The second round of the 2010 Irish Enduro Championship, the Mount Leinster Enduro took place at Bunclody in Co. Wexford on the 27th of June.
![David.Coates_RedBull_SteepleX[1]](http://www.enduro.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/David.Coates_RedBull_SteepleX11-218x300.jpg "David.Coates_RedBull_SteepleX[1]")
David Coates Wins the Red Bull SteepleX as TM Sweep the Stakes
TM’s David Coates has won the inaugural Red Bull SteepleX held at Buttevant Castle, Cork, Ireland on Sunday June 20th. Home of the world’s first ever Steeple Chase held some 340 years ago, Red Bull reinvented the sport but this time replaced horses with horse power. Replicating the original format of Steeple Chase racing saw riders race 7km point to point cross-country between the two villages of Doneraile and Buttevant before arriving in the castle grounds of Buttevant to complete three laps of the hare and hound loop in front of hoards of spectators.
Under glorious sunshine, it was Coates on his CCM Racing TM who grabbed the initial holeshot to lead the charge of riders out of the first corner, chased by the Red Bull helicopter in the skies overhead. Momentarily loosing the lead as the riders leapt out through the ruins of an abandoned cottage, Coates once again took over the reins and led the pack as they started the first of three laps around the woodland of Buttevant Castle. With local favourite Brian O’Connell hot on his tail, the duo battled bar to bar out across chase fences, river crossings and woodland tracks. With a lap to run, it was O’Connell that cracked under the pressure and handed the lead over to Coates who held his nerve to take victory in the first ever running of the Red Bull Steeple Chase.
David Coates: “The race went really well for me to be honest. My start was perfect and I held the lead early on before getting passed coming up to the jump through the cottage but luckily I managed to get it back again coming into the castle grounds. I got stuck slightly coming out of the first river crossing and that let Brian get passed as we jumped out through the chase fence. We stuck together for the next lap and when he made a mistake on the hill climb that was enough to let me through for the win. It’s been a brilliant race with the most exciting part of it racing flat-out from the country into the castle grounds with the helicopter chasing us overhead. I’m delighted to have won!”
Red Bull SteepleX 2010:
1. David Coates (TM); 2. Paul McLoughlin; 3. Jim O’Neill
06.15Erzberg 2010
The 16th Erzberg Rodeo took place on the 3rd to the 6th of June from it’s usual starting place in the huge Iron ore quarry in the town of Eisenerz in Austria. This is the road trip and race report about what happened to two Enduro riders from Ireland, Gordon Clarke and Andrew Reeves.
05.22Glendalough Enduro
The Glendalough Enduro has traditionally been the season opener for the Irish Enduro Championship and this years event ran on the 16th of May. In recent years the weather has been unkind and it was perfectly normal for riders to finish the event hardly recognizable due to the wet muddy conditions. This year took everyone by surprise as it was dry and dusty. That’s right, dusty! In fact it was the driest event since records began and certainly as far back as TORC club official Dave McCann could remember and that’s a long way back…
Did you hear the one about the Englishman, Irishman, the Italian and the Australian? Well, this was no corny old joke, in fact riders from these nationalities filled the top 4 places at the new White Mountain Enduro.
The Irish Enduro Championship season started on Easter Sunday April the 4th and after the disappointment of the opening round being cancelled that had been scheduled for the 14th of March, the organizers had a fright a week before the event when a late snow fluffy threatened another cancellation after the Wicklow Mountains were cast back into a scene from a winter wonderland that hit the area in early January. Fortunately, this time the snow didn’t hang around long and even with heavy rain on the Friday and Saturday the race still went ahead as planned to the delight of the 87 strong entry.
03.27Enduro Practice
Here’s the info for this weekend’s Enduro practice at Bellurgan Park
The opening Hare and Hound Cross country race of the 2010 Irish Enduro calendar kicked off at Cahir, Co.Tipperary on Sunday the 28th of February.
The riders were greeted by a break in the recent freezing conditions by a fresh winters morning and as this event was being run as a charity fundraiser for the Eddie Laycock Fund, sponsorship cards and cash were handed over at sign on and everyone was in good spirits, keen to start racing after the winter lay off.
David Knight has claimed his first international enduro victory back on a KTM having dominated the ’10 running of The Tough One extreme enduro. Read more…
Dougie Lampkin reinforced his legendary status within the sphere of global off road motorcycle sport, as the veteran trials rider stole a late and heroic victory at the famous Hell’s Gate Extreme enduro held in Italy. Lampkin overcame a painful and restrictive ankle injury, sustained at last weekend’s FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup event in Barcelona, Spain to defeat fellow British rider Graham Jarvis in the closing metres…Dougie Lampkin reinforced his legendary status within the sphere of global off road motorcycle sport, as the veteran trials rider stole a late and heroic victory at the famous Hell’s Gate Extreme enduro held in Italy. Lampkin overcame a painful and restrictive ankle injury, sustained at last weekend’s FIM Indoor Enduro World Cup event in Barcelona, Spain to defeat fellow British rider Graham Jarvis in the closing metres. Read more…