BP2

Breckland 04

The first week of March & all roads lead to Norfolk for Round 1 of the 2004 ACU British Enduro Championship. The event was organised by Diss MCC at their superb venue in the Thetford Forest. The weather was wet & misty for scrutineering on Friday but the light rain stopped in the evening to leave the course in perfect condition for the weekend. The 50 mile lap was divided into 4 stages with the test close to the Start between Checks 2 & 3. The schedule was 2.5 laps (3 tests) for Championship & 2 laps (2 tests) for Experts & Clubman. On Day 2 the course was reversed with an additional test for the Championship & half a lap cut for the Clubmen. On Day 1 the first 3 of the 347 riders in the field started at 8.30am. The main event would be a re-match between David Knight & Paul Edmondson. Both riders have moved from Yamaha with Knight on a D3 Racing KTM (above) & Eddy (right) on a Honda & the competition could not have been closer. After 3x2.5 mile tests - the 2 riders were less than 4 seconds apart with Knight in the lead & - while the champions battled it out - new names were appearing in the lists. Third place was taken by Eddy's team mate Paul Whibely & 4th was MX rider Ryan Voase from Hornsea on a 250 Kawasaki 4T. Daryl Bolter - in only his 2nd event at Championship level - set the 3rd fastest time on the first lap & finished 5th. William Jones had problems & was forced to retire early in the day. The Best Expert was Ricky Mair & Tim Foreman was the runner up. Despite a knee injury sustained in practice, Greg Evans was 5th on his Cyclelogical Kawasaki in only his second Enduro. He would have done even better if he had not incurred a 60pt penalty for passing the yellow flag on the penultimate check of Day 2. James Yearley was the Best Clubman & veteran Graeme Naismith was the runner up. Diss MCC had purchased a new piece of equipment for the event that should be mandatory at all the rounds - a shed with a lockable door for the time keeper. On Day 2 the Knight v Edmondson battle continued & after 17.5 miles of timed tests, David Knight took the Premier by less than 13 seconds ahead of Eddy. Chris Hay was 3rd & Daryl Bolter was 4th overall. Edward Jones on his first ride for D3 Racing was 5th & MX rider Paul Malin was 6th. Ricky Mair was the Best Expert ahead of runner up Jason Darby. Veteran Graeme Naismith won the Clubman class. 2002 winner Juan Knight retired. The Caerphilly MCC/Mounter KTM team of Pete Houghton, Gerald Poole & Michael Rees had spent the first night carousing in the back streets of Thetford, drinking lemon squash & avoiding eye contact with the tattooed women of Norfolk. Their discipline paid off with 3 good finishes on Day 1. After 8 months off his bike with a shoulder injury Michael Rees was struggling with his fitness but on the first lap of Day 1 he got enough air out of "The Bomb Hole" to be allocated a landing slot at Norfolk Airport. Fellow Mounter KTM rider Keith Horsnell went very well & finished 5th overall in the Experts to win the Best 400/4T class. Matthew Reed - another Caerphilly MCC member - was riding his first enduro on the new VOR & dropped a minute on Day 1 but he was learning quickly & went clean on Day 2. The going at Thetford is exhilaratingly fast in the wide firebreaks on the soft sandy surface but it comes at a price as ground banks up into waves that give the each rider a relentless pounding that blisters & wears down their resolve. It is a classic enduro & long may it continue. Thanks to everyone involved.

Results Day 1 Day 2 Overall Photos: Charles N. Robinson Report & Photos by Charlie Mackenzie

The ISDE Support Team of Vernon Leigh, Bob & Wendy Room sent up shop with DVDs, raffles, tee shirts, stickers, etc. The team were joined by ACU President Ted Bartlett & his wife Avril. Their fund has been given a massive boost by a cheque for £1000 donated by George Eland. George - father of Brian Eland - had read Vernon's appeal on this website while cruising with his wife Christine & recalled how Vernon had supported her bid for the Ladies championship when he was Clerk of the Course of the Tour of Wales in the 80s. Look out for the ISDE Support Team at the Hafren/Welsh/Crychan/Natterjack.

