Report and Pictures Tim Tighe
It seems a long time since the second round of Eddy's Extreme Enduro at Tong in January, with a six-month gap between rounds this, plus the current economic climate, certainly had an effect on the number of riders and spectators who attended the final round of the Championship series at Adstone, home of Enduroland, in Northants.
Those riders and spectators who didn't attend missed a real treat.
Nigel Wheatley and his Enduroland crew combined with the Fast Eddy team to build an outstanding Endurocross course, which provided a great spectacle and excellent racing for everyone who witnessed possibly the best event of the series.
The original Enduroland arena was totally revamped, enlarged and redesigned to accommodate some of the best extreme riders in the world. No one could fail to be impressed as they drove into the venue to be confronted by the first of two scaffolding bridges that spanned the roadway, plus flags and banners all around the arena course.
Two flyovers linked the start and finish straight to the main part of the arena and really added to the challenge with steep slopes up and down. The start straight looked like a steeplechase course with three sets of telegraph poles stacked across the track, 100 metres from the start line. The charge to the first hurdle was spectacular in each and every race.
Close to the down ramp off the first bridge was a double jump, for some riders, with an earth mound closely followed by tyres embedded in the ground leading to a limbo section, rocks, logs, metal cotton reels, through a lorry trailer, more logs and then out into a section of large whoops before the large course disappeared into the fields which had slippery slopes in and out of a disused railway siding and one particularly tough cross camber section with a large pool at the bottom of it.
Each of the five classes had two races, which included the entire loop and two races in the arena only. The Youth riders stayed separated from the adults but for the first two sets of races the Pro and Expert riders were paired together, as were the Clubman and Vets. Each of the races counted as a Championship round with points awarded accordingly.
Practice saw D3's Flite Husaberg mounted Graham Jarvis, fresh from his Romaniacs win, post the fastest time as KORR KTM Factory rider Jonny Walker missed a couple of laps changing his gloves following an off early on. Paul Bolton and Dan Hemingway put in solid lap times to join Jarvis and Walker at the head of the Pro riders class.
A handful of Experts were within seconds of each other and the Clubman riders were even closer, as were the Vets but the Youth class saw Edmondson racing's Brad Freeman out in front by a long way, a taste of things to come.
As racing got underway it became clear that the formula for the course was spot on. With no big stoppers the racing flowed around the loop and riders disappeared from the arena for just a short time before reappearing and tackling the man made obstacles.
With each race counting as an individual round there were plenty of points to be grabbed and Jonny Walkers slim two-point lead meant very little going into the first race.
Walker and Jarvis took to the front of the Pro race with Jarvis constantly snapping at Walker's heels until the young KTM rider got into the groove and put a clear gap between the two riders. With one win in the bag his confidence was high and Walker dominated proceeding from that point onwards, winning the three remaining races and taking the ACU British Extreme Enduro Champions title.
Jarvis looked safe in second place but in the second race he failed to score when he crashed out hard. It happened on a flat section amazingly and you may wonder how this could be for one of the world's best extreme riders but Graham doesn't practice on the flat apparently! He recovered to follow Walker home in the last two races and lead the final race for a while until Walker put the hammer down and zipped past. Jarvis wasn't too disappointed with third on the day and second overall in the Championship
Paul Bolton rode hard as is the norm for this understated but extremely talented rider and was rewarded with second place on the day and third in the Championship overall.
An on-form Richard Ely delighted Edmondson Racing team boss Derrick Edmondson by winning all four Expert races although he did have to battle hard at times with Tom Healy, James Dent, Tom Howe and Aaron Smith but eventually ended up first on the day and third overall in the Championship Expert class. Tom Healey rode hard and kept plugging away for second in class and Championship Expert winner as James Dent took third on the day.
Clubman rider Jane Daniels looked on form, fresh from Erzberg, and took no prisoners as she fought he way around the course with some finesse in places where others really struggled, following class winner Aled Price to the finish in the first two races eventually taking third overall in class and Championship.
Price had the bit between his teeth and saw the championship title within his grasp, three wins and a second spot secured it for him. Lee Sealy had been his main rival all day long and managed to take the final Clubman win and second in the Championship.
The Vets played hard but fair as usual. Oakland International, sponsors of the final event, watched their rider Craig Parkes take second overall and the Champions title, not bad for an Over 50. The thorn in Parkes' side was Kriega's Chris Salt, who suddenly came alive in the second half of the day and took the final two race wins as Gavin Johnston took third, despite failing to score in the opening race.
Brad Freeman continued his domination of the Youth 13-16 class, winning all four races by a good margin and only losing out once in the whole championship series when he took second place behind Andrew Bull in the first round in December last year. Jack Staines tried to keep pace with Freeman but eventually settled for a solid second place as Andrew Bull took third.
As the day drew to a close everyone agreed that it had been a very special event, really challenging and entertaining at the same time. Nigel Wheatley and the Enduroland crew had put in a massive amount of work to get the arena built to such a high standard.
The weather was kind and spectators enjoyed a great spectacle as the world's top extreme riders showed just how good they are in front of a home crowd.
Each round of the series has been very different. Two one-hour races in Buxton last December, one two-hour race at Tong in January and four 20-minute races at Adstone, really tested the riders in very different ways across a wide variety of terrain and obstacles.
The series was worthy of carrying the ACU's Extreme Enduro Championship banner and this can be attributed to just one person - Paul Edmondson.
Fast Eddy's vision, commitment, determination and love of the sport showed just what is possible when you know how. He thanked the people who had faith in his abilities to pull it off; Husqvarna, GasGas, Oakland International, Kriega, Adventure Spec, Rock Oil, Golden Tyre, Drift cameras, Edmondson Racing, Michelin and Dan from Amped Clothing, who all contributed to the success of the series.
Extreme Final Results
Pro 1 Jonny Walker 2 Paul Bolton 3 Graham Jarvis
Expert 1 Richard Ely 2 Tom Healey 3 James Dent
Vets 1 Chris Salt 2 Craig Parkes 3 Gavin Johnston
Clubman 1 Aled Price 2 Lee Sealey 3 Jane Daniels
Youth 1 Brad Freeman 2 Jack Staines 3 Andrew Bull
Overall Championship results
Pro 1 Jonny Walker 2 Graham Jarvis 3 Paul Bolton
Expert 1 Tom Healey 2 Tom Howe 3 Richard Ely
Clubman 1 Aled Price 2 Lee Sealey 3 Jane Daniels
Veterans 1 Craig Parkes 2 Chris Salt 3 Chris Ball
Youth 1 Brad Freeman 2 Jack Staines 3 Andrew Bull
www.fasteddyracing.com