Jamie Roper claims GH Motorcycle/Husqvarna/Eastern Centre Championship 4th round

On a cloudy and overcast day the stage was set for the 4^th round of the G H Motorcycle/Husqvarna/Eastern Centre Enduro Championship.  There a light drizzle at the start which made the going on the open fields a little slippery but the top three in the Championship Class coped well with the conditions. 

On the second and third lap there was the special test for all competitors and in the first one current Champion Jamie Roper recorded 4 minutes and 7 seconds while nine times Champion Chris Hockey and Jason Morland had equal times of 4 minutes 17 seconds.  Roper had laid down the challenge to Contest leader Hockey and in the second special test recorded the same time of 4 minutes 7 seconds. The scene was set for Hockey and Morland to better Roper’s time and take the lead on the day, Hockey recorded 4 minutes and 10 seconds three seconds better than Morland. As these three riders reeled off the remaining sessions it was down to the ninth and last session where the time allowed was 10 minutes to complete the lap and every minute late would incur 60 penalty points.  The clock flipped over to 10 minutes and now the drama was set could they finish before the eleventh minute.  Morland appeared first with Roper a few yards behind and they both arrived in time and where was Hockey, he suddenly appeared and the countdown was on and he just managed to arrive on time with two seconds to spare.  It was a win for Roper with Hockey 2^nd, Morland 3^rd, Julian Harvey 4^th, Tim Rose 5^th, Ian Parker 6^th, Sam Toy 7^th, Craig Roper 8^th and Gavin Hockey 9^th.  In the Championship Contest Hockey and Roper are joint leaders on 62 points with Morland 3^rd on 54 points and these three riders will battle it out at the last round on 24^th August.

Lewis Bond once again won the Expert Class although he was lying 2^nd after the first special test but nailed the second special test to beat Ian Tutton who had his best ride in the Contest by 10 seconds. Glenn Walsh was 3^rd, Stephen Green 4^th, Darren Nicolaou 5^th, Daniel Piper 6^th and Rob Blackman 7^th. Bond has now won this Class and will be upgraded to the Championship Class next year and could well win that Class. Walsh remains in 2^nd place with Nicolaou 3^rd, Green 4^th and Tutton 5^th.  In the Expert Veteran Class it was a win for Mark Chapman with Andy Quorn 2^nd, Graham Mays 3^rd, Gareth Young 4^th and John Bishop 5^th.  Chapman has a 15 point lead in the Contest over Graham Mays and a 11^th place in the last round will secure him victory but if he slip up Mays who is ten years older could sneak the Title.

Ross Taylor was back to his best with a win in the Clubman Class with Jake Gregory 2^nd, William Hughes 3^rd, Tom Sargeant 4^th and Ben Alexander 5^th. Taylor now leads the Class on 62 points from Dean Goggins 56 points, Hughes 50 points and Alexander 46 points. It was another win for Mark Green in the Clubman Veteran Class with Jason Fowler 2^nd, Duncan Griffin 3^rd, Paul Wilkinson 4^th and David Meehan 5^th.  Green extends his lead in the Contest to 11 points from Fowler and a 4^th place in the last round will secure Green the Title.

The leader in the Clubman Super Veteran Class, Andy Mason was on holiday so could Steve Finch regain the lead.  The winner of the Class was Paul Davis with Simon Thake 2^nd, Quenton Ramsey 3^rd, Finch 4^th and Russell Miles 5^th. With Finch only finishing 4^th Mason retains his lead in the Contest over Finch by 6 points and Davis is now 3^rd and could still win the Title.

Three of the members of Team Dave Roper featured in the points in the Clubman Class with Ryan McDonnell 6^th, Jack Nicolaou 9^th and Alex Rampton 11^th.  Rampton’s lead in the TDR Challenge has been reduced to five points by Nicolaou but Ben Roper still retains 3^rd place with McDonnell hot on his heels in 4^th.