There was excitement, suspense and drama at the sixth and final round of the G H Motorcycles/Husqvarna/ACU Eastern Enduro Championship at Butley Suffolk organised by the Woodbridge Motor Cycle Club.
Three of the Class Titles having already been won, all eyes were on the other three Classes and one of these was the Expert Class where Kevin Palmer (Diss) was leading Myles Saunders (Sudbury) by 5 points at the start of the day. However it was Ryan McDonnell (Sudbury) who took first blood by winning the first Special Test with Saunders 2
nd, Dan Willis (Stowmarket) 3
rd while Palmer was further down the field. Saunders won the second Special Test, with McDonnell 2
nd, Willis 3
rd and again Palmer further down the field. Willis won the third Special Test with Saunders 2
nd, McDonnell 3
rd and Palmer 4
th. At the start of the fast last lap Palmer was in 7
th place and Saunders 2
nd place giving Saunders an eight point advantage on the day and the Title was in his grasp, fortunately for Palmer Alex Walton (Sudbury) machine broke down earlier then Palmer moved up to 6
th place. During the final lap Willis and Palmer were together and paced each other finishing with no penalty points which gave Willis the win with Saunders 2
nd also with no penalty points. It looked like the Title was going to Saunders but when Ross Taylor (Diss) and Tommy Clark (N & S Juniors) finished they were a minute late thus receiving 60 penalty points which pushed Palmer up to 4
th place behind McDonnell. The provisional results gave Saunders a 4 point advantage over Palmer at this event but 40 year old Palmer takes the Expert Class Title by one point.
There was another battle in the Clubman Class where James Barker (Sudbury) had a four point lead over Lee Monger (Sudbury) and these two had fought tooth and nail over every round. On the day Barker won all three Special Tests and as hard Monger tried to better Barker he made silly mistakes which lost him precious seconds which George Eustace (Sudbury) took advantage of finishing 2
nd on the day behind Barker and ahead of Monger. Barker takes the 2017 Clubman Class Title with Monger 2
nd and Eustace 3
rd.
Paul Davis (Sudbury) who lives and works in The Netherlands made a rare appearance in the Clubman Super Veteran Class was the overall leader after the three Special Tests with Andy Mason (Sudbury) 2
nd and Graham Mays (Sudbury) 3
rd and these two were battling for the 2017 Title. Everything changed on the last lap Davis and Mays received 60 penalty points while Mason was clean giving the win on the day with Davis 2
nd and Mays 3
rd. Mason wins the Class Title for the fourth year running.
Jason Morland (Halstead) who had already won the 2017 Championship Class won the first and third Special Tests dropped his machine in the second Special Test losing 11 seconds which was enough to give Ben Clark (Halstead) who is half the age of Morland the win on the day with Rick Roper (Sudbury) 3
rd and Tim Rose (Diss) 4
th. Michael Ridge (Stowmarket) 2017 Expert Veteran Class Champion again won the Class with Paul Spurgeon 2
nd and Gavin Hockey 3
rd.
Dean Curry (Sudbury) who had already won the 2017 Clubman Veteran Class Title won the three Special Tests overall but suffered 120 penalty points letting Kevin Gore (Norwich) who only suffered 60 penalty points take the win with Lee Saunders in 3
rd place.