Wakely wanted the win on Wednesday
Report: Lee Davey
Images: Imageconsortium.co.uk/Brewbs

It seems I’m not the only one who likes to break-up a working week with a Wednesday evening Enduro.

Just two years ago the Southern Counties Enduro Club held their very first evening event which attracted 66 riders, but the 2008 evening series opener was full to bursting with over 150! Plus, it had an impressive line-up.

The MPS Husqvarna team was represented by Si Wakely and Daryl Bolter plus Paul and Derek Edmondson promised be on hand to make sure the MPS team didn’t have it all their own way. Unfortunately Paul Edmondson had a couple of last minute glitches which meant that he was unable to attend leaving Derek to try and spoil the Husqvarna party alone.

The theme for this seasons evening races is one of change. Each round will feature a new course layout and having ridden at the Rogershill venue many times myself, it was the first time I’d ever seen so many choices of easy and hard routes – five on a six mile course with a host of new obstacles. With two Motocross tracks at their disposal these obviously play a strong part, but the rest of the course featured small-scale sand dunes, mini-bike whoops, river crossings either by bridge or by air and an almost sheer 12ft (ish) drop which was immediately followed by a tight turn, a spot of log up ‘n’ over before climbing back up into the trees. Now, I’ve never seen a club event section cause such a stir; there was a constant line of riders walking this particular section and drawing a builder-esque breath whenever the drop was mentioned. With this being one of the easy/hard routes an alternative route was available, but the drop would save 20 seconds or so. Picking your bike back up could cost much more time than that though…..

The Championship class proved to be a 1-2 for the MPS Husqvarna team. Derek Edmondson was hampered by a late arrival which effectively ruled him out from the very start which left Wakely and Bolter to fly the MPS flag with Mark Cornick sandwiching himself in between the team-mates during the early stages. The win was eventually taken by Si Wakely, so who better to tell the story.

“The race started well for me with a third place around the first corner and then pushing my way into the lead past Daryl and Mark, but a small crash put me back down into 3rd before passing Mark for 2nd. At the end of the first lap Daryl made a small mistake giving me the lead until the second lap when it was my turn to make a mistake! We continued to swap positions for the first half of the 2 hour race until we both stopped for fuel. After this Daryl had approximately a 40 second lead, so I pushed as hard as I could, trying not to make any more time-consuming mistakes. I was told by my head mechanic (Dad!) that I was catching Daryl so I got my head down and eventually caught him up. He then crashed with just two and a half laps left, leaving me with a small lead. Dust was becoming an issue, so I knew that a couple of smooth, fast laps would make a return  pass difficult for Daryl and I eventually finished with just a 7 second lead over him.

“I would just like to thank my team, MPS Husky Sport Husqvarna, my Mum, Dad, Sis, Grandad, the SCEC team and everyone that was watching who helped to make this event exciting to ride!”

The Expert class was one of all-change throughout the race. Neil Hawker, Nick Abbott and Tommy Layzell constantly swapped places until Hawker made a break in the closing stages. Abbot pushed hard in an attempt to catch Hawker but had to settle for second place and an increased lead over third placed Layzell.

As with so many other events, the Over 40’s class proved that youth is no substitute for experience. Michael Brooks took the eventual class win which also placed him 29th overall out of 150+ riders. Second placed Ben Saville was just 5 overall places behind with Dave Coles finishing off the top three.

It was a case of role-reversal for the E2 Clubman riders. Barry Mitchell took the early lead with Daniel Hartley in second and Tyson Mayton-Jones in third. Mayton-Jones then lead from the second lap and remained unchallenged throughout. Mitchell held onto second position for 1 ½ hours but was eventually passed by Hartley who took Mitchell’s long-standing second spot at the chequered flag relegating Mitchell into third.

The E1 Clubman race was too close to call in the early stages with places being frantically swapped from lap to lap. Richard Walters eventually made a break, leaving the rest to fight it out between themselves. Brendan Reese emerged from the pack in second with Neil Franks just 25 seconds behind him after 2 hours of riding.

There was little in the way of cut and thrust amongst the top three Sportsman riders. Clearly deciding that intimacy amongst Enduro riders isn’t his thing, Joe Dyke cleared off into the distance never to be seen again by second placed Karl Phillips. Poor Karl must have wondered whether it was something he’d said as third placed Oliver Davis didn’t get up close ‘n’ personal either. In the end the trio placed a lonely first, second and third.

For me, it was a vast improvement over the last event. Under the guidance of Fitness by Design I’ve had 3 short weeks of training since the Hardy’s event which I failed to finish due to having the fitness levels of Johnny Vegas. I know that half a dozen trips to the gym isn’t likely to prepare me for the 2012 Olympics, but I can tell – even in these early stages – that things are moving in the right direction. And with 150+ riders entering a Wednesday evening event, let’s hope it starts to pay off soon.

For further details and full results of this race visit www.enduro.org.uk

SCEC Wednesday evening Enduro results 21-5-08:
Championship: 1st Simon Wakely, 2nd Daryl Bolter, 3rd Mark Cornick.
Expert: 1st Neil Hawker, 2nd Nick Abbott, 3rd Tommy Layzell.
Over 40 Expert: 1st Michael Brooks, 2nd Ben Saville, 3rd Dave Coles.
E1 Clubman (up to 125cc 2-stroke, 250cc 4-stroke): 1st Richard Walters, 2nd Brendan Reese, 3rd Neil Franks.
E2 Clubman (over 125cc 2-stroke, 250cc 4-stroke): 1st Tyson Mayton-Jones, 2nd Daniel Hartley, 3rd Barry Mitchell.
Sportsman: 1st Joe Dyke, 2nd Karl Phillips, 3rd Oliver Davis.