EnduroItalia

Fast Eddy Racing ACU GBXC Cross Country Championship (http://)

SOURCE: ENDURONEWS.COM (http://www.enduronews.com/events/gbxc15.htm)

RESULTS FROM ENDURONEWS.COM (http://www.enduronews.com/results/GBXC%20Sprint%20Rd%201%20-%20Overall%20-%20Results.pdf)

FOTO DA FACEBOOK (https://www.facebook.com/enduronews/media_set?set=a.10153127845213555.1073741903.646428554&type=1)

Fast Eddy Racing ACU GBXC Cross Country Championship
H2O Enduro Park, Selattyn, North Wales Report Tim Tighe

(http://www.enduronews.com/photos/dk28315.jpg)

KTM UKs David Knight has long been moaning that Enduro is becoming too easy and tests have no real challenges, so he put his money where his mouth is on Sunday and absolutely pounded his way to victory, in horrendous weather conditions, across one of the toughest XC courses for many years. Just one week before the opening round of the British Enduro Championship the big man has made his intentions perfectly clear!

H2O is an unusual name for a venue but all became clear last Sunday at the opening round of the ACU GBXC cross-country championship.

It is called H2O because there was plenty of water, we call it rain, which hammered down all day long. Combined with extreme winds the rain made the event a real ‘old school’ slog across the open ground.

The venue is large. Large enough for Fast Eddy to keep a big loop aside just for the races on Sunday so riders had fresh woodland and fresh open going. Sunday afternoons GBXC racers faced the biggest of all loops, which included an MX track, tight woodland, bogs and stream crossings.

Surprisingly, the tightly packed woodland sections were dry and grippy in complete contrast to the many bogs dotted around the course. Even the slightest slope became a tricky off-camber, to be carefully negotiated by all but a few who kept the throttle wide open and hoped for the best.

With an ACU title up for grabs the GBXC attracted a quality line up of riders in four classes. Pro, Expert, Clubman and Clubman Veterans with the likes of Knighter, Colwyn Bay KTMs Tom Sagar & Brad Freeman, Cresent KTMs Darryl Bolter, Fast Eddy Racings Jack Edmondson, Team Beta/Edmondson Racings Lee Edmondson and D3 Racings Sam Winterburn, all BEC Championship contenders, who were keen to contest this new championship and get valuable bike time before heading to Scotland next week.

The long charge from the start line lead to a boggy ditch, which attracted plenty of spectators despite the rain although, it had abated briefly for the start of the race. The ditch gave riders two options; a risky jump on the left or a tough struggle through the centre and right. Knight was in the lead and went for the jump, which was far from perfect, as he cased the landing and nearly bounced over the bars, followed by Brad Freeman, Jack Edmondson, Sam Winterburn, Lee Edmondson and Tom Sagar, who enjoyed similar experiences. Those who chose the centre and right routes spent the rest of the race covered in mud.

With this behind them the next section was relatively easy going, a ravine followed by an uphill field section leading to the woods. Lap times were around 10 minutes for the fastest riders and Knight was first to emerge from the bottom part of the course followed by Freeman, Jack Eddy, Winterburn then Sagar, who cruised to a stop with clutch problems. Knight continued to build a considerable lead, over 10 minutes by the end of the race, which was shortened slightly due to the horrendous conditions. Brad Freeman was the only rider to match Knighter on laps and took a well-deserved second place. Jack Edmondson had to work hard to stay in third place ahead of the experienced Darryl Bolter as the inexperienced Sam Winterburn had a terrific ride to finish fifth.

Keelan Hancock was very surprised to find he had won the Expert class and very pleased to find he had beaten brother Ross who took second place. A cracking ride from Jane Daniels saw her end up in 10th overall and third in the Experts.

Alex Walton and Liam Skelton had a great battle for dominance in the Clubman ranks with Skelton just taking the class win from Walton as Fast Eddy regular Ryan Armitage took third.

Gary McCoys long trip from Devon, via South Wales, was well worth the effort as he won the Clubman Veterans class by nearly three minutes from Chris Wagstaffe who was followed home by Mark Saunders.

There is no doubt that this XC event was one of the toughest ever organised by Fast Eddy. Despite conditions that defied belief the event ran, thanks to the epic efforts of the marshals. They were absolutely top notch, quality marshals in all the right places at the right times.

The course and quality of the entry truly made this worthy of an ACU championship series and set the standard for the remaining three events. Hopefully, not the standard for weather.

It was surprising to hear from riders at the finish that they really enjoyed every minute, it looked like sheer torture! It was also entertaining in the extreme for spectators and despite the weather, a cracking event.