Mount Leinster is the highest peak of the Blackstairs Mountains and has been home to one of the toughest Enduros on the Irish championship calendar for many years. The reason that it’s tough is because it’s normally wet, but this year it was tough because it was hot and sunny! In fact so hot and sunny that the main problem was dust. Yes, dust. Not normally a problem that riders have to encounter at Irish championship Enduro races, but it was a problem all the same.

The course set off with a 10 minute ride out to the test, which was in the first check. This was to be a fast gravel track based special test on one where the aforementioned dust would play a big part in deciding the results.
The test weaved around a section of the forest descending down some new tracks that had been made by one of those large forest machines! (No, not a BMW 450!) It was linked between these with gravel roads, then had an up hill track which was littered with tree branches and a nasty log (which proved tricky) and then turned into a fast grassy climb. Another lightening fast track then lead into a single track that made it’s way round the edge of one of those ‘too-deep-to-ride-through’ puddle/lake type things and then finished off with some more fast tracks! The dust was to play a big part in the test as riders were slowed by lack of visibility from the rear wheels of other riders.

So it was important to get out first and that’s exactly what Andrew Reeves (VMX KTM) did on his first test in the Expert class and he set the fastest time of the day as there was no one in his way.

This left Paul Mcloughlin (KTM) and Andrea Bassi (TM) to fight it out for second and with Andrea finally back on his own bike and riding in his last Irish Enduro before moving back to Italy, he was on a flyer as the dry and dusty conditions reminded him of home! However, with just a few seconds between them going into the last test Andrea’s long suffering 125 TM picked up a stick, derailed the chain and took out all but 4 of the spokes in one side of the back wheel.

Mcloughlin had been putting in consistent test times as Reeves had slowed due to catching people at the wrong bit of the test. Seamie Hayes took advantage of Bassi’s retirement and slotted into 3rd having cleaned the tight check on the 3rd lap along with Reeves, Bassi and McLoughlin.

In the Seniors class Stewart Dicker took a deserved win having put in some decent test times and staying clean on time in the checks, something the second place man Jamie Popham didn’t manage to do thanks to a puncture on the 3rd lap in the tight check, a quick repair saw him back out for the 4th lap and it was close but Stewy got the win by 7 seconds.

Former Irish Trials champ Sean Doyle made it a close call for the top 3 places as he was only a couple of seconds off Popham. Paul McCarty was up for a scrap for the podium positions but a bust radiator on the first lap ended his race early.

Jonny '38DD' Mercier

In the Clubman class Mark Bannon has a smaller engined bike having swapped his 450f for a 250f but is riding faster than ever as he won the class from Richie ‘Stuntman’ Leonard, who’s shoulder popped out (dislocated) no fewer than 3 times during the day! Richie then does his Mel Gibson impression and rides off again! Chad Hamilton went well to get 3rd place.

JP Ryan managed to beat the temptation of drinking a load of Bulmers the night before and it paid off as he won the Sportsman class with a quick first test time that had Richard Murphy beaten. Gary Yeates was a couple of seconds off 2nd place in 3rd and the rest of the Sportsman class enjoyed their 2 laps even though there were a few hot and bothered faces at the end.

The Novice class is for Enduro beginners and as a result they do one lap, this clas was won by Tony Donnelly from Joe Carey and Peter McCullough.

Fingers crossed we get some sunshine at the next few weeks for the up coming H&H races and the next Enduro at Clonaslee on the 26th of September.

Report by Reevesy for www.enduro.ie

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

The Erzberg Extreme Enduro event has gathered momentum over the last few years, it has expanded in size popularity and severity and is now a massive event, almost a festival of motorcycling, that takes place over 4 days. You have to be quick to enter as the 1795 places fill up super quick, most of these are taken by enthusiasts that go to ride the Iron Road prologue on the Friday and Saturday, spend the evenings in the huge beer tent and watch the main race on Sunday. However, 500 of them get to ride in Sundays event and endure the type of terrain that even the hardest Enduro riders have nightmares about.

