With the Rhayader Motor Club organised the Rhayader 2 Day Enduro on the bank holiday weekend, riders from as far as Australia had entered for the epic event, which was a round of the E T James Welsh Enduro Championship, the event proved to be an old school type enduro with a tight check in the famous Waun forest complex that would test everyone’s limit with a few losing time in there as well in the lower classes down the field.
With the club having secured a round of the FIM World Enduro Series for next year, the club lost no time trying various things out, and this year’s event proved to be a tough one from the start line, after heavy overnight rain on Friday the tests on Day one turned into deep mud in parts, the second test at Dolly was an achievement to get around it for some of the riders with not such a good ridding ability as others in the lower classes.
The ultra-long Saintswell enduro test saw a big long hill to climb whilst the championship and expert riders flew up it others struggled, and what goes up usually comes back down, and it certainly was on this test a huge steep descent saw many riders parting way with their bikes down the narrow track to the bottom of the valley. With the championship and expert riders having completed 3 laps totalling some 135 miles with a classic tight check in the Waun forest, the Rhayader MC had definitely put on an old-school enduro on day one, what faces the riders on day two organisers have hinted that things will be easier and the Dolly test has been scrapped
Steve Holcombe and his Beta 125 would prove to be the eventual winner after Will Ruptecht aboard a Sherco 300 who had led from the Friday’s event Prologues right through to the Sunday afternoon tests when he lost time and dropped to third however a huge crash on the final test of the day saw the Aussie fail to make the final time control ending with a DNF and a broken thumb by all accounts as news filters around the finish area.
Hamish MacDonald would slip into the runner up position aboard another Sherco 300 keeping the International rider on the podium whilst Yamaha mounted Max Ingham claimed third on the 250 machine.
In the expert field Ross Danby Beta 300 took the win on test times whilst the Beta of Tom Wright finished just 8.43 sends adrift, making it a Beta 1-2-3 after 16 timed special tests was Alun Jones another minute down but claiming good points for the championship as did Wright claiming max points.
Leading the event right till the final hour or two after two days of racing was Wil Ruprecht but a huge crash on the final test just minutes from the finish line after racing some 260 miles ended with a DNF and a broken thumb by all accounts if the rumours are true.
Race Report and Images by Gary Jones Photography