Bradford and James  win Championship Sidecar class of 2009 Welsh 2 Day Enduro!

For the second year in a row Simon Bradford and Neil James of Llandrindod Wells won their home event , the Welsh 2 Day Enduro, held on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th June 2009. The boys won aboard their Maximumgroup.net KTM VMC 525. The start as always was at the Lakeside at Llandrindod Wells, with two days riding in the Mid Wales countryside covering over some 300 miles of mainly off road going.

The event was Neil’s comeback ride after his big accident in March at Round 2 of the ACU British Sidecar cross Championship, at Canada Heights, Kent. After a few months of recuperation after severely damaging his knee, Simon and Neil were in good spirits, looking forward to the event and  hoping to add another win to their tally.

As the Thursday morning dawned it was a nice change to see the sun shining with the forecast for the day looking superb. Simon and Neil were the first bike away  riding No 1 out of some 500 or so riders who had entered the event. There were around 30 sidecars within the entry, 12 or so being in the Championship class and the rest were Clubman riders.

A welcomed addition to the event was the return of the Church Farm Special test just outside Llandrindod. Simon and Neil were first into this test setting a blistering time, some 9 seconds faster than second placed crew – Aled and Ieuan Evans. The riders then proceeded to Beulah, Strata Florida and onto Pontrhydfendigaid. From there they headed back to Llangurig, Rhayader and up to the second special test of the day at Cwmythig Hill MX track. Si and Neil set the fastest time extending their lead at the front of the pack.

After a quick splash of fuel and the boys getting some fluids down them they set off into one of the tighter checks of the day in Abbey Cwm Hir. The boys cleaned this with time to spare, and were one of the few outfits to do so, which was very pleasing. Just after the Abbey Check, disaster struck as a big stick went up through the right radiator causing considerable damage. Although there was some luck on their side due to the fact this had happened right by the third and final test of the day at Abbey Cwm Hir. Neil and Simon stripped the bike to assess the damage and managed to get the bike back together and fixed within the given time. Very hot, bothered and wound up, they kept their heads enough to post a good time on the final test, just over two seconds down on Gareth Andrew / George Edyvean.

The boys headed back along the road sections to Llandrindod and back to the check at the Lakeside where the fuelling crew of Emrys James, Bill Bradford and Wayne James were awaiting them. With only 20 minutes to work on the bike before it was put into Parc Ferme, they managed to change the rear tyre, put a new air filter in, refuel and give everything the once over before pushing the bike in for the night.

It had been a pretty eventful first day, but the main thing was the boys had a good healthy lead of some 58 seconds and were still in good spirits.
Day two soon approached and again it was hot and sunny but there was a threat of some rain coming in for the afternoon. Simon and Neil were the first bike away on the second day and headed towards Abbey Cwm Hir as day two was a run in reverse to day one. 

It wasn’t long before they got to the first test at Abbey Cwm Hir and with fresh rubber on the rear the maxumimgroup.net duo again posted the fastest time, two seconds faster than the Evans brothers and Gareth Andrews / George Edyvean. From here they headed through the forests at Abbey Cwm Hir and over to the second and final test of the event at Cwmythig Hill. After a quick drink, fresh goggles and gloves the boys set off around the MX track at high speed, setting the fastest time by over 17 seconds, Simon and Neil were extremely pleased with their efforts; the win was theirs to lose!

As the boys approached Pontrhydfendigaid (which is about half distance of the lap), the skies opened and it began to rain heavily. It was all good fun as they headed through the water splashes and into the last tight check of the day in the Irfon Forest, which Bradford / James cleaned with ease.  A short ride through the Bwlchciliau Forest and they headed for home via the road sections of the course and into the Lakeside In Llandrindod where they were the first bike back and took a well deserved victory!

With some food inside them, a shower and change, Si and Neil headed to the awards ceremony at the Metropole Hotel. A big cheer erupted when they went up on stage to collect their awards for overall winners, they also collected an award for best local Welsh Sidecar adding to their trophy collection. The night went very well and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Many thanks to the Welsh 2 Day organisers for putting on another great event, Stewart Lines of Maximum Solutions,  all the other sponsors and also to well done to all riders that finished. It was a great two days!