Clarke and Reeves set off from Ireland on the 28th of May and took in the final round of the British Sprint Enduro championship in Rhayader, Wales on the 29th and 30th of May as a ‘warm up’ for the Austrian event. It rained all day on Saturday and the mainly grass test was super slippery, Reeves DNF’d after a couple of crashes in the first 2 tests, Clarke went on to finish 10th. Sunday was much drier and the course was significantly easier and faster, Reeves finished 11th and Clarke was 8th. So, race done, bikes and riders both OK, so it’s off to Austria. Arriving on the Tuesday morning, the lads had a day off before inspecting the course on the Wednesday, setting up a campsite area in the paddock and prepping the bikes, it was raining hard and low mist and cloud literally put a dampener on things.

As masses of riders arrived the campsite filled up, the beer tent opened and the trade stands buzzed with customers. The Thursday saw the first of the spectator events take place, the Rocket Ride. This is a hill climb competition that runs up 3 of the famous huge quarry hills that feature in Sundays main race. The riders entered had 2 x qualifying runs and the top 48 went through to the heats, quarters, semis and final. Reeves pipped Gordon for the win in the first of the rainy heats and they both went through to the quarters. Gordon had a spectacular crash in the quarter resulting in some bike damage and Reeves got through to the semis but missed out on a place in the final by one place. Austrian rider Seppi Fally won the final on a KX450.

Friday was a little drier and the prologue opened at 8am and the seeded riders from last years race went as early as they could as the prologue gets rougher as the day wears on. This years Iron Road had a few more chicanes built in and there was a lot of standing water in the lower section of the course which basically winds it’s way up the mountain to the top. Reeves finished the 1st prologue in 77th place,15 seconds off the top 50 despite having recorded 135 km/h on the fast straight having geared the bike up. Clarke was in 67th after an uncharacteristic fall and a tantalizing  9 seconds off a coveted front row start for the main race.

Saturday and it  was dry and hot and the prologue was rough as hell after the entire 1795 entry had been up it the day before. The lads both got their run out of the way at 9am and Clarke shaved a massive 20 seconds of the previous days time and went straight into 35th and front row start. Reeves went quicker by 5 seconds but actually dropped places and qualified 83rd on the 2nd row for the main race. The rest of the day was spent prepping the bikes, looking at the course and hiding from the sun, which was beating down and giving temperatures of 28c with forecasts saying it was going to get hotter for Sunday.

Sunday morning saw the 2 lads changing their entry numbers to their qualifying numbers, drinking energy drink by the gallon and some last minute checks of the bikes all with Rage Against the Machine blaring out of the van stereo!

The 500 riders are taken down into the base of the quarry at around 10.30 am and the bikes are lined up and the riders run for cover from the sunshine, hiding in the shade under the rock face or crammed into a Red Bull tent. At 12.00 the fun starts as race director Karl Katoch and MX legend Heinz Kinigadner drop the flag and set the eager riders off row by row. There was several large deep puddles to run through from the previous few days of rain and only a few of the riders emerged from the quarry dry, the majority were soaked by the first hill. Clarke got a decent start and set off up the many steep quarry hills for the first time, about a minute later Reeves and the 2nd row gang left the line and 100 meters into the race came the first problem, a damaged rear brake hose left Reeves with no back brake within the first 10 seconds of the race!

After the quarry the course took in some single trails into a 300m completely pitch black mining tunnel, once through the course got into it’s stride with the classic hill-climb at ‘Wasserleitung’ and on into the ‘Bathtub’, a massive steep sided bowl the riders ride through twice.

The first section of forest punished a few of the riders with it’s impossible cambers and single track lines and there was much pushing of bikes and spinning of wheels.

In the forest Clarke had a problem and punctured his TM’s clutch cover with a rock and was leaking gearbox oil, this was to prove terminal but he pushed on, determined to get as far as possible. This year the riders came down the the side of the concrete staircase on some near vertical descents that could not be ridden down they were that steep, Reeves had caught up with Clarke at this point and both slid down the final descent ungracefully with their bikes bouncing off trees and each other and set off to the next check point.

A new checkpoint at a silly steep climb just off the prologue needed some creative thinking and both riders overtook at least 4 or 5 stranded competitors by using their trials riding experience and taking a line in the big rocks at the side of the gravel.

