Snowrun victory for Gethin! Welsh Enduro Championship Round 1 – Race Report & Results
The Welsh Enduro Championship kicked back into gear last Sunday with the opening round organised by the Welsh Trail Riders Association ( WTRA ) the Snowrun Enduro.
Report and Images by Gary Jones Photography
With a capacity entry of 180 riders and a reserve list the championship is a popular one with 139 riders registered for the Welsh series awards come the end of the season.
As the first of the championship riders left the start line in the Crychan forest above Llandovery at 10am they would soon find out that after heavy overnight rain the course was going to be a challenging one with four laps ahead of them.
The special test which would start and finish on the same forest junction was a mixture of open tracks some forest roads and one or two tight sections in the trees with a steep decent to the finish of the test which would test even the bravest riders to the limits, Expert rider Jac George from Llandeilo would be one rider that stood out on the opening test taking second fastest of all the riders on his Yamaha beating all the championship riders apart from Gethin Humphries who won the event, sadly for George he would retire after the final test on his way back to the finish on the check with bike issues…
Expert class winner Harry Hillier Rees
No 13
As the afternoon brightened up after a morning that saw some heave rain showers and a bitterly cold wind, Championship mounted Gas Gas rider Gethin Humphreys from Dolgellau would take the overall win finishing 20 seconds ahead of runner up Harry Houghton from Mould riding a Beta 300 with Monmouth rider Roger Holland claiming third on a KTM 450 ahead of Jack Cadwallader on a Beta.
In the Expert class Maesteg rider Harry Hillier-Rees made it a 1-2 for Sherco taking the class win with Rhayader’s Adam James claiming second on the ET James Sherco. Dan Guy from Wimbourne would finish third on a Yamaha WR250.
Local rider Liam Ryland from Builth Wells took the win in the Clubman class riding a Gas Gas 250 finishing 29 seconds ahead of runner up Neil James from Llandrindod on a Beta. Lampeter rider Carwyn Rosser on a KTM 250 would take third overall in the class just three seconds adrift of James.
The popular Vets O/v 40 class again saw a narrow winning margin Paul Herbert from Ellsmere took the win on his KTM 250 finishing just nine seconds ahead of Bo Anderson aboard a Sherco, third and fourth would be even closer with Anthony Grifith finishing just one second ahead of Jason Rees.
No9 Adam James on the ET James Sherco gets some good grip on the special test en route to 2nd placed expert
Vets O/v 50 rider Paul Davies from Neath dominated the class with a winning margin of over two minutes on his Sherco from runner up Andrew Sagar from Oswestry aboard a TM whilst John Hunt claimed third in class 13 seconds adrift on a Sherco.
Another popular class would be the vets sportsman class where Tom Humphries from Blaenau Ffestiniog took the win on TM 300, David Garland from Newbury finished nearly two minutes down on his KTM 250whilst local rider from Llandovery Herman Ostroznik claimed third in the class riding a Gas Gas 300.
The sportsman class was won by Mathew Verrin from Welshpool on a Gas Gas 300 with Alyn Jones from Mountain Ash taking second in the class on a KTM 300 and Robert Gould from Hornchurch taking third also riding a KTM 300.
As the riders left the forest heading for home they no doubt felt they had ridden a demanding event run by the WTRA, the next round of the championship takes place on the 27th March when the Rhayader Club run the Jack Frost enduro which again has taken a capacity entry in just one evening of the entry going live proving just how popular the championship is.
Results