D3-Racing KTM rider David Knight claims a double win at the opening round of the '04 British Enduro Championship Report & photo by Jonty Edmunds

Claiming his fourth career win at the Diss MCC organised Breckland Enduro, D3-Racing KTM rider David Knight got his '04 British Enduro Championship campaign off to the best start possible by gaining a maximum points score after topping the event on both days. Going up against former seven-time event winner Paul Edmondson, Knighter and the D3-Racing team were a little unsure of what the weekend would bring - especially as the event has always favoured smaller two-stroke machines in previous years. But with David determined to stamp his mark on the race, and gain an early season advantage, the Manxman produced opening test times on both days that simply couldn't be matched - test times that ultimately earned him the win on both Saturday and Sunday. And even with a brief excursion into the trees on day one's second special test David maintained his advantage to walk away from the event exactly where he wanted to be - at the top of the British championship. "To be honest I didn't think that I'd be able to beat Paul this weekend so to have won has given me a real confidence boost. The event was a tough as it always is, but I really enjoyed it. With no lines to follow on the opening test you had to decide exactly which line you wanted to take and I had a really good run through it. I was riding okay on the second test but then made a bit of a balls up of one of the corners when I overshot a turn and ended up in the trees before having to turn around to re-join the test. After that I tried a bit too hard. In the final test I just tried to ride as smooth as possible and I just managed to win the test. The bike has been spot on all weekend, I used third gear for start to finish of most of the tests and, well, it worked perfectly. "On the first test on day two I tried to ride smooth again but I didn't feel as if I had a very good test. My time was still pretty good though, which was a bit of a surprise. I rode smoothly on the second, third and fourth tests and just tried not to make any mistakes as the test was getting really rough. To win at the Breckland is always nice because it's a long time until the next round of the British Championship. I think the next two rounds should really suit me, it's just a shame we have to wait so long before we can race again."

While it was a great weekend for David, it turned out to be a frustrating one for the D3-Racing team's 250cc two-stroke rider Edward Jones. With high hopes of a runner-up finish behind Edmondson in the quarter litre class, Edward struggled with the bike set-up of the 250 EXC on day one, yet still managed a strong eighth overall and third in the Over 175cc two-stroke class. Using the time available after the first days competition to make a few adjustments to the bike, Edward came out guns blazing on day two to finish in fifth overall and second in the Over 175cc class. "Generally, I'd like to forget this weekend. Day one didn't go that well really, I was expecting and expected to go a lot better than I did. The bike set-up just wasn't quite right. We made a few changes to the bike before day two, which totally transformed the bike. "I'm reasonably happy with the way day two went other than everyone was quite close together on test times and I crashed on the third test and lost around 15 seconds on that test. That put me back to ninth overall, which meant that things weren't looking to good at that point. But I got myself back to fifth, which I'm happy with but overall I'm a bit disappointed."

Team manager Julian Stephens: "I'm really chuffed with the way David and Edward have ridden this weekend. Both David and I knew that Paul Edmondson would be hard to beat as he's won at the Breckland many times before, has prepared as well as we have for the new season, and was very confident coming into the event. "Everyone knows that the Breckland special test is best suited to 125cc/250cc two-strokes, and certainly not well suited to large four strokes, so for David to win both days really says something about the way he's riding. I just hope that David can carry his current form into next weekends opening round of the World Enduro Championship. "Edward has ridden really well this weekend as well and his results certainly don't reflect that. We didn't have the bike set-up that well for him on day one - he wasn't gelling with the bike. We made some changes to the bike for day two and he went really well. Unfortunately, he hit a tree and crashed on the third test of the day, which dropped him to ninth, but he managed to get himself back up to fifth. If he hadn't have made that mistake he could have been fourth or third overall.

Gas Gas press release

For Team GAS GAS it was a weekend of highs and lows. Our "Expert Class" rider, RICKY MAIR, simply dominated the class aboard his EC125, winning every special test to take the overall win with ease. This event does suit his full-on riding style and i hope he's as impressive when we go to Wales for the second round in JULY.

In the "Championship Class", it was 'Ex GP MOTOCROSS rider PAUL MALIN that saved the day finishing a superb 6th place overall (3rd in class) for the weekend. Paul finished 11th overall (6th in class) on Saturday and 6th overall (3rd in class) on Sunday, and that was with a heavily bent front disc !!

