Sunday 22 February saw Diss MCC run their first Enduro of 2026 the Santon Enduro. A full entry of 200 riders from all over the UK made the journey to Thetford Forest for this popular early season event. Despite recent wet weather and overnight rain, the course was in prime condition.
Race Report by Richard Snowden – Images courtesy of Paul Flack
Nine-time Enduro World Champion, Steve Holcombe (300 Sherco Factory Racing/CH Racing Sherco) was first man away and the action kicked off at the special test a few minutes from the start. The familiar test was short and sharp with the top riders completing it in around two and a half minutes. As expected, Holcombe dominated the test running five to six seconds faster than anyone on each of the four tests. However, all eyes were on the chasing pack and particularly on the top Eastern Centre riders.
Luke Parker (450 Lings Triumph), former ACUE Enduro and MX Champion was second fastest on the first test showing he’d lost none of his speed following a year out through injury. He was closely followed by Charlie Chater (250 Sherco UK Sherco) then by 2025 ACUE Enduro Champion, Ben Clark (350 John Lee, DCW Tutton KTM) and 2024 ACUE Enduro Champion, Ben Cole (450 GH/G&B Finch Yamaha) with just two seconds between second and fifth.
The second test saw Cole’s second fastest but the overall was Holcombe, Parker then Cole with Chater and Clark rounding out the top five.
On the third lap the championship riders faced two further back-to-back tests with all the support crews focused on the battle for runner up spot as Holcombe continued to dominate. Cole put in another strong ride to take the second-best time with former ACUE MX Champion, Shaun Southgate (450 Mid Suffolk Physio Honda) third from Clark with another former MX champion, Jake Nicholls (350 KTM) getting to grips with the test in fifth. Parker’s day ended following a crash on his third test.
The fourth test saw Holcombe appear to coast round, but he still headed the pack with another six second plus advantage. Nicholls continued his form with the second fastest time followed by 2025 ACUE MX2 Champion, Jake Rackham (450 Lings Powersport Honda) with Cole a tenth of a second behind and Chater rounding out the top five.
The championship class then headed off for their two final pressured laps with Holcombe some twenty-seven seconds ahead. Cole sat in a comfortable second, some five seconds clear of Chater with Clark a second down and Southgate rounding out the top five, nearly four seconds behind Clark.
On the last lap riders were expected to complete the eleven miles of bumpy twisty forest going in twenty-four minutes. Three riders managed to clock in a minute early. As expected, Holcombe was fastest with Clark and Chater about half a minute behind him. A further six riders clocked in on time confirming the finishing positions. Nieve Holmes (ET James Sherco UK Sherco) just missed out on a top ten place, suffering a minor problem on the last lap, and just going over her minute. Sixteen-year-old Ed Belton (150 GH G&B Finch Husqvarna) took an impressive twenty third in his first ride in this highly competitive Championship class.
In the Expert class some sixteen riders went clean on the going so the two special tests decided the results. However, Charlie Crossland (250 JSM GASGAS) was the only rider to clock in with two minutes to spare. Former MX star Syd Bales (250 GASGAS) took the victory by 0.2 seconds from Adam Reeve (450 Nama Media Yamaha) with Dan Willis (250 TMJ Honda) making a welcome return to enduro in a solid third.
The Expert Vets saw five riders with no time penalties and Jamie Powell (350 KTM) topped the class, three seconds clear of James Yearley (300 Beta) with Tim Rose (350 TF Mcs KTM) in third.
With some sixty-four riders, the popular clubman class saw only seven riders go clean with the second to fifth placed riders all clocking in with a minute to spare. Luke Evans (350 KTM) stayed on time, and his test times saw him take the win by three seconds. Aaron Bates (250 ET James Sherco) was second with Stephen Cornwall (250 Yamaha) a further two seconds back, taking third.
Just three riders stayed clean on time in the Clubman Vets class with Alex Pringle (300 QBG Sherco UK Sherco) six seconds clear of Christian Drane (450 GASGAS) with Michael Ridge (250 Ridgeracing Yamaha) a second back, in third.
The popular Clubman Super Vets (50+) saw five riders stay clean. John Hilton (300 Fab-Weld KTM) yet again was the winner, two seconds faster than Spencer Newland (350 HMS KTM) with Darren Osborne (249 Crescent Yamaha) some twenty-two seconds behind the leading duo.
Finally in the Clubman Super Vets (60+) Diss Club’s Mark Chapman (250 Beta) was the only rider with no time penalties, and he was some seven seconds faster than runner up Paul Armstrong (250 Enduro Tyres Husqvarna) with Paul Davis (125 Sherco) finishing in third.
With times spot on as ever, Andy Waters and the enthusiastic Diss team ran an excellent event with great competition to kick off the 2026 GH Mcs Beta ACUE Enduro Championship.
As ever, our grateful thanks go to Forestry England for their help and support to enable us to run this forestry event. We also need to thank GH Motorcycles for their continued support of both our event and the overall championship, East Anglia Medical Care, our paramedics, all our great team of volunteers that make this event possible and last, but not least, all the riders for supporting our event.
We now look forward to Round Two of the ACUE championship, run by Woodbridge MCC at Iken on 1 March.
Results
SANTON Draft Results v3 2026
