Report: British Extreme Enduro Championship
By TMX Archives on 8th Feb 17
The Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Racing duo of Graham Jarvis and Billy Bolt tightened their grips on the ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship at Round Three, at Cowm Quarry, north of Rochdale, on Sunday.
The pair took the top two spots in the Pro class around the toughest course ever laid out at the venue.
Usually the steep hill climb at the heart of the venue is the centre of attention but for the afternoon race it was quite the opposite as crowds gathered at a perilously deep hole that the Pro, Expert and Clubman riders had to negotiate.
And it certainly delivered the thrills and spills everyone anticipated. It wasn't the only new section. Site operator John Whittle had been busy over the last few months making considerable adjustments to the course and adding new rock gardens everywhere.
The start area had a very different layout with riders leaving the line, hitting a sharp right-hander, negotiating a log section at speed before entering a narrow tunnel, then exiting onto the course proper.
Racing got underway with the Veterans first off the line and Karl Greenhall showed he still has some speed – in short bursts – taking the holeshot ahead of Mick Boam and Neil Crayston, mounted on his electric KTM.
Within yards Boam had the lead and he stretched away to open a comfortable gap in a couple of laps, easing over the rocks as if they were a tarmac road.
Boam stayed smooth and composed for most of the race, as he claimed his second win of the series.
Kiaran Hankin was the only one to match him on laps.
Third overall went to Youth rider Dawson Marriott, who is getting closer each race to taking the coveted overall.As consolation he won his class by a mile.
Third in the Vets went to Vince Harker who finished just seconds behind Marriott.
With a clear winner in the Youth ranks it was a free-for-all for the remaining podium places.
Harry Edmondson was in the running initially but on his fourth lap he was taken out hard by another rider on one of the hills then snapped his gear selector which put him out of the running completely.
Will Stansbie finished as
runner-up, a lap down on Marriott, as Tom Knight put in a terrific performance to claw his way to third in class.
With more than 100 Sportsman riders it was anyone's guess who would win but Luke Owen eventually took charge despite a very poor start – and several ‘incidents' as he described them.
Calming himself and getting good lines, riding very smoothly around most of the course he finished ahead of a pack of Sportsman riders fighting for a podium place. Darren Heyes just pipped Ryan Crayston to second spot.
The start area was packed with riders and spectators for the afternoon race and it was well worth the wait to witness a spectacular start from the Pro riders.
Lee Sealey used every ounce of experience gained from his SuperEnduro outing to get to the log section first and bounced across most of the section – the only rider to even attempt such a move.
His claim to fame was brief as he DNF'd after two laps but it got the race off to a great start.
Even though Sealey's efforts were impressive Paul Bolton was alongside him as they hit the narrow tunnel with no sign of Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Team riders Billy Bolt or Graham Jarvis.
In fact Grimbo was last off the line.
Paul Bolton took the lead as Billy Bolt quickly moved through the pack ahead and by the time they entered the new rock garden just before the huge hole it was Bolt who headed the race.
Paul Bolton remained in second spot as Jarvis had worked his magic and was a bike's length behind in third with Sam Winterburn catching the leading three.
Bolt, Jarvis and Bolton traded places for the first hour, Jarvis suffering from arm-pump, until he suddenly came good and moved up a gear to put nearly five minutes between himself and the chasing pair.
All three made mistakes, Jarvis and Bolton having to make second runs at the huge hill climb and it was one of these mistakes that allowed Bolt to take second spot and pull nearly 40 seconds over Bolton.
Jarvis was long gone at this point, nearly five minutes ahead of them, riding as strongly and smoothly as ever to take his fourth win of the season and a second Eddy's X-treme win of the year.
Bolt is a quick learner and he had none of his trademark spectacular crashes as he picked his lines and pushed hard for a well-deserved second place.
Bolton is a pure competitor and also pushed as hard as he could right to the finish line for third.
Keelan Hancock is always near the front of the pack and fourth overall was a good result for him.
Gary Daniels, one of the most underestimated riders in hard enduro, really showed his mettle by taking fifth in a tremendously talented field, a cracking ride from a very talented rider.
Sam Ludgate took sixth place and was the first Expert rider home at the front of a tough set of Expert competitors.
Zac Sherwin matched Ludgate on laps but was a minute adrift in second place while Ben Wibberley took third in class.
Fred Adams finished 20th overall as the first Clubman rider to pass the chequered flag.
With a huge Clubman class behind him that was quite an achievement and his second Eddy's Xtreme class win this year.
Lewis Ellis and Ashley Bell joined Adams on the podium.
Results
Pro: 1 Graham Jarvis, 2 Billy Bolt, 3 Paul Bolton, 4 Keelan Hancock, 6 Gary Daniels.
Expert: 1 Sam Ludgate, 2 Zac Sherwin, 3 Ben Wibberley.
Clubman: 1 Fred Adams, 2 Lewis Ellis, 3 Ashley Bell.
Veteran: 1 Mick Boam, 2 Kiaran Hankin, 3 Vince Harker.
Youth: 1 Dawson Marriott, 2 Will Stansbie, 3 Tom Knight.
Sportsman: 1 Luke Owen, 2 Darren Heyes, 3 Ryan Crayston.
