Round one of the Dave Barkshire sponsored two-man team enduro saw over 120 riders heading to the Suffolk coast at the remote village of Iken on Sunday. Course specialist, Wilf Harvey and his team had laid out a three-mile lap which consisted of woodland and some fast field areas, and despite rain earlier on, the course was perfect.
Each rider had a thirty-minute session to put in as many laps as they could, before handing over to their team mate. After each rider competed two sessions in the morning, the course was reversed for the afternoon sessions, where the action was intense among the leading teams.
2018 Eastern champion, Luke Parker, was drafted in to join his Norfolk team mate Ben Cole, after Cole's original partner, Harvey Thomas withdrew, following an injury at Thetford the previous week. The pair led after the morning sessions, with eleven laps each completed, and Lowestoft's Lewis Bond and his team mate, Tim Rose held second place with twenty-one laps under their belt.
Parker and Cole made sure of victory in the afternoon, with another twenty-two laps reeled off, with Parker, celebrating the birth of his new son, completing twelve laps to Cole's ten. Bond and Rose held onto their second place, with Ross Taylor/Craig Roper finishing third after a closely fought three-way battle. It was obvious that the motocross riders were prominent on the fast-open field areas, and apart from some great riding from the winners, Eastern motocross champion, Shaun Southgate, and Norfolk ace, Declan Whittle, also completed twelve laps each as the course roughened up later in the day. Whittle actually put in the fastest lap of the day in an amazing time of five minutes, ten seconds.
Tommy Clark/Dan Smith did forty laps to win the experts group, one lap clear of Jack Austin and Joe Eaton, and Carl Walker with his riding partner, trials supremo, Julian Harvey, claimed third on the day.
In the popular Clubmans class, victory went to Ben Roper/Kieran Hibble, who amassed thirty-seven laps between them. Martin and David Stevens also completed the same number of laps, with time penalties deciding the final result. Michael Baker/Ray Otaka were the third best clubman team, just ahead of local brothers, David and Andrew Woods.
Big thanks to the landowner, timing team, and all who helped to clear up at the end of a great day.
Results.
Round one Dave Barkshire two-man team championships.
Championship Class. 1st Ben Cole/Luke Parker, 2nd Lewis Bond/Tim Rose, 3rd Ross Taylor/Craig Roper, 4th Luke Gidney/Michael Ridge, 5th Myles Saunders/George Eustace, 6th Ben Alexander/Travis Frost.
Expert Class. 1st Tommy Clark/Dan Smith, 2nd Jack Austin/Joe Eaton, 3rd Carl Walker/Julian Harvey, 4th Shaun Palfrey/Toby Rogers, 5th Gene Womack/Jason Green, 6th Chris Ballard/Paul Spurgeon.
Clubman Class. 1st Ben Roper/Kieren Hibble, 2nd Martin Stevens/David Stevens, 3rd Michael Baker/ Ray Otoka, 4th David woods/Andrew Woods, 5th Daniel Hills/ Jonathan Finch, 6th Graham Mays/Nigel Ross.
Report from Charlie Ralph
Pictures from Anthony Ridge