The 2024 TBEC Enduro Championship returned to the Abbotsley Arena site near St Neots, Cambridgeshire, on Sunday, August 11th, to run the sixth of its nine-round series.
Race Report by Roger Allen – Images by Sharon Barltrop
The TBEC team worked their usual magic to produce yet another fantastic circuit that redeemed many of the features of the earlier 8 mile Abbotsley course held in May. This included the obstacle section which had the tyre jump, the log run and trunk leap hurdles – taken in quick succession, one after the other in ‘extreme enduro’ style. In addition, there were flat-out open field sections, nadgery technical turns and the obligatory fast and winding woodland sections. With no rain falling in the preceding week, the soil conditions, as expected, were inevitably parched dry.
While the spectators sizzled in the sweltering heat, the timing clock ticked down to the 10.30am start time. Row Zero was led off promptly by under-21 contender Joe Jefferies #29 on his KTM, followed closely by the GasGas of top Vet Phil Gilder #21. They were followed out by KTM man, James Foxley #355, who looked in determined mood.
Reigning champion Tobias Bailey #1 elected to start from his customary Row 1 position, which this time was led off by his TBC Engineering teammate, Dan Wheeler, on the #442 GasGas and Jamie Barnes #115 Beta. Notable absentees from the front two rows were #8 Dan Smith and #135 Edward Harris, the latter, it turned out, had taken up a new job with a motorcycle company which required his undivided attention. Under the blazing sun, the remaining competitors left in one minute intervals until, after 10 minutes had elapsed, all groups had departed.
Bailey obviously wasn’t in the mood to hang around. Once out of the blue-taped area, he quickly overhauled his team mate Wheeler and Barnes and set off after the lead group. With his injured hand now fully healed, the ‘Cheltenham Flyer’ poured on the coals in an all-out effort to catch up with Row Zero. Young Joe Jefferies was first to come around on the opening lap, setting a very good pace indeed, but by then Bailey was already in his wheel tracks not far behind!
By the time they came around again, reigning champion Bailey had passed the youngster and opened up a sizeable lead. So too, did Dan Wheeler, but credit to young Joe, as he held his own, finishing third behind his more experienced rivals of Bailey and Wheeler. The champion had completed 6 fast laps of the 8 mile course, but still had 12 minutes in hand by the time his pit crew called him in at 12.18pm. Wheeler came in 2 minutes and 23 seconds later and Jefferies a few seconds after that, but of course the latter was already a minute down on the leaders due to his earlier start time. So that’s how they finished the morning enduro with Bailey seizing the race win from Wheeler and Jefferies.
The afternoon enduro was run in the opposite direction in typical TBEC fashion, so providing a completely different challenge to the riders. True, there was a little dust too but conditions weren’t too bad at all.
With all groups now suitably refreshed from their 1 hour break, the competitors left at 1.30pm in the same group order as the morning session with Row Zero kicking off first. Joe Jefferies was quick out of the blocks yet again, obviously eager to put as much space as possible between himself and the TBC Engineering protagonists from the morning session. Bailey however, clearly wasn’t in the mood to oblige and put in a blistering opening lap time of 17:23 to bridge the 1 minute gap between himself and Jeffries. The ‘Cheltenham Flyer’ was literally flying around the circuit at a pace none of the others could match. Wheeler did his best to hang on to his team-mate, but Bailey pulled away relentlessly on his TBC Engineering 250cc KTM.
Behind them, Darryl Friday and Finlay Woods were having their own personal scrap, with Friday lapping just that little bit faster than Woods. In similar fashion the E3 duo of Jamie Barnes and John Paul Bowering fought their battle. The former just managed to steal the advantage though with his faster lap times.
At the clock ticked down, Bailey came around again to complete 6 laps of the Abbotsley course, well ahead of Wheeler, his closest rival. He was obviously enjoying himself, because despite being called in by his pit crew, he elected to do an extra lap due to the fact that he still had 12 minutes to run before his 3.31pm deadline. The champion blasted round the circuit but picked up 15 penalty points for his efforts, however, it didn’t alter the final result at all. The Cheltenham man had won both morning and afternoon enduros to claim the overall at Abbotsley, and he did it in convincing style. In a deserving second place was Stroud’s Dan Wheeler, still a big contender for the championship. Young Joe Jefferies finished a marvellous third, highlighting a developing talent that he ably showed at Abbotsley on Sunday.
Class Results
ELITE CLASS
In the Elite class it was the TBC Engineering pair of Tobias Bailey (KTM#1) and Dan Wheeler (GasGas#442) who scored a resounding first and second respectively for their sponsor. Bailey managed to squeeze in 13 laps while Wheeler completed 12. In a brilliant third place was Lee Smith (Husqvarna #355) also with 12 laps.
E1 CLASS
Rob Molloy (#192 GasGas) came out tops in the E1 class with 12 laps. In second place was Paul Stone (KTM#357) with Scott Frost bringing his #242 Kawasaki home in third. All three completed 12 laps of the circuit.
E2 CLASS
Darryl Friday took control of the E2 class with 12 laps on his #35 KTM. Also on 12 laps was second placed Finlay Woods whose #308 KTM was just a little slower. Holding on to third spot was the #233 GasGas of Chris Hempstead, who also completed 12 laps.
E3 CLASS
Jamie Barnes (#115 Beta) just managed to steal 1st place on time in the E3 class from John Paul Bowering, who scored well in runner-up spot on his #94 Beta. Sean Parsons was in third place, also on a Beta #429. All three had completed 12 laps.
LEGENDS CLASS
The Legends class was dominated by the #22 Yamaha of Tommy Batts once again. Tommy and 2nd placed Corey Edwards #48 KTM both completed 12 laps while third placed Graham Coker managed 11 laps on his #246 GasGas.
VETS CLASS
Phillip Gilder piloted his #24 GasGas to a win in the Vets class with Simon Shinkins second on his Husqvarna #463, and Darren Carter third on his #661 KTM. All three had completed 12 laps.
UNDER-21 CLASS
In the Under-21 class, early race leader young Joe Jefferies showed them all a clean pair of heels on his #29 KTM. Joe completed 12 fast laps which helped him to gain 3rd place overall in the enduro. On 10 laps in second spot on his little #81 KTM 150 was Louis Currie. 3rd in class was Charlie Jenson on his #161 Honda, who also completed 10 laps.
SUPERVETS CLASS
The Supervets class was won by Des Pichel, who took his #166 KTM around for 10 laps. A little way behind, but still on 10 laps was Paul Webb #284 KTM, while Jon Foxley on his #10 KTM made the mistake of picking up too many penalty points to make his extra lap worthwhile, but which still gave him 3rd place in class.
X-DAY CLASS
In the X-DAY class, it was John Evans who came out on top, completing 12 laps on his #812 KTM. In second spot also on 12 laps was Allan Vissian on his #810 GasGas. Jonathan White law did two laps less on 10 to secure third place on his 801 KTM.
HALF-DAY CLASS
The Half-Day class was won by Alan Mitchinson on his #33 KTM, who completed 6 laps. Also on 6 laps was runner-up #517 Darryl Gilder on the new 250 Triumph. In third place Aaron Keeble romped home on his #49 KTM with 6 laps.
TRAIL CLASS
Daniel Bloom took his big #268 Yamaha to win the Trail Bike class. He completed 10 laps with no penalties. Runner up was #165 Neil Gilder who managed 8 laps on his Beta, with David Clarkson bringing up third on his Honda #119 on 7 laps.
All in all, it was once again a superb enduro held at Abbotsley, enjoyed by riders and spectators alike. Thanks to the joint efforts of Simon Jeffries, the land owner and the TBEC team, Abbotsley is an excellent venue that will hopefully remain on the TBEC calendar for years to come.
Don’t forget ladies and gents that we’re back at Kimpton, Herts, SG4 8EH for the next TBEC round on 8th September, and it promises to be a corker with Tobias Baileyaiming to make it six out of seven! Don’t miss it!Make sure you’re there to catch all of the action, but if not join up with us here on DirtHub for the full report! See ya, RA.
Results
