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