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

The Torc AGM is due to be held on January 31st at Faughs GAA club in Templeogue, Dublin 24  (http://www.faughs.ie)

More details to follow

The 2010 Indoor Enduro title is just one more piece of silverware to add to the Polish factory rider’s impressive collection. He was AMA GEICO Endurocross Champion in 2009 and in June also emerged undisputed king of the hill after his third consecutive victory in the notorious Hare Scramble at the Erzberg Rodeo.

Spanish favourite and last year’s champion Ivan Cervantes (KTM Enduro Factory Team) was second behind Blazusiak in Vigo with Joakim Ljunggren of Sweden in third place. The two will fight it out for the minor overall championship places in the last event later in January. Taddy picked up his title with a straight scorecard from the three events held so far: three times maximum 15 points from Sheffield, Genoa and n Vigo.

Taddy unbeatable, also in Vigo
Taddy was unbeatable in the Vigo arena on his KTM 250 machine in front of a big crowd of enthusiastic Spanish fans whose first loyalties went to home favourite Cervantes. With the crowd behind him Cervantes did take the holeshot in the first of three finals but then crashed and opened the door for the Polish Prince. Cervantes did manage second place in the second and third finals but it was Blazusiak who was the undisputed hero of the third round to hand him first place in the 2010 final classification.

Indoor Enduro increasing in popularity
The third edition of the winter Enduro competition, which saw the World Cup increased from three to four events, continues to attract impressive crowd support. It brings the skills and courage of Enduro competition into indoor arenas making it more accessible to the public than the classic outdoor world championship held over 60-70 km laps often in thick forest. Riders still have to negotiate the same earth, sand, tree trunks, rocks and water hazards as they do in the wild, but all in an area visible to the spectators. The competition format of elimination and lucky loser heats, concentrating the top riders in three finals, increases the excitement of this event.

A tightly packed in course gave the riders something to think about at every place and the crowd some hot action from the cream of the worlds enduro elite.

Taddy Blazusiak won all three main events and the KTM Factory rider certainly had to work for his victory with American ‘all rounder’ Mike Brown pushing him hard in 2nd and the UK’s Graham Jarvis in 3rd overall on the night.

The Pro Brits Final was contested over 5 laps. Richard Ellwood was the winner. Andy Cripps was 2nd & Dan Hemingway was 3rd. Juan Knight was 4th.

TORC in association with HTM Trail & Enduro (Husaberg) and VMX (KTM) will have a try out
day on the 21st of November 2009.
As you all know the hardest thing to do is decide what new bike to get when you haven’t tried
one so now is your chance. The format is simple, decide what bike you would like to try out, ring
the relevant dealer to book a place, show up on the day with your gear and get a chance to ride
your new bike before you buy it.
The only down side is that there will be a small cost as we have to get all the necessary permits,
permissions and ambulance as we would for any Enduro. At the moment we are able to do it for
€30 per try out (after twisting a few arms and calling in a few favors) which we think is very
reasonable considering that the Clubs in the UK charge around £35 per try out. The relevant
dealer will refund this in the event that you purchase a bike from them.
Refreshments, tea, coffee, soup etc will be provided on the day for all taking part.
How does it work?

1. Pre Enter: To guarantee a place you must contact the relevant dealer and book a place
specifying bike(s) and pay the relevant fee. The dealer will indicate the times available. If
you arrive on the day we cannot guarantee that you will get a try out at a time or on a
bike that suits you if even at all.

2. Sign On: All riders must sign on before their try out. Please be at sign on at least 45
minutes before you allocated time. Race licenses are not required but for insurance
reasons you must bring ID (driving license or Pass Port).

3. What you need: Riders need to bring their own MX/Enduro protection and clothing.
Helmets will be inspected for suitability. Riders do not need to bring their bike as they will
not be allowed out on the course on them.

4. Groups of up to 10 bikes will go out every 30~40 mins so you should get 20 minutes
minimum per try out. The lap will be aprox 10 minutes in length with varying terrain
marked in the usual manner.

5. Directions: Signposted from Killanne (West of Enniscorthy) on the R731. GPS coordinates
N52 31.337 W6 44.672

So who do you contact?

Husaberg
Dealer: HTM Trail & Enduro
Contact: Philip Caldwell
Phone Number: +44 (0)2825 881666
Email: philip@hilltopmotors.wanadoo.co.uk
Web: www.htmtrailenduro.com
Bikes Available
FE390
FE450
FE570
FX450 Cross Country

KTM
Dealer: VMX
Contact: Graeme Vigors
Phone Number: +353 (0)402 32843
Email: info@vmx.ie
Web: www.vmx.ie
Bikes Available
125 EXC
200 EXC
250 EXC
300 EXC
250 EXCF
400 EXCF
450 EXCF
530 EXCF

A 10am start time was an hour earlier than usual so the organizers could take the course down in the daylight and this led to a few bleary eyes at the start as those who travelled on Sunday morning had an early start and those that arrived Saturday had a late night, as the start was from it’s usual location at The Gap Pub.

The Special test was early in the 1st check and was a tricky and technical affair, as it wound across tree-root strewn cambers through two sections of forest joined by a short but fast gravel road. It was fairly wet in places, but no more so than the rest of the course which had suffered at the hands of some heavy rain in the run up to the event. Thankfully race day saw no downpours and some sunshine.

Two loops made up the lap,one on the mountain ‘behind’ the pub and one ‘in front’. ‘Tinahealy’ should be renamed ‘Tinahilly’ as one of the toughest bits of the course was the hillclimb back over the mountain on the 2nd loop. This was a long loose gravel climb with no run up that went straight into a muddy and still very steep forest that had 2 fairly evil ruts to paddle up and more forming during the day as riders tried every way possible to get to the top. Once at the top the riders were greeted by a section that is always included in the Tinahealy course, a wet muddy track alongside a wall that has lots of very large bits of solid rock jutting out from the gloop that sap away the last bits of energy left at the end of a tough lap as riders heaved their bikes up and over them.

Paul McLoughin took the win in the expert class beating Andrew Reeves, who was 2nd on the day but won the championship overall. Regular expert class riders Mick Kearns and Phil Caldwell were 3rd and 4th respectively, with Phil having just returned from the sunshine of Portugal and after the dust and sand of the ISDE it was back down to earth with a splash. Literally.

Patrick Kinlan won the Senior class from John O’Neill and took the championship win aswell. These two have been locked in a battle for championship honors all year and a DNF by John at the last round gave Patrick the advantage as he led going into this last race. Bernard McKevitt was 3rd on the day.

In the popular Clubman class, David McNulty already had the championship sewn up, so wasn’t too bothered when Liam O’Brien pipped him for the win by nearly eight seconds. Danny Balmforth was 3rd on the day which leapfrogged him into 2nd overall in the championship standings.

Richard Leonard won the Sportsman class from two Davids, Fitzgerald (2nd) and Farrell (3rd) and in the Novice class for riders that have just started racing Enduro, Alan Banner won from Joe Casey and Robin Cooper.

The soup and sandwiches were as popular as the pints in the pub afterwards as riders dried out by the fire and told their own stories after an excellent days racing that finished off the Irish championship for another year.

Thanks to all at TORC club and all the timekeepers and marshals that have given up their time to help run the championship races throughout the year.

We now look forward to the 2010 Irish championship, see you then!

Pictures can be seen at http://picasaweb.google.com/lynnrobert1/TinahealyIrishEnduro2009#
Thanks to Robbie ‘Not Long Now’ Lynn for the photos

LIVE ISDE RESULTS