Then it was on to Karl’s Diner. This checkpoint has been in Erzberg for some years now and has been tricky but a line had developed over the years and it usually started from a quarry track. Not this year though, as the riders were subjected to a horrifying 300 meter descent on moving stone and rock that again was impossible to ride down and bikes had to be manhandled through the rolling, sliding rocks to the Red Bull arch on the plateau. Once there more punishment awaited as the ‘line’ from previous years had been taped off so the riders were faced with 500 meters of rocks the size of cars to drag their bikes over and with no shade from the mid afternoon sun, this was truly the hardest part of the course and one that claimed many retirements. Reeves and Clarke both made it through, Reeves with no back brake and Clarke leaking oil and blowing steam out of his overheating TM.

Some more steep down hills and a short section of track led the remaining riders to ‘Gerichtsgraben’ and another crazy descent that led into a climb on large white rocks that was packed with spectators. Reeves made light work of the climb and received a cheer from the crowd, but it was here that the TM that Gordon Clarke had bravely soldiered on with finally cried no more as it’s clutch gave up and Gordon was out of the race.

With the sun now at it’s hottest and the clock ticking ever closer towards the 4 hour time limit Andrew Reeves entered the ‘Ludwig’s Land’ checkpoint, a rock gully that would have looked like a tough World Trials section of a few years ago. Another one of the ‘No Help’ zones, where riders are allowed no outside assistance, he found Woody Hole and Peter Bolton on hand to offer advice and encouragement as he pushed and pulled the KTM up the rocks. Then it was onto the old ‘Roof of Africa’ checkpoint, which had an evil climb at the end out of the trees off soil onto a line that changed with every tyre over it and then down again on horrible jagged rocks.

Time was now running out for Reeves as he left here and had about 35 minutes left, a quick 2 minute blast down the quarry road brought him to the nasty downhill in the woods just before the final check point at ‘Dynamite’. Normally the downhill would have been fairly straight forward, but with no rear brake he was burning up minutes having to walk the bike down the hill to be faced with a ‘double climb’ at Dynamite. Only 15 riders had made it through so far and with no energy left at all he managed to get the KTM to the top of the first gully, drop back down and crest the second gully under the watchful eye of John Lampkin and Mark Jackson, the latter having retired at the Diner, who were both shouting encouragement and instructions. With 15 minutes to spare and having seen the despair of finishing the course out of time that a friend suffered the previous year he quickly pushed on. The final part of the course was all downhill to the main arena where the finish line beckoned and after no less than another 3 downhill crashes due to the lack of stopping power he entered the arena to do a lap of the Enduro cross course and take the chequered flag as the 16th finisher.

Gordon was the first person to congratulate him as he slumped on his bike on the finish line. The official results later showed Dan Hemingway had missed a checkpoint but had crossed the line in 9th, this moved Reeves to 15th in the final results (Dan had made the check but his transponder hadn’t registered).

And so the two lads swapped stories of their day, the disasters, the difficulty, but also about the immense challenge that this race is and the satisfaction from taking part and doing your best.

Talk then turned quickly to what they would do differently next year. They must be mad!!

1Tadeusz Blazusiak 2POL KTM 250 EXC

2Andreas Lettenbichler 9GER BMW G450X

3Dougie Lampkin 28GBR Beta 400 RR

4Paul Bolton 34GBR KTM 250 EXC

5Ben Hemingway 25GBR KTM 300 EXC

6Cory Graffunder 23CAN Husqvarna 300

7Jade Gutzeit 8RSA Yamaha YZ 250

8Kurt Caselli 4USA KTM 300 EXC

9Gerhard Forster 22GER BMW G450X

10Darryl Curtis 19RSA KTM 300 EXC

11Andrew Cripps 78GBR Kawasaki 250 KX

12Lee Sampson 1051GBR Gas Gas 250 EC

13Taichi Tanaka 226JPN KTM 300 XC-W

14Piero Sembenini 85ITA Gas Gas 300 EC

15Andrew Reeves 83IRL KTM 300 EXC

25Gordon Clarke 35IRL TM 300

]]> http://www.enduro.ie/erzberg-2010-2/feed/ 5 http://www.enduro.ie/glendalough-enduro/ http://www.enduro.ie/glendalough-enduro/#comments Sat, 22 May 2010 16:53:57 +0000 Reevesy http://www.enduro.ie/?p=225 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…

The start area was buzzing from early morning as everyone got sign on and scrutiny out of the way and were looking forward to some dry weather racing for a welcome change.

