A very special event that is the only way to describe the UK’s ultimate off road motorcycle enduro. The 4000 acre opencast coalmine near Glynneath in south Wales is just perfect for this event.

12 hrs of endurance, reliability, strength or lack of it in some cases coupled with heroic tales and heart braking failures, all of this on a fantastic 18.5 mile lap that had just about everything that an "enduro" circuit should have, from steep rock splattered climbs to wet rocky river beds through to fast flowing fire roads and boggy grasslands, this demanding track had the lot.

The event organiser, Nick Plumb has excelled himself this year with a track that was better for all of the riders than previous years, flowing and with a great team of marshals out there that kept the hard bits going and left the riders feeling safe that they were never far from help should there have been call for it.

With people arriving from Friday afternoon onwards the atmosphere at the D2D is a real family one, with caravans, tents and motor homes all setting up next to one another in the huge hard standing paddock, ready to take on the gruelling time ahead.

This year in it’s fifth running saw Mr Plumb organise great healthy food options for the riders, not just your burgers and chips but real salads and jacket spuds etc as alternatives, music in the massive marquee over the weekend, guest speakers and much more…all this and he still had the longest enduro in Britain to run.

Scoring the event was handled by the WOR Events team this year and proved to be accurate and 100% reliable with the final results being handed to Nick Plumb as the last rider crossed the finishing line on Sunday night in the dusk.

You had to be there to see what kind of logistics have gone into running an event of this stature and I for one enjoyed my whole weekend there as a spectator and fan of off road.

The racing started on the Saturday with a 2 hr junior enduro for riders in group’s senior/intermediate and junior. The weather was not the kindest to the youth riders and the previous night’s torrential rain had left the 6 mile youth track rather wet. This did not bother the enthusiastic young boys and girls that took to the circuit and really enjoyed the event.

Leading from start to finish was senior rider Matt Holcombe on his KTM 125, Matt won by a clear seven minutes and has a style very smooth and mature. His name will be around in results for a long time to come. Behind Matt was a strong ride by Frazer Norrie, same laps as Holcombe and very consistent throughout the 2 hrs. Third place went to Kingsley Bower also on the same 9 laps as the top two but 5 minutes down on Norrie.

Holcombe in action.

The next group was the inter’s and little Joe Jones stamped his authority on the class with a commanding 9 laps and enough of a lead to place him 3^rd overall in the event.

Behind Joe in second place was another Holcombe, this time Matt’s little Brother Steve. This energetic youngster was just short of 4 and a half minutes down on the leader in his class. A well deserved 3^rd place went to Jake Mercy who completed 8 laps to the leaders 9.

Finally in the youth enduro was the junior class and the boys and girls with little wheels. Leading from the start and right through to the finish was young Simon Jones. Simon completed 7 laps and finished 1 lap ahead of 2^nd placed Greg Pilgrim and 2 laps ahead of 3^rd man Tom Ingrim.

A special mention must go to "girls" that rode from a youth project facility. Riding in there first competitive event and faced by the wet track they showed true metal to finish the 2hrs, well done.

Saturday afternoon then saw the final preparations taking place for the main event, the daunting 12 hrs that lay ahead the following day. Riders had options to enter in a 3 man team or a 2 man team or those insane enough to go it alone could ride the marathon class.

Roughly 7am Sunday morning and bleary eyed bikers took their machines from the parc ferme and placed them on the start line. The day that lay ahead was a pleasant one weather wise and a slight blue sky hid under the early morning clouds, however rain from Saturday night had left the track wet and slippery for the first few laps.

The pro and expert 2 man teams lined up along with the expert marathon riders to be the first ones away. A short run to their bikes after Nick Plumb had sounded the start siren and underway was the 2006 12hr enduro.

Leading from start to finish in the 2man category was Husky Sport, these two riders being two of Britain’s current and past great riders. WEC regular and current European junior enduro champion Daryl Bolter was partnered with Wyn Hughes the mid Wales enduro legend and hard event specialist.

