First blood to Jack! 2025 Lincolnshire Enduro Championship – Race Report & Results

In this, the first of the 2025 8-round series from Lincolnshire Enduro club, reigning Expert Champion Jack Rowland got the new season off to a flyer in defending last year’s crown . The South Yorkshire lad riding his ACE suspension-backed 350 KTM came across the line after 3 hours, a complete lap in front of his nearest rival to gain good early points for the season. Getting the hole shot always helps as does the ability to build a gap early doors.

Race Report by Martin Southwick – Images courtesy of Graeme Taylor

Playing 2nd fiddle to Jack on the day was Northants Lad Callum Hughes. Looking at the timing charts, the John Lee/Beta backed lad was pushing hard all the way but the extra few seconds taken on every lap all added up to eventually hand the victory to Jack. It was a bit closer between Callum and 3rd placed rider Sam Boyd. Both lads were on 11 laps when the race ended, with approximately 3 minutes separating them.

With a new sponsor for the year (https://www.dustdevils.net), the club broke a record for this track (Ashby Puerorum) with 175 entrants. Hundreds of man-hours were put into re-hashing the area in the previous weeks, with many new changes shoehorned into what has become a favourite with a lot of racers. New sections of woodland were incorporated into the 6.5-mile track, as well as a few minor man-made obstacles to negotiate. Use was also made of the local MX track, as well as an excursion into adjacent fields that have not been used for some years. The dry and sunny weather in the previous week or so had a part to play in proceedings. Some areas that were still damp on race day would have caused “issues” had the days leading up to the event been rainy!

Into the Clubman class, and this was a lot closer than the above. The first 9 riders had achieved 10 laps after 3 hours, but the top trio could have had a very small blanket thrown over them as they were covered by under one minute. Third place went to Darren Wells, but only 25 seconds behind runner-up (and previous champion) George Pearce. In turn, the winner, Ben Lonsdale, secured victory by just 22 seconds. There was 21 starters in the class, with 16 finishers.

READ MORE: BRITISH ENDURO NEWS

The biggest class of the day was in the sportsman 2T class, with 32 riders sat on the grid. The top 11 racers finished on 11 laps, with Simon Cadman taking the win from Kurt Rafferty by just over 2 minutes. Andrew Howe was 3rd, just 20 seconds adrift.

Hoping to go one better than his runner-up spot in 2024, Lee Hattersley got off to a flyer with maximum points on Sunday in the Over 40’s group. Just over a minute in arrears was Mark Lonsdale, with Michael Harris taking 3rd place, another 2 minutes adrift.

As is the norm, the Over 50’s class was well represented, with 28 jockeys this time out! In defence of last year’s title, Gareth Lodge sealed the triumph with one of the biggest winning margins of the day in any class, some 8 minutes over his nearest rivals. The gap between 2nd and 3rd was much closer, though. Ian Shepherd won the battle for second place on the rostrum by just 60 seconds over Andy Jackson.

The ranks of the other “aged” class seem to swell each year, with the Over 60’s group seeing an increase in numbers once again. Another rider seeking to add to his 2024 crown is Mark Peckitt who claimed top spot at the weekend. The gap to the next rider was a handsome one with Slam rider Neil Tapper coming across the line some 8 minutes later. Timothy Howe was in 3rd spot.

Another big winning gap was seen in the other Sportsman group, the 4T class. As the Slam class isnt running this season, another rider who featured heavily in that in 2024, Harry Hinkley slotted into the 4T’s this time and sealed another fairly hefty win, by some 6 minutes. Ryan Poole took the runner-up place, with Barrie Atherton taking the’ bronze’ medal spot.

Four riders entered the Trial/Classic, with Ben Hampel taking the spoils over the ever-present Shaun Avison and Kyle Ardito in third. Worth another mention is the fact that Kyle’s bike is the biggest bike ever seen at LEC. Any advance on a 700 GasGas, folks… with a puncture on the last lap !?

Possibly the biggest class of Beginners ever seen at the club turned out this time around, with 11 lads sat on the start line. Well done guys.

The club’s next race is on April 6th, where they are back to a track not used for some years, Gonerby Top. All details of the club are here (for members) https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub and here for non-members.. (https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com)/lec2016

Results