The Tough One was a great day out, can't believe Knighters pace!! He made it look easy. There were many broken bikes and injured riders. I got a photo of one rider spectating the Hot Laps Qualifying with his arm in a sling, & another rider was air lifted to hospital after apparently braking his collarbone, with bits of bone sticking out :? harsh! Although many also did very well and completed it, which showed just how skillful these select group of riders were.
Started off with the 'Clubman carnage' over the tyres and the drop off out of the lorry trailer (which had no car to soften the landing this year). Good fun 8) I managed to capture a rider trying to do a superman at the tyre section, he had two goes at it before deciding to lift the front end and attempt the tyre! :lol: He got over them thrid time lucky. Also pretty mad was when another rider nose dived it out of the lorry trailer and whilst trying to stay on the bike he booted a helper straight in the face! Pete Bailey won it on a 125 Suzuki.
Then came the Hot Laps Qualifying which was excellent. Knighter absolutely blitzed it!! He was 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. I got some shots of the Experts/Pro's one by one before they were caped in mud! The insanely steep hill that caused a landslide every time a bike shot down it was scrapped for the main race due to safety fears of the less experienced Expert riders (I was talking to an Expert who raced in the British Enduro Champs and he was very nervous about the hill and glad it was scrapped when I told him) Was pretty hairy clinging onto the hillside photographing but well worth it. (espescially when one rider on a Beta over shot the corner half way down the hill and ALMOST took me and several others out, I kept shooting whilst saying to myself don't hit me... don't hit me... haha!) One spectator got hit in the chest hard with a massive rock flung down the hill, which knocked him straight down (despite everyone frantically shouting ROCKS ROCKS!) He got up straight away though and was ok! Couldn't believe it!
It was then time for the main Tough One race, took some cool shots of them launching off the start line clanging bars. Knighter got held up by some Expert riders (who started seperately ahead of the Pro's) but eventually broke free and pushed hard. Ploughing up the hills no problem and over each obstacle like it was nothing. I noticed the less experienced riders riding over a log section with the boggy bit in the middle, whereas the top guys somehow managed to get air and jump over the lot, slamming the rear wheel down on the log at the other side. Amazing
(see pics) The skip section was good, got a cool shot of Sagar showing the rest how best to get out of one! :lol: Towards the end of the race I moved to a rocky climb as it was catching a lot of riders out. There were a few helpers there dragging the bikes up, and also getting booted now and again (including me as I pulled one rider up he shot the bike straight into me and knocked me down! : s) Not only did Knighter win the race, but he also lapped the entire field, except 2nd place Tom Sagar, and won by a clear 10 minutes!!
In a league of his own is David Knight!!
1st-Knighter- 101 (KTM)
2nd-Sagar- 2 (SUZUKI)
3rd-Lampkin- 4 (BETA)
Finally it was the Boulder Dash, Knighter and Sagar bottled it due to the first round of the British Enduro Championship the following weekend, so legend, Andy Cripps was drafted in much to the crowds delight. (He even had a swig of Stella before the race, top guy :lol The rest of the riders were Juan Knight, Dougie Lampkin, Rory Mead, Paul Bolton and Ben Hemingway. They were given only 3 minutes to complete it this year, to win the £1000. Lampkin won it and blasted across the finish in 2 minutes and 38 seconds!
(PHOTO'S STARTING IN ORDER WITH THE CLUBMANS RACE, THEN THE HOT LAPS QUALIFYING FOR THE EXPERTS/PRO'S, FOLLOWED BY THE MAIN TOUGH ONE RACE, & FINISHING WITH THE BOULDER DASH)
Enjoy, Steve 8)
http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ ... ?start=all
Started off with the 'Clubman carnage' over the tyres and the drop off out of the lorry trailer (which had no car to soften the landing this year). Good fun 8) I managed to capture a rider trying to do a superman at the tyre section, he had two goes at it before deciding to lift the front end and attempt the tyre! :lol: He got over them thrid time lucky. Also pretty mad was when another rider nose dived it out of the lorry trailer and whilst trying to stay on the bike he booted a helper straight in the face! Pete Bailey won it on a 125 Suzuki.
Then came the Hot Laps Qualifying which was excellent. Knighter absolutely blitzed it!! He was 10 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. I got some shots of the Experts/Pro's one by one before they were caped in mud! The insanely steep hill that caused a landslide every time a bike shot down it was scrapped for the main race due to safety fears of the less experienced Expert riders (I was talking to an Expert who raced in the British Enduro Champs and he was very nervous about the hill and glad it was scrapped when I told him) Was pretty hairy clinging onto the hillside photographing but well worth it. (espescially when one rider on a Beta over shot the corner half way down the hill and ALMOST took me and several others out, I kept shooting whilst saying to myself don't hit me... don't hit me... haha!) One spectator got hit in the chest hard with a massive rock flung down the hill, which knocked him straight down (despite everyone frantically shouting ROCKS ROCKS!) He got up straight away though and was ok! Couldn't believe it!
It was then time for the main Tough One race, took some cool shots of them launching off the start line clanging bars. Knighter got held up by some Expert riders (who started seperately ahead of the Pro's) but eventually broke free and pushed hard. Ploughing up the hills no problem and over each obstacle like it was nothing. I noticed the less experienced riders riding over a log section with the boggy bit in the middle, whereas the top guys somehow managed to get air and jump over the lot, slamming the rear wheel down on the log at the other side. Amazing
(see pics) The skip section was good, got a cool shot of Sagar showing the rest how best to get out of one! :lol: Towards the end of the race I moved to a rocky climb as it was catching a lot of riders out. There were a few helpers there dragging the bikes up, and also getting booted now and again (including me as I pulled one rider up he shot the bike straight into me and knocked me down! : s) Not only did Knighter win the race, but he also lapped the entire field, except 2nd place Tom Sagar, and won by a clear 10 minutes!!In a league of his own is David Knight!!
1st-Knighter- 101 (KTM)
2nd-Sagar- 2 (SUZUKI)
3rd-Lampkin- 4 (BETA)
Finally it was the Boulder Dash, Knighter and Sagar bottled it due to the first round of the British Enduro Championship the following weekend, so legend, Andy Cripps was drafted in much to the crowds delight. (He even had a swig of Stella before the race, top guy :lol
The rest of the riders were Juan Knight, Dougie Lampkin, Rory Mead, Paul Bolton and Ben Hemingway. They were given only 3 minutes to complete it this year, to win the £1000. Lampkin won it and blasted across the finish in 2 minutes and 38 seconds!(PHOTO'S STARTING IN ORDER WITH THE CLUBMANS RACE, THEN THE HOT LAPS QUALIFYING FOR THE EXPERTS/PRO'S, FOLLOWED BY THE MAIN TOUGH ONE RACE, & FINISHING WITH THE BOULDER DASH)
Enjoy, Steve 8)
http://s157.photobucket.com/albums/t66/ ... ?start=all
