Every round this year of the G H Motorcycles/Husqvarna/ACU Eastern Enduro Championship has thrown up surprises and the fifth and final round last Sunday held at Butley by the Woodbridge Motor Cycle Club was no exception.
Jason Morland in the Championship Class was in a determine mood although he was trailing by nine points at the start of the day in the Contest this was still the best chance for him to snatch the Title. He out rode everybody in the three Special Tests pushing Chris Hockey (Sudbury) into second place by 5.202 seconds and his rival for the Title Jamie Roper (Sudbury) into third by 6.716 seconds who broke his brake lever in the second test and fell off in his third test. Clearly the race for the win on the day was between these three riders and went down to the wire to the fast last lap.
Roper and Hockey came in on time so did not incur any penalty points and both rider had to wait for Morland who started two minutes behind them. The wait was agonising could Morland come in on time as the clock ticked by, suddenly he appeared all eyes was on him and he reached the yellow flags well before his time was up and secured the win on the day. This is Morland’s first Championship Title which will be well celebrated by his Club Halstead who are celebrating their 90
th year. Roper finishes second two points in arrear in the Class with Hockey third a further 13 points behind. Other positions on the day were Ricky Roper (Sudbury) 4th, Tom Braddock (Lowestoft) 5
th and Craig Roper (Sudbury) 6
th.
Alex Rampton (Sudbury) won the Expert Class from Ed Pooley (Stowmarket) by 6.413 seconds with Ryan McDonnell (Sudbury) 3
rd, Tim Warnes 4
th Ben Grice (Lowestoft) 5
th and Kevin Silvain (Sudbury) 6
th. Unfortunately Class Title contender Jake Gregory (Stowmarket) was unable to ride due to an injury so Rampton wins the Expert Title equalling the feat of Lewis Bond by winning the Clubman and Expert Titles in successive years.
Mark Chapman (Diss) won the Expert Veteran Class with ease with John Bishop (Woodbridge) 2
nd, Paul Spurgeon (Woodbridge) 3
rd and Mark Green (Sudbury) 4
th. In the Clubman Class there was a three way fight between Dan Willis (Stowmarket), Alex Walton and Ben Ramus (both Sudbury) for the Class Title and on the day Walton won, Willis 2
nd while Ramus was pushed into 4
th place by Kevin Palmer (Norwich). Overall Willis has clinched The Clubman Title and it has been a long time since a Stowmarket rider has won anything the last known rider was his father Alan.
What a miserable day it was for Jeff Turner (Sudbury) in the Clubman Veteran Class dropped his bike in all three special tests dropped his bike on the last lap losing two minutes finishing 8
th on the day and his rival for the Title Peter Andrews (Woodbridge) only finished 3
rd behind Kevin Gore (Norwich) and Duncan Griffin (Diss) but it was enough to the give Andrews the Class Title.
The battle for the Clubman Super Veteran Title was between two Sudbury riders Graham Mays and Andy Mason who pulled out all the stops to win on the day with Nigel Ross (Sudbury) 2
nd and Mays 3
rd. Mason’s win was enough to win the Class Title for 2016 with Mays 2
nd. Sudbury’s Pete McDonnell had a shattering win in the Sportsman Class.