I was very impressed with Pauls approach to the weekend. His smooth and unflustered riding style was just how to ride the Breckland. The course is extremely demanding and Paul coped very well. It was his first ever Enduro, the first time he had raced a full-on Enduro bike AND the first time he has raced with trees in the way ! On the Saturday his test times were good but maybe a little too smooth. With a few adjustments to the forks for the Sunday saw Paul really impress on the first two tests holding a strong 4th overall on test times. On the penultimate check he had a scary off in the woods and severely bent the front disc. A frantic Paul, who has shall we say 'limited' mechanics skills set about straightening the disc with an adjustable spanner ! At this point Maler still had the last check to ride and two back to back special tests to ride and things were not looking good. We planned for Maler to change the disc before the special test but had to revert back to a bit more frenzied adjustable spanner action as there was not enough time to change the disc ! Maler then had to ride the last two special tests with basically no front brake and i honestly expected him to pull out or just cruise around to finish. This was not the case, Maler tried his best and still put in two good tests to finish 6th overall for the day. He was gutted at the finish because he was looking forward to ride the test at its roughest, where he was confident of a podium finish. Nevertheless, he was happy with the weekend and was pleased to finish in one piece! All i need to do now is to talk him into riding a Fast Eddy !!

JUAN KNIGHTS weekend started with a fantastic debut class win (7th overall) aboard the GAS GAS FSE 450 in the 450 4stroke class ! Juan simply hates this event, as it is the most physical event of the year. He was looking tired even after the first lap on Saturday but managed to stay on time and put in some impressive test times, mauling the big 4 stroke around the test. The special test at the Breckland suits the smaller and lighter 2 stroke bikes and infact there was only Juan and his brother in the top 15 on 450+cc machines on the Saturday ! JUAN was dreading the second day and after the second special test he was almost out of energy. The hour long check after the test was actually quite slack on time and when we waited for Juan to appear, i feared the worst. He arrived 2 minutes late and wanted to quit ! I persuaded him to continue on into the next tight(ish) check where he lost several more minutes when he arrived. This was the only check point that i was not there to meet Juan. Because of the panick with Malins disc, i shot off to organise things back at base leaving Juans dad to re-fuel him. It just goes to show you 'should never leave your wing man' ! When Juan arrived at the check to find that he had lost several more minutes he simply could go no further. He was absolutely shattered and could not carry on. He quit there and then. This is very frustrating for me as both GAS GAS Importer and Team Manager, because Juan is riding the 450 4 stroke for the first time in British Championship competition and there are alot of eyes on both him and the bike. It is imperrative that he finishes races to prove the reliability of the new "04 FSE 450 model. The factory have made alot of changes on the bike for 2004 and to prove its reliability at the highest level i have chosen Juan for the job. Maybe with a bit more 'gentle persusion' at the check from yours truely would have seen Juan at least finish the event. Maybe a little late but at least it would have proved that the bike did the job ! It is for this that i'm gutted. You don't see Alex Ferguason walk off the pitch if his boys are losing 3 nil !

The back bone of the Team and a big pat on the back goes to WOODY HOLE. Again this is not Woodys favourite event but he finished 18th place overall (8th in class) for the weekend. Struggling with an on-going hip problem and bad blisters on the Sunday, he too wanted to retire but carried on to support Maler and for this he deserves a big thank you and well done from myself and the rest of the Team ! On the Saturday, he was constantly checking and looking after Maler, as they had the same start time. Woody gauged the check times perfectly and showed Paul the level of speed to ride the checks safetly. Woody is looking forward to the first round of the FAST EDDY RACE SERIES in a months time where he is more at home. John Shirt jnr

Wayne Braybrook – Honda Racing Team Sandiford

The 2004 British Enduro Championship is traditionally opened by the excellent Breckland Enduro, organised by the Diss Club. An immaculately prepared course and test and superb organisation always make this event one not to miss and with a full entry the weekend bode well for not only a great event but also for many individual class and capacity battles.

Wayne has set his sights on the 250 4 stroke title for 2004 and with his return to a 4 stroke machine (he won the British 450 4T title in 2002) and to full fitness following his arm injury last summer he was more than ready for Saturday morning. The day went quite well with consistent test times and with a slight adjustment to the damping on his Honda Racing Team Sandiford CRF250R the Sunday went even better. Now leading the class after this opening round, Wayne commented :-

“I’m really happy with the weekend’s results as this has been my first Championship event since I broke my arm and I am more than happy with my fitness, however I am still learning just what this CRF250 will do and it never disappoints me. Whatever I ask of it, it does, in whatever conditions and on Sunday once I had slipped off early in the first test, I really asked a lot. The “Red Mist” well and truly came down and bigger gears were pulled, neverless it hauled me on.”

Our Expert rider Justin Wilson in his first ever British Championship event also did the marque proud. A loss of time on the 1st day left him slightly down the standings but determination to improve left him a creditable 10th overall and the 3rd 250/4t home. Justin learned a great deal this weekend and will no doubt go from strength to strength.