Jonny Walker nailed it at Cowm Quarry on Sunday! He added yet another win to his string of recent victories with a stunning display of riding at the rock-strewn venue which in the past has generally been wet or very wet. Bone dry with thousands of tons of rock and loose shale, Paul Edmondson’s thoughtfully laid out course was tough, dusty and easily observed by spectators from a single vantage point. This didn’t stop hundreds of them walking around the course and climbing to its highest points for very close-up views of the worlds top two extreme enduro riders doing battle.
It was KTM versus Husqvarna as the start flag dropped. Husky’s Graham Jarvis was fast off the line at the start of the two-hour afternoon race with KTM Factory rider Walker snapping at his heels, so closely that the two bikes became one by the third turn and walker gracefully stepped away as his bike hit the deck. He was back on it within seconds and closed on Jarvis, the pair battling for the first half lap until Walker made his move down a rocky but dry streambed approaching the first tough rock garden. Safely through the rocks and big step-ups it was time to hit the hills, hard. The longest climb saw the pair just yards apart as they hit the crest, turned left for a few yards then plummeted back down, only to repeat the process a few hundred yards later. The course wended its way into the main bowl of the quarry where both riders chose the short but very tough route out of a deep ravine to exit back on level ground, through another maze of big rocks and around the super motard course, strewn with pipes, logs and rocks to complete the lap. Yard by yard Walker pulled clear but Jarvis matched him lap for lap as the pair lapped the whole field, twice. With over five minutes in hand, Walker pitted for fuel, fresh goggles and a change of Go Pro for the final stint to the flag and another victory to his credit. Graham Jarvis rode magnificently, he didn’t put a foot wrong and only once failed to make one of the climbs on the first attempt, but he just couldn’t match Walker for speed, he finished in a solid second place, two laps up on Beta rider Dan Hemmingway in third, and Hemmo is no slouch at this game, proving the pace of both front-runners.
Keelan Hancock pushed hard to take the Expert class win in the dying laps, putting 37 seconds between himself and Chris Windle who had ridden extremely well for the whole race. Keelan’s brother Ross Hancock took third in class. Veteran enduro guru Mick Seward was in attendance looking after his latest young rider, Luke Flack on the MPS Racing Sherco. Flack gave his all and took fifth in class. Tom Greenwood took the Clubman class by a lap over Nathan Ball and third placed Gav Johnson following something of a nightmare as virtually all the Clubman riders log-jammed on the rocks near the start line as the race began.
The Veterans, Sportsman and Youth 13-16 riders who raced for two hours from 9.30am preceded all of this afternoon action. The course started on the flat ‘super motard’ area and went headlong into rock sections with small rocks but tricky lines, radiating log corners closely followed by a corner with a set of sizeable rocks, which caught out many riders and gave the front runners a chance to get away. Closely following the rocks was a concrete pipe section then it was out onto the course proper.
Mick Boam was outstanding from start to finish, actually better to say ‘standing’ as this veteran rider never sat down through the whole raced. He grabbed the lead from the moment the flag dropped and pushed hard from that point onwards. He did have a bit of a moment on the opening lap as he topped the longest climb, nearly overshooting down a horrendous drop but he stopped in time to turn left and ride the crest of the ridge before descending towards the main bowl. Ross Hall pushed Boam hard initially but as the race progressed Boam pulled a gap of over 5 minutes to secure the win with hall second and Alexis Owen third.
Brad Lilburn was the top Youth 13-16 rider, two laps clear of his closest rival Tom Widd. Lilburn had his work cut out early on as Elliott Bradshaw lead the class for a while until a sizeable crash saw him retire with an injured hand, leaving Lilburn a clear run at the win. Dawson Marriott followed Widd home in third place. Oli Fortune rode into the top ten, sixth overall at the finish, to win the Sportsman class with a great display of skill and determination that left Paul Raine in second spot in the Sportsman class as Scott Booth took third.
Cowm Quarry revealed itself in a whole new light in sunny and dry conditions. It is supremely tough and has everything an extreme event requires to provide top quality racing for riders and entertainment for spectators. Somehow, Fast Eddy managed to pick the one sunny day of the year in Whitworth and it was an absolute cracker.