Tuesday December 6, 2011 at 1:35pm
The long-awaited start of Eddy’s Xtreme Enduro series, the ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship, was worth every second of waiting. The previously unused Cowdale Quarry near Buxton provided an awesome setting for the start of this high profile series and Paul Edmondson even organised extreme weather to ensure that both riders and spectators felt they had experienced all the event had to offer.
Cowdale Quarry was the setting and many riders likened it to a mini ‘Erzberg’ with the massive hill climbs and steep woodland descents. This huge quarry had excellent access, perfect parking and paddock facilities and was easy for spectators to negotiate, until three days of rain turned the lush grassland parking area into mush.
Friday and Saturday saw gale force winds and torrential downpours sweep the Buxton area but the conditions inside the venue held up well and the course was completely unaffected by the atrocious weather. Even on race day the course maintained its quality as the opening race started in sunshine and the final race ended in a snowstorm.
Planning was the key to the events success and it was obvious to all that Paul Edmondson and the Fast Eddy crew had though things out properly.
The event saw a world class line up of riders enter and they were all suitably impressed with the challenges Fast Eddy had laid on for them. It was a properly hard course with several options and lines but even some of the chicken runs were still in the extreme category as opposed to the ‘Pro’ lines that were absolutely mental in places.
Situated close to the start line, the rock section, which riders faced at the end of each lap, took real guts to take on. There was a slow route around the rocks, which took around 30 seconds longer to complete so the top riders all went hard over the rocks.
As riders left the start, a 180-degree turn shot them straight into a series of three small but sharp jumps (a handful of riders doubled the final two), followed by a pair of mounds that could be doubled by the very brave. Twisting away from the jumps riders then hit the first obstacle with a chicken run. The top riders jumped up a five-foot step as the less mad riders went for the roundabout route.
A smallish rock section lead to the first of the huge climbs, with a large section scraped out of the base to make it very hard indeed but the top riders negotiated this reasonably well although there were a few ‘refusals’.
Several steep ups and downs later the course led to a very steep, grassy downhill with a four-foot step at the bottom. The Clubman route was longer and twisted around the trees but was still quite hard. Gravity lent a hand with most of the riders and one way or another they made it to the bottom of the hill.
A long, fairly straight route along a disused railway track saw riders emerge back into the quarry floor for a tortuous journey along the rock-strewn base of the cliff face before hitting the rock-fall section just before the finish line.
Timed practice was split into two 30-minute sessions, the first for Clubman and Vets and the second for Pro and Experts.
Josh Law, Aled Price, Veteran Craig Parkes and John Pearson all followed in the wake of old Ginger Nut himself, Mark Houson who, despite all his moaning, banged in an 8 minutes 43 seconds to top the first qualifier.
The Pro/Expert qualifier got underway and within a few laps Graham Jarvis topped the leader board on his Flite Husaberg with 5 minutes 20 seconds. KTM factory rider Knight responded immediately by beating Jarvis’ time by 14 seconds, posting 5 minutes 6 seconds. Jarvis’s long run of extreme successes seemed about to end if Knight kept up the same pace during the race itself.
KORR’s Jonny Walker, in third spot, looked dead and buried, some 20 seconds behind Jarvis, but timed practice is very different to racing. Fresh from the Roof of Africa Ben Hemingway and Paul Bolton took positions four and five with Tom Sagar in sixth on a Steve Plain Gasser. Dan Hemingway, Danny McCanney and Gav Houson finish the top ten Pro line-up.
As the first race got underway Knighter immediately took the lead and looked determined to prove he was back to full fitness. He was riding strong and smooth and looked untouchable but the surprise of the first part of the race was that he couldn’t shake Jonny Walker, who hounded him constantly. Graham Jarvis was relegated to third as the two KTM riders battled it out, he had lead briefly as Knight and Walker both tangled on one of the steep hills and rode to the bottom to have another run at it but was soon reeled in by the KTM pair.
Walker passed Knight in the final rock section to take the lead on lap 2 and began to move away as Knight caught some back markers and went down hard. Picking himself up it was evident that there was some sort of problem with the bike or the rider as Knight retired after just four laps. He re-appeared later in the race but again pulled out.
Walker charged onwards and lapped every rider except Jarvis on his way to victory. Jarvis took second with Tom Sagar having a great outing on the gasser in third place. Paul Bolton was as smooth as ever and finished a creditable fourth, just ahead of the Hemingway brothers.
Jack Lee headed the Expert class and was only matched on laps by Tom Howe who had a very impressive ride. As Biff Smith and Martin Sandiford battled for third andf fourth spots with local lad Luke Meredith firmly grabbing fifth place.
Josh Law was not under quite so much pressure in the Clubman class as he gained a lap on the rest to win the class ahead of Aled Price, Lee Sealy, Martin Kohv and Ben Howard.
Mark Houson proved he still has what it takes to win at the aged of 60 by taking the Vets class by a clear lap over the very experienced extreme specialist Craig Parkes. Gary Beniman again came out of semi retirement to take third place ahead of Nathan Bolton and Chris Salt.
The break between adult races saw the Youth riders take to a slightly easier course although driving rain made thing a little harder for them. Brad Freeman had been flying in timed practice but a series of small slips and mistakes saw Andrew Bull slowly but surely close on the flying Freeman and take the lead all the way to the chequered flag. Freeman took second just ahead of friend and rival Jack Staines in third with Charlie Nicholls fourth and Jack Edmondson fifth.
With Knighter back on the front row for the start of the second adult race the battle with Walker was back on. These two riders pulled over a minute lead from the rest of the field and constantly swapped places until Knighter failed to make a climb, which gave Walker the chance to surge ahead. Knight rode like a man possessed as the snow and rain began to fall and made a few mistakes until the final mistake saw him retire with a damaged machine.
Walker took his second win of the day as Graham Jarvis continued his precise and calculated route around the course for second place while Tom Sagar again took third spot. Dan Hemingway finished inside the top five ahead of fifth place Gary Daniels who seemed to improve in the worsening weather conditions. Bad-luck again hit Paul Bolton who was riding superbly, his clutch gave out on one of the big hills and it was ‘game over’ for him.
Jack Lee climbed to sixth overall and took his second Expert win of the day ahead of Tom Healy, Alex Owen, Tom Howe and Biff Smith. Aled Price took the Clubman class ahead of John Pearson and Lee Sealy with Martin Kohv fourth and Jane Daniels fifth as opening race winner Josh Law slipped to eighth.
Mark Houson again took the Veterans class win but Craig Parkes closed the gap and finished on the same lap just a minute adrift. Justin Carter fought to maintain third place as Chris Salt put in a strong challenge to take fourth ahead of Dave Hope in fifth.
Youth and enthusiasm had won the day over age and experience but this is just the first of three rounds and Knighter is sure to be looking for revenge. Jonny Walker was outstanding, as was Graham Jarvis who took two second spots but was overshadowed by the Knight/Walker battle.
The weather really didn’t spoil the day, it just added to the tough conditions and Fast Eddy was more than happy with the attendance and more importantly the feedback from riders who thought the race was a proper extreme event in every sense of the word and the best they had ridden in the UK.
A fleet of 4x4’s and tractors worked solidly to extricate the stranded riders from the muddy paddock as Fast Eddy and his crew began breaking down the barriers around the course. A really great event. The battle is sure to continue at Tong on January 8th.