With the ACU British Timecard Enduro Championship being held in the vicinity of Lauder within Scotland over this weekend, the riders had their own share of fun and challenge as they try to conquer the obstacles and eventually duke it out to come in the first place. The track was at least 15 miles long with passages through the forest located on the field of the Thirlestane Castle using two special tests per lap. The weather was also on the side of the riders as the sun shone brightly all throughout the duration of the race. It was also thought to be a well-ordered introduction BEC event by the Dirtbike Evolution Motorcycle Club.
On the first day, it was evident that the encounter for the top spot will not be an easy one especially with the present leader of the series Danny McCanney is all revved up and eager to widen the gap between him and his closest competitors which are Tom Sagar, Jack Edmondson and Joe Wootton. A close fight was observed during the three laps and five special tests of what was widely applauded event at Thirlestane. After the conclusion of these events, it was Joe Wootton who leads the class with Danny McCanney with only a 10 second margin. However, Wootton had a heavy stumble upon reaching a river crossing which cost him 50 seconds allowing Danny to take the overall victory.
In second place was Tom Sagar who had to settle in the runner up despite his amazing performance at the first X-Country test. A strong performance was bought by Jack Edmondson allowing him to grab a hold of the last podium spot ahead of Josh Gotts in fourth place with only a margin of 10 seconds. Alex Snow and Dan Mundell were in fifth and sixth place. In the Expert class, Paul Edmondson (the former multi-World Enduro Champion) took the class in an exhilarating race as he narrowly won over Luke Flack by a second. Also with only a second margin, Max Ditchfield took third place. Aaron Gordon was in fourth place from Joel Gowan and Harry Hillier-Rees sixth in this hotly contested class. Ben Murphy must’ve been the unluckiest rider for the day as he was required to withdraw late on in the day because of an ankle injury even as leading.
Harry Houghton took a deserved Clubman overall win from Lewis Ranger. In third spot was the ever-improving Luke Thomas who performed strongly and holding off Stuart Mack by merely six seconds. The ladies class had a different close battle among Nieve Holmes and Rosie Rowett. Following their battling out over three laps and six special tests, Holmes took the win by a narrow gap of only four seconds. In the over 40 class, Andrew Reeves won over Manx rider Richard Hay in seconds. Series leader Andrew Edwards was not capable to go on his 100% winning run however still grabbed a number of good points in third with just a few hundredths of a second down on Millward. Gary McCoy took a remarkable victory over Paul “Elvis” Davies by 43 seconds in the Over 50’s class. In third was Jason Davies who was behind Elvis by just 10 seconds.
Despite of the slight rain and with one lap less in the track on the second day, the clash between Danny McCanney and Tom Sagar was not compromised. Following the five laps and 10 special tests, it was McCanney who took one more triumph, defeating Sagar by 15 seconds. Joe Wootton who was seen tumbling on the first day, fought hard to make up for his loss and eventually landed in third place, a further 10 seconds at the back of Sagar. Jay Thomas was in fourth spot and also took the E1/4 class win from Jack Edmondson who is only two seconds at the back. Alex Snowcame in the sixth, just six seconds behind Ed. A serious plunge on the eight test saw Dan Mundell’s probability for a high placing slipped out.
Luke Flack showed an amazing feat and took the victory with a five second gap more than Paul Edmondson in the Experts class. Max Ditchfield yet again was in third place, at the same time as Richard Tucker enhanced on his day 1 performance pushing him to fourth place just one hundredths of a second at the back Ditchfield. Joel Gowan was in fifth and Ricky Wiggins in sixth place. In the Clubman class, Lewis Ranger’s time came as he was the one who took the win. Runner up was the all improved Stuart Mack and in third place was Harry Houghton.
In the Ladies class, Rosie Rowett took the win this time over Nieve Holmes. Russell Millward was given his 1st class win in the Over 40’s, Andrew Reeves took the second place and Andrew Edwards rounds up the podium. In the over 50’s class, Gary McCoy ended the day with victory in his favor ahead of Paul Davies. In third was Jason Rees. Les Pole came out victorious in the two day race in the sportsman class.
In overall, the Dirtbike Evolution club put on a superb event and an enormous, new accumulation to the BEC series. The next round of the BEC series is organized by Southern MCC in the Isle of Man over July 7/8.
