Wells wins out at Dembleby! 2026 Lincolnshire Enduro Championship Round 5 – Report & Results

The Lincolnshire Enduro Club are sponsored by Dust-devils.net. The word ‘dust’ in there can be used to describe proceedings at round five of their 2026 series. With the sun at its highest and giving out temperatures in the mid-twenties, it was one of the biggest dropout rates of riders ever seen.

Race Report by Martin Southwick – Images courtesy of Graeme Taylor

Nigh on a quarter of the 107 starters succumbed to the heat and dust in this, the club’s 75th ‘Birthday’ race. Thankfully, it was actually cooler on race day than it had been in the week during ‘Set-up’ at Dembleby Heath! The club returned to the North Kesteven venue and, in reverse of the June race, ran the 8.4-mile lap in a counterclockwise direction this time out. As per round four, it was a mixed bag of fast field sections, wooded areas and quarries to circumnavigate.

Moving from the Clubman group to the Experts class at the start of this year, Darren Wells took his first ever win in the class. Riding his Beta 300 RR, the 36-year-old Grasby lad headed the field from the very start. That may suggest it was something of a whitewash, but it wasn’t! The winning margin over runner-up George Pearce was just eight seconds over the three-hour event. Given that George’s last six laps were fractionally quicker than Darren’s, another lap may have seen the two swap positions at the front. The biggest gap was on the inaugural lap when perhaps as early as that, the race may have looked like it was ‘game over’! Darren had what appeared to be a large margin already, over thirty seconds over any of his challengers, and well over a minute before George crossed the line to start lap two. However, after that, Darren actually only had one other lap where he was faster than anyone else. It would have been squeaky bum time in those last few laps as his rival bore down on him! Third place went to Sam Mitchell, three minutes in arrears of the leading pair. As Dan Johnson used this as his ‘Dropped round’, he has been overtaken by just one point on the class leader board, by the aforementioned George Pearce. It may be worth noting that whilst many front-runners enjoy the support of commercial sponsors, Darren Wells achieved this victory without one. Following this performance, he would undoubtedly welcome the opportunity to partner with a sponsor for the remainder of the season, and perhaps beyond!

READ MORE: BRITISH ENDURO NEWS

The one rider over all classes who has achieved near maximum points all year is Alex Owen in the Over 50’s sector. Another win at the weekend has now seen him drop only one point for the year and leads the title race by some distance. It is noted that Alex hasn’t used his ‘nil point’ card as yet, though, and that gap may close up over the next few races. Runner-up on the day was Andy Jackson, the gap between these two a little under three minutes. They were, however, a full lap in front of third-place jockey Danny Clarke. That Bronze for Danny sees him sneak into third place for the year, with Alan Vissian keeping his runner-up spot at present.

It’s pretty much as it was in the Clubman class, with the top three for ’26 staying in those positions after this race. With his second win of the year, Matthew Knowles has eked out a few more points in front of his closest rivals, and with Evan Sharpe taking third on the day, he is still in the runner-up spot overall. With Jack Gabb’s third placing, he moves up two notches into fourth for this year. Taking ten points, Jake Wilson is still third in the title chase.

As per above, there have been no positional changes at the top in the Over 40’s class. Lee Hattersley took maximum marks to close the gap up front to just one point, and with another podium slot for Michael Harris, he still leads the way. Awaiting any miscalculations from these two, Dan Brown waits in the wings in third place with his ‘Silver’ on race day.

Once again, it’s the usual pairing in the Over 60’s group. Mark Peckitt took his third win of the year to further his cause for the title, and Kevin Bartle Sr. (Having already used his ‘dropped round’) sneaks back into second place for 2026. Just fifteen seconds separated the two on the day. A newcomer to the class, Stuart Cryer took the other podium spot.

Another newcomer shining out well was James Taylor in the Sportsman 2T class. His victory was exactly one minute over runner-up Kurt Rafferty. Third place went to James Cole. That tells nothing of the very close title charge, though. It’s probably one of the tightest over any class. Just four points cover the top four riders. James Cole now leads (Fifty-six points), with Kurt on fifty-four points, Matthew Valentine on fifty-three, and Ted Johnson just one point behind that.
What was a five-point lead at the top for Ross Pearson in the 4T division is now stretched to nine with this, his second win on the bounce. His win can be seen a large one as he was ten minutes in front of Bradley Hill in second place. Spencer Smith took third. Both these riders leapfrog Damian Mumford into second and third, respectively.

Harry Hinkley still leads the way in the Adventure bike class, even though he sat this race out. A win for Dust Devils guru Mike Livsey on the day keeps the pressure on the top riders whilst Chris Belford leaps one position into second overall with his ‘silver’ place. Shaun Avison furthers his Trail/Classic chances of overall victory in ’26 with this, his third win of the campaign.

As is mentioned above, it was the club’s 75th race since humble beginnings back in 2016. To celebrate, Sportax Racing sponsored a £75 voucher to the rider who came across the line after the 75th minute. James Knights was the recipient. YST Carpets & Flooring kindly sponsored the Mid Pack Maverick prize. A class was picked at random prior to the race, and the person who came in the middle of that group stakes a claim. Stuart Cryer in the Over 60’s class was the winner of this one. Karl Willerton won the £50 ‘random finisher’ live draw award, given out by Pepperells Solicitors. BP Air conditioning/Refrigeration, who offer discounts to LEC members, sponsored two hole-shot £50 prizes given to random class ‘fast starters’. James Palmer took the spoils, as did Jayden Joyce. More £50 notes were ‘handed out’ from the personal injury cover folks at Properly Protected Ltd. Two random times were chosen after the race start, and Darren Cox and Jack Gabb took the spoils here.

The club now has a summer break, but the next race will be on the 13th September. Regulations etc will be on line asap.

Club details here for club members >> https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub and for non-members here >> https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com/lec2016

Results