A Sunny and windy day greeted the 106 riders for the seventh Dave Roper Memorial Event this year being a Cross Country Enduro for the first time being held at Foxborough Quarry Sible Hedingham. A fresh course was constructed with a Spinney, open hilly fields with lots of cambers to emulate the legendry Tye Farm track.
The entry was split into three groups of Championship/Experts, Clubman and Evo/Twinshock/Pre 65 and each group rode in three events to decide which final they raced in. Championship & Experts riders lined up for events 1, 4 and 7 to decide which final they qualify for. With event 1 being a warm up one so was down to the other two events. Jason Morland took the lead from the start with Brad Tomlin and Brendan Mayers hot on his heels and these three riders battled it out throughout the 15 minutes however towards the end Tomlin slipped past Morland to take the win with Mayers third. In the next event Mayers took the lead followed by Morland and Tomlin but as the event went on Mayers came unstuck letting Morland and Tomlin through and with a lap to go Tomlin got the better of Morland with Mayers third. In the Clubman first event it was a win for Harry Moore with Kevin Palmer 2
nd and Richard Squirrell 3
rd and in the second event it was another win for Moore, 2
nd Palmer and 3
rd Lee Monger. Gary Gladwin was untouchable in the Evo/Twinshock & Pre 65 events winning both by a long distance. Louie Leneord Price took 2
nd place in both events while Don Blackman took 3
rd in one and Nathan Charrington took 3
rd in the other.
The first final was the Evo/Twinshock/Pre 65 machines and from the start Gladwin took the lead which he extended lap by lap although in the latter stages Rick Roper was gradually catching him up but had to settle for 2
nd behind Gladwin while Phil Whiting finished third making it a Sudbury 1-2-3.
Andy Mason shot into the lead in the Non Qualifiers Final followed by Gary Drage with Ben Marsh and Ben Roper following. Nathan Charrington was making up ground after a poor start passing Roper, Marsh and Drage and set about catching Mason who had a big lead. Charrington who is nearly 40 years younger than Mason rode his heart out and with two laps to go caught and passed Mason to take the win. Mason had to settle for 2
nd with Drage 3
rd making another Sudbury 1-2-3.
The Premier Final event was what everyone was waiting for with three riders hungry for the win. It was Mayers who took the lead followed by Morland and Tomlin and what a battle these three had. Mayers looked comfortable in the lead and looked like he could take the win but once again he had slipped around the course which let Morland, Tomlin, Brad Woodroffe and Alex Rampton through. However it was Morland dominating and started to increase his lead but Tomlin was having nothing of it and was gaining on Morland but it seemed impossible for him however with second wind he managed to catch and pass Morland to secure his third win at a Dave Roper Meeting. Morland finished 2nd, Woodroffe 3
rd Mayers 4
th and Will Hughes 5
th. Alex Rampton had a spill while in 4
th place at the beginning of the last lap and several riders past him before he could get his bike started but carried on to finish 13
th.
Bev Roper presented champagne to the first three in each final and thanked everyone for supporting the event.
RESULTS
A Final : 1
st Brad Tomlin, 2
nd Jason Morland, 3
rd Brad Woodroffe, 4
th Brendan Mayers 5
th Will Hughes
B Final : 1
st Nathan Charrington, 2
nd Andy Mason, 3
rd Gary Drage, 4
th Ben Marsh, 5
th Ben Roper
C Final : 1
st Gary Gladwin, 2
nd Rick Roper, 3
rd Phil Whiting, 4
th Jason Bell, 5
th Jamie Leach