FONTE: ENDURONEWS.COMDavid Knight wins 6th Tough One
Hawkstone Park - 19th AprilAfter 9 bleak years of Nant Mawr Quarry in January, WOR Events - the organisers of the Tough One - took the bold decision to express themselves on a broader canvas and make a move to the legendary Hawkstone Park near Shrewsbury.
At first sight a GPMX track on a wooden hillside in April looked like a unlikely venue for an Extreme Enduro. The trees were in bud, the hedgerows were blythe with blossoms and the lambs frollicked in the fields but - beneath the Spring greener - Hawkstone is an iron fist clothed in a velvet glove.
The weather was perfect; The sky was clear and the air was cool. At 8.30am the day began with a 2 hour race for Sportsmen. From the Le Mans start the riders had a brief blast around part of the MX track to warm up their engines before disappearing into the trees on the hillside where a series of challenging climbs and descents awaited them. The wet clay of Nant Mawr was replaced by equally grip deficient sandy soil of Shropshire and the riders soon began to stretch out. At first there appeared to be a lot of Betas amongst the entry. Later it emerged that there were the normal number but they were circulating very quickly. Foremost in the procession was Joel Sadler (left) from Harrogate.
The course had all the familiar features of the traditional Tough One - logs, tyres, cable drums, hanging riders, etc. The floor of the Cadwallader trailer was as polished as an 80s disco. Riders began to pit. The keen ones took a splash and dash. The less keen took 40 minutes to check their tyre pressures.
Joel Sadler was the best Sportsman. Nathan Blake was the runner up and Jim Ladier was 3rd. All three were mounted on Betas. Jim Ladier was 4th, Rob Pickard 5th, Luke Thomas was 6th, Neil Crayston 7th, Nathan Ball 8th, Gary Nicholson 9th and Kieron McAvoy 10th.
Jason Pearce wrapped his gear lever around his footrest and cut out all that time consuming gear selection. He did well to keep his Yamaha going and finish 26th.
Kudos to the rider who straightened his buckled exhaust with a cricket bat. The failure of clubs to enforce the regulation - that requires every rider to have a cricket bat in the refuelling area - has been overlooked for far too long .
Sportsman
1 178 JOEL SADLER UK BETA 8 01:52:03
2 110 NATHAN BLAKE UK BETA 8 01:53:48
3 192 DAN SADLER UK BETA 8 02:04:56
4 196 JIM LADIER UK KTM 8 02:05:26
5 159 ROB PICKARD UK KTM 7 02:00:33
6 154 LUKE THOMAS UK KTM 7 02:04:23
7 186 NEIL CRAYSTON UK KTM 7 02:05:40
8 169 NATHAN BALL UK KTM 6 01:54:01
9 194 GARY NICHOLSON UK HUSABERG 6 01:58:10
10 165 KIERON MCAVOY UK KTM 6 02:05:21
11 199 PAUL RAINE UK SHERCO 6 02:06:19
12 185 ROB SIMPSON UK KTM 6 02:11:58
13 155 JAMES JACKSON UK KTM 5 01:52:32
14 179 RYAN CAHILL UK KTM 5 01:52:52
15 163 DAMO SIVITER UK KTM 5 01:53:10
16 183 ANDREW MILLS UK HUSABERG 5 01:53:27
17 174 RHYS BRADFORD UK KTM 5 01:53:56
18 162 THEO MOORFIELD UK KTM 5 01:54:15
19 168 GEORGE BARDEN UK KTM 5 01:54:49
20 193 DEAN WATERS UK HUSQVARNA 5 01:55:08
21 156 NICK SANDERSON UK KTM 5 01:55:59
22 167 JACKO THOMAS UK KTM 5 02:00:08
23 173 TOM RIAL UK KTM 5 02:00:14 224 143 BRIAN TILL UK KTM 5 02:00:57
25 166 DAN HOLE UK KTM 5 02:02:26
26 187 JASON PEARCE UK YAMAHA 5 02:10:01
27 195 ROB CARR UK KTM 5 02:13:09
28 176 MATTHEW MILLS UK KTM 5 02:14:21
29 161 GLESNI JONES UK HUSQVARNA 5 02:15:48
30 170 NICK PALMER UK KTM 4 01:57:52
31 33 JAMES CHATTWAY UK KTM 4 02:03:00
32 188 DANNY BULCH UK HUSABERG 4 02:03:27
33 184 ANDREW HUNT UK SUZUKI 4 02:03:53
34 164 WILL WESGARTH UK KTM 4 02:04:36
35 191 TONY PEDERSON UK KTM 4 02:17:51
36 190 VAUGHN EVANS UK KTM 3 01:40:35
37 80 JOSEF WESGARTH UK KTM 3 01:52:36
38 182 TOM SMITH UK KTM 3 01:55:26
39 158 PHILLIP ROWELY UK KTM 3 01:58:58
40 189 STEPHEN COOPER UK HONDA 3 02:00:50
41 160 ROB PARRY UK KTM 3 02:10:17
42 85 PETE WHITESIDE UK A BIKE 2 01:53:24
43 181 ANDREW OHARA UK KTM 2 02:05:44
44 152 SEAN ATTARD UK HUSQVARNA 1 00:38:46
45 73 MARK ADAMS 1 01:08:10
The Clubman class race started at 11.15pm. The Sportsmen had done an excellent job of rotivation and the rock faces shone brightly in the sunlight.
