Woodside whispers

Elginboxer

The weather conditions were perfect for the 220 riders entered in the first round of the Metzeler British Enduro Championship in Norfolk. The Diss motorcycle club were relieved that the icy conditions experienced the previous week were not repeated. Instead the course was power dry and the cool breeze provided perfect riding conditions.

The excellent special test proved a great spectacle, especially the Championship rider’s final test at the end of the hard day. There were two tests in the first two laps and the subsequent lap times were tightened to ensure only the top riders in each class stayed clean on time. Paul Edmondson crashed during the day and damaged his bike, ending his challenge prematurely. 2007 British Enduro Champion Tom Sagar took advantage of the situation to take the overall win. Daryl Bolter had been fastest in the early tests, a crash and problems re starting his 250 four stroke saw him drop down the standings.

Euan McConnell was top Scot with a gritty ride to fourth place on his TM 530. Euan muscled his bike around the tests reaching amazing speeds on the straights. Richard Hay looked totally at ease on his KTM 125 finishing clean on time in 15th place overall and fourth in the E1.2 class.

In the Expert Class Paul Chatham set the 11th quickest test time on his Honda CR250 beating Derek Little on his KTM 125 by 2 seconds. In the second test Derek was the quicker rider and a clean time sheet saw him finish best Scot in the Expert class in 11th place and third in the E1.2 class. Paul dropped two minutes that saw him slide down the order, although 8th E2 was his best result in the Expert Class so far.

Murray Thomson finished second in the Over 40 class on his D3 Racing KTM. The sandy going at the Muntjac is not his favourite terrain so he was very pleased with this result. Graeme Naismith on his Mickey Oates Kawasaki was disappointed with his special test times but pulled himself up to third place as he ended the day with a clean time sheet. Colin Bryan put in a solid ride in his first British Enduro outing. Colin dropped seven minutes that cost him dearly in the results; he did enjoy the experience and vowed to continue in the British Championship.

29 teams entered the British Enduro Championship Team Competition with Scotlands Team Ecosse Graeme Naismith, Richard Hay and Euan McConnell finishing 3rd.The second Scottish team, Ecosse Elite including Derek Little, Murray Thomson and Paul Chatham finished 10th.