BEC Lossiemouth 2010

Round 2 of the British Enduro Championship proved to be another excellent event, with some initial doubts of expectations with a reduction in the land area open for use.

The weather stayed completely dry for a change and the two special tests at Lossiemouth Forest and orientated around the motocross circuit were a joy to ride. Both completely different, with the deep sand of the forest and more graded option at the motocross circuit.

David Knight on his KTM530 put in a flawless performance on both days, considerably quicker than anyone else followed by Tom Sagar on his Suzuki RMZ450 and Daryl Boulter on the KTM250 on Day 1, and with a further top performance on Day 2, David Knight was followed home again by Tom Sagar on the 450 Suzuki and his team mate Paul Edmondson on the 250 Suzuki.

Stan Watt from Front Row GB had a fair performance on both days, improving considerably on Day 2 compared on Day 1. With the weather remaining good over the weekend and the course staying in good condition there was no serious difficult going where Stan's physical or mental attributes would be needed to close the gap on normally faster riders.

Day 1 saw Stan lose a minute on each tight check and a few mistakes on the special tests pushing him down to 29th and 4th in class.

Some suspension changes after the first lap on Day 2 by Steve Plain, made a huge difference allowing Stan to stay on time with both tight checks on the second lap and improve on the special test times from Day 1, even though, in theory the course should be slower after becoming considerably rougher.

With the improvements on Day 2, Stan felt stronger throughout, lifting his position to 25th remaining 4th in class.

Many riders appeared to find the course more demanding on Day 2, but Stan felt it much easier going, predominantly down to the suspension changes, making all the difference.

A big thanks to John Little who recently turned 72 and the Grampian MCC for such a great event on wonderful land, one of/if not the best on the British Championship calendar. There are rumours that it is unlikely to be back for a while, which would be a huge loss to the sport.

Many thanks to the those who assisted over the weekend;

Derrick Edmondson from Edmondson Racing
Steve Plain from Steve Plain Motorcycles and Suspension
Rob Sartin from Talon Engineering
The GASGAS Team
Chris Boyce for keeping me awake all the way back down south


FRGB

British Enduro Championship Rd2 Lossiemouth

Front Row GB point northwards and head for virtually the most northern part of the United Kingdom for round 2 of the British Enduro Championship in Lossiemouth, Scotland.

Due to arrive tonight with Derrick Edmondson of Edmondson Racing and Chris Boyce, the weekend will consist of scrutineering tomorrow and a walk of the special tests, followed by racing on Saturday and Sunday prior to the 10hr road trip back.

The Lossiemouth event is renowned for its excellent course, sandy going and its lengthy special test. This year there are some restrictions due to bird nesting on the beach areas, but it appears the organisers have worked extra hard to produce top event after the disappointment of the earlier Easter cancellation due to heavy snow.

Updates as the weekend goes

FRGB

SCEC - Somerley Park 2010

The 2nd round of the Southern Counties Enduro Championship took place on Sunday 2nd May at Somerley Park.

With rain expected, Somerely is renowned for remaining in some sort of decent condition due to the great natural drainage and the generous amounts of sand throughout the course.

The Championship class hosted a strong local field with Mark Cornick, Danny Hall, Gary Wright, Gary Holland and Steve Harding, who has moved up from Experts this year. Pete Archer would always be one to watch out for in the Vets.

With the sun starting to show and dry overhead, the 160 riders got away on time, with the Championship class leading the way, except Stan Watt from Front Row GB whose Edmondson Racing KTM250EXC failed to fire on the button and needed some manipulation to breathe into life costing him 30-45secs from the start line.

The main group of riders was led by Mark Cornick with the rest bunched and Stan bringing up the rear. With the course layout being perfectly flowing and a clear track ahead, by the end of lap 1 Stan had caught onto the tail end of the main group of front riders, who appeared to be tripping over each other to get past.

Mid way through lap 2 and in one main pass, Stan promoted himself past 6 riders into 2nd place, pulling away immediately to chase the leader Mark Cornick. Within a few minutes, Stan had taken the lead and found himself chased down by Gary Wright. A 2 lap tussle ensued with Gary leading the way and eventually Stan just didn't have the same pace to keep up and Gary eventually moved out of sight.

Stan was fixed in a lonely 2nd place until lap 10, where suddenly Gary Wright appeared in front of him after a slow crash in some fallen brash. Stan took the opportunity to move into the lead and the pair battled for another two laps before Stan made a silly mistake on lap 12 dropping into a small bog losing 20-30 seconds and allowing Gary to get away in the front.

At the end, after a little confusion, Gary Wright had taken the headline win with Stan just over a minute behind in 2nd. Pete Archer won the Vets, Dan Lowry the Expert class, Dan Groom Clubman E2, Danny Andrews Clubman E1, Clare Taylor the Ladies, Carl Tennington the Sportsman class, Neil Fripp the Sportman +40 and Dave Sawtell the Novice.

A fantastic venue was enhanced by the organisation of the SCEC Club with Gary Warr and his band of helpers. A job well done and appreciated by all the riders.

Many thanks to;

Edmondson Racing
Talon
Michelin
Ivan F.
Steve Plain Motorcycles and Suspension
SCEC
Fox
Arai
Nookie
Voltcom Group

FRGB