Monday November 16, 2015 at 4:24pm
Diss MCC supported by GH Motorcycles and G and B Finch hosted the eleventh and final round of the Edmondson Racing ACU British Enduro Championship in Thetford Forest on Sunday 15 November. Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon finally cleared and a warm but windy Sunday greeted the 200 competitors with a track that dried quickly through the day with familiar bumps and berms testing all but the fittest.
Championship class riders faced six laps - 5 on the 20 mile lap but with tests on each of the first three laps and with lap four as 3 back to back tests. Within minutes the significant crowd of supporters were witnessing the battle of the year between Jamie McCanney on the Bel Ray 250 Husqvarna and Steve Holcombe on 300 Beta UK. Fourteen hundredths of a second separated them after the first test with Holcombe just taking first blood. Behind these two gladiators Daryl Bolter 250 KTM was in a strong third from David Knight on a 250 KTM with Jack Edmondson On his 125 KTM showing great form in fifth.
But with six special tests for the championship class this was just the beginning. On the second test Jamie was just under half a second faster than Steve putting him 0.3 seconds in front overall. Test three saw Holcombe pull back 0.1 seconds. Test four, the first of the back to back tests saw Holcombe pull back in front by just over a second with his test 1.4 seconds faster than McCanney.
To keep the drama running just ten minutes later McCanney completed his fifth test - the fastest of the day which was some 2.5 seconds faster than Holcombe's turning the tables again and giving Jamie a 1.4 second advantage with just one test remaining.
Holcombe responded again and was fastest by half a second but the test battle was done and McCanney and his Husqvarna were 0.9 seconds clear of Holcombe's Beta. These two were a street ahead of the rest of the elite championship riders. After five tests Daryl Bolter was sitting in a comfortable third some 4 seconds ahead of the Knighter but a couple of missed corners on test six dropped Bolter to fourth by 0.1 seconds after six gruelling tests. Tom Sagar 450 KTM Stuff KTM started the day cautiously finishing eighth on the first test but the ever cheerful Welsh star kept his head and steadily moved up the order to fifth just ahead of Jack Edmondson with Matt Moffat, James Dent, eastern centre runner Aston Bird and Josh Gotts rounding out the top ten.
After three back to back tests run in a drama filled half hour the riders then rejoined the main event with two final laps with ever reducing times down to 34 minutes for the sixth and final lap. Crowds gathered to see how the final lap would pan out. With over 2 minutes to spare Holcombe, Sagar and Bolter showed there was time to spare - they were all clean and with time in hand. The next minute saw McCanney and Knighter clock in - both three minutes early - more akin to a GNCC lap or a twenty mile test.
The end product was that all the top finishers ran clean on time meaning that the 28 minutes of special test racing was to decide the final outcome for the 2015 GH Muntjac Enduro and the crowd showed their appreciation of a great days racing as McCanney, Holcombe and Knight stood on the podium at the end of a stunning 2015 Edmondson Racing ACU Enduro Championship season.
Results are so close that the overall 2015 championship title is still to be confirmed by the ACU as the report goes to print.
In the expert class with five laps and three special tests the overall expert championship was still to be decided. Brad King, 250 Kawasaki managed to stay in front of series leader Jacob Subachus on his 250 Sherco but finishing third and fourth meant Jacob takes the 2015 expert crown. However both riders were beaten by an on form Jake Gowan 300 KTM who was first expert on each of the three tests and Jon Hunt slotted in second on his 300 Sherco. The top 16 experts stayed clean on the going - not far from Clerk of the Course Andy Waters' target of 15 cleans in each of the main classes.
With Jordan Ridgway absent Dan Mundell was already confirmed as Clubman champion but that didn't stop Dan on his 125 KTM from again stamping his authority on the class winning both tests and running clean on his four laps. Showing that 125s remain competitive the clubman class was dominated by the screaming strokers with Jack Cadwallader 125 Husqvarna and Elliott Bradshaw, 125 KTM taking second and third places with nine riders managing to stay clean on their four laps of the ever rougher going.
The battle for the over 40 veterans was between Jamie Jenkins, 250 KTM and Richard Hay, 150 KTM but no-one told the talented multi eastern centre trials champion and regular Enduro rider Julian Harvey who took the win on his 125 KTM from Hay but finishing third was enough for Jenkins to secure the Over 40 title. The over 50 veterans title was already confirmed and the leaders hadn't secured a ride so Mark Houson, 250 KTM took the chance to pick up the 20 points with a convincing win in the over 50's. Fastest in the tests by 18 seconds, he followed this up by being the only over 59 to clean the tough last lap giving him a comfortable margin over Diss club's vet Mark Chapman on the 250 Yamaha.
With Rhian George already crowned Women's Champ the small women's class all riding 125 KTM's saw Ellie Cook take victory from Kate Smith.
What an end to a great 2015 Edmondson Racing ACU British Enduro Championship. Derrick Eddy and his sponsor team have done a great job supporting the BEC again this year but no-one could have predicted such a climax to an already great year for British Enduro racing.
With support from GH Motorcycles and partners G&B Finch the Diss club led by the ever enthusiastic Andy Waters delivered a fitting end to a great 2015 BEC series.
With so much talent, much of it in the top classes from Under 23's we have much to look forward to in 2016 - bring it on.
Report by - Richard Snowden Chairman - Diss MCC
Photo by - Anthony Ridge