Diss MCC 2 Man Enduro – Wattisfield Hall Sunday 21 August
Round Four of the Dave Barkshire 2 Man Enduro Championship 2022
Diss MCC staged round 4 of the Dave Barkshire on
Sunday 21 August. Fifty-two teams of 2 riders faced the 3 mile course around
parts of the MX circuit including links via the ditches and banks with a fast
flowing section in the adjacent stubble fields.Diss MCC staged round 4 of the Dave Barkshire on
Sunday 21 August. Fifty-two teams of 2 riders faced the 3 mile course around
parts of the MX circuit including links via the ditches and banks with a fast
flowing section in the adjacent stubble fields.
The action kicked off at 10:00am with a planned four hours of racing.
However, dust was more of a problem than expected and the wind was blowing the
dust towards the village of Wattisfield. Additionally, rider feedback confirmed
that visibility on the fields was challenging. The hugely experienced Clerk of
the Course Andy Waters had to make the very difficult decision to cut the event
short and the event was stopped after the first 2 hours.
With 2 hours of racing the leading championship class riders managed to
complete 18 laps. Jamie Roper on the 450 Walters Medical/Jim Aim GasGas and his
partner Ian Tutton on the 350 KTM managed to come out on top. With Roper
slotting in 5 laps each session and only losing 3 minutes overall, Tutton
backed this up with 2 sessions of 4 laps and lost no further time. Late
entries, Craig Roper 250 Walter Medical/Jim Aim KTM and Rob Blackman 125 KTM showed
that, despite running at the back of the experts, they were fast enough to take
the runner up slot. They followed the same pattern as the winners with Craig
clocking up 10 laps whilst losing four minutes and Blackman backed this up with
8 laps. The young Sudbury pairing of Jake Roper 250 AJN Steel Stock KTM and
Billy Sargeant on the 250 Sarge Utilities KTM slotted into third. Jake managed
to set the fastest individual lap with a blistering 6 minute 1.27 second lap
but lost 2 minutes each session with Billy losing one each session. Jake’s
faster lap, used as the special test meant they were able to relegate the
experienced Tim Rose, 350 KTM and Dan Willis, 250 Honda to fourth.
The Diss club pairing of Adam Ranson 450 Ranson Racing Yamaha and Mark
Chapman 250 KTM took victory in the Expert class with Ben Jones
and Jack Gatland slotting into second.
The clubman class saw veterans Tim Ford 250 Beta and Paul Bennett 510
KTM take victory from the equally experienced Graham Mays 300 Husqvarna and
Nigel Ross 250 KTM. Both pairs used their last lap to secure 17 laps but Ford
and Bennett managed this by running 5 minutes late while Mays and Ross needed 6
minutes. These were the only 2 pairs to go for the extra lap and this secured
them the top two positions, a lap clear of the rest of the significant clubman
field.
The hard-working organising team faced huge challenges with posts almost
impossible to get into the rock hard ground but the course rode well and gave
good competition in each of the classes making all their hard work worthwhile.
With the final Dave Barkshire 2 man championship round being run by
Sudbury MCC at Pebmarsh on 11 September. The Diss team hope the weather is
kinder for our Sudbury mates.