courtesy of bob mullins and his rather excellent website at enduronews.com we have the following report for those interested.
Hafren 2007
Results
At last - the first round of the 2007 Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship. The Putoline Hafren 2 Day took place at Llanidloes on the 14th & 15th July. A cloud hung over the event right up until the weekend before. In fact a lot of clouds - as one on the wettest Summers since records began threatened to cancel the race. The start had to be moved across the river from the Rugby club at the last minute but the new venue turned out be an excellent alternative nestling in a bow of the Severn on a firm shingle base.
Scrutineering was on Friday 13th & the riders who trusted to luck with their preparation were unlucky. The main object of scrutinee was the sky as sheets of rain drenched everything & every body. The gloom even infected Steve Ireland who left his bike in the van.
Day 1 & the rain stopped. The first 2 riders - Edward Jones & Greg Evans - were flagged away at 9am. The course ran along the banks of the river & across a bridge to the MX test. Ed had to repeat his test when a timing cable became unplugged. Unphased he set the fastest time. Following their test the riders retuned across the bridge, went through the town & travelled out to the Hafren Forest. There was ample time to get to check 1 so none of the Championship class were killed by the clown in a black Peugot driving against the course. Stage 2 consisted of the cross country test. This was an series of whooping climbs & descents. Most riders enjoyed it but some discarded plastic at the end of the day suggested that some riders had enjoyed it too much. Steve Dustow lost time with a slack security bolt on his rear tyre. Tim Scott Patterson injured his shoulder & required medical attention. Check 2 to 3 took the riders out across the open moorland to the first service area at Sweet Lamb. Roger Dawson's gear selector became too selective. The 4th stage took the riders back to the Hafren on stony tracks. Derek Little fell victim to the shaily going when a stone cracked his clutch cylinder. The 2nd service area & Check 4 was at the Picnic site. A track alongside the road completed the 42 mile lap. The schedule was 3 laps for Champ/Experts & 2 laps for Clubman before the riders returned to Llanidloes for 2 MX tests run back to back. Juha Saliminen was the winner & Tom Sagar was the runner up. Darren Carter was the best Expert. With all the Optoma ACU ISDE team members present there was a photo call at the finish. The day ended with a glowing sunset that was repeated all around the campsite by the glow of smoking barbeques & the warm feeling that comes at the end of a good days racing.
Day 2 & the rain started again. Salminen also started as he meant to continue with the fastest Mx test but Greg Evans was a close second. The schedule was reduced to 2 laps for everyone. 2 checks was enough for Paul Edmondson who enjoyed Day 1 - finishing 5th - but he lost his motivation overnight & he retired at Sweet Lamb. Juha Salminen was awesome on his first ride in Wales. He won 8 out of the 10 tests - out once to Ed jones & once to Tom Sagar. Tom was very happy with his 40pts although he will miss round 2 as he will be competing in the Canadian WEC. Paul Bolton - 7th at Erzberg - finished 11th in his first time card enduro. Jamie Paget won the Experts overall riding a TM for the first time ahead of Jon Hinam on a Mounter KTM. Neil williams won the Veterans class & Simon evans was the runner up. Luke Lusher tried to fit a new clutch but it didn't take him far. Oliver Moyce retired with a seized rear brake cylinder. Steve Ireland took his bike out on Day 2 but the rear wheel collapsed. Only 15% of the entry dnf'd & the majority of them were either mechanical breakdowns. Everyone agreed that Wyn Hughes & his team had laid out another great event.
Hafren DBC have applied to run a World round next year on the back of their very successful European round in 2005. Giovanni Sala rode & enjoyed himself (pictured left). The atrocious weather would have been a test for any club but predictably Hafren DBC did a superb job of which the FIM should take note.
McConnell tops E3 class at BEC Rnd 1
Electraction TM UK rider Euan McConnell has taken an early lead in the Enduro 3 class of the ’07 British Enduro Championship after the Scott placed his 300cc TM at the top of the E3 class results on both days of the Hafren Dirt Bike Club organised Hafren Enduro. Placing in seventh overall on day one, and as best E3 class rider, McConnell improved his result on day two to place in fourth overall as well as collecting his second E3 class win. Joining McConnell in claiming two overall top 10 results was Tim Lewis who placed ninth on both days aboard his TM 125.
Riding at the rear of the Championship class entry McConnell was faced with an increasingly slippery opening motocross test on day one and despite his best efforts was unable to match the times of the riders ahead of him, which meant he would have to play catch up throughout the day. Performing well on the day’s two timed enduro tests McConnell again failed to match the times of the riders ahead of him on the two back-to-back motocross tests at the end of the day and despite comfortably topping the E3 class placed in seventh overall.
McConnell made a much better start to the second day and continued to ride well on each of the five timed special test. Again easily the fastest E3 class rider the Scott claimed fourth overall behind Juha Salminen, Tom Sagar and Daryl Bolter.
Returning to the BEC after an absence of several years Tim Lewis showed that he’s lost none of his speed by finishing inside the overall top 10 on both days as well as in fifth in the Enduro 1 class on day one and in fourth on day two. Just three seconds behind fourth placed E1 class rider Ed Jones on day one, Tim posted some impressive enduro test times throughout the weekend to finish as the second best E1 class two-stroke mounted rider on both days behind Daryl Bolter.
Competing in the BEC aboard a TM for the very first time Expert class rider Jamie Paget produced a winning start to his British championship campaign as he claimed the overall top spot in the Expert class. Finishing in third place overall and as best E2 class rider on day one Jamie moved to the top of the overall Expert class results on day two to claim a deserved win at the Hafren Enduro. Also competing in the Expert class for TM Irishman Gordon Clark claimed the top spot in the Enduro 3 class on day two after finishing third in class on day one.
Euan McConnell: “It was a bit difficult on the first test on day one because I was right at the back of the Championship class. The test got slower so I lost quite a bit of time. My enduro tests went pretty well but again I wasn’t quick enough on the two motocross tests at the end of the day.
“The second day was definitely better. I put in a pretty good time on the first test but wasn’t quite as quick as I should have been on the enduro test. The last two motocross tests went ok so I finished fourth, which I’m pleased with. It’s been a really good event.â€Â
