The Trail Bike and Enduro Club of Great Britain (TBEC) held the seventh round of the 2024 Championship at Kimpton, near St Albans, Herts on Sunday, 8th September. Laid out expertly by the seasoned TBEC team, the 8-mile circuit closely resembled the layout of successful previous rounds held at the venue. As before, Kimpton provided acres of marvellous flat-out twisty stubble fields, its surface containing thousands of sharp flint stones. There were slippery ups and downs and nadgery woodland sections, each with closely-cropped trees, planted not much further apart than the handlebars that would soon be hurtling between them!
Race Report by Roger Allan – Images by Tim Harris
The previous week’s rain had provided an extra element in the environmental mix, making the circuit far more demanding for the competitors. Clerk of the Course Jason Callaby made the wise decision to run the enduro as one three-hour event rather than the two two-hour races originally planned. It proved to be a good call as the heavens well and truly opened up shortly before the start, with the downpour being accompanied by thunder and flashes of lightning! This made the early going decidedly slippery!
With the clock ticking down towards the 10.30am start, the prayers of many riders were answered as the sun Gods came out to play and shone their warm rays down on the entire field, much to the relief of the 140 wet and waiting competitors! From Row Zero, Joe Jefferies (KTM#29), who had finished a great 3rd overall at the previous round at Abbotsley, led the group away, followed in close order by a rejuvenated Dan Smith #8 Gas Gas), fast Vet Phil Gilder (#24 GasGas) and Ryan Brown (#19 Kawasaki). The remainder of Row Zero left one by one until they had all disappeared into the distance.
After the statutory one-minute group separation, Row One was released, and Dan Wheeler (#441 GasGas) was keen to get away first. Once he had cleared the blue tape area, he shot off like the proverbial greyhound. Following hot on his boot heels were Ben Ilott (#51 Husky) and Under-21 rider Josh Watson (#80 KTM). Reigning champion Tobias Bailey seemed quite chilled as he clocked out in mid-group, but once out of the blue tape area, he wound up the wick on his #1 KTM 250cc in hot pursuit of those in front. Paul Stone (#357 KTM) headed off Row 2, followed by Gary Curtis #262 Husky and the rest of the contingent in their respective groups, until they had all departed and were on their way.
Wheeler revelled in the slippery conditions, and by the end of the opening lap, he had bridged the 1-minute gap to Row Zero and was, in fact, first to emerge from the woodland – posting a cracking opening lap of 17:01. Bailey was next to show, but some 16 seconds behind. The two TBC Engineering teammates seemed to be well-dialled into the tricky surface conditions as both pulled away from the rest of the field with apparent ease. On lap two, Bailey appeared to be closing the gap to Wheeler, and by the time they came around again, the ‘Cheltenham flyer’ was right in his wheel tracks as they both clocked in to start their third lap!
After both had pitted for fuel, Wheeler found some success in trying to hold off the champion, but the track was drying. Bailey upped his pace and was soon breathing down his exhaust pipe again! Behind them, the riders were having their own tribulations – Poor E2 rider Darryl Friday (KTM #35) was having a day he’d rather forget! He was speeding through the woods and smacked his clutch hand on a tree trunk! It was enough to bring the unfortunate Kentish man down and reward him with a suspected fractured wrist!
Up at the front, Stroud man Wheeler had the misfortune to slip off his GasGas while passing a back marker, and Bailey needed no second invitation, for he was through in a flash! The former schoolboy motocross champion quickly remounted to give chase, though he didn’t have to wait long before it was Bailey’s turn for bad luck! His KTM spluttered to a halt, allowing Wheeler back through to claim the lead! The Champion discovered his fuel pipe had disconnected itself from the carburettor and was gushing out fuel! He quickly replaced it and set off after his teammate, having lost a good 40 seconds. The ‘Cheltenham flyer’ didnt hang around either, he put in a blistering lap – the fastest time of the day, at 16:33.
