Ceri's all gold
By TMX Archives on 5th Mar 09
THE weather could not have been more perfect for the Ceri Enduro, organised by MWTRA promoters last Sunday. The tough but fast five-mile lap through the Ceri Forest saw a mixture of solos, sidecars and quads run for up to four hours along fast fire roads and through woodland in glorious sunshine. The solo event began first and had a mixture of six classifications running for the full four hours. Ironman Experts, Clubman and Solos competed with Expert, Clubman and Solo two-man teams, although the team riders were significantly fewer in number than the Ironman riders.
The four-hour time period was longer than usual enduros to give the team riders a chance to ride for at least two hours each.
Ironman Tim Foreman made the running right from the start with Ash Wood in hot pursuit, getting in plenty of bike time for the GBXC next weekend. WOR Events and GBXC co-organiser Steve Ireland made one of his rare outings on a new TM 450 and held third place for just over four hours until his bad back cried enough'.
David Lloyd-Jones and Barry Furber were constantly in the mix but things changed dramatically when Ash Wood had a massive tumble on one of the faster sections and retired from the race.
With Ireland joining him, this gave Charlie Evans the opportunity to move to second spot behind Foreman, who was a lap up on the rest of the field on 19 laps, as time ran out. Evans was joined by David Lloyd-Jones in third and Barry Furber in fourth.
Chris Bryant claimed the Clubman Ironman honours ahead of Paul Davies and Matt Bishop, while Bryn Humphreys and Tom Humphreys took fourth and fifth.
In the Sportsman class Stephen Thornton and Mark Lewis were a lap up on the rest of the pack with Thornton taking the class win ahead of Lewis followed by Mark Lonergan, Rob Edwards and Ross Jones.
Just one Expert team, Ben Wootton and Ash Fox, pushed the other Expert Ironmen hard throughout the race and were not far behind overall winner Foreman, matching him lap for lap.
G Davies and R Davies took the Clubman team Premier award, followed by Ian Barnet and D Lewis in second place with Gold awards, then Anthony Williams and Chrissy Squires in third spot. Just one Sportsman team competed, G Rees and S Summers, completing 14 laps.
Things changed dramatically after an hour when the Expert Quad riders and Sidecars joined the race. They improved the whooped out sections by flattening them, but polished many other places which gave the solo riders something to think about.
In the opening round of the Suzuki-sponsored Quad Forestry Championship, Stuart Jones took the Premier award in the Pro Quad class but it was very close. Overheating badly with steam pouring off his machine he pitted with just minutes to go but refilling with coolant he managed to put in a final lap for the win. Roger Page was hot on his heels in second with Andy Mellor third and John Robson a long way behind the leading three, on two laps in fourth place.
Adam Shanahan pulled two laps clear to win the Expert class from Tim Wilson and Mike Wilson in second and third, with Gary Wright close on in fourth all on 10 laps.
Dean Jones and Andrew Kelly battled hard with Jones coming out on top in the Clubman Quads. Kelly took second with a lap in hand over Glyn Aled Jones and Tim Clarke, fourth, as Arron Marriot completed the top five line-up.
Aaron Coles nailed the Beginner Quad class from Saul Coles, matching each other on laps but one up on third placed Josh Langford.
N Rowlands and M Rowlands took top spot in the Expert Sidecar class ahead of S Price, both on 11 laps as A Jones while A Davies and L Williams took third. D Williams and G McFee posted seven laps for fourth.
A Nevill and S Nevill nailed the Clubman Sidecar class by just a few minutes over their only other class rivals A Giles and L Millett.
The event ran like clockwork and was extremely well organised and marshalled, but the track was fast and slippery in places according to some of the top solo riders who were carrying plenty of speed around the course.
From bright sunlight to virtual total darkness going into the woodland area by race control, plenty of riders fell on the highly polished entrance to the woods as their eyes struggled to adjust to the extreme change in visibility but that said, the event was very competitive and enjoyed by all. Well done to MWTRA.
Ceri Hare & Hounds Enduro
Inc the Quad Forestry Champs
(sponsored by Suzuki)
Ceri Forest (Mid Wales TRA)
Expert Ironman: 1 Tim Foreman, 2 Charlie Evans, 3 David Lloyd-Jones, 4 Barry Furber, 5 Jamie Robinson.
Clubman Ironman: 1 Chris Bryant, 2 Paul Davies, 3 Matt Bishop, 4 Bryn Humphreys, 5 Tom Humphreys.
Sportsman Ironman: 1 Stephen Thornton, 2 Mark Lewis, 3 Mark Lonergan, 4 Rob Edwards, 5 Ross Jones.
Expert Team: 1 Ben Wootton/ Ash Fox.
Clubman Team: 1 G Davies/ R Davies, 2 Ian Barnett/ D Lewis, 3 Tony Williams/ Chris Squire, 4 J Brooks/ M Perris.
Sportsman Team: 1 G Rees/ S Summers.
Pro Quad: 1 Stuart Jones, 2 Roger Page, 3 Andy Mellor, 4 John Robson.
Expert Quad: 1 Adam Shanahan, 2 Tim Wilson, 3 Mike Wilson, 4 Gary Wright, 5 Peter Betts.
Beginner Quad: 1 Aaron Coles, 2 Saul Coles, 3 Josh Langford.
Expert Sidecar: 1 N Rowlands/ M Rowlands, 2 S Pryce/ A Jones, 3 A Davies/ LWilliams, 4 D Williams/ S McPhee, 5 C Radford/ G Clarke.
Clubman Sidecar: 1 A Nevill/ S Nevill, 2 A Giles/ L Millett.