on the back of the leading group of Mark Cornick, Richard Tucker, Dave Nuttall and James Jackman. Approaching a difficult climb in the forest, Stan went for the hardest route to clear quickly and move directly into the lead. Stan immediately extended his lead in the difficult conditions and held a good lead until goggles became a problem and ended up pulling in on lap 5 to change gloves, goggles and re-fit a loose throttle grip. 4 minutes lost and James Jackman, Richard Tucker and Mark Cornick moved back through as the leading group.

Stan pushed hard and eventually got back past Mark Cornick and James Jackman but had to pull in again due to goggle problems on lap 7. Stan ended up in a battle with Tyson Maytom-Jones for the last 2 laps, which only went to slow both riders, allowing Richard Tucker to pull away and secure the win, with Tyson eventually taking the battle for 2nd when Stan hit a slower rider on the final lap, culminating in losing 2 minutes getting the KTM back on the course.

A good result, finishing 2nd in the Championship Class and 3rd overall but Stan is disappointed not taking the win. The KTM400EXC performed very well considering the conditions and definitely a bike that could take some good results in forthcoming Hare and Hound Events.

Well done to SCEC for working endlessly getting the course together and all the marshals who spent a wet, cold and windy Sunday digging people out of the Dorset forest

THANKS TO;

- Edmondson Racing

- Talon Engineering

- Steve Plain Suspension

- Nookie

- Pro-Seal Racing

- Arai

FRGB