Dan Johnson lands 2026 Lincolnshire Enduro Championship title at Grantham Finale

Just a couple of weeks ago, none of the class titles at the Dust Devils sponsored 2026 Lincolnshire Enduro club championship had been fought out to their conclusions.

Race Report by Martin Southwick – Images courtesy of Graeme Taylor

Two of those classes provided overall 2026 winners after the last event a fortnight ago, whilst the other titles were still up for grabs going into this, the final round of the club’s year. All medals and placings have now been decided. Leicestershire lad Dan Johnson has retained the title he took hold of in 2025, and is still the Experts group Champion. He now has his name etched onto that particular trophy three times; he was the winner in 2023 also. Once again, it’s Dan’s consistency that has proved vital over the eight-round series. He may have actually only won one round throughout this year but has peppered the podium at each venue. This time out (at Grantham Barracks), Dan took the runner-up spot to retain the title by thirteen points. He was beaten on the day by Halifax youngster Hayden Stansfield. Looking at the full 2026 race results, it’s noticeable that a pattern was being observed. In every race where Hayden has been on the start line (Five in total) he has taken maximum points on every outing! In fact, the victory on this fast 6.3-mile course was his third on the trot. This win also took him up to third for the year. In 2025, Dans winning margin over the chasing pack was nineteen points. This year, it was cut by six points. Does this show signs that some of the youngsters are starting to show their hand? Perhaps 2027 will reveal all! If more proof was needed that consistency is key, the rider who has finished second overall this year (George Pearce) has only stood on the podium twice in the campaign. Whilst there have been no wins, he has had a constant run of podium ‘near misses’ though!

READ MORE: BRITISH ENDURO NEWS

In the Clubman class, Jake Wilson secured a runner-up spot for the year with this, his first win of ’26. Ryan Poole was second on the day but doesn’t feature heavily in the group’s annual standings. However, Evan Sharpe has now secured the title with this third ‘Bronze’ of the year. Even with a few ‘no scores’, Matthew Knowles takes the last step of the podium overall. On the day, the race up front was pretty close with just thirty seconds splitting the leading duo.

As is the norm, guys from other classes would have featured heavily in some of the so-called faster groups. Names that stick out from the Over 50s bunch in particular are guys who would have sneaked into the Clubman class and even scored points with the Experts! Danny Clarke took the top spot on the day, but it was a close call. Just over thirty seconds later, Alex Owen crossed the line and then closer still was Alan Vissian. Alex claims the title, with Alan half a dozen points in arrears, and then Danny a further five points behind that. Another rider who would have had some of the front runners looking over their shoulders was Over 40s competitor Dan Brown. A two-minute victory was enough to secure a well-earned second place for this year. Richard Cookland finished runner-up on the day, but came agonisingly close to an overall podium, missing out in fourth. Lee Hattersley, with a third place on race day, takes the championship title, with Dan Brown in second and James Palmer completing the overall top three.

With his third win on the bounce, James Cole is the new Sportsman 2T class champion for this year. This fourth win of 2026 sees him take the title by a full race in front of his nearest rivals. Ted Johnson has pushed all the way throughout but just couldn’t get his nose in front of James and break the cycle of wins for his foe. Matthew Valentine finished further down the ranks than he would have liked on race day but still secured third spot overall. Shaun Crellin took maximum points at Grantham, but that wasn’t enough to get near the top of the table in the 4T Division. Ross Pearson did enough with his points tally on the day, though, to gain the spoils for the year. Spencer Smith used this final race as his dropped round but has still secured the Silver for this year. It proved nip and tuck between himself and the guy who has taken third spot overall though; with a runner-up place on Sunday, Bradley Hill just missed out on that place by a couple of points.

Back to the other ‘Still waiting for that maturity to kick in’ class, Mark Peckitt used this race as his dropped round, having already won the Over 60s title after the penultimate race a fortnight ago. Mark and club stalwart Kevin Bartle Sr have swapped medals and positions over the year, and with a dozen points at the weekend, Kevin takes the Silver medal for the year. Jon McKinney took the victory on the day, from Stuart Cryer in second. As per the Over 60s, the Trail/Classic class was won two weeks ago also. Shaun Avison is the recipient for this one, with Ian Jackson claiming the runner-up spot. The battle for the other slot has been split, though. With his first win of the year, Marek Batula shares third place with Eddie Yardley. Chris Belford has taken a last-minute surge in the Adventure bike class to take the yearly spoils away from Harry Hinkley in second place. A second win of the year sees Mike Livsey take the Bronze podium position

“Properly Protected” sponsored two Secret Lap prizes. Riders Alan Vissian and Richard Cookland took the honours here. The “Mid Pack Maverick” class was the Sportsman 4T once more. Sponsored by YST Carpets, Michael Niblett was the winner. Alex Owen was the recipient of one of the BP Air Con Solutions Holeshot prizes, with Jake Wilson taking the other. Pepperells Solicitors sponsor the Live Draw, with Damian Mumford taking this one.

The club would like to say thank you to all marshals, helpers, timekeepers, food suppliers, first aiders, photographers, and anyone else involved with LEC in 2026. The club wouldn’t exist without you. Roll on 2027.

A reminder goes out to everyone that the club presentation in Woodhall Spa/Dower House takes place on the 28th November. Full details of that and all other LEC details are here for members >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub

and for non-members here >> https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com/lec2016

Results

Final Championship Standings