Adam Jones from the Welsh end of Scunthorpe gave Beta another win. Danny Thomas was runner up and Sam Maguire was 3rd. Jonathan Persson finished 8th overall and he was the best Veteran ahead of John Bradford and Julian Rylance.
Clubmen
1 108 ADAM JONES UK BETA 10 01:55:16
2 103 DANNY THOMAS UK KTM 10 02:01:33
3 93 SAM MAGUIRE UK HUSABERG 10 02:02:07
4 124 WILL EMERY UK SHERCO 10 02:02:49
5 94 NATHAN ROGERS UK KTM 10 02:04:10
6 90 THOMAS TENNANT UK HUSABERG 10 02:05:30
7 118 JORDAN RIDGWAY UK HUSQVARNA 10 02:05:33
8 109 BRAD WILLIAMS UK KTM 9 01:55:39
9 27 LIAM EGELSTON UK KTM 9 01:58:32
10 91 CRAIG MCGEE IOM KTM 9 01:59:11
11 97 CRAIG THOMPSON UK KTM 9 01:59:47
12 112 BEN KIRKMAN UK HONDA 9 02:01:09
13 102 CRAIG THOMAS UK HUSABERG 9 02:08:10
14 99 RICHARD BENTHAM UK KTM 9 02:09:41
15 107 LIAM RADCLIFFE UK KTM 8 01:55:19
16 123 ROSS DAVIES UK KTM 8 01:58:48
17 122 CALLUM ROSTRUM UK KTM 8 01:59:16
18 111 DARREN SKILLIN UK HUSQVARNA 8 01:59:36 19 53 JOE SARGENT UK HONDA 8 02:08:29
20 114 STEVE NORBURY UK KTM 8 02:10:33
21 104 JOSH KIRBY UK HUSABERG 7 01:55:27
22 105 LLEWELLYN DAVIES UK HONDA 7 02:07:47
23 100 GLENN MORGAN UK KTM 7 02:10:13
24 120 JAMIE PRICE UK KTM 6 02:05:16
25 171 EMILY DAVEY UK KTM 6 02:09:55
26 116 SID DE BACKER UK KTM 5 01:55:30
27 96 JUSTIN DENN UK KTM 5 01:55:33
28 121 MATHEW ROSSER UK KTM 5 01:59:14
29 92 TOM MAGUIRE UK HUSABERG 4 00:48:55
30 117 ANDY HEYS UK KTM 3 01:55:47
31 101 BEN PICKARD UK KTM 3 02:01:07
32 125 JOE STEPHENSON UK KTM 3 02:06:03
33 106 ASHLEY WILLIAMSON UK KTM 2 00:57:01
34 95 HENRY BLUNDELL UK KTM 1 00:02:48
35 115 PAUL ELLIS SMITH UK KTM 1 00:06:31
Clubmen Veteran
1 197 JONATHAN PEARSON UK HUSQVARNA 10 02:05:42
2 147 JOHN BRADFORD UK KTM 10 02:06:49
3 129 JULIAN RYLANCE UK KTM 9 01:56:23
4 126 GARY MORLEY UK KTM 9 01:59:27
5 149 ROSS HALL UK KTM 9 02:04:13
6 148 HOWARD BLUNDELL UK KTM 9 02:04:25
7 145 MARK PICKARD UK HUSABERG 9 02:05:37
8 137 STEVE LANDER UK KTM 9 02:07:00
9 130 LEE CORNISH UK KTM 9 02:09:07
10 177 NATHAN BOLTON UK BETA 8 01:59:13
11 132 ADRIAN EVANS UK KTM 8 01:59:49
12 31 CHRIS GREEN UK TM 8 02:03:46
13 136 DAZ COWAN UK KTM 8 02:05:47
14 138 PAUL WESGARTH UK KTM 8 02:07:26 15 98 STEVEN HUZZEY UK KTM 7 01:59:20
16 135 STEVE CRANSHAW UK KTM 7 02:00:28
17 140 PHIL DAVIES UK KTM 7 02:03:26
18 198 DOUG SHEPLEY UK GAS GAS 7 02:07:09
19 142 MARK CRELLIN IOM KTM 6 01:55:55
20 128 BARRY BOUSTEAD UK KTM 6 01:59:29
21 139 ROBIN SCARRY UK KTM 6 01:59:42
22 150 TIM THURGOOD UK KTM 6 01:59:59
23 134 JAMES MUNDEN UK KTM 6 02:05:12
24 131 MARTIN PICKARD UK KTM 6 02:10:57
25 133 IAN WILSON UK HUSQVARNA 6 02:11:54
26 146 RICHARD LEWIS UK KTM 5 02:02:13
27 127 SEFTON INGHAM UK KTM 4 02:15:41
28 151 HARRY THOMAS UK KTM 2 00:22:20
