The European season of races has officially started: the opening event was the first race of Enduro Extreme Cup, in Bradford, Great Britain. It was an involving race and at end the winner was the three times enduro world champion fron Isle of Man David Knight.
The journalist Bob Mullins of Enduronews.com provided a full report of the event.
«It was hard, really hard, all of it, not just one bit, the hardest one yet!» said KTM rider David Knight following his outstanding win.
The weather was very kind, providing a dry day with sunshine at times and a course which was wet in places, dry in others but designed to test all levels of rider to their maximum. Knighter described the mud as ‘claggy’, sticking to the bikes and in the tyres and making the going difficult in places, quite different conditions to last year’s very cold event at Tong.
Because of the events billing as the opening round of the FIM Europe Extreme Cup there were plenty of riders from the Continent and Scandinavia who were eager to get a good start in this prestigious competition. Norwegians Becker Johansen, Martin Hovin and Andre Wold have raced in the Battle of the Vikings and they are committed to compete in all the 2015 FIM European Extreme Enduro rounds.
Spanish trials rider Mario Roman finished Erzberg in 2014 and he climbed onto the podium at Extreme Lagares, Pitted against them were the Brits battling in the second round of the ACU British Extreme Enduro Championship. It is fair to say that the Europeans learned why the UK breeds such good extreme riders, once they had experienced the course at Parkwood Offroad Center, Tong near Bradford.
The Youth class was hotly contested. Brad Williams had a cracking ride to take sixth overall and the top Youth spot ahead of Brandon Sharples with first timer Sonny Parker putting in a superb ride to take third in class. A spirited effort from Elliot Bradshaw got him up to fourth with James Jackson taking fifth.
With a well-worn course ahead of them, crowded with thousands of spectators, the Pro, Expert and Clubman riders set out at 12.30pm for two and a half hours. “Knighter” made sure he was first into the rocks and first out, closely followed by Spanish Pro Mario Roman on an Appleyard Husqvarna. Jack Edmondson steered his Leisure Trail KTM UK machine clear of trouble to be the third rider through as riders piled up behind him and struggled to get untangled.
Eurotek KTM mounted Paul Bolton soon made up ground and moved into the top three but by the end of the first lap Knight had complete control. As he closed on backmarkers the going became more difficult in places and the big Manxman worked hard to steer clear of trouble, even he found a big rut to struggle with for a while.
Bolton moved to second place and he and Knight both hit the ditch jump lap after lap, eventually becoming the only two riders to consistently tackle this formidable obstacle. MPS Racing’s Jake Subachus had one of the most spectacular crashes at the jump on his Sherco, landing short and catching a log with the front wheel.
Tom Sagar, Colwyn Bay KTM UK, was in the thick of it as usual, battling with Jonathan Richardson at times and trying hard to keep Mario Roman at bay. Bolton closed significantly on Knight at the three-quarter point of the race but Knight simply stepped up a gear and eventually pulled a three-minute lead to take a very well deserved victory.
Bolts kept up his pace to take second behind Knight, both riders a lap up on Jonathan Richardson who surprised many onlookers to take third spot. He had never been out of the top five at any point and certainly deserved his podium place. Tom Sagar finished four minutes after Richardson in fourth spot with top overseas entrant Mario Roman taking a hard-fought fifth.
Looking at the entry list it might have seemed a forgone conclusion that Knight would win, which he did, but he was forced to use every ounce of his considerable experience to keep out of trouble and keep pushing forwards to take the win.
David Knight said: “The first event in Wales was totally different with a new venue and long laps; so unexpected to all the riders. I ended up beating Graham Jarvis there – who is arguably the best extreme endure rider in the world – by 10 minutes, so that was obviously great for my confidence and a great start back on KTM.
But this event was so different. Everyone is relatively familiar with the course, but it was a lot wetter than usual and it was the toughest race held here for years. It was really claggy; a struggle to clear the tyres of mud. It was hard to keep a rhythm, as there were a lot of riders getting stuck in places so I couldn’t keep a line. But some hard time on the bike is always good”.
The results can be downloaded here: http://www.fim-europe.eu/site/index.php
