The time of the Munt'
By TMX Archives on 26th Feb 09
THE Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship fired into life at the weekend with the Diss MCC once again providing a thrilling start to the series. David Knight handed BMW its first ever overall BEC victory as the Manxman made a winning return to the series. Joining him at the top of the Championship class results were Enduro 2 class riders Si Wakely and Tom Sagar THE Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship is all systems go. Following the gruelling opening round organised by the Diss MCC, the five-event series sees BMW's David Knight lead the way after the Manxman came out on top at the Muntjac Enduro.
By no means having things all his own way, the reigning US GNCC champion saved his best until last to snatch the win from MPS Husqvarna rider, Si Wakely. With Wakely topping the first of the three special tests for Championship class riders, and Knight the last, Frenchman Rodrig Thain was the man to beat second time around on his TM.
As expected the Muntjac separated the men from the boys. With riders needing to perform at their best on both the single time control and the special tests, just ten Championship class riders remained on time. All Expert and Clubman class riders dropped time, while just one Veteran class competitor avoided any time penalties.
For the 35 Championship class riders that started the event, there were three key parts to the Muntjac – the first two special tests, which took place early on in the event, the ‘tight' final lap, and then the third and final special test.
Showing just how much he wanted to go one better than his overall runner-up position in 2008, Wakely edged ahead on the first test, finishing in front of Edward Jones and Knight. With just five-seconds covering the top seven riders all of the expected names featured inside the top ten.
Through the second special test visiting Frenchman Rodrig Thain recorded the fastest time aboard his TM, but things were even tighter than they were on lap one. With Wakely a close second, Tom Sagar, making his BEC debut on a Midwest Racing Husaberg, placed third. Fourth, and highest finishing Enduro 1 rider, was Aston Bird who was contesting his first BEC enduro on a full-time basis.
"The first special test was so slippery,” explained Wakely after the event. "You can't afford to have a slow first test at the Muntjac, but every time I started to push, I started making mistakes, so I had to be really careful.”
Not alone in finding the opening test slippery, most riders commented on the fact that there was a near complete lack of traction in many of the corners.
On lap two, and with the whole entry having ridden through the test, things were a lot less slippery. Thain posted the quickest time – but only just! With Wakely again riding well, he retained his overall lead, close to four-seconds up on Knight. At the head of the E1 class, Daryl Bolter sat in third overall, with Thain, Sagar, Greg Evans and the Edmondson brothers, Paul and Lee, not too far behind.
While the final test of the day decided the eventual finishing order at the head of the Championship class, all riders had to first deal with the tight check. And it was tight! Just ten Championship riders ended the event without time penalties and while most had no time to spare, one or two riders did have to stop before checking in.
"The tight checks are what got me going,” admitted Knight after the event. "It was so easy to make a mistake on the first test that I just made sure I stayed upright. The second was going well but I stalled the motor. After I made some adjustments to my bike, I started to feel good on the last tight check. I knew I'd be a bit faster than I was on the other two tests, but I also knew I couldn't make any mistakes.”
As it turned out, it was Wakely who made the mistake – stalling his Husqvarna within sight of the finish line. Restarting fairly fast, he recorded the third fastest time through the test. Paul Edmondson was one of a handful of riders to save his best until last as the former British champion put in the second fastest time.
