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2006 Championship ENDURO

Rounds 7 ELRAT MCC Griffin Forest Enduro ( Courtesy of Tilhill Forestry)

Sponsored by Robert Brownlee - Motor Engineers

10th September 2006

ELRAT Griffin 2006 Results

With over 100 riders entered for this years Griffin Enduro the ELRAT club passed another record with their biggest entry so far. There were two groups - those who rememberd the rain last year and those who thought it was always sunny at Enduros.

Well this year we were lucky with sun on the Saturday and all day Sunday - which meant the course hardly cut up and all the hills remained "easy" to get up. The times were slack due to the rocky nature of the course and the expected rain never arrived. Good news for most of the riders as they had a chance to get a rest at the end of each lap.

The course set out by Atholl Cameron and his team was all new for 2006 - due to forest resrictions meaning we had to stay in the North of the forest ( but there is still lots more ground to add for 2007 !) Starting with a gentle if rocky straight along the Pylon Line followed by the cross country test. The test was longer than most folk are used to but care was needed at racing speed. The racing proved tight with experienced enduro riders taking it easy on the going to save themselves for the test.

A new feature this year was numbers at major road crossings - which allowed the marshalls to quickly get to injured riders - or those who ran out of petrol. And it meant riders knew how far round the course they were - forests all look the same after 4 hours of racing !

There were a couple of sportsman loops where they were routed on the road to allow Experts and clubman up some tighter and more rocky going - nothing too tricky - but it meant the experts weren't riding over Sportsmen stuck in holes.

Overall a well received event - and one we hope to imp[rove on for next year - so yall come back now ..

In the Experts Dougie Kerr put in some very fast tests - but a trip over the handlebars put paid to his times and allowed hard charging Murray Thomson to claim victory on the day. It was a test that required a cautious approach if the few hidden rocks were to be avoided. Your luck can only hold for so long before you find one. With a smaller than usual field due to a few riders being away at the BEC it was a chance for riders to gain some valuable points - and Scott Maxwell showed what he is capable of with a fine third place.

Ian Paterson gained his 2nd win of the year to keep his championship hopes alive with a well judged ride to just edge out current Champion Sean Wooley. Only a few seconds separating them at the end of the day. Allan Davidson produced a fine ride to take 3rd just 4 seconds off Bill Brown.

Michael Lowrie produced another consistent ride to remain on track for the clubman championship - with Keith Reid and Duncan McCormick pushing hard for 2nd and 3rd.  Reuben Welch made the most of his last night of sleep ( before his new daughter Willow arrived on the Monday to mother April) to grab some points for 12th place - I expect he will not be as fresh at the next event!! Paul Scott keeps getting top results with a 4th and Alex Austin continues to improve each event with a 5th.

The Sportsman class - now one of the biggest classes had a new winner with Oban rider Robert Macniven posting times good enough for a top placing in the Clubman class. Obviously the training day earlier this year paid off. Allan McCluskie had a top ride for 2nd with Michael Houston Snr putting in  a spirited ride for 3rd. ( also a rider at the training day). Craig White had a big off in the test after a great first round but dropped 80 secs on the second test - not the only rider to do that on the day.

Gary Milburn had a nasty fall on the course and ended up in Perth Hospital with a cracked knee. We wish him well for a speedy recovery

Many thanks to Tilhill Forestry for the use of Griffin Forest - and we hope to see you all next year.

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