The eighth and penultimate round of the 2023 TBEC Enduro Championship got underway at Weedon (Northants) on Sunday, 8th October. With no rain falling during the preceding week, the experienced TBEC team were unhindered in laying out yet another first-class course, one which also incorporated the existing Weedon moto-cross circuit. The 5-6 mile lap had plenty of flat-out grassy fields mingled in with the more technical aspects of the MX course, together with nadgery woodland sections. There were plenty of bumps and jumps too, with the track bone dry and dusty in most places.
Race Report and Feature Image by Roger Allan
With just the November round remaining in the TBEC Championship, Cheltenham’s Toby Bailey again displayed his dominance in the series by recording yet another emphatic double victory at Weedon, winning each of the morning and afternoon two hour ‘hare and hound’ races in convincing style.
The morning race got off to a brisk start at 10.30am with the vastly experienced veteran Paul Field #25 heading off the Elite group from Row Zero. He was still leading when they came around to clock the first lap, with Bedfordshire Bullet Dan Smith just a few seconds behind him on his #8 GasGas. In the meantime reigning champion Bailey #1 had started one minute behind on Row One in company with top E2 Husqvarna rider Paul Hanks. Together they set off in pursuit of the leading bunch of Elite riders from Row Zero. Hanks #27 wasn’t hanging around either, and clocked a brilliant opening lap of 12:05 with Bailey hanging on to his shirt tails. The duo circulated rapidly, gaining hand over fist on the leading group. On lap two, Paul Field #25 unfortunately had some flying debris hit him in the eye and causing him to pull out. He valiantly rejoined the fray after receiving medical treatment but was forced to call it a day after just one more lap. On lap four Bailey upped his game and overtook Hanks, both of them at this point far ahead of the rest of the field on time, but still behind Smith on track. The latter was putting up a good fight to retain his leading track position.
On lap six Bailey managed to catch up with Smith and gunned his #1 Wright-Racing KTM past the GasGas, continuing to open up an ever-increasing lead. After 10 hard laps by the top riders, the 2 hour deadline had already passed by with Bailey coming in just 1:50 over allotted time. Hanks just managed to keep his second place intact by going 4:04 over time compared with Smith’s 4:05. Behind them, Elite riders James Foxley and Paul Owen had been having their own private battle and came in 4th and 5th with Ed Harris not far behind.
Following the hour-long lunch break and under the bright and warm October sunshine, the afternoon session, this time in reverse direction, got under way sharply at 1.30pm. Once again, Dan Smith made a frantic break for it on his GasGas. To all intents and purposes, the afternoon enduro looked like it might be a carbon copy of the morning session, with Smith tearing off into the distance in the hope of keeping his pursuers at bay!
Back on Row 1 though, Hanks led Bailey off once again, the two evidently on a mission to catch up with the Elite riders who had left 1 minute ahead of them! Just as in the morning enduro, their rapid lappery enabled them to carve big inroads on the group up ahead. Bailey though, was in no mood to hang around and passed Hanks on the opening lap. The Husky rider did everything he knew to hold on but Bailey appeared to pull away effortlessly on his two stroke in pursuit of Smith. At the end of the third lap the Cheltenham Flyer had bridged the one minute gap between their groups and clocked in just 2 seconds adrift of Smith on the track. That put Bailey around 58 secs in front on corrected time. Hanks, in the meantime, had fallen back and, whether this was due to physical or mechanical problems, was unable to reproduce his excellent morning performance. He completed only 5 laps in the afternoon session. That enabled the hard-charging James Foxley #355 to take up his place in third. Bailey, by this time tuned-in to the reverse direction of the circuit, scorched around on lap 4 to record a 12.01, fastest lap of the day, and one which would breeze him past Smith on the track. As the clock ticked past 3.30pm it was Tobias Bailey who had circulated the most, the only one in fact to record twenty laps in total, with Dan Smith, ever consistent in his pace, coming in a good second on 19 laps.
That’s how they finished overall in the Elite class with James Foxley holding off Paul Owen #26 to finish 3rd and 4th respectively on 18 laps. Roving cameraman Edward Harris #135, turned in a fine performance to finish 5th overall despite a minor tumble! Behind him Ryan Crisp slotted his Fantic #170 into 6th spot.
Andrew Haddon #781 kept Aaron Keeble #49 at bay in the E1 class while the half-day group was won by Alan Mitchinson on his #33 KTM. The E2 class was claimed by Ryan Brown #19, who completed 18 laps just ahead of #262 Gary Curtis. Matt Willis took charge of the E3 class on his #20 Husqvarna, only just beating John Paul Bowering #94 to the top spot in the group. Graham Coker #246 managed to hold off Darren Brooker #180 in the Legends class even though third placed Tommy Batts #22 had completed one lap more, his accrued penalties costing him dearly. David Chell #807 kept William Woodcock #804 at bay in the XDAY group, while #414 Gaz West made no bones about the Vets class, completing one lap more than 2nd placed Warren Burbage #474.
In the Under 21 class, young Josh Watson showed he will be a force to be reckoned with on his #80 KTM by coming tops in the group. 2nd placed Finlay Woods #308 was equally quick but the extra lap by Watson sealed the deal. Joe Jefferies #29 claimed third spot with Lewis Callaby #17 coming in a good 4th in class. In the SV class #302 Keith Townsend completed 16 laps on his KTM just ahead of Jon Foxley #10, also on 16 laps. The Trail class was won by #32 Simon Densham with tough lady Emily Davey #64 claiming second place, both having completed 16 laps.
Once again, the TBEC team had carried off a superbly organised event at Weedon that was enjoyed by all, and the good weather had, no doubt, provided the icing on the cake. With seven wins and a third place out of eight events, Tobias Bailey must surely already have one hand on the Championship Trophy for 2023, but there’s still one round to go at sandy Deepdale in Bedfordshire on November 5th, so you can be sure that some big fireworks are about to go off!
Read about it all in DirtHub next month. See ya, RA
Results