The main race for Pros and Expert began at 2.00pm. The course had been modified and the WOR crew had opened up the Black Runs. 23 year old Jonny Walker got off to a flying start ahead of Alfredo Gomez into the first corner but - by the time he had reached the first big climb - David Kinght was closing on Walker in 2nd. Paul Bolton was 3rd, Ben Hemingway was 4th and Andy Noakley was 5th. By the end of the first lap Andreas Lettinbichler had moved up into 3rd.
In the trees the spectators were discovering the spectacular challenges of the new Tough One - guided by sound of screaming motors and the smell of smoking tyres - as the riders traversed the rocky climbs and descents. One legacy of Nant Mawr was recreated at Hawkstone with a new and more formidable Root of All Evil where even the best riders looked hopefully for a tug.
On the 3rd lap David Knight took the lead but it was short lived as disaster struck and David crashed heavily after getting rope tangled around his back wheel. Seemingly out of the race with a five minute deficit, the Knighter remounted and once again rode Walker down. The two riders entered the pits after 2 hours side by side and David was the first away. He went on to cross the finish line first and claim his record breaking 6th Tough One win. Jonny Walker was runner up and Spain's Alfredo Gomez completed the podium. Graham Jarvis in 4th also completed 18 laps. KTM rider Paul Bolton was 5th and KTM factory rider Andreas Lettenbichler was 6th.Ben Hemingway was 7th and Dougie Lampkin on his first outing for Eurotek KTM was 8th. Slovena's Miha Pindler was 9th and Austria's Lars Enockl was 10th
Jonny Walker “It was good but a very difficult. I led for a good part of the race but I know I have to improve my stamina,” Walker said. “I wanted to push as hard as I could early on and try to gap everyone but it didn’t happen. David was right on my tail and I couldn’t shake him off. When he got past me I wanted to follow him and see what lines he was riding but he crashed and I was back in the lead again. Once he came past me I had nothing left to hold him off,” the 22- year-old Briton conceded.
Alfredo Gomez: “I’m so happy to finish in third. I’ve only been riding a bike for four weeks since my appendix operation so to come away with a result like this is fantastic. I knew the three-hour format would be tough. My strategy was to get a good start and ride at a comfortable pace for the first hour. I stuck to my plan and was about fourth early on. After that I got up to third and began to build my speed. Graham caught me on the final hour but I knew I had a little in reserve and gave it everything I had. After missing Hell’s Gate due to my illness it’s brilliant to be on the podium here.”
