Back in the saddle
By TMX Archives on 8th Apr 04
WELL, YET again another hectic month. I'm back racing full-time and must say that I'm enjoying every minute. WELL, YET again another hectic month. I'm back racing full-time and must say that I'm enjoying every minute. Since last month I've done two world enduro championship rounds, one British enduro championship round and hired a new mechanic for the team.So where to start? Round one of the BEC - the Breckland - seems to be a good place. It was another well organized event and real enjoyable but that was hardly a surprise as, after all the running around setting up the team, it was great to clear my mind of all the organising stresses and strains and just get out and ride.As most of you know the result I won't harp on about it but what I will say is that I'm disappointed about not winning and I'll be trying a little harder at the next round. I was waaay too relaxed on the first test of each day and that basically cost me the event. As a team I was really pleased young Simon Wakely rode his heart out and, while Paul Whibley also rode well, he missed out due to a bit of a ***k-up.Moving on to the first round of the WEC in Spain and I was looking forward to seeing everyone again and doing my own thing out on the course. The event looked like it could be a dustbowl and, until the night before when the rain came down, I was gearing myself up for zero visibility.As it turned out it was a cracker! The new format of more tests, more technical stages and better all-round promotion - plus that dust-dampening downpour - ensured that the event was certainly a good one and night and day better than last year's.The race itself wasn't too difficult but kept you on your toes and the special tests were awesome. In the end I placed fourth both days and missed the podium by seven seconds both times out. Not too bad for starters but, like always, I want to be at least top three. One thing that is quite clear is the speed and confidence of class supremo Juha Salminen who's already shown that he's the man to beat (at the moment) so we've all got to find some more ponies if we want to run with him.After the race we all stayed on an extra day and night so Gio could prepare the bike and we could have a general clean up. Once this was taken care of it was off to Portugal with A team in front and B team bringing up the rear. It took a day to get there and I realized I should have flown but, hey, if I ain't learned by now I never will!Anyway, on to Portugal and another great event - loads of tests, a great course and some SSDT-type sections all made for a classic WEC round two. The results were good - but there were a few hiccups. Whibley fouled a plug and had a spanner passed to him in front of some old boy who's on the jury. You guessed it, our team Kiwi got excluded from day one - so that was ***k-up #2. Hopefully, after he studies up on the rules, we'll have no more Mr Nasties!But other than that it was a great weekend and our second day performances were great - especially considering we're a non-factory team. Speaking of which, some of the teams who've spent a fortune on riders and staff must be bricking themselves as they've spent shedloads and have had no results! But we'll keep plodding on and if me and Whibs can continue like we are there's no reason why we shouldn't both be on the podium together before the end of the season.Anyway, that's enough WEC stuff - let's move on to something much more important. It'll be too late for anyone reading this but my next stop-off will be for the Weston Indoor Enduro where dbr's tame monkeys and general all-round good boys Sutty and Geoff will be in action! It's all going to be fun and games and my money is on Sutty wiping out the whole field at some stage during the evening. Go on boy!Finally, a big thank you to the following who supported me during the first two WECs - Gio (mechanic), Plainer and PJB (outriders), Bernie Andrew (truck driver and story teller), Culley (sponsor and Worcester hotel), dad (legend) and myself for spending all my money on this team. It's great!Seen you soon...Fast Eddy