January 2011

Dakar 2011Spain’s Coma winsWOR Events

Nantmawr isa Tough One

DirtBike-TraxsYoung guns triumph

at Butts QuarryWest

Glos &Forest of Dean

Jon Hinam wins2011 Chicken Run

Simon Wakelywins Hethfelton on a Husaberg

WOR EventsTim Foreman takes Baden Hall victory

David Knight wins Eddy’s X-tremeReports, results, photos & videos

CTR EventsBawn again TMElectration2011 team announcedMelville MCCA Trew WinterMotocrossPutoline XCLewis Belfield wins round 1

PLUS

After being re-scheduledtwice - due to the extremeweather conditions – the3rd round of the Carl TileyRacing Events Winter seriesfinally took place at TyrShon Shenkyn on Sunday2nd January.

The recent thaw had workedwonders and the ground was inexcellent condition. The weather waslightly overcast and very cold.

The two and a half race began at 2.00noon. Veteran Terry Beecham took theholeshot from Steve Biddle. Derek Bawn wasthe last of the Experts off the line but by the3rd corner he had carved his way up into 2nd.Richard Perkins led off the Clubman closelyfollowed by Matthew Timms. Ben Slater was last away. It was the start of a problem day for him. Phil George was the quickest of the Novices away with Jack Powell pushing for the inside line.

Report & photos by Bob Mullins

. By the end of the first lap Derek Bawn had taken the lead and Derek's brother Ryan had moved up into second place. Steve Biddle was in 3rd but by lap 3 he had dropped back to 5th behind Rhys Faulkner and Neil Thomas in 4th. Rhys is a motocrosserriding in only his second H&H to build up hisfitness after a break through injury.

Carlo Tiley had woven a tight course tomake the most of the finite flat goingon this predominantly sloping venuebut there was inevitably some technicalgoing and - despite the cold wind – theriders soon began to disguard theirjackets as the pace heated up 

Brothers Michael & Matthew Rees wereboth competing although they were luckyto get to the start on time after Mattpre-mixed the fuel with gear oil. The boyshave been pre-occupied with their new toilethire business.

Ben Slater retired with a flat battery. After2 hours the front wheel bearing of Neil Thomas'KTM collapsed & he retired whilst running in 3rd. David Mears had to watch the clock countdown from the pits when he lost his rearpads but he crossed the lineto finish.

Derek Bawn was the overall winner with17 laps ahead of Ryan Bawn on 16 laps and Steve Biddle

was 3rd. Andrew Keyte won the Clubman from Gethin Francombe.They both clocked up 1 laps. Adrian Evans was the best of the Vets

and Terry Beecham was the runner up. Local rider Jack Powell won theNovices. Jack is very local as Tyr Shon Shenkin is his family's farm. His win

clinches the Novices championship. 45 year old Phil George was the runner up.

Results Photos Standings Video 

Jordan Scott

Gordon Clarke

Following the forced retirement of PhilipMcLaughlin and the refusal of access to

the UK of Australian Josh Green, Electraction TM withdrew from

BEC/Sprint Series in 2010.

Behind the scenes, the team continuedto work with UK immigration and

Greens Visa papers are now finallybeing progressed. Once these are

cleared, the team will returnto the series, with JordanScott, Gordon Clarke and

Josh Green.

Jordan will ride U23 on a 125, Gordon will move to E1 along with Josh on the New TM250 Fi. It is hoped Josh will be in position to ride the Muntjac but is unlikely to make the first Sprint Round.

Nick Craigie: “As a team manager this has been one of the most frustrating times I have had. Josh is a rider who can be at the top of the game and would be an addition to any championship. For him to be denied access to the UK for the last 11 months on the most trivial of grounds was disappointing and frustrating in the extreme. The added frustrations of attempting to clear the matter with UK immigration proved challenging and at times incomprehensible .Finally , it appears we will have a resolution shortly and we will take the team back to competition.

Philip will continue with the team as mentor/mechanic

with Adrian Lappin providing his customary technical

consultancy

The new bikes may take us a little time to set up to

individual rider preference as we will not take delivery for

another 2/3 weeks but we will be looking to be competitive

as we have always been .”

