Close Motor Finance Scottish Enduro Championship Review
2010 was another amazing year for the Close Motor Finance Scottish Enduro Championship with the final result going right down to the wire in the Expert Class. When Richard Hay rode as a marshall at Lochhouses in February, to see how he would get on, no one would have predicted that he would become the outright Scottish Champion for 2010. He barely has enough strength to lift his arm onto the handle bars, Richard was having none of it, four outright wins and he rarely missed the podium all year. Richard has incredible self belief which combined with loads of practice has seen him overcome his injury and win against all the odds. Richard, a seven times Scottish Champion already, has ridden all over the world and nearly won the Dawn to dusk outright, riding Ironman, single handed. Despite this and many other brave outings this Championship win has to be one of his best achievements ever. Derek Little the 2009 Expert Champion kept him honest to the last round finishing a close second.
Neil Chatham and Frazer Norrie decided to concentrate on the British and European Championships leaving the expert class wide open. There were four different winners with Neil Flockhart taking first blood at Pathhead on Day one. Neil Flockhart ripped off his water pump on day two and this was when Richard started to show his abilities, despite his injury, taking his first win on day two at Pathhead. Another win at Selkirk saw Richard leading the Championship with Ricky Mair making an appearance on day two and taking the win.
On the Saturday night at Yarrowford village hall there was another great evening of fun as the Scottish Enduro fraternity raised funds for the ill fated Mexico ISDE Team, more about that later. £1600 was raised with an auction, a raffle and there was trials bike balancing and a tyre changing competition with Andy Gray winning having changed the tyre in just 28 seconds.
In August it was back up to Monaughty near Elgin with Richard winning in this traditional forest Enduro with difficult rocky terrain and steep drops. Derek Little followed Richard home as the signs were there now that Richard was in a determined mood. Allyn Scotland finished third although there was about to be a big change for him as he was about to swop to a two stroke in his quest for the overall win in 2010.
At Griffin Allyn Scotland had new bike fever and won on his new Suzuki RM250 two stroke. He had quite literally just picked the bike up and won first time out. Richard Hay was second with David McArthur third in this ELRAT MC forest Enduro.
It was back to Selkirk in September and Richard was back on top again, beautiful weather and a relatively easy course saw him win with Derek second and Allyn Scotland third having ‘binned it’ in the special test.
It all came down to the Bon Accord final round in Craiglash forest near Banchory, it had rained all week but there was hard rock under the soft surface enabling almost all the riders to finish. Murray Thomson the newly crowned British Veteran Expert Champion proved his worth in the tricky conditions taking the overall win and also leading his Scottish Borders Inter Club team to the win over the Melville Motor Club in second. Richard’s second place was enough to secure the Championship over Derek Little in third.
Gavin Johnston dominated the Over 40 class and despite breaking his ribs at Monaugty and exclusion for outside assistance at Selikirk went on to win the final round and the Championship at Craiglash. Mark Ritchie had his best year finishing second with Stevie Currie Snr also having a good year in third.
In the Clubman Class it was Fraser Flockhart all the way, winning every round and setting some of the fastest special test times overall. Fraser had enough points in hand to ride the final round in the Expert Class finishing fifth at Craiglash. The young guns are coming through the Clubman class with Jamie Reid and Hamish Patrick in second and third in the Championship with Liam Lamb and Stevie Currie Jnr not far behind. Dean Reid was another rider to prove that new bike fever can make you win with his first class victory at Craiglash. Jordan Hayes won the Clubman B Championship with Bill Bruce second and Craig McVittie third.
Rab Farrell won the Sportsman Class Championship without an overall win although Rab did win the Sportsman Class in the British Championship at the Natterjack as welcomed compensation. There were several winners in the class with Alan Maclean grabbing two of them to take second in the Championship with Dean Barr picking up third with a win at the final round at Craiglash.
The British round at Elgin at the start of the season in April proved extremely successful once again bringing the best of British talent to Scotland with David Knight winning overall. It was unfortunate that the British contingency decided not to travel to Mexico for the ISDE although the stories coming back were horrific and time will tell whether this was the right decision or not. The Scottish team has a head start for the ISDE next year in Finland with the funds generated this year that will be transferred and if there is enough money I know the Team Manager, Sam Davidson, is considering two teams if the ACU can accommodate an additional team.
The numbers were down a little this year and the SACU Enduro committee are looking into the reasons for this. The recession is one and the lack of a one day licence is possibly another, clubs must ensure that the regulations are published with plenty of time and promote the championship in all the off road media. Lessons have been learnt but it has not detracted from another great year for Scottish Enduros.
By Campbell Chatham
Photo Richard Hay