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Three races, three winners… 2022 Lincolnshire Enduro Championship Round 3 – Race Report & Reults

The latest round of the Lincolnshire Enduro Club/Back Office Pro series produced another different winner with the third event of the year, taking place once again in the (normally) quiet Wolds village of Willingham. The club utilised a lot of the 5.5 mile track from a month ago but conditions were a lot different this time.

Report by Martin Southwick – Images courtesy of Graeme Taylor Images

Any amount of rain at the venue produces somewhat slippery riding conditions . . . . as per the April event. With two days of dry and warm weather preceding race day this time though, conditions went the other way and were actually somewhat dry and dusty for a change for the 140 or so racers. Using some of the local woods, some tight plantations to negotiate and very fast field sections, the three hour Hare and Hounds produced another yet name on the top step of the podium.

Not having raced with the club this year, Expert David Rushton marked his 2022 debut with a maiden victory. Apart from just two laps out of the thirteen completed, David’s times were quicker than the second placed man every time and in the end, the winning margin was some three minutes. That runner up spot went once again to Dan Johnson; his second time in a row for the “Silver” in the year. A couple of minutes adrift of Dan was Mark Lonsdale in third spot. Once again looking at lap times, they are all very close. In the end, however, those few seconds per circuit add up. The first four lads had completed thirteen laps when the chequered flag fell; Elliot Milburn being the fourth rider to do so.

Luke Taylor went one better than in April In the Clubman class with a victory this time, beating Matthew Woolridge into second place. Lukes’s winning margin was nearly three minutes. Pretty much the same margin separated Matthew and third placed lad, Tristan Palmer. The top five riders all had twelve laps at the end of racing. It’s obviously too early to talk about the yearly spoils but nobody has got hold of this class by the scruff of the neck as yet.

One lad who has had a class lead from day one is Lee Hattersley in the Over 40’s group. Willingham (Part two) saw a hat trick of victories notched up for the year, to slightly take a slender lead in that group. Lee’s win was pretty close actually, with just under a minute separating himself from runner up and “newcomer”, Paul Hanks. Whilst Lee enjoys his wins, James Andrew (formerly know as Andrew James) seems to revel in third spots. That is now his third third place in 2022 ! The first six in class were on twelve laps when the flag came down at the race end. This class produced the closest finish in any class on the day.

Not so close was the winning margin in the Over 50’s class. As per the above, Alan Vissian has now a hat trick of wins for the year, thus continuing where he left off in 2021. That winning margin was some nine minutes over second rider Ian Shepherd. The time difference twixt Ian and third-placed lad Mark Peckitt was a lot closer though . . just a few seconds. Another hat trick man was Kevin Bartle Sr in the Over 60’s. It looked like a game of two halves in the group. Second-placed man Keith Rowland had some quicker early laps but was then overhauled by Kevin being marginally quicker towards the end of the event.

Two out of three ain’t bad as the saying goes and this applies to Alex Scott with two victories now for the year in the 4T class. Scott Snell was runner up on the day to keep pressure on at the top of the leader board. Simon Owen kept his name up there too with his third place. Just four points separate these lads in the early title chase. Eleven laps had been accumulated by the top four riders at the end. The other Sportsman group, the 2T class produced the biggest class of the day, with thirty riders on the start line. Archie Kirk did himself a big favour for the year with his first win of 2022. Another “two out of three” for the year lays with Scott Stone. However, a third win was denied this time as he finished runner up to Archie. Christian Humphrey also had to settle for finishing third this time as opposed to two runner up spots in the past. Shaun Avison also continues his winning streak in the trail/classic class with yet another group victory, with Pete Hoare chasing him home in second place. Ten Beginners were in the event too. There are no “winners” as such in this section but Alistair Reeve came out on top.

The “Mystery lap time” winner was Warren Haigh. Given to the winner of a randomly selected time across the line, Warren came away with a £25 voucher from Elliot Milburn at Donkz Racing (https://www.facebook.com/donkzracing/)