The first solo round of the Eastern Centre Enduro Championship sponsored by GH Motorcycles at Foxborough Quarry took place Sunday.
Report and Images by Paula Day Photography
With a full adult entry of 130 riders across 6 classes the track was always going to be busy and after the heavy rainfall Saturday and a dismal forecast predicted on the Sunday the pocket of land in Sible Hedingham managed to escape the downpours and the course held out for the two and half hour adult race.
A fierce tussle between the Championships class riders ended up with the bog taking a few casualties as always and providing ample entertainment for any witnesses, with Ben Clark taking the top spot on 19 laps with Luke Parker in second on 18 Laps and Ben Cole less than two seconds slower on the same. Sudbury Club members Jake & Phil Roper took both expert podium positions after second place last month in the two man at the clubs first event of the year, son Jake Roper took the expert title and father Phil Roper taking the Expert vet. title so much to celebrate in the Roper household.
Another Sudbury member and part of the Dave Roper team took first place in Clubman Class for the second time this year, having won the 2 man back in April a consistent result for Suffolk based Barnaby Knight, second place went to Joe Henthorn no stranger to the numbered boxes and third place to Colin Brand who sadly didn’t make the presentation and missed the fun of spraying a bottle of bubbly over fellow winners. This entertaining challenge was duly accepted by the remaining winners and runners up, cementing a new tradition for the rest of the year as we celebrate coming out of lockdown and look forward to the remaining series of events.
A Le Mans start following the mornings adult race enabled the youth competitors to ride half of the track duly shortened and adjusted for just an hours race, with a fierce fight for pole position the field soon became strung out and the pressure of keeping up the pace lap after lap on a track that still posed lots of questions proved difficult for some who after a strong start fell back down the field.
With so much talent evident in this series of youth races kindly sponsored by GH Motorcycles & GB Finch Ltd. It will be exciting to see the progress made by these young riders over the course of the year. Open to riders age 12-16 the opportunity to get into Enduro racing at a local level has never been easier and plenty of help and advice is available to anyone thinking of joining or looking at the sport in general Enquiries to Paul Belton 07770 673323 Chairman Sudbury MCC.
Results
Championship
1st Ben Clark
2nd Luke Parker
3rd Ben Cole
4th Jason Morland
5th Richard Roper
6th Jack Sheppard
Expert
1st Jake Roper
2nd Thomas Sargent
3rd George Eustace
4th Shaun Leggett
5th Joseph Hall
6th Joe Phillips
Clubman
1st Barnaby Knight
2nd Joseph Henthorn
3rd Colin Brand
4th Micheal Wilson
5th Albert Van Dye
6th Mitchell Beagrie
Expert Vets
1st Phil Roper
2nd Arran Nicoll
3rd Alan Morris
4th Raymond Otoka
5th Darren Carter
6th Robert Swann
Clubman Vets
1st Paul Belton
2nd Jason Naruszewicz
3rd Keith Maude
4th Simon Davies
5th Jason Carsboult
6th Carl Lawrence
Super Vets
1st Alan Vissian
2nd John Hilton
3rd Richard Squirrel
4th Graham Mays
5th Darren Carter
6th Robert Swann
Youth
1st Cullen Hawkins
2nd William Turtle
3rd James Mangham
4th Zak Beards
5th Kymani Street
6th Owen Baker
7th Louie Curry