Dans the Man! 2021 Lincolnshire Enduro Club Championship Round 1 – Race Report & Results

Before Lincolnshire Enduro club’s first race of the year on Sunday, a minutes silence was held due to the death of the ACU’s patron, His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Report by Martin Southwick – Images courtesy David Chapman

A minute later, that silence was shattered, as once again, a record number of riders sat on the start line and warmed their bikes up for LEC/Gear4’s maiden event of 2021.

Held at Willingham village near Market Rasen, the 7 mile course consisted of several wooden sections linked up by some super quick field areas. Apart from one or two fairly easy wet ditches, the terrain was dry, with no real “stoppers”. The weather was also pretty favourable to the riders with cool winds and mostly blue skies. It was only as the race was finishing that the heavens opened up for forecast hail/snow showers. Perfect timing in the end.

Booked up and full well before the closing date, the club used the 3 hour race format that proves popular with a lot of riders. Due to the obvious, and lack of practice, most of the 187 racers that took to that start line will probably have been somewhat rusty. It didn’t seem to show though!

First out of the blocks and a rider who lead from start to finish was Experts winner Danny Catlin. Even though the first four riders in that group were all on the same amount of laps, (10) Danny’s margin over second-place lad David Rushton was a little over 5 minutes when the chequered flag came down 3 hours later. In addition to his win, Danny was the only rider on the day to dip under the 18 minute barrier for one single 7 mile lap. The race for third place could not have been closer, however. Whilst Mark Lonsdale and Jonathan Pearson may have been some seven minutes adrift of the runner up spot, Mark beat Jonathan into third spot by just a single second.

In the Clubman class, Ryhan Leighton came home first, two minutes in front of runner up George Pearce. 25 seconds adrift of George was Karl Day in the “Bronze medal” position. Half of that class attained 9 laps of the Lincolnshire course.

In the Sportsman 2T class, only two riders grabbed 9 laps; Carl Smalley beating Aaron Flynn by another close margin; just nineteen seconds. Ryan Overton was a lap down in third spot. This class was the biggest on the day with 38 riders on the starting grid. In the other Sportsman class, the 4 strokes; only one lad achieved 9 laps on his way to victory. local lad Joe Tapper came home with a win, from Alex Shaw in runner up spot. Scott Flynn was third. With his win, Joe was the only rider in class to dip under the 20-minute barrier for one full circuit. lee Hattersley won the Over 40’s class once again, beating Darren Thorpe into second place. Their lap times were all pretty similar but in the end, Lee was the stronger, winning by 90 some seconds. Michael Harris was a distant third.

The ever-popular Over 50’s not only had another big list of entrants but produced the narrowest of wins in a very close race. This time, the winning margin after 3 hours of racing was only 4 seconds. Alan Vissian was the eventual winner with Neil Tapper coming home in runner up spot. Ian Shepherd was third. The Over 60’s class was the largest its ever been with Kevin Bartle Sr winning, from John Cotteril in second and Mark Gorman in third. Whilst there are no points given out in the Beginners group, it still remains a healthy class. William Sheehan won the days proceedings with William Sharpe in second and Alexander Richardson in third.

Another note should be made of the fact that in a very much male-dominated domain, the club was blessed with a number of lady riders again. Indeed, the Sportsman class may have to be renamed “Sportsperson” in the future! Beth Borley Stow finished well in her class, the 2 strokes, whilst Leah Tokelove had her eye very much on the podium, with a fifth place in the 4 stroke division.

Last but certainly not least, a big show of hands should be given out to the youngsters on the day who raced with the club. These guys who are only 15 or 16, were racing for the very first time. These fellows are not only the future of the club but our sport in general. Joshua Everett, Paddy Coucom, Charlie Sutherland, Archie Kirk, Finley Cheyne, Edward Ashmore, Sam Martin, and Sebastian Croft. Well done to you all.

The next race, round two, is at the same venue North Willingham in the North of the county. That date is the 9th of May. Meanwhile (And also at the same place), the club is holding a practice day on the 25th of April. Details of those two events and anything else to do with racing with LEC can be had from here for members . . .https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub. Or here for non members . .https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com/lec2016

Overall Results

For the full results >>CLICK HERE<<