Wootton finds a Happy place
By TMX Archives on 21st Aug 09
BEN Wootton finally broke his spell of bad luck at the weekend by taking a resounding victory in the Ironman A class at WOR's Five-hour Ironman and Team X-Country event. Youth and enthusiasm eventually overcame the old age and trickery of Gareth Lloyd, who had led the race for some time, as Wootton went on to take the win by two clear laps.
Following hot on the heels of the very successful ‘Blood, Sweat and Gears' XC last month, WOR Events found a cracking new venue on the outskirts of Maerdy, North Wales, for the weekend's event. The aptly named ‘Happy Village' encompassed a very wide variety of terrain, which included two stream crossings, open moorland, woodland sections and, initially, very slippery off-camber open field sections.
Saturday afternoon saw the venue soaked by several sharp showers but as riders took to the line for the 10am start on Sunday, the sky was clearing as a breeze dried the course.
Surprisingly, the woodland sections were bone dry with dust kicking up in many places, but towards the end of the six-mile lap three off-camber field sections really sorted out the men from the boys and most riders slithered their way to lap-scoring.
As the race progressed the course improved tremendously and dry powder berms built up on the once slippery fields.
The open moorland sections were covered with ferns but a clear course had been carefully marked and woe-betide anyone who deviated from it. The high ferns each side of the track hid hundreds of boulders and half buried rocks, lying in wait for the unwary.
Standing in the paddock and looking at the high hills that were incorporated into the course, they looked a daunting prospect for many of the Sportsman riders but the way in which the course wove it's way to the summits was very interesting and gave riders a chance to exercise all of their off-road skills.
Depending on who was asked and depending on skill levels the course description varied from fast to very technical but there is no doubt that to ride it for five-hours the course would prove entertaining but tough for some.
Two Ironman classes, A and B, saw 30 brave souls take up the challenge and initially local rider Gareth Lloyd was front-runner in Ironman A, but Ben Wootton showed more than a little grit and determination, gradually tracking down and passing Lloyd, to go on to a win by two clear laps, with 35 circuits completed to Lloyds 33.
Justin Carter's 32-lap tally slotted him into third spot, one lap ahead of Jamie Robinson in fourth and Linden Poskitt, who had a great ride powering around on his Aprillia RXV450, in fifth.
John Scott headed the Ironman B class, posting 31-laps, one more than second-placed Alan Reese, while Ironman B winner at the ‘Blood Sweat and Gears' event, Mike Windsor, could only take third in class this time out.
With five team classifications there were plenty of riders in the pits at the beginning of the race only too happy to let their riding partner take on the opening laps when the course was at it's trickiest.
KB Racing's Lincoln Brewster took to the start as his team-mate, Lewis Belfield, looked on but Brewster had his hands full as BEC Veteran Champion, Carl Tiley, on a 450, teamed up with Rob Reese. Tiley pushed Brewster hard during their first riding stint. Tiley powered to the front but as the race went on he ran out of fuel and switched to reserve but struggled for a while to get the bike re-started.
Brewster took over at the front but had his own problems, smashing an engine casing on a rock. He tore into the pits to jump on Bellfield's bike and continued to push hard. Although eligible for the ‘Dad and Lad' class, MPS Husqvarna's Mark and Gavin Houson opted for the Expert class, where Mark had a great opening ride for the first 90-minutes before handing over to son Gavin who kept the team in a solid third place and started to take ti
For full report and pictures see T+MX News, August 21
Stuart Rutter (814) and Martin Rutter were tenth in the Over 40 Two-Man Team event.