ROUND ONE of the European Enduro Championship was held last weekend at Boussac in the Limousin region of France. 21 British riders made the trip including the ACU U 23 Enduro Squad.
170 riders would tackle five-laps of 52 km each day, with three Special Tests comprising of Enduro, MX and MX Extreme each lap.
Saturday was long and hard, but fortunately the rain held off. The organisers sensibly kept the times slack to prevent speeding on the roads linking the tracks. All 21 Brits made it to the finish, Joe Deakin crashed heavily on a test and injured his back, but managed to complete the day with just a minute lost. All our other riders kept a clean sheet.
Greg Evans won his Senior E2 class, Ed Jones took 7th place, and Arron Poolman gained his first Championship points in 13th spot.
Si Wakely was 3rd in SE1, Ollie Moyce took 4th in JE2/3 with Mark Roberts 9th and Ashley Wood 10th.
ACU U23 riders James Giddings, Lewis Belfield, James Burroughs , Neil Chatham and Craig Reynolds all finished the day in close order.
In SE2 John Hinam had a steady ride to claim 10th place and Tyson Maytom Jones took points in 12th place.
Phil Smithson led home the British Veterans with an 8th place, closely followed by Karl Greenall in 9th. Julian Crimp and David Coles were also going well.
Sunday saw much of the same, with heavy showers making the tests far more difficult.
Greg Evans again won the SE2 class, Ed Jones retained the 7th place spot and James Jackman claimed points with 13th place.
Si Wakely took 4th in SE1 , and Ollie Moyce retained the 4th spot in Junior E2/3, with Jamie Paget making vast improvement to 9th place. Mark Roberts and Ashley Wood were 10th and 11th respectively.
John Hinam and Tyson Maytom Jones again finished 10th and 12th in SE3.
Smithson and Greenall and Coles all claimed Championship points, and despite a heavy test crash, Julian Crimp came home with just a minute lost.
In the One Make Team competition, Husaberg UK claimed an excellent 4th position.
An excellent start to the Championship, and the 21 British riders and their support crews set off for the long trip home on Sunday evening.
John Collins
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