BRITISH SOLO ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP
Rd 1 – Muntjac Enduro at Thetford Forest (Diss MCC Ltd)
CHAMPIONSHIP – Overall: 1 David Knight (BMW) 874.86 time penalties, 2 Si Wakely (Husqvarna) 878.06, 3 Tom Sagar (Husaberg) 885.79, 4 Daryl Bolter (KTM) 885.97, 5 Paul Edmondson (Suzuki) 887.39, 6 Aston Bird (Husqvarna) 901.18, 7 Phillip McLaughlin (TM) 912.59, 8 Ollie Moyce (Husaberg) 915.19, 9 Darren Carter (KTM) 917.39, 10 Lee Edmondson (Honda) 957.96, 11 Chris Hockey (Yamaha) 962.38, 12 Euan McConnell (Aprilia) 981.81, 13 Ricky Mair (Suzuki) 984.29, 14 Ashley Wood (Gas Gas) 985.22, 15 Richard Hay (KTM) 990.86, 16 Edward Jones (KTM) 1030.69, 17 Jon Hinam (KTM) 1059.51, 18 Jamie Paget (TM) 1064.45, 19 Dylan Jones (Yamaha) 1094.68, 20 Tim Foreman (Kawasaki) 1133.81, 21 Andrew Edwards (KTM) 1188.14; 22 Greg Evans (KTM) 1214.00, 23 Bradley King (Gas Gas) 1286.89, 24 Rob Jones (Yamaha) 1302.72, 25 Kev Murray (Yamaha) 1303.01, 26 Darren Wheeler (Yamaha) 1325.23, 27 James Yearly (BMW) 1331.38, 28 Rich Warner (KTM) 1397.18, 29 David Brick (Yamaha) 1416.06, 30 James Jackman (Yamaha) 1600.16, 31 Gordon Clarke (TM) 2431.88.
Expert – Overall: 1 Matt Ridgway (Suzuki) 678.18, 2 Gav Houson (Husqvarna) 681.89, 3 Mark Roberts (Kawasaki) 683.87, 4 Julian Harvey (KTM) 696.14, 5 Stuart Houlston (Honda) 703.32, 6 Harry Hillas (KTM) 749.15, 7 Steve Hunt (Yamaha) 762.29, 8 Luke Meredith (Gas Gas) 763.86, 9 Neil Chatham (Honda) 767.20, 10 Rheinallt Davies (KTM) 816.03, 11 Richard Ellwood (Honda) 864.37, 12 Freddie Broadway (KTM) 890.66, 13 Mark Chapman (Yamaha) 900.65, 14 Craig Reynolds (Yamaha) 907.36, 15 Richard Ely (Suzuki) 923.39, 16 Tom Braddock (Husqvarna) 937.57, 17 Adam Ransom (Honda) 939.73, 18 Mark Godfrey (KTM) 969.73, 19 James Burroughs (Husqvarna) 990.27, 20 Richard Hallam (Honda) 1020.57, 21 Ben Begbie (KTM) 1042.55, 22 Tudor Davies (1074.53, 23 David Myers (KTM) 1090.05, 24 David Lloyd-Jones (Husqvarna) 1090.49, 25 Neil Hawker (Yamaha) 1092.26, 26 Daniel Hall (BMW) 1127.88, 27 D Wood (Yamaha) 1139.90, 28 David Cadwallader (KTM) 1149.07, 29 Alun Jones (Yamaha) 1159.67, 30 Chay Granby (Gas Gas) 1161.20, 31 Joe Baker (KTM) 1208.07, 32 David Stokes (Yamaha) 1412.81, 33 Tyson Maytom (Husaberg) 1459.22, 34 Lee Whitney (Kawasaki) 1486.96, 35 Mark Perrott (KTM) 1528.68, 36 James Wood (KTM) 1613.78, 37 Sam Myers (KTM) 1730.71, 38 Tom Smith (Suzuki) 1833.41, 39 James Bevan (KTM) 1964.82, 40 Marc Jenkins (Yamaha) 1971.51, 41 Tim Pattinson (KTM) 2084.68, 42 Anthony Dean (Yamaha) 2724.54.
Clubman – Overall: 1 Gareth Davies (KTM) 711.94, 2 Frazer Norrie (KTM) 713.92, 3 Kalem Hicks (Yamaha) 745.80, 4 Jonathan Evans (Honda) 753.70, 5 Matt Holcombe (KTM) 773.24, 6 Wayne Johnstone (KTM) 868.12, 7 Craig Altass (Yamaha) 925.80, 8 Simon Stebbing (Suzuki) 945.86, 9 Dan Lawry (KTM) 987.05, 10 Jack Lee (Gas Gas) 993.87, 11 Kris Hallem (Yamaha) 999.44, 12 Graham Lazzari (KTM) 1002.84, 13 Ryan Golding (KTM) 1047.52, 14 Phil Maltby (Husqvarna) 1054.07, 15 P Hempkins (Yamaha) 1176.46, 16 Jason Naruszewicz (KTM) 1177.88, 17 Keith Jones (Yamaha) 1183.71, 18 Darren Nicolaou (KTM) 1192.34, 19 Paul Knibb (KTM) 1194.64, 20 Shaun Buchan (KTM) 1199.83, 21 Loan Jones (Yamaha) 1218.29, 22 Marcus Dodd (Yamaha) 1226.19, 23 Ed Hopkin (KTM) 1238.28, 24 Jonathan Lee (Honda) 1254.11, 25 Robert Mcleod (Yamaha) 1266.97, 26 Jason Stuart (KTM) 1275.43, 27 Carl Walker (KTM) 1280.42, 28 Rob Turner (KTM) 1319.01, 29 Stuart James (KTM) 1383.61, 30 Phil Roper (KTM) 1448.73, 31 Keith Wooster (KTM) 1474.27, 32 Steve Martin (KTM) 1550.35, 33 Jase Corden (Yamaha) 1577.34, 34 Neil Parry (KTM) 1581.11, 35 John Bishop (KTM) 1597.83, 36 Danny Wright (KTM) 1628.88, 37 Tony Cotty (Yamaha) 1649.55, 38 Roger Baker (Yamaha) 1660.54, 39 Gary Sims (Honda) 1662.83, 40 Tim Holder (Gas Gas) 1713.07, 41 Tim Ford (Suzuki) 1759.97, 42 Christian Drane (Suzuki) 1774.98, 43 Dominic Garnham (KTM) 1812.00, 44 David Stevens (Yamaha) 1817.48, 45 Neil Helsten (Yamaha) 1866.37, 46 Marc Evans (Suzuki) 1870.49, 47 Martin Rushbrook (Husaberg) 1929.61, 48 Joe Mitchinson (KTM) 1949.41, 49 Brendan Reese (KTM) 1972.82, 50 Carl Kirkbridge (Suzuki) 1981.05.
Veteran – Overall: 1 Murray Thompson (KTM) 657.33, 2 Carl Tiley (TM) 696.74, 3 Jack Twentyman (Yamaha) 719.88, 4 David Grimshaw (Honda) 855.22, 5 Adrian Lappin (TM) 856.26, 6 Chris Roberts (KTM) 856.94, 7 Phil Smithson (Yamaha) 862.57, 8 Leo Cordingley (Husqvarna) 867.06, 9 Mark Houson (Husqvarna) 900.69, 10 Russel Millward (KTM) 934.54, 11 Mike Turner (KTM) 951.94, 12 Neil Williams (Gas Gas) 986.35, 13 Craig Beattie (Yamaha) 1019.88, 14 Keith Readman (Honda) 1135.16, 15 Nick Morgan (Honda) 1136.47, 16 Mick Seward (Husqvarna) 1158.58, 17 Dennis Harrison (KTM) 1188.53, 18 Jeff Cannons (KTM) 1245.33, 19 Dave Coles (KTM) 1254.10, 20 Paul Hearn (Honda) 1272.80, 21 Paul Davis (Yamaha) 1366.48, 22 Allan Price (KTM) 1374.63, 23 Mike Vaughan (KTM) 1443.48, 24 Simon Evans (Yamaha) 1487.24, 25 Brett Moore (KTM) 1538.60, 26 Sean Davies (Yamaha) 1614.60, 27 David Maddrell (KTM) 1639.02, 28 Karl Greenall (KTM) 1660.21, 29 Nick Bartle (KTM) 1838.94, 30 Steve Dopson (KTM) 1960.73, 31 Simon Bastow (Honda) 1260.38, 32 Julian Crimp (KTM) 2093.44, 33 Nigel Hutchinson (Husqvarna) 2127.59, 34 Mark Gray (Gas Gas) 2173.79, 35 John Mitchinson (KTM) 1667.60, 36 Steve Hough (Gas Gas) 2686.58, 37 Gary Clarke (KTM) 2859.97, 38 Graham Muff (KTM) 3102.66, 39 Trevor Scott (KTM) 3132.13, 40 Paul Kingston (KTM) 3239.79, 41 Jim Robinson (KTM).
FOR FULL REPORT SEE T+MX NEWS, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2009
Right place – Thetford Forest. Right time – 9.02am. All eyes on the clock as the countdown to the 2009 British Enduro Championship commences...