Round 3 of the G H Motorcycles/Husqvarna/ACU Eastern Enduro Championship proved to be a scorcher in racing and weather with temperatures up to 25C. The organisers Sudbury Motor Cycle Club laid on a very long lap at their Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham Essex venue to cater for the whole entry competing altogether in the three hour marathon.
The Championship Class set off first and at the end of the first lap they were all together being lead by Jamie Roper (Sudbury) however the volume of riders confused the transponder timing system which froze for several seconds and when it cleared it was Rick Roper (Sudbury) in the lead followed by his brother J Roper. Some of the fancy riders were further down the field but they were pacing themselves for the three hour session. Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) eventually took over the lead pulling away from the rest of the field but Jason Morland (Halstead) was having none of it and he upped his pace and slowly gained on Braddock. After two hours Morland caught Braddock and after passing him increased his lead. Chris Hockey (Sudbury) was now on the charge moving up six places into third place while J Roper was falling back as his injured finger which he sustained a few weeks ago was giving him trouble and it looked like he would have to retire. As the clock ticked down there was still drama Braddock’s chain came off and it took him vital minutes to fix it and four riders passed him. At the chequered flag seven riders completed 23 laps with 1
st Morland, 2
nd Hockey, 3
rd Brendan Mayers (Halstead), 4
th Jamie Roper, 5
th Rick Roper, 6
th Braddock and 7
th Craig Roper (Sudbury). J Roper still leads the Championship Class on 48 points with Morland and Hockey on 42 points and Mayers 30 points.
The Expert Class proved to be a three way battle throughout the whole three hours between Stowmarket team members Jake Gregory and Ed Pooley with Alex Rampton (Sudbury) also in the mix. All three riders completed 21 laps with Rampton taking the win by 36 seconds from Gregory with Pooley 3
rd a further 12 seconds behind. Provisional Standings Gregory 50 points Rampton 47 points and Pooley 36 points.
Expert Veteran Class leader Mark Chapman (Diss) had to settle for 2
nd place being trounced by Contest Sponsor Gavin Hockey (Sudbury) by 3 minutes and 27 seconds. Jason Warren (Castle Colchester) was 3
rd, Arran Nicoll (Halstead) 4
th and Gareth Young (Sudbury) 5
th. Chapman still leads the Class on 57 points, Hockey 54 points with Michael Ridge (Stowmarket) 38 points.
Alex Walton (Sudbury) completed 21 laps in the Clubman Class to take the win and the next five riders completing 20 laps and they were 2
nd Dan Willis (Stowmarket), 3
rd Ben Ramus (Sudbury), 4
th Tom Sargent (Bury St Edmunds), 5
th Kevin Palmer (Norwich) and 6
th Jamie Lagden (Sudbury). Provisional Standings Ramus 49 points, Willis and Walton 48 points with Palmer on 39 points.
In the Clubman Veteran Class Mark Green (Sudbury) was 1
st, David Stokes (Aldermaston) 2
nd, Peter Andrews (Woodbridge) 3
rd and Dean Curry (Sudbury) 4
th. Andrews now leads the Class on 43 points, Jeff Turner (Sudbury) 38 points with Curry and Kevin Gore (Norwich) on 28 points.
It was a great day for Nigel Ross (Sudbury) with a first win in his riding career coming in the Clubman Super Veteran Class, 2
nd Graham Mays (Sudbury) 3
rd Nick Airey (Newmarket), 4
th Les Rampton (Sudbury) and 5
th Michael Harrison (Diss). Mays still leads the Class on 52 points with Rampton and Ross on 41 points and Airey on 35 points.
Round 4 takes place 19
th June at Little Hadham Herts.