Graham Jarvis: “I expected the race to be very fast, which isn’t really my type of going. Early on I got some arm pump and wasn’t able to settle into the race as I wanted. Once it cleared I started to improve my pace and gain some positions. Things were going well and I managed to pass Alfredo for third. But with about 30 minutes to go my energy dropped and I couldn’t hold my position. It’s unfortunate – I really wanted to finish on the podium but considering this isn’t my type of race I’m pleased to come away with fourth.”
Dougie Lampkin ""That's been tough, but after the first few laps I actually enjoyed it out there today. Obviously I would have like to have been a few places higher, but given my lack of time on the bike it was probably the best I could have hoped for if I am honest."
"The sheer speed of the leaders has been incredible and something I was never going to be able to match on this type of course, I have never been fast on a motocross track and today was no different." Continued the trials legend. "It goes without saying that I would have liked it to have been more slow and technical, but I knew that was never going to be the case when the event was moved to this venue."
Lampkin added. "The good news is that I am still in one bit and although I am sure that I am going to be sore in the morning, my body is in good shape and the skin on my hands is still in tact which was a real worry going into the race, and especially with the Scottish now not too far off."
"Being ready for the Scottish six days is now my priority, but once that is out of the way I will be back on the enduro bike so that I can be better prepared for Erzberg in June." Ended Dougie.
Lee Sampson was the best Expert. Lee Sealey was runner up and Luke Flack was 3rd. Jane Daniels finished 12th. Jon Hunt was smoking or at least his Sherco was and not in a good way but he kept it going to finish 18th.
Ricky Mair crashed and broke his shoulder, Andy Cripps clipped a tree at the top of rocky climb which spun him around and back down again. Sadly his tuck, pike and forward roll didn't end well and he broke two ribs. All the best lads for a quick recovery.
Jane Daniels: “It’s been a hard race with a couple of crashes but overall it’s gone quite well. I just tried my best to stay safe and get some bike time in as my focus is on the Enduro World Championship and not Hard Enduro. My start was ok but there was a lot of dust on the first lap and I had to pick my way through some of the trickier sections on the course. After a couple of laps I settled into it a lot better and pushed as hard as I could to the finish. It’s been a lot of fun.”
Wayne Braybrook (above) in 13th was the best Expert Veteran ahead of Andrew Reeves and Derry Milling.
Pro Results 1 3 DAVID KNIGHT IOM FACTORY SHERCO 18 03:00:24
2 2 JONNY WALKER UK REDBULL KTM 18 03:02:19
3 6 ALFREDO GOMEZ SPAIN BELRAY HUSQVARNA 18 03:09:24
4 1 GRAHAM JARVIS UK BELRAY HUSQVARNA 18 03:11:46
5 9 PAUL BOLTON UK EUROTEK KTM 17 03:01:16
