Charlie Frost (300 KTM) was on form to dominate the Sudbury club’s extreme enduro at a slippery Foxborough Quarry at Halstead in Essex, with a smooth effortless-looking ride.
But effortless was far from reality for most, as the hardworking people of the Sudbury club had added new obstacles and enhanced older ones to give the riders plenty to think about.
As the clock struck 11am, the 45 riders made a short run on foot down a hill to their waiting machines for the dead-engine start of the long-distance event, with Frost leading the pack around the track to the first of the fearsome obstacles.
Ben Wibberley (300 Husqvarna) was pushing Frost hard on the first lap but as they came around for their second circuit the two front-runners came upon some fellow competitors already a lap down and still stuck on the long set of tyres and logs running alongside the paddock.
And backmarkers decided the race further around the second lap as Frost approached the skip for the second time and sailed through, while Wibberley got held up.
Another rider fell in the skip after Frost had passed and with three others waiting for their go Wibberley’s way was blocked.
Although it only seemed like a couple of seconds, it was enough for Frost to open up a comfortable lead and such was his pace as the race came to a close he caught and lapped Wibberley to pass the whole field of riders, some more than once.
Wibberley completed 16 laps to Frost’s 17 with Sudbury club member Stevie Roper (250 KTM) some way behind in third on 12 laps.
Stevie’s cousin Craig Roper was a further lap down and was chased over the finish line by Ian Parker (125 KTM).
Top motocrosser Jake Nicholls took time out from Buildbase Honda motocross testing and training to ride a CRF300RX but only completed two laps before pulling out.
Ryan Hammond (250 KTM) topped the Experts with 11 laps to his name – a total that would have seen him finish fourth in the Pro class – with Jason Pearce (300 Husqvarna) a lap down in second and Toby Morley (250 KTM) a further two behind.
Things were tighter at the top of the Clubman class with the top six separated by just three laps, class winner Jack Austin (450 Husqvarna) clocking up 10 to edge out Keith Maude (300 KTM) and Joe Phillips (125 Husqvarna) who both finished on nine.
Barnaby Knight (125 KTM) and Kevin Silvain (125 KTM) ended their day on eight and Colin Brand (300 KTM) rounded out the top six another lap behind.
Hero of the event was the winner of the Trials Bike class Jez Moss who did seven laps on his 300 TRS. Mind you, he wasn’t standing up all the time as he had an MX seat zip-tied to his bike for those all-important legging sections of the course.
Second in the class was Jason Green (250 Beta) one lap down as he finished without a front brake and with the machine stuck in first.
“I’m super chuffed to have won,” said a thrilled Frost.“This is five years in a row now and the course was brutal with a lot of new lines forming throughout the event.
“Battling with backmarkers is always quite tricky as well but I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
Runner-up Wibberley said: “Charlie (Frost) led from the off today and set a very high pace. We were together for the first lap-and-a-half but I got caught at the skip with no way through.
“I lost about two minutes there and made a couple of other mistakes but nothing major. Charlie was just riding too well today.”
After the main event the hour-long Junior race took place on a less demanding circuit and William Belton (125 KTM) completed 22 laps to take the honours, with William Turtle (125 Husqvarna) three laps behind and Michael Wilson (125 Husqvarna) completing the podium.
Sudbury Enduro Club – Foxborough Quarry Results
Pro class: 1 Charlie Frost (300 KTM) 17 laps, 2 Ben Wibberley (300 Husqvarna) 16, 3 Stevie Roper (250 KTM) 12, 4 Craig Roper (250 Husqvarna) 11, 5 Ian Parker (125 KTM) 10, 6 Jack Berry (300 Husqvarna) 10, 7 George Ellis (450 Husqvarna) 4, 8 Jake Nicholls (300 Honda) 2, 9 Declan Whittle (450 Husqvarna) 1.
Expert: 1 Ryan Hammond (250 KTM) 11, 2 Jason Pearce (300 Husqvarna) 10, 3 Toby Morley (250 KTM) 9, 4 Paul Hunt (250 KTM) 7, 5 Dan Hunt (300 KTM) 7, 6 Shaun Leggett (300 Husqvarna) 6, 7 Gene Womack (300 Beta) 4, 8 Jono Jones (250 KTM) 2.
Clubman: 1 Jack Austin (450 Husqvarna) 10, 2 Keith Maude (300 KTM) 9, 3 Joe Phillips (125 Husqvarna) 9, 4 Barnaby Knight (125 KTM) 8, 5 Kevin Silvain (125 KTM) 8, 6 Colin Brand (300 KTM) 7, 7 Archie Gunton (125 KTM) 5, 8 Daniel Piper (250 KTM) 4, 9 Michael Smith (250 Yamaha) 4, 10 Nick Bird (250 KTM) 3.
Trials: 1 Jez Moss (300 TRS) 7, 2 Jason Green (250 Beta) 6, 3 Oliver Bolton (300 Beta) 3, 4 Daniel Peters (250 TRS) 2.
Youth: 1 William Belton (125 KTM) 22, 2 William Turtle (125 Husqvarna) 19, 3 Michael Wilson (125 Husqvarna) 15, 4 Archie Peters (125 Husqvarna) 13, 5 Freya Jolly (125 Husqvarna) 12, 6 Thomas Davies (125 Yamaha) 12, 7 Alfie Arnold (125 Yamaha) 12, 8 George Potter (125 KTM) 5, 9 Cullen Hawkins (125 Husqvarna) 4.
[more-from heading=”More Enduro” category=”enduro”]
