After the very successful opening rounds of this year’s ACU British Timecard Enduro Championship taking place in Scotland & Helmsley, the series now heads to the old market town of Llanidloes in the heart of Mid-Wales over the weekend of 29th/30th July.
Rowan Jones the clerk of the course for Hafren Dirtbike Clubs “Metzeler/John Paul Transport Ltd Hafren 2 Day Enduro” has spent the recent last few months along with club members busy preparing this year’s event & with the recent spell of dry weather & ground conditions bone dry, all things are looking good for another cracking round in this year’s series.
The start/Paddock for the event will be at the fabulous Llanidloes Rugby Club which hosts great facilities including showers, toilets, floodlights & bar, all of which are only a short walk into the town of Llanidloes. The start area will also have a “Parce Ferme” where all bikes will remain once machine examination has taken place & also after riders have finished day 1.
Again Test 1 will be the usual grassy MX test just down the road from the start area & this will be ridden at the start & end of each day, with a “back to back” for Championship riders. The event will then head up to Glynhafren farm to the rendezvous point where the Enduro Test & Refuelling Area will be located. The Enduro Test will start & finish on open fields at Glynhafren farm before heading into the Hafren Forest, this will be an old school type enduro test which will take riders in the region of 10 minutes to ride. Top enduro commentator Huw Watkins will be present at this test to keep everyone updated during the day. From here riders will begin the 30 mile lap all based in the Hafren Forest, with 3 checks per lap all being approximately 10 miles each, with the most challenging of them being checks 1 to 2. Within this check there will also be a “split” in the course with Championship/Experts riders using a harder route than the remaining classes. It is intended that Championship & Expert riders will complete 3 laps on Saturday with all other classes expected to ride 2 full laps.
Current Enduro World Championship leader, Steve Holcombe is confirmed for this year’s Hafren BEC aboard his factory Beta. Fresh off the back of some strong results in Hungary and Greece this will be his 1
st outing in this years in the BEC, he has enjoyed previous HDBC events, and was keen to ride the Hafren if his World Championship schedule permitted.
BEC Series joint leaders Danny McCanney & Brad Freeman will both be hoping to fend off Holcombe & gain some valuable points to keep their championship challenge alive.
Not far behind the leading duo are Jack Edmondson fit again after breaking his wrist, flying Welshman Jamie Lewis, British ISDE Trophy Team rider Josh Gotts & former top motocross rider Alex Snow. Other BEC regulars including Tom Sagar, Lee Sealey, local ace Charlie Evans plus Scottish pair Fraser Flockhart & Frazer Norrie will all be hoping to score some good points. Another young man on a mission will be Dan Mundell having an excellent season in the European Enduro Championships along with fellow GB Junior Trophy team riders Tom Ellwood & Welsh 2 Day Enduro overall winner Joe Wootton will all be hoping to throw in some top performances over the weekend.
In the highly competitive Experts class in-form Jay Thomas will be hoping to catch series leader Bradley King, while Andrew Bisset still has a slender lead over Alex Walton in the E1 class. Others to lookout for are the experienced Kevin Murray, Jon Hunt, Roger Holland & youngster Jordan Ridgeway. Locals Adam James & Marc Evans will be looking for strong rides before they head off to the International Six Days Enduro.
In the Clubman class another close battle will commence between Fred Adams, Allyn Taylor, Harry Hillier-Rees & Lewis Ranger, all capable of taking class wins on their day.
Rosie Rowett will no doubt pick up where she left off at Helmsley in the Ladies class, but Ellie Cooke is back in action after recovering from injury.
Both Andrew Edwards (Over 40’s) & Paul Davies (Over 50’s) will take some beating in their respective classes.
All in all, it’s all starting to hot up in this year’s BEC series & with long awaited return of this premier event, it look like we will be in for a belter!
The event will start from Llanidloes Rugby Club SY18 6LQ. Signing-on/Scrutineering will take place on the Friday afternoon. First riders will start at 9.00am Saturday & Sunday.
For further information on the event checkout the clubs website –
http://hafrendbc.co.uk
STOP PRESS: The Welsh ISDE Enduro Team also plan to organise a fundraising social evening at the rugby club on the Saturday night to keep everyone entertained.