6 4 ANDREAS LETTINBICHLER GERMANY KTM 17 03:10:09
7 19 BEN HEMINGWAY UK EXTREME TEAM BETA 17 03:10:19
8 5 DOUGIE LAMPKIN UK REDBULL 16 03:01:20
9 24 MIHA PINDLER SLOVEINA BETA 16 03:03:18
10 12 LARS ENOCKL AUSTRIA KTM 16 03:06:03
11 32 GETHIN HUMPHREYS UK MRS SHERCO 16 03:07:20
12 21 OTTO FREUND GERMANY KTM 16 03:07:34
13 11 GARY DANIELS UK SHERCO 16 03:09:58
14 25 SCOTT AUSTIN UK HONDA 16 03:10:32 15 8 CARSTEN STRANGHONER GERMANY GAS GAS 16 03:11:32
16 29 OWAIN HUMPHREYS UK MRS SHERCO 15 03:00:41
17 17 ANDY NOAKLEY UK KTM 15 03:01:54
18 28 MIKE SKINNER NEW ZEALAND KTM 15 03:04:00
19 23 ROGOJAN EMANUEL ROMANIA SHERCO 14 03:07:36
20 7 MELCIOR FAJA SPAIN FACTORY GAS GAS 13 03:00:51
21 14 MARKO PRODAN CROATIA HUSQVARNA 13 03:06:45
22 10 BORIS KOCH GERMANY HUSABERG 11 03:09:07
23 20 DAN HEMINGWAY UK EXTREME TEAM BETA 8 01:26:19
24 22 JONATHON RICHARDSON UK KTM 6 01:06:20
25 26 ANDREW CRIPPS UK FACTORY GAS GAS 5 01:04:49
26 13 HARRY NEUMAYR AUSTRIA KTM 2 00:15:49
27 18 MATEJ STUSAJ SLOVEINA GAS GAS 2 00:20:32
28 30 RICKY MAIR SCOTLAND KTM 1 00:02:47
Experts
1 56 LEE SAMPSON UK KTM 16 03:10:41
2 48 LEE SEALEY UK HUSQVARNA 16 03:13:12
3 65 LUKE FLACK UK KTM 15 03:01:12
4 45 LLOYD PRICE UK KTM 15 03:04:26
5 51 GARY JENKINS UK SHERCO 15 03:06:35
6 49 KEELAN HANCOCK UK HUSQVARNA 15 03:09:05
7 63 NIGEL CRELIN IOM GAS GAS 15 03:12:24
8 41 IAN MARTIN UK SHERCO 15 03:13:13
9 47 SAM LUDGATE UK BETA 14 03:05:17
10 55 SHAUN MARTIN UK SHERCO 14 03:13:08
11 54 TOM SMITH UK KTM 14 03:13:16
12 37 JANE DANIELS UK HUSQVARNA 13 03:02:53
13 36 SEAN ECKERSLEY UK KTM 13 03:07:07
14 42 HARVEY DARK UK KTM 13 03:07:12
15 34 JACK TURNER UK KTM 13 03:10:34 16 40 ROSS HANCOCK UK HUSQVARNA 13 03:10:56
17 39 ANDY FROST UK KTM 13 03:14:40
18 64 JON HUNT UK SHERCO 12 03:09:27
19 50 ELLIOT DAVIES UK KTM 11 03:01:02
20 58 ROGER HOLLAND UK SHERCO 11 03:02:44
21 43 MIKE SLATER UK HONDA 10 03:04:44
22 180 JOE CHAMBERS UK BETA 9 01:49:47
23 62 HARRY ECCLES UK KTM 9 03:10:45
24 57 ZAC SHERWIN UK BETA 8 01:30:46
25 44 MAX DRUGE GERMANY BETA 7 03:00:56
26 66 RICHARD ELY UK KTM 4 00:40:35
27 35 TOM POTTER UK KTM 4 00:57:57
28 60 RYAN HEINZ UK KTM 2 00:27:51
29 52 ROY VRUGT HOLLAND KTM 1 00:05:19
30 38 JOERG SCHROER GERMANY BETA 1 00:05:54
Expert Veterans
1 69 WAYNE BRAYBROOK UK SHERCO 16 03:08:28
2 82 ANDREW REEVES UK BETA 15 03:10:49
3 75 DERRY MILLING UK KTM 14 03:03:03
4 74 MARK JACKSON UK KTM 14 03:03:15
5 67 GAVIN JOHNSTON SCOTLAND KTM 12 03:00:47
6 68 ERIC BUURSEMA HOLLAND KTM 12 03:06:28
7 71 JUSTIN CARTER UK BETA 12 03:12:42
8 72 TIM HUNT UK HUSQVARNA 11 03:02:49
9 78 JASON CROSSLAND UK HONDA 11 03:06:02
10 81 ALEX OWEN UK KTM 9 03:03:08 11 87 KEVIN ROGERS UK KTM 9 03:08:11
12 89 HOLGER DETTMANN GERMANY KTM 9 03:08:25
13 70 KIARAN HANKIN UK TBA 8 02:00:48
14 84 DEAN JOHNSON UK KTM 7 03:00:49
15 200 ALEXANDER OTT GERMANY KTM 7 03:10:02
16 86 PAUL HORRIDGE UK KTM 6 03:00:54
17 77 MARTIN WELLS UK GAS GAS 5 03:01:23
18 88 LEIGHTON ROBERTS UK KTM 4 01:01:30
19 79 MARK KIRBY UK HUSABERG 4 01:10:07
20 83 RICHARD HOLLAND UK SHERCO 4 03:04:14