Josh Green

Ceremonial parade in Buenos Aires launches Dakar 2011 in Buenos Aires Thousands lined the streets in the Argentinean capital Buenos Aires on Saturday to send off competitors in the 2011 Dakar Rally where KTM's factory riders will attempts to secure the Austrian brand's tenth title in the most prestigious rally on the motor sports calendar.

The KTM duo of title holder Cyril Despres and Marc Coma, who together have won the rally the last five times lead the charge riding the newly developed KTM 450 Rally bike, which has been developed to conform to the new regulations that

restrict the professional riders to a smaller, less powerful machine. They compete this year in their own individual teams together with Ruben Faria and Juan Pedrero as their co-riders.

The opening ceremony, which included a ceremonial ride, departed from the city's famous Obelisk on Saturday with an increased number of entrants from previous years. Southern hemisphere summer temperatures graced the parade as riders set out down the capital's broad Avenida 9 de Julio amid cheers from thousands of spectators who lined the road to send them on their way. The race has attracted a huge fan base in South America since it was moved from North Africa after the 2008 edition was canceled on the eve of the race following terrorist threats.

Riders then had a 377 km stretch of untimed ride from Buenos Aires to Victoria to settle into the bivouac for the first night ahead of Stage one on Sunday.

Sunday morning Marc Coma with bike number one will be first out of the start gate at first light as riders head for Cordoba for Stage One - 566 km on the road and a 192 km special timed section designed for the technically proficient over narrow tracks that will give riders a first taste of what to expect in the next 16 days. The Dakar is the ultimate test of riding skill, physical and mental strength. It is also the most demanding of all competitions for the machines they ride.

The 2011 edition, the 33rd Dakar Rally, takes competitors through Argentina and over the Andes, up to the northern most tip of Chile, through the notorious Atacama Desert, the world's driest region then looping back through Argentina to finish again in Buenos Aires. 

Simon Pavey Scrutineering - Details

KTM goes for its 10th Dakar title: Despres and Coma spearhead the attack - Details

Thomas Berglund is ready for the 2011 Dakar Rally - Details

Simon Pavey's Final Preparations - Details

Stage 1

KTM's Ruben Faria takes first stage win in Dakar 2011KTM rider Ruben Faria of Portugal took line honors in the first stage of the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally on Sunday as riders settled in for the first competitive stage of this 16-day test of man and machine. Ruben, co-rider in title holder Cyril Despres' team led in the remaining three KTM factory riders who were separated by only 2 minutes 13 seconds.Riders had a very early start out of the first bivouac at Victoria and set out for the day at first light for 566 km of road riding and a timed special of 192 km. At the end of the day it was Marc Coma in third place and his co-rider Juan Pedrero in fourth place.

Speaking straight from the bivouac after Stage One Cyril Despres said it had been a great first day. "Second and first together with my colleague Ruben Faria - we couldn't wish for anything better," he said. 

Although it was an auspicious start for the four KTM riders, who this year compete for the first time on the newly developed KTM 450 Rally bike,  there was only just over four minutes separating the top ten finishers. The 2011 edition of the world's most famous rally, in which KTM hopes to secure its 10th title, is expected to be very competitive and hard fought. Organizers have also stated that the more difficult stages will be in the second half of this 16-day event to raise the stakes and heighten the challenge.

Faria at home on Enduro style trackThe stage victory was Ruben Faria's fourth career stage win in Dakar rallies. He said at the end of the day that he had managed to keep a good speed throughout the ride in what was territory similar to wehat he is used to back home in Portugal. "I did better today than many great riders with different riding styles and it is already a good point of reference. I am also very happy to see that my team-mate Cyril Despres also made excellent time," Faria commented after the top riders had finished.

Early morning start for Despres and ComaDespres, who if successful at the end of the competition will bag his fourth Dakar trophy, was also satisfied at the end of the first competitive stage. He was second out of the start gate at first light just after Marc Coma. The riders had to be awake at around 3.00 a.m. for the 4:20 a.m. start as light broke over Argentina in what is the height of the summer in the southern hemisphere. Clearly satisfied with his day's ride Despres said the special stage had been "really great fun". "It was a great warming-up exