Scottish Riders Report from the Hafren British Enduro Championship - Campbell Chatham

Euan McConnell topped the Scottish riders results at the Hafren at the weekend. Euan won the E3 class and finished 5^th overall at the first round of the British Championship.

 The event was almost called off due to the rain during the build up to the event and major changes had to be made to the course. Multiple World Champion Juha Salmanin won the event with stunning times in both the motocross and enduro tests. The new young up and coming stars stole the show behind him with Tom Sagar and Darryl Bolter on the podium. Paul Edmonson retired, although he was please to see the younger riders fighting it out at the top.

Giovanni Sala was also riding as a representative for the FIM as the Hafren Club would like to run a world round next year. He was on good form and was happy to speak to any fans that wanted a word with the Enduro Legend.

Richard Hay finished 12^th overall 7^th E1 and his only problem was a fall in the Enduro test, which bent his gear lever. Derek Little riding in the Expert Class had to retire on day one after a stone damaged his clutch slave cylinder leaving him without a clutch. Following a trip to ET James in Rhayader he was able to fix his clutch and rode in day 2. Murray Thomson was disappointed that there was so much roadwork due to the bad weather. Murray excels in the wet boggy enduros and would have liked the event to be more technical. 14^th Expert and 7^th E2 was a good result for a resilient performance. Paul Chatham had a problem with his back brake that caused problems in the test and a worrying engine noise that ultimately brought a premature end his first British outing this year. Neil Chatham was determinded to gain a good result in the Clubman Class despite his inexperiance in the Welsh mud. Neil lost about a minute when his gear lever broke in his second Enduro test on day two. 9^th Clubman overall and 5^th E1 was his reward for a gutsy ride.

Murray Thomson won the Metzeler British Enduro Championship Expert Class in Pontrhydfengiad, Wales at the weekend. The build up started badly for the Garvald, East Lothian Scottish Enduro Champion as his dog was chased away by two terriers and disappeared, Murray and his wife Tracy spent the Friday afternoon searching for their dog instead of making the finishing touches to their D3 Racing KTM 250.

Once the dog returned they were able to concentrate on the event which was to prove very difficult as the weather had been terrible during the weeks leading up to the weekend. The route had been shortened to give the riders a chance to complete the course. A special stage was cancelled and a very tight check was set up as an alternative challenge, Murray was one of only two riders to clean the 18-minute stage and finished second on Saturday to the rider who had set out the track. On Sunday the route was further cut back to ensure the majority of the 166 riders reached the finish. Murray pushed to the finish and rode well in the cross-country special tests; his combined efforts resulted in his first Expert Class overall win.

 Allyn Scotland made the trip down to Wales and finished both days. Allyn lost time on both days, he is improving as he learns how to ride in the wet forests in Wales. Mousses in his tyres prevented a problem with punctures that he suffered last year; his biggest problem was a loose gear lever that was spotted before he went into his last special test. Allyn finished 6^th E1 Expert and 22^nd overall.

 Graeme Naismith is finding the Veteran Class more challenging each year. There are riders now changing tyres at the end of each day as the class is becoming ever more competitive. Graeme is very competitive in the Cross Country tests and he was constantly near the top of each special stage. This event was decided in the tight checks however and as Graeme lost a couple of minutes this dropped him down the score sheet. Graeme ultimately finished fourth which is a very strong performance although the multiple British Champion would have liked to finish higher.