These two set the pace from beginning to end, eventually winning the event by over 17 minutes. In second place was the valiant effort of 2 motocross riders "the Cornish kings" Pete Bulley and Bradley Williams these guys were never far off the pace and had a great battle to stay ahead of the 3^rd placed team "Edmondson racing/PAR homes" which consisted of recent Baja GB winner Lee Edmondson and the Cotswold enduro clubs top man Darren Carter.

At the end of 12 hours the top three teams in the pro’s had done 18 laps, Edmondson and Carter were eventually nearly 11 minutes down on the "Cornish kings".

Bolter awaits the start.

The clubman 2 man teams top 3 were all on 15 laps and the Bodmin Bog hoppers took the win with a near 13 minute advantage over second placed Scott and Butler. In 3^rd place and just 7 seconds down on 2^nd place was "Dumb & Dumber" showing that after nearly 13 hrs of competition just seconds separated the podium places in the class.

2 man sportsman teams were led home by local riders "Cardiff Volkswagen" on 14 laps and 2^nd placed "m&n racing" on 13 laps. Third went to "Frank & Elvis" 40 odd minutes behind. The 3 man teams would probably argue but they had the easier day with more riders to share the pain of the longevity that is the Dawn to Dusk.

The victors in the clubman 3 man was number 307, "The good, The bad and The Jehovah" putting in a sterling 16 laps and finishing over 20 mins ahead of a Swedish team called "Speedman racing team". 3^rd went to the "Not Quite Aussies" who in turn finished nearly 8 minutes down on the Swedes.

The sportsman 3 man team saw "Mud Life Crisis" (great name) take the spoils with 13 laps ahead of "Team Teknic" by almost a clear lap and then propping up the podium was 3^rd placed team "Bike Magazine" putting in a solid 12 laps.

It’s very hard to put into a race report the drama and effort that all of these competitors had to endure in this premier off road event and none more so than the brave (or stupid!!) souls that entered the marathon iron man class.

12 hrs alone on a dirt bike on unforgiving rocky terrain in the same riding kit that eats at your body after 7hrs is no mean feat.

The previous 4 years of D2D have seen the unbelievable Scot Richard Hay take the win in the marathon class with no rivals. This year Richard was not present at the event and so left the door open for a new marathon iron man champion.

Gas Gas UK’s Steve Ireland was that man. Riding a "factory" 450 four stroke, Steve blasted to 15 laps and an incredible win considering that the WOR events man at 34 years old does not get much chance to ride nowadays with his time tied up with organising his own events and bringing up his young family.

Even more flabbergasting was the fact that after slowing up slightly around the midday point, Steve then stepped up the pace towards the end and his last 2 laps were as fast as his first two.

Obviously still bike fit and determined to prove the new Gas Gas four stroke reliable, Steve fully deserved his title and you could see with the tears in his eyes at the end what it meant to him to have won. 2^nd place went to Husky mounted championship youngster Ricky Mair. Early on in the first 3 hours of the race Mair tried to push 3 laps out of his Husky fuel tank and unfortunately run out about 8 miles from the pits. Resulting in an illegal refuel and the penalty of a lap docked.

3^rd place went to Honda mounted David Stokes with a spirited 13 lap ride and a well deserved trophy. To take on the 12 hours on your lonesome is no mean feat and the clubman marathon victor Chris Howman fully warranted his 14 lap ride with a result that would have placed him third in the expert marathon, well done Chris.

2^nd place went to Rob Thorn on 13 laps and 3^rd went to Paul Doughty on 12 laps. As I said before you can’t put into words what these riders achieved and they all deserve a huge pat on the back.

So that’s it, the 2006 Dawn to Dusk was as big and as good as ever, well done to Nick Plumb and his superb team for putting on a class event….roll on august bank holiday 2007 I say…but then again I was only watching!

Full D2D 2006 Results Here

Report by: Neil Jones.