Thursday February 24, 2011 at 4:28pm
Strong field for Muntjac Opener
This weekend sees the start of the ACU Metzeler Enduro Championship with the opening round being run by the Diss MCC club at Thetford Forest. Diss MCC and long term event sponsors EMG Motors Group and new associate sponsor KIA will be hoping for a great start to the season in the first major long course enduro of the year. The opening round of the 2011 series has seen an entry of over 230 riders looking to start their championship hopes off in the best manner.
After last year’s event where the lap had to be shortened due to the weather, the Diss MCC are glad to have produced a course where almost 95% of the course in the trees is completely new and this year’s course flows well to produce an interesting challenge for all riders. During the winter a lot of work has also been done to open up sections of the special test especially in the corners.
With 39 championship riders competing and hoping to take top honours within their individual class and make a strong impression of the championship, David Knight has to be favourite going into the event as the Multi World and British Enduro Champion who will be looking to make it 3 wins in a row. Knight will be tough to beat and his biggest threat will come from Tom Sagar on the Fast Eddy/Edmondson 450 KTM who recently beat ‘Knighter’ on the second day of the British Sprint Enduro Championship. Other championship class Enduro riders who could feature highly in the results are Daryl Bolter who always goes well at the Muntjac, while Paul Edmondson the multiple event winner will be looking for another solid result.
Also mixed into the Championship class will be a number of Motocross riders, who always feature high in the results, including 2001 winner Carl Nunn who will be competing the event after retiring from professional Motocross at the end of last year. Other Motocross riders such as Jamie Lewis, Jordon Rose and Aston Bird will be looking for good results, Aston Bird is also a regular Enduro rider in the Eastern Centre winning the championship in recent years.
There are 60 riders registered for the Expert class and 90 in the clubman class who will all battle for top honours and early championship glory. The event also sees an entry of 40 veteran riders who will be completing 4 laps on the Muntjac course.
This year’s special test will be run over 2.5 miles and is located next to the start area. As always the special test will be a key area where the Motocross riders will be more suited and hoping to gain some time on the top Enduro riders.
The start of the Muntjac can be located at Ride 24 just north of Brandon on the Mundford road. This year the parking at the event is expected to be tight due to the recent planting of trees so riders will need to arrive early. It should be noted that the erection of large awnings is not allowed.