Hayden storms to victory at Ashby! 2026 Lincolnshire Enduro Championship Round 1 – Report & Results

Hayden Stansfield raced a few times with Lincolnshire Enduro club last year, and with a win and a runner-up spot, it may have been a warning for other riders as to what was to come in 2026. On Sunday, in the first of this year’s Dust Devils.Net-sponsored races, the Halifax youngster had a pretty convincing win over last year’s overall champion, Dan Johnson.

Race Report by Martin Southwick – Images by Graeme Taylor/Carl Moxon

Whilst both lads were on nine laps when the chequered flag descended, the RAW Enduro Club sponsored Yorkshire lad’s victory was by some seven minutes. Just a few seconds separated Hayden and Dan on the first lap but that grew to just about half a minute on lap 2 and then increased further by lap 3 to see the elastic eventually snap between the pair. Third place went to a lad not seen at the club last year, Henry Harman. Henry was nigh on five minutes adrift of second place but with the same number of laps. (Looking at his bike post race, that gap could well have been a lot closer). The lad in 4th place, Josh Lister, was the only other rider on nine laps in the class. Two minutes separated these last two racers. Fastest lap over all classes went to the victor, 22.54 on lap five.

Coming into its 10th year, the club once again broke a record, this time with the biggest entry ever seen in any race, with 188 riders entering the event. Conditions during the track set-up in the previous days were spring-like, but not so on race day. With some overnight downpours, the riders picked a toughie as the nine-mile route turned into a swamp festival in parts of the course. Indeed, almost a quarter of the riders either didn’t make the start line or fell by the wayside in the somewhat “questionable” conditions. Mixed terrain was the name of the game on the day, with wooded sections, the MX track and a few forays into fields giving the odd respite from the gloop in some of the lower sections. Thankfully, the rain cleared just in time for the day’s proceedings at 10.30AM !

READ MORE: BRITISH ENDURO NEWS

In the Clubman class, Matthew Knowles started where he finished off last year, ie, a comprehensive win. This would have seen him finish well up in the Experts class, sixth in fact, taking into account all the classes! His victory was larger than the one seen in the “top class”, this time by over ten minutes. Niall Bowker was runner-up, but the gap between himself and 3rd placed lad was so much closer; just fifteen seconds split the two. Kenton Cox had that well-earned 3rd spot. Matthew also had the fastest full lap of the day in class on his way to victory, 25.14 on lap six.

As per what is becoming the norm, the biggest group of the day was seen in the Sportsman 2T class, with thirty-eight entrants. It provided the closest finish of the day, too, over any of the classes. The cream of the crop was the winner, James Cole. His win came from lady rider Emmy Joy Pitcher in 2nd place by just forty seconds. In 3rd place but on the same number of laps as his rivals was Luke Gash, some 100 seconds in arrears. Not to be outdone, the 4T’s had a big showing too, this time with thirty-six guys on the start line. A gap of nigh on two minutes distanced winner Simon Powell from runner-up Brandon Hill. The next gap was a big one, some ten minutes between Brandon and third-placed lad Ross Pearson.

Another rider who would have finished well up in the overall standings was Lee Hattersley in the over-40s group! The 2025 Champion took a convincing win over second-placed lad Kevin Silvain by some four minutes and would have finished ninth looking at the full list of results. A similar gap distanced Kevin and Rob Miller, who took the ‘Bronze’ medal position. Another big win came in the Over 50’s, with a seven-minute victory for Alex Owen. In second place was Alan Vissian, followed by Gareth Lodge. The gap between these two was very narrow, just 3 seconds. The Over 60’s saw a big margin at the front too. Last year’s runner-up, Mark Peckitt, got an early win to stake a claim on the 2026 title. The winning margin of six minutes was over second-place lad Jon McKinney. Robert Mawbey was in third, albeit a lap adrift of the leading pair.

The Trail/Classic class continues to grow with six entrants this time out, three of those on the larger road-going Adventure bikes. The winner was Harry Hinkley, followed by the Over 60’s champion from last year, Neil Tapper, and then Chris Belford in third. Whilst there are no points awarded in the Novice class, Shaun Crellin came home first out of the dozen entrants.

BP Aircon Solutions sponsors two “Hole shot” prizes for a couple of classes. Brandon Hill won it in the Sportsman 4T class, and Jamie Flavin got it in the Clubman class. Pepperells solicitors sponsored a ‘random finisher’ £50 prize at the event. Number 120 Benjamin Cook was the recipient this time out. Properly Protected Insurance Ltd sponsor a couple of ‘secret lap time’ prizes too. Winners were Graham Ayliffe (No.220) and number 97, Kevin Crown.

The next race, Round two, is on the 19th of March at Grantham at a new track. Entries etc will be available as soon as possible.

Full details of that and all other things LEC are here for members >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub. And here for non-members and folks wishing to join or help out >> https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com/lec2016

Results