The lap ran in the opposite direction to normal and it was all the better for it as the first check gave everyone something to think about and some great trails, tracks and forest breaks to enjoy. The check times were good enough to keep you moving without having to go mad and so it looked like it would be won or lost on the test.

And what a test it was, fast and furious it set off with a standing start on tiny lane with riders catapulting themselves off the tarmac into a bone dry path, from there it went up, up and up again on a never ending climb through the open and into the darkness of a thick forest where the odd tree root and stump were there to catch out the unwary or the over ambitious. The descent back down the hill that has been used in several Glendalough tests was bone dry but fairly well washed out in places and the never ending down hill was fast and scary to say the least, with a few fallen trees to duck under thrown in for good measure.

This fast downhill must have felt familiar to Mountain Bike star Jamie Popham as he took the Senior class win from Paul McCarthy, who was lucky to get 2nd from Stewart Dicker, by 3 seconds and Dave McNulty, who followed on only 2 seconds adrift from Stewy. If these 3 championship regulars carry this kind of close competition into the rest of the season it will be a great scrap for the overall class honors come October. Another notable entry in the Senior class was 2009 IRC Rally champion Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland. Kris drives a car flat out round forests for a living and when his IRC calendar allows he rides a bike flat out round forests for fun.

In the Expert class Gordon Clarke stamped his authority on Irish Enduro with the 3 fastest test times of the day and put his Electration TM on the top of the pile of Experts a good 30 seconds in front of the hard charging Paul McLoughlin in second and Mick O’Leary in 3rd who got his first Expert class podium place after Andrea Bassi struck oil from his TM crankcase on the last lap and Andrew Reeves chucked it down the road in the 2nd test.

Mark Bannon won the Clubman class with 2 good test times that would have stood him well in Seniors had he fancied doing another lap, he won by 32 seconds from Enda O’Brien with Jason Jackson close behind in 3rd 8 seconds away from O’Brien. Richie Leonard was in 4th after popping his shoulder back in like Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.

New club secretary Richard Murphy broke his duck and won the Sportsman class by a solid 20 seconds, this could be the start of a meteoric rise to the top for Richard and we hope to see him in the Expert class soon (next week I think). John Carroll was 2nd after he pipped JP Ryan by a massive 1.6 seconds.

2010 Glendalough was a great enduro and hopefully there will be more fast, challenging and dry weather Enduros ahead in the Irish Championship.

Thanks to all at the TORC club for setting,planning and running the event.

(No pictures again as Robbie Lynn selfishly decided to ride instead of taking photos)

Report by Reevesy for www.enduro.ie

The Irish Championship has a long overdue new venue to add to the calendar. Based near New Ross, Co. Wexford this was the first competition held on this land and the amount of work that went into preparing the course was seemingly never ending. The team led by Colin Maher worked tirelessly to prepare the course and the dry weather in the run up to the event was encouraging, but a last minute deluge of heavy rain left the virgin course vulnerable and some sections had to be cut during the later part of the day. The course started and threw riders straight in at the deep end – literally – as the opening few KMs were very wet and very muddy, then in contrast, the two long and rocky hillclimbs that ran alongside recently burnt moorland later in the lap were almost dusty in sections.

So along with the new course came some new riders, Josh Green comes from a land far,far away, no, not Cork he’s actually from Australia and now lives in Dublin but isn’t allowed in the UK due to some Visa issues, so instead of riding in the Sprint Enduro Championship across the pond with the rest of his team, Josh sampled the delights of an Irish championship. Fresh off the box at the Portugal WEC, the Electraction TM rider went into this race as favorite and didn’t disappoint, posting red hot test times on a 144cc bike he’d never ridden before as his WEC bike was still en route back, Josh won his first race in his adopted country. Next in the experts was Bray’s Paul Mcloughlin who had plotted a fast route through the forest and set a consistent pace to take second place. English import Reevesy was 3rd on the VMX KTM, 19 seconds down on Paul and fourth place was the Italian Andrea Bassi, who spent most of the race struggling with a broken gear lever that just wasn’t that easy enough to change at the time check. 15 expert riders went out but only 7 made it to the finish, showing how tough the 4 x 1.5 hour laps were.

In the Seniors only 4 riders out of the 13 starters made it, these were led by Paul McCarthy, who not only won the tests but remained clean on time. 2nd place went to Danny Balmforth, 3rd was Dakar rider Phil Noone and 4th Alan Graham, both lost a stack of time but were credited with a finish.

The test was a fast affair with some nice straight ‘corridors’ through the trees to start with and a couple of interesting loops up and down across the forest track. A sharp right on to a steep double lane track took the riders up out of the forest to a clearing but the Clerk of course felt it needed some more, so the riders then dived back down hill via a snotty, muddy track before coming back up to the clearing where the ‘TEST END’ banner was lofted high in the trees and was a welcome sight for most as they pushed hard to get to the light beam.

Chad Hamilton won the Clubman class even though he lost a minute thanks to some unbelievable test times and Willy Gammell was disappointed not to take the win after doing his best to clean the course. Vincent Price made it into 3rd place as the clubman class also saw high levels of riders failing to finish.

The Sportsman class had 2 laps to do of this tough course and only a third of them finished with Gary Yeates piping Richard Murphy to the win by 22 seconds. William Dalton was third as only 5 riders out of the 12 finishes remained clean on time.

Hopefully this will be the first of many visits to this course and we at Enduro.ie would like to thank all involved in setting up this new venue.

The next race will be the Glendalough Enduro on the 16th of May.

See you there.

Report by Reevesy for www.enduro.ie

The riders and organizers were rewarded with mild and sunny spring weather on race day for the course that had been divided into 3 checks per lap starting just outside Ashford in County Wicklow.

The Special test was within sight of the start area and was not timed on the first lap in order to allow the riders to check out where they would need to go fast and where they would need to go steady, and what a good job it was as surprises lay around every corner. The first of these was a narrow gap through 2 trees at the end of a fast track which even the smallest pair of Renthal’s wouldn’t have fitted through without some wiggling. The test then took on some super fast straight single track with little or no margin for error and some twisty sections through forestry that was littered with roots and off cambers. The last section was a super fast single track that rose up a hill to the end set of timing lights and a run off area, which most riders had to take full advantage off!

The rest of the lap was a great mixed bag of varying terrain, with some moorland, some wet muddy hardwood-forest trails and some super tough rocky paths to follow, all of which were set to a schedule that had to make the riders keep pushing if they didn’t want to drop minutes.

The Irish Championship Experts class rarely sees entries into double figures, but this year there have been some promotions, some comebacks and some more imports from overseas and 13 riders filled the top group at this first race. Paul Mcloughlin (KTM) was edged into third place on the day after a small mistake in the final test saw him loose 2nd spot to Andrea Bassi, a young Italian student and TM pilot who is enjoying his first outing on the Irish enduro scene, by 0.6 of a second. Andrew Reeves (VMX KTM) took the 1st place by being 39 seconds quicker than them over the 3 tests. A special mention goes to Ray Tolan for making that classic Enduro error of checking in early and not going into the rest of the checks at the correct time – back to Enduro school for you Ray (Rule book on it’s way in the post!).

In the Seniors class Paul McCarty took the win after pulling a 17 second advantage over Liam O’Brien. Liam’s advantage over third place wasn’t as generous as he was a mere 3.8 seconds in front of Aaron Ross. Pre race podium hopefuls included Stewart Dicker, who had a ‘bad day’, Danny Balmforth, who lost a minute and Dave McNulty who DNF’d.

In the Clubman class Richard Leonard made his intentions for 2010 clear by winning on his first ride in this category, with his 21 second advantage over Munster’s finest Digger driver, Willy Gammell. 3rd spot in the clubman class was Mark Bannon.

The Sportsman class is always well populated and of the 30 riders that started 25 finished – which is a good sign of a well balanced course that is passable by the majority of the entry. Gary Yeates grabbed the win from William Dalton who was 2nd and Seamus O’Sullivan who was third. Commiseration’s to new TORC official Richard ‘I missed the Via check’ Murphy for setting the 2nd best test times on the day and being excluded because he, well, missed the via check…

At the end the talk was of a decent, challenging enduro that the weather had been kind to and now attention turns to the next round, at an all new venue on the 25th of April the White Mountain Enduro, let’s hope it’s only a name and there is no more spring snow on the way.

Big thanks to the TORC club and all the organizers.

No photos from this event as Robbie Lynn selfishly decided to get back into riding bikes instead of taking photos!

Report by Reevesy for www.enduro.ie

Dundalk and District Motocross Club

Bellurgan Park

Sunday, 28th March 2010

Sign on : 11:00am

Riding starts: 12:00pm
Transponders are not required

Entry fee per rider:

€35 Adults
Additional Info:
Fast paced track through traditional woodland.
Noise restrictions will apply.

Directions:
Take motorway to Dundalk, take Dundalk North Exit, Junction 18, exit roundabout for Carlingford, approx 3 mile on the left.

Contact:
Eddie Toner: 0861022148

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.

After a brief and somewhat odd ‘protest’ by local huntsmen, who drove slowly through the start area as they were concerned that they couldn’t go and shoot some nice animals for one weekend, the race began at 11am.

The course, which has been run there twice before was fast and choppy, with a few technical bits to keep the riders alert. It was a long lap aswell with the average Expert lap time around the 18 to 20 minute mark. The toughest bit for most must have been the never ending hill climb on the moorland about half way round. This has been used in previous years but just seemed harder than ever before this time round!

There were some new faces for this race, Josh Green has come all the way from Australia to ride for Electraction TM in the BEC and WEC, but was unable to compete at the opening BEC on the same day due to some travel visa complications. Adding to the international flavour was Andrea Bassi from Italy also on a TM and there was a welcome comeback ride for Robbie Lynn after nearly 2 years out of action due to a leg injury.

All eyes were on Josh at the start but it was Andrew Reeves that sneaked the holeshot and set off up the first hill climb in the lead with the chasing pack following behind. Reeves and Green then came in together at the end of the first lap but while leading at the end of lap 2 Josh succumbed to a puncture as he was riding a totally stock TM as his race prepped bike had been taken to the BEC. Reeves inherited the lead, but it was short lived as a crash on lap 4 left the front of his KTM twisted and ended his chances. This left Paul Mcloughlin to take control of the race and take the win leading home Danny Connolly in 2nd and recently promoted Expert Seamus Muldoon in 3rd.

In the Senior class Ger O’Grady lead from start to finish and was enjoying the extra power following his jump from a 125 to a 250 2 stroker. Ian Gentles was 2nd and Danny Balmforth was 3rd on his first ride out in Seniors.

Richard Leonard moved up to the Clubman class this year and opened his 2010 season with a win with Paul St John 2nd and Local boy Matt Burke 3rd all on 8 laps.

Trials riding superstar Cillian Doyle traded his stretchy lycra pants and open face helmet for some proper riding gear and blitzed the Sportsman class, obviously having had some riding tips from his Uncle Paul Mcloughlin. William Dalton was 2nd and Sir Richard Murphy (New club secretary) was 3rd.

It was a great race and a good course and most importantly no lovely little forest animals got shot that weekend.

Who says motorcyclists harm the environment?

Thanks to all at TORC.

Despite freezing overnight temperatures the technical, rocky course held up well, allowing for great racing in all classes. Recording the fastest lap time during the morning qualifying ‘hot lap’ session David was soon into the lead in the two-hour main event. Despite spending much of the opening lap passing the Expert class riders that started ahead of the Pro class competitors David opened up a two-minute lead by the time he made his one and only fuel stop.

During the second half of the race David extended his lead as he pulled away from second placed rider Tom Sagar. Lapping every other competitor apart from Sagar, Knight claimed a convincing and deserved win in what will be his last extreme enduro outing ahead of the start of his British and World Enduro Championship campaigns.

‘Winning The Tough One is a great way to start the year,” Knight said.

“Every other year I’ve won the event I’ve gone on to win either a World Enduro Championship or US GNCC title, so let’s hope the same happens this year. I really enjoyed the race, and it was certainly a good work out for me ahead of the first round of the British Enduro Championship.

“I banged my clutch lever up as I went off the start and managed to break my handguard pushing it back down, so I had that flapping around for a while. But once I got going things went well. Because we started behind the Expert class riders I was soon in amongst them, and getting stuck at the back of some of the single-track sections of the course. Every time I pulled away a bit I’d get stuck in amongst a load of riders so I decided not to push too hard during the first few laps.

“Once I was past all the Expert riders I pushed hard. There were a lot of places that were one-lined so you had to wait. I had about a two-minute lead after the first hour, when I came in for fuel and goggles. The second hour went really well. I extended my lead and didn’t have any problems from there to the finish. The track was frozen in a few places but it rode well. All in all it was a good race for me,” Knight concluded.

Confirming the sheer severity of this almost perverse test of man and machine, Lampkin and Jarvis were the sole two finishers from the one plus entry that begun the day long battle deep in the Italian hills. Dougie passage to victory was anything but easy and was a true story of pure grit and determination on the behalf of the ex multi FIM Trial World champion. It was unclear if Lampkin would even start the race after he suffered ligament damage to his left ankle and attended hospital last Sunday evening, but having made it on to the famous Hell’s Gate podium twelve month’s ago at his first attempt Dougie was adamant that he would return to fight for the win on this occasion.

Conditions were typically tough for this annual early season gathering, with heavy rain in the days before the event leaving the ground soaked and slippery in places, whilst parts of the course still remained frozen solid following the recent bout of severe winter weather. Undeterred by these factors, the thirty-three year gritty Yorkshireman used every inch of his great off road experience to keep in contention throughout the day despite obviously being in considerable pain and being hampered by his injured ankle.

Dougie qualified for the afternoon’s main event in fourth place behind event favourite Tadeusz Blazusiak, Jarvis and Andreas Lettenbichler after three gruelling opening laps. Lampkin should have placed higher at this stage of the proceedings, but a crash in the last special test saw him lose valuable time as the trials legend struggled to retrieve his bike from the rugged landscape following a potential event ending crash.

Battered and bruised even at this point in the day Lampkin was not confident that he was in good enough physical shape to survive the toughest part of the competition where riders are eliminated lap by lap if they fail to stay in touch with the leaders. Blazusiak was an early casualty soon after the mid afternoon start, with the recently crowned FIM Indoor Enduro Cup champion and twice winner of this event retiring as a result of his fall.

With the Polish rider out of the running it looked like Jarvis had the win within his grasp as he held an eight minute lead over Lampkin in what was now a straight head to head battle, with these being the last two riders standing. Dougie dug deep, knowing that anything can happen in this unique event, and made one last effort to close in on his countryman as they came in sight of the final climb known locally as Hell’s Peak.

With adrenalin masking his true pain, Lampkin passed Jarvis on the early part of the hill before pushing his way to the summit where a screaming Italian crowd played their traditional part in dragging the eventual winner to the top. The relief and jubilation was clear to see as Dougie realised the sheer scale of his achievement.

Totally exhausted Lampkin stated. “I really can’t believe that I have won, as the odds were certainly against me. Earlier in the week I was not sure if I was going to be able to ride, but I decided to come and see how it went. But even after qualifying this morning I was still not convinced that I was going to be able to make it to the finish.”

Dougie continued. “Although I pushed hard on the last lap I never really expected to catch Graham, but when I saw him stopped on the last hill I knew it was my moment. Reaching the top was a special feeling and ranks right up their amongst the other things I have won in my career. What makes the victory even better is winning in Italy for Beta, as they are so passionate about this event, so I am really pleased for them too.”

“My ankle has swollen to the size of my thigh, but hopefully I can be somewhere near fit for the Tough One back in the UK later this month, as this is another event I would love to win.” Lampkin concluded.

Report by Jake Miller