Faced initially with five laps of the course, which would have seen the
Championship class riders competing for close to eight hours, the organisers
were forced to cancel the final lap of the event due to the worsening
conditions. With one cross-country special test deciding the results in the
Championship class, the wooded test proved to be every bit as challenging as
the course and consisted of a mixture of fast, flowing tracks and tight and
twisty, and extremely slippery, corners.
For David aboard his D3-KTM the event proved to be an extremely successful
and enjoyable one. Topping the days opening special test by only hundredths of
a second, David then went on to top the remaining three timed special test in
the Championship class. In winning all four tests David finished over 16
seconds ahead of his nearest rival in the overall standings and comfortably
topped the Enduro 3 class.
Knowing that the event was going to be a long and challenging one, David
decided to ride cautiously during the morning to save his rear tyre for the
latter stages of the event. With the course becoming extremely rough and
rutted, David caught half a dozen slower riders on the third test of the day
but still managed to post the fastest time.
David Knight: "I really enjoyed the event, it was spot on, but it
got pretty difficult towards the end of the day because I got so cold I couldn’t
feel my hands. The last check of each lap was great fun to ride and really
challenging.
"My first lap went well. Everything went well on the first test but it
was difficult because there were no ruts to follow and the ground was
extremely slippery. I just tried to stay as smooth as I could and keep away
from the roots that started to come through. I didn’t have any problems on
the rest of the lap and the course wasn’t too difficult early on. I was just
trying to save my tyre because we were supposed to ride for five laps so I
knew that I’d need a good edge for the last couple of laps.
"My second test was good. I just tried to keep the four-stroke in the
ruts because it was still really slippery in the trees. Although the check
times tightened up a little the rest of the lap wasn’t too bad although the
track was already starting to cut up pretty badly.
"I got the first part of the test on the third lap really good but
then I caught a Championship class rider and three Clubman. I clipped a tree
as I tried to pass one of the Clubman and had to follow him for a while before
I could get passed. When I’d passed those I came across two more lying on
the ground – I think I must have passed about six riders in total in that
test, which would have cost me some time.
"The last check of lap three was starting to get a bit of a mess but I
still had some time at the end of it, despite having to pass a few riders.
"Lap four was great because I knew it was the last lap and I could
start to have some fun and abuse my tyres. With the test being so slippery I
wanted to keep my tyres in as good condition as possible for as long as
possible, but on the last lap I really started to ride the bike hard on the
forest roads. The test was rough and cut up, and the rain made it really
slippery, but I didn’t make any mistakes and it felt ok. I just pushed where
I could and slipped and slid my way around the rest of it.
"There were a load of riders stuck on the last hill but I just pushed
my way through and had about three minutes to spare at the check. The event
was great fun to ride but it’s a shame that it rained as much as it did.
Considering how bad the weather was, and that it was the first time the Dyfed
Dirt Bike Club has run a BEC event, it’s hard to fault the event. The club
put on a really enjoyable course, and a lot of work into the test. I hope that
they decide to run the event as a British championship again in the future,
just with slightly better weather."
With his last competitive outing being the dry and dusty second round of
the World Enduro Championship, Daryl Bolter claimed a well deserved runner-up
finish in the Enduro 1 class behind Welshman Edward Jones. Having struggled in
‘really difficult’ events in past seasons, Daryl rode steadily through the
four timed special tests to finish the day as one of only two E1 class riders
to finish in the overall top 10 of the Championship class. Despite taking
water into the engine of his WR125, Bolter finished the day pleased with the
way he’d ridden and happy to have finished an extremely tough event.
Claiming his highest ever finish in a British Enduro Championship event,
New Zealander Chris Birch placed his WR250 Husqvarna in a fine fourth place
overall after posting consistent tests times during the event. Liking the
tricky and slippery going, Chris, like all Husky Sport team riders, thoroughly
enjoyed the event.
