The inaugural Charity Chase Sprint Enduro was held at Thorncombe in Dorset on Saturday 18th March.
Race Report by Danny Hall – Images courtesy of PhotoFinish43
Firstly, a huge thank you to the Landowner Richard for allowing us to run this charity event. With his help and everyone else’s £6,483.16 was raised for MacMillan Cancer Support.
For this event there were 2 fantastic special tests designed by Alex Snow and Owen Richards for the riders to enjoy with a cracking team of very experienced volunteers helping us as well. Overseeing the day from the AM Scaffolding tower was commentator Jeff Perret who did a fantastic job of keeping the spectators up to date on all the action.
In a stacked Championship class Alex Snow took the overall win but stepped down with it being an event he took part in organising, still a fantastic effort following a busy week.
So Josh Gotts took the top spot in the class winning one of his own fantastic Laser Master Trophies. In Second, making the long trip down was Tom Sagar, some solid results in preparation for this year’s BEC’s. In third was Ricky Wiggins who went especially well on the enduro test. Thanks also to Ricky and better half Charlotte from Monsters of Dirt for donating all the signage and programmes for the event.
In the Expert class young Joshua Lawer took the win, after going incredibly well on the enduro tests early on. In close second was Ollie Samways finishing only 5 seconds off first over 10 special tests. In third was Dean Kiff who put in a consistent performance meaning only seconds separated the top 3.
John Shirt made the long journey down to battle it out in the expert vet’s class with Andy Frost. Frost took an early lead on the enduro test, but Shirty warmed up to the southern soil and finished the day with a win. Andy Frost ended up in second with Richard Penhaligan in third.
In the clubman A class Rhys Fraser excelled on the cross test to secure a win. In second place was young Lewis George who was only 30 seconds back. In third was the consistent Zac King.
Bill Farrington took the win in the clubman B class by nearly 3minutes from second place Tristan Daniels who had some strong cross tests. Third place was Conner Edwards only 30seconds behind Daniels.
In the Clubman Vets David Smith was the winner, he also managed to take the overall section B win on a few cross tests! In second was Lee Szabo, who gained some time on Smith in the enduro tests but not quite enough. In third was Huw Williams who also went well on the enduro test.
In the sportsman class it was Thomas James Kinsman who took the win by over a minute. In second was Kieran Baxter, who after a steady start on the cross test, pulled it out of the bag for the enduro test. In third was his brother Nathan Baxter.
Justin Short took the win in the sportsman Vets class, putting in some consistent lap times. In Second was Steve Taylor, freshly returned from injury, good to see you back racing! In third and the winner of the cross tests by over a minute was Sean Massey.
The youth class had a fantastic turn out with many of the ASR academy being encouraged to enter thanks to Alex. In first place was Freddie Moulds who had an unbeatable lead going into the enduro test. In second was Finley Franks whose skills on the enduro test meant he overtook third place Harry Johnson in the overalls. Well done to all the youth riders, especially considering the depths of the ruts by the end of the day, very impressive riding by all.
The raffle contributed over £1200 to the above total so a huge thank you goes to Southern Off Road, John Shirt Motorcycles, Laser Master, The Black Flag Collective, Michelin, Alex Snow Off Road, and Louise King for all donating prizes. Thank you also to Thea for doing a great job of selling the tickets. Steve Holcombe gave a signed race shirt that was Auctioned after the raffle and raised an extra £100 pounds.
Thank you also to the fantastic volunteers who made this event happen. Danielle, Chester, Marcus, and Craig for running the tests. Simon, Burtie, Will, Ian, Wayne, and Wayne for travelling marshalling, plus the other helpers in the woods, you were all kept very busy with the challenging conditions.
Our next race is on June 3rd, it’s the Ben Saville Memorial Sprint enduro back at Rogershill Raceway with all weekend camping, a mini extreme race and raffle in aid of the Air Ambulance on Saturday evening, followed by a practice day on the Sunday.
A final thank you to everyone who attended and made the event what is was, we at Rogershill Raceway have been blown away by the positive feedback and the amount raised 🙂
Results
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