During the 2022 and 2023 race seasons with Lincolnshire Enduro Club, South Yorkshire lad Jack Rowland made just a small handful of appearances in the Experts class.
Report by Martin Southwick – Images Courtesy of Graeme Taylor
Those races for him materialized in the shape of maximum points, so why should the start of the clubs 2024 season be any different ? Riding his ‘Team Ace Suspension’ sponsored 350 GasGas, Jack was a pretty clear winner at the end of this, the first of the club’s ‘Back Office Pro’ races for this year at Ashby Peurorum. Getting off to a good start always helps and Jack did just this, and then out of a total of 60 laps achieved by the top 5 riders, he was only ‘beaten’ on a small number of occasions. A damaged front brake caused by a fall towards the end of the event, saw an excursion into the pits for some “surgery” to the bike. This put a very slight dent into what already looked like a winning margin but in the end it was a clear 5 minutes anyway.
In Runner up spot was the winner of the series back in the clubs inaugural year, 2017. (George Birchall). It looked like a good battle between himself and 3rd placed rider James Paczynski. George had a few more faster laps than James and in the end there was exactly 1 minute separating them. Just over 3 minutes adrift of the front 3 was last years overall champion, Dan Johnson. The other rider who made up the group who grabbed 12 laps was 5th placed lad Henry Harman..
Conditions couldn’t have been better for this first race of the year. Taking place at Ashby Puerorum, it almost felt like spring at times and given the very wet season we have had, it was remarkable that the 5.5 mile track was indeed almost dry ! In preparation for 2024,the club has poured many man and machine hours into the venue recently, and it still remains a rider’s favourite. The event reached capacity well before the “closing” date, and Indeed the club will return there for one of its later events in the year.
Last years Over 40’s winner got off to another flying start for this years campaign. Lee Hattersley was in the mix with some of the Experts at the end of play (And would have actually finished in the top 10 in that class). Lee beat last years 3rd placed lad from the Experts class, Mark Lonsdale who has now stepped into this, the youngest of the “aged” groups ! Both riders were on 11 laps when the chequered flag descended, with Lee’s winning margin being towards 4 minutes. Exactly 6 minutes adrift of that was 3rd placed jockey Andy Myers, once again on 11 laps.
Another lad who was high in the overall standings, was the rider who finished 1st in the Clubman class, Nicholas King. Five minutes after that, Alex Cumberland crossed the line to take the runner up spot. Both these lads only just sneaked into the top 10 in the class last year, so they will be pleased to register good points early on in the year. Thomas Hodgkinson finished just a few seconds adrift this time out, just behind Alex for 3rd spot.
Gareth Lodge took the victory in the Over 50’s group, his first foray into the class after stepping up from the Over 40’s class in 2023. Runner up spot on the day went to Justin Lawson, albeit a full lap adrift of the winner. Justin and 3rd placed rider Darren Carter both had 10 laps under their belts but the time gap was some 7 minutes between the two.
With a clear 7 minute victory over his nearest rival, William Tarrant has now already scored more points than his grand total for last year in the Sportsman 2T division. Its a similar story too for not only the runner up on the day, Rhys Hill but Thomas Sergeant in 3rd place; a great start for these lads who only managed mid table positions last year. All 3 riders were on 10 laps after the 3 hours. (Things couldn’t have been tighter between Thomas and Tom Fiddies in 4th, they crossed the line separated by inches/millimetres … Delete as appropriate, depending on your age !)
The Over 60’s group shows early signs of being the usual suspects from 2023. In a reverse from most of the races last year, Kevin Bartle Sr took the spoils this time out, with reigning class champion succumbing to 2nd spot. It was close though, only 30 seconds separating them after 10 laps a piece. A lap down, Paul Oates came home 3rd place.
In the other Sportsman class, Harry Hall was the winner in the 4 stroke section. Last years runner up in the class Stephen Slater seems to like that place, as he was runner up this time out too. Alex Rothwell came home 3 minutes later, with all 3 lads on 9 laps at the finish.
The club is running a Slam bike class this year, with Neil Tapper taking the spoils, from Harry Hinkley in the runner up spot. A Trail and Classic class still runs too, with Sean Price taking top spot. Hats off to the 8 abecedarians who entered the race, most of whom lasted the full 3 hours.
The clubs next event is on the 21st of April. Full details are here for Facebook users https://www.facebook.com/groups/LincolnshireEnduroClub . . . and here for non members https://lincolnshireenduro.wixsite.com/lec2016
Results
Rd1-AshbyP-FinalResults