Little by little, the Champion gradually hauled in his rapid teammate, but on lap 10 – on what turned out to be the final circuit, Bailey’s bike stopped yet again. The fuel pipe had slipped off once more, but this time, he quickly replaced it and resumed pursuit of the flying Wheeler. By that time, however, it was just too late for Bailey. Wheeler was already in the timing tent attempting to clock off, but, as if to cap off a day of mishaps, the Stroud man realised he had lost his timing watch somewhere out on the course! TBEC official Barry Prior came to the rescue with paper and pen just as Tobias Bailey entered the blue tape area! After the final results had been worked out and posted, it was Dan Wheeler who had scored his first TBEC victory, but only by a mere 4 seconds from Tobias Bailey, and with young Josh Watson coming in third again! Fourth overall was Ryan Brown, once the protégé of 5th place finisher Dan Smith. For Dan Wheeler, it was a hard-earned and well-deserved victory, and, it has to be said, a very exciting hare and hounds enduro! It turned out to be one of those hare and hound enduros that was full of incidents and where the lead changed several times! Brilliant stuff!
As always, the TBEC team came up trumps yet again with their superb course laying and selection of obstacles for Kimpton. The weather, of course, added its own little spice to the mix for the first half of the enduro, but conditions improved rapidly once the sun came out. Make sure you read the report here on DirtHub next month, when the penultimate TBEC round will be taking place from Whaddon in Buckinghamshire MK17 0NQ on 6th October, or you can even get yourself out there to see the action! See ya, RA
Class Results
ELITE Class
In the Elite class the TBC Engineering boys performed the old one-two at Kimpton, with both winner Dan Wheeler (#442 GasGas), and Toby Bailey (#1 KTM) taking the two top spots with 10 laps apiece. In third place was Ryan Brown on his #19 KTM also on 10 laps but with 10 penalty points for going over time.
E1 Class
Stylish Ben Ilott came out tops on his #51 Husky. He put in 10 good laps with a fastest time of just over 18 minutes but suffered 25 penalty points for going over time. In second place was Ben Hovell on the #138 Beta. Ben did 9 laps. Following up in third was the #555 Sherco of Luke Cain, also on 9 laps.
E2 Class
Top of the E2 was Chris Hempstead on his #233 GasGas, with Steve Shinkins taking the runner-up spot on his #464 Husky. In third place was Gary Curtis on his #262 Husky. All three completed nine laps.
E3 Class
Sean Parsons took the E3 class win on his #429 Beta, completing 9 laps, while second man, Jamie Barnes, on his #115 Beta and John Paul Bowering #94, also on a Beta and also completed nine laps!
LEGENDS class
The Legends class was settled, with New Zealander Corey Edwards taking the class win on his #48 KTM and completing 9 laps—one more than second-placed Les Liney’s #331 Sherco and Graham Coker’s #246 GasGas. Edwards had to take 10 penalty points for going over time, but it still got him the class win.
VETS Class
Again, Phil Gilder came out on top of the Vets class on nine laps with his trusty #24 GasGas. Second was the #45 KTM of John Evans, also on nine laps, along with third-placed #414 Gaz West on his big Kawasaki.
UNDER-21 Class
Josh Watson was the big beneficiary of the Under-21 class with his #80 KTM. Josh got in 10 laps with the addition of only three penalty points, one lap more than Joe Jefferies in second on his #29 KTM. Bringing up third spot was #31, Sam Mitchinson, also on KTM and having completed eight laps.
SUPER VETS Class
Des Pichel claimed the Supervets class on the #166 KTM by completing eight laps. In runner-up position was #10, the KTM of former champion John Foxley. Third place was carried off by Colin Tarrant on his #380 Sherco.
TRAIL Class
There were only two men in the Trail class, both on big, heavy machines. First in was James Swindells on his #221 Husqvarna who completed seven laps, and in second place was Daniel Bloom on the big Yamaha Tenere #268, also with seven laps.
Results
