Wide-open weekend for British enduro fans
By Team TMX on 1st Aug 24
News Enduro Enduro World Championship Hard Enduro SuperEnduro
This weekend sees the world’s best enduro riders come to the UK as the penultimate round of the EnduroGP World Championship based out of Rhayader goes head-to-head with a hard enduro one-off in Newcastle – Red Bull Tyne Ride.
Tyne Ride is a collaboration between the energy drinks giant and its sponsored athlete – Billy Bolt. Billy had been keen to do something in his home city – as if securing a fourth SuperEnduro World Championship title earlier this year wasn’t enough – for some time and pitched his idea to Red Bull who have a habit of making things like this happen.
We’ve only had a sneak preview of the course but from what we can gather it’s really going to test the riders. The lineup consists of Billy Bolt, Mani Lettenbichler, Jonny Walker, Will Hoare, Taddy Blazusiak, Eddie Karlsson, the Brightmore brothers – Mitch and Ashton – Jack Price, Dan Peace, Bernard Kerr, Francesc Moret, Matt Green, Kevin Gallas and six wildcards who are all capable of pulling off a surprise! It’s sure to be some show with plenty of surprises and wild riding all wrapped in Red Bull’s unmatchable pizazz.
Red Bull Tyne Ride is happening on Saturday, August 3 on the quayside in Newcastle. The action kicks off at noon and the event is free for spectators.
While this was happening in Newcastle, around 200 miles southwest, the first full day of the EnduroGP of Wales will be in full swing. The first proper Enduro World Championship round in Britain since 2008, the organisers have gone all-out with this event – while building for the future – and have been rewarded with support from the industry, spectators and home country riders who wanted to pitch themselves against the EnduroGP elite.
Starting on Friday night with the Akrapovic Super Test held at Rhayader MC’s Cwmythig Hill facility in Mid Wales, two full days of off-road action follow with Special Tests running at Cwmythig Hill and the nearby Saintswell facility. The action kicks off at 5pm on Friday and 9am on both Saturday and Sunday.
Tickets cover fans for both venues and will be available at the gate – a weekend pass for Adults costs £50, Kids aged 11-17 are £40 and five to 10-year-olds will pay £30. That covers you for all three days while day tickets are £35 for adults, £25 for older kids and £20 for the younger bracket. Under fives are free all weekend and Family tickets are also available. There are still pre-event tickets up for grabs online with savings available – head to endurogp.wales to get yours before travelling.
As well as all the EnduroGP series regulars, a fair few British wildcards have signed up and they’re all itching to get going.
In Enduro1 lining up against series regulars Steve Holcombe, Josep Garcia, Zachary Pichon et al we have Jack Edmondson riding as a wildcard. In E2, Alex Walton and Aaron Gordon join Brit runners Nathan Watson, Jed Etchells and Harry Houghton. There’s an overseas wildcard in this one too as the USA’s Josh Toth made good on his promise to compete in the EnduroGP of Wales. Adding a little spice to the E3 class will be Danny McCanney and Fraser Flockhart.
The UK is well represented in the Enduro Women class as Nieve Holmes returns to the series and she’ll be joined by Zoe Zembrzuski and Emily Hall. Podium challenger Rosie Rowett obviously lines up in this one too.
The Junior classes are stacked with Brits. Sam Davies is, of course, a regular and Jack Edmondson has already raced in the series this year but joining the fun in Rhayader are Jack Probert, Charlie Chater, Callum Hughes, Will Cawte and Jack Keenan in J1 while Max Ingham, Sion Evans and Ben Clark join the J2 class.
Sam Hughes has been the sole Brit in the Youth class and joining him in the hunt for points in Wales are Endaf Hughes and Rees Jones.
The Open 2 Stroke, Open 4 Stroke and Open Senior classes aren’t normally too well supported but things are looking a little healthier in the UK. In the O2 division Henry Harman and Ross Danby will be podium hunting while in O4, freshly crowned champion Alfie Webb will have to contend with local wildcards in the form of Rhys Evans, Will Keenan, Kris Price, Freddie Davis and Gethin Humphreys. Joel Tett, who has competed at three of the five rounds held so far, will be looking to improve his current ranking of fifth. A pair of good rides could see him reach a medal position – go on lad!
David Knight is the star of the OS class with David Clack, James Ramsden, Simon Beken, Craig Reynolds and Gary Pilbeam also getting in on the action.
All in all, it’s a wide-open weekend for enduro fans – the question is which event will you be backing?