Press Release

Lossiemouth British Enduro Championship 2008 

The 2^nd round of the British Enduro Championship 2008 took place at Lossiemouth last weekend amidst wintry conditions with ice cold strong winds, some snow and hailstone showers and even sunshine as well as a tough cross country and MX Test for the competitors to contend with.

DEC’s Corporate Hospitality kick started the action when hot food and refreshments began warming up the some 300 clients,  spectators, friends and even some of the riders that took part in the exciting two day event. 

Richard Hay, DEC’s MD came 4^th in the Championship class, winning the E1 2 Stroke category in the process. Meanwhile DEC’s Products Manager, Derek Little, was delighted in winning the Expert Class overall, again by winning the E1 2 Stroke class.  Both riders had no technical issues over the gruelling two day event, however Euan McConnell, a Project Engineer with DEC, lost valuable time when he damaged his chain guide on a rogue tree stump.  Eventually fixing it, Euan was extremely frustrated as this put him out of the running for the Championship Class.  A self-confessed “schoolboy” error on Sunday also put paid to his hopes, as Euan clocked into a check 2 minutes early. 

Richard now leads the E1 2 Stroke Championship class heading into Round 3 in August, with Derek leading the E1 2 Stroke Expert class.

Unfortunately the final MX was cancelled as riders decided to head home and brave the wintery conditions on four wheels rather than two.  However, Richard and Derek showed their thanks to the many spectators who stayed until the bitter end by putting on a high speed display round the Woodside MX circuit, much to the delight of the assembled cold crowd.

As a significant sponsor of the Grampian BEC, DEC would like to thank all the club organisers, marshals, timekeepers and check crews who stood out in the snow, making the event possible.  Without the permission of the various landowners, Forestry Commission, Grampian Police and First Aid Services, the event would not go ahead, so DEC pass on their grateful thanks to all those involved and hope to see everyone at the next Grampian BEC.

FRONTROW GB 25^th March 2008

 ROUND 2 – ACU BRITISH ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP

 Round 2 of the Metzeler sponsored, ACU British Enduro Championship took place throughout last weekend in Scotland, with the Grampian Motorcycle Club again using the areas near to Elgin, to include; Lossiemouth Forest, Woodside MX arena and Monaughty Forest.

 With the weather forecast suggesting wintery conditions of rain, snow, strong winds and freezing temperatures, it was hoped the course and terrain would make up for the proposed weather conditions.

 Stan Watt would be the sole rider from Front Row GB as Jon Stamper was restricted by other commitments and Stan would travel with Paul and Derrick Edmondson plus Danny Hall from Rogershill Raceway in Dorset, Rob Sartin from Talon Engineering and Bradley King.

 The group left southern England on the Wednesday to carry out testing on Thursday in Tain with Scott Gardner in order to develop suspension for the coming BEC, prior to heading over to Elgin for the main event over the weekend.

  THE COURSE

 The course would incorporate starting at a disused airfield approximately 3 miles outside Elgin and a short ride to Lossiemouth Forest, where there was an interesting stage through the forest to the cross country test. The special test would run along the fringes of the forest, onto deep sand and eventually onto the beach before heading back into the trees to end the special test.

 With another lengthy stage after the special in the forest area, a rider would return to the entrance of Lossiemouth Forest before riding back to the start to refuel and set out along a short road section to the MX test that would be a mixture of the Woodside MX circuit and surrounding area, making for a lengthy special test that most riders were looking forward to, although large amounts of time could be lost or made through this section.

 After the MX test, a 15 minute road section would take you to Monaughty Forest for fuel and a stage that would resemble the terrain you would find in a typical Welsh forest of rocks, roots and bogs, just of a smaller scale. Once Monaughty Forest was completed there was an opportunity to take on more fuel and return to the start point to kick-off lap two.

  A complete lap would cover 65 miles and proved to be demanding and physical for all riders.

 For lap two, the stage times would be drastically reduced with a limited number of riders being able to stay clear throughout. Any riders staying on time on the tighter stages would finish with a good result over the weekend.

 THE WEATHER

 Much was made of the potential forecast for the weekend and thankfully this never came to fruition and it has to be said a certain amount of luck stayed with the event. Yes, there was rain, snow, wind, bouts of hail, freezing conditions and even sunshine. This cycled through the area every 10 minutes making for a variety of conditions but luckily did not affect the riders too much or the riding environment.

 THE EVENT

 DAY 1

Arriving at the start of the first off-road stage, a number of riders misjudged the route and the entrants were split between riding the proper route, which was fairly tight and those who followed different markers making for a route approximately 5 minutes shorter. Stan arrived well on time and prepared for the first cross country special test with Rob Sartin on hand for any needed assistance.

 The test went well with Stan concentrating on a smooth fairly quick test to start the day. This was followed by a long stage in Lossiemouth Forest and again Stan cleared the check in plenty of time. After refueling, he moved onto the MX test and set a reasonable time prior to heading to Monaughty Forest where again the check was made in plenty of time.

 Lap 2 would be very different, with the first off-road stage being cut by 7 minutes and the 2^nd check after the special test being cut by 10 minutes. All riders were aware these times would be extremely tight to make and would be physically demanding with a tight check, followed by a special test, followed by a tight check prior to a short road section before the MX test.

 Pushing hard, Stan crashed on the first tight check and in total lost 1 minute. With little time to recover, Stan went straight into the special test crashing again, this time on the first corner. Handling difficulties were being accentuated as the course started to get whooped-up and on the next tight check in Lossiemouth Forest, Stan lost a further 2 minutes.

 After refueling, Stan set a good time in the MX test, an amazing 29 seconds quicker than his first attempt and 2^nd quickest in class.

 A road section to Monaughty Forest and another tight check, which Stan pushed hard to stay clear and arrive bang on his minute.

 DAY 2

 With the weather changeable and lower temperatures, the day would be reduced from 1 ½ laps to 1 with tight checks all round. Gordon MacDonald made some inspiring suspension changes to Stan’s 300KTM, with immediate effect. The first tight check was made easily with 7 minutes to spare, cutting his time the day previously by 3 minutes.

The more supple suspension made for difficult going on the soft sand of the cross country test and Stan crashed twice, ruining any chance of a good time. The next tight check was to be difficult with Stan pushing hard and crashing several times losing a total of 3 minutes.

 With the standard refuel, Stan made his way to the MX test and set a personal best time, even thought he crashed on the third corner in deep sand.

 Monaughty Forest was set as a tight check and again Stan pushed hard knowing this was the final stage of the event and wanting to stay clear. The course was cutting up, but the suspension changes worked well on the exposed rocks and tree roots allowing Stan to arrive at the end of the final off-road stage with 7 minutes in-hand and 3 minutes quicker on the same stage the day previous.

 THE RESULTS

 Complete results are yet to be distributed but the main outcome has been officially circulated;

 DAY 1

 1^st Paul Edmondson (450 Suzuki)

2^nd Tom Sagar (450 KTM)

3^rd Daryl Bolter (250 Husqavana)

 DAY 2

 1^st Tom Sagar (450 KTM)

2^nd Paul Edmondson (450 Suzuki)

3^rd Simon Wakely (450 Husqavana)

 Derrick Edmondson won both days in the veteran class on his 300KTM whilst Stan Watt was lying 7^th in the E3 class on his 300KTM after day one and the team wait for the official publication of all results before final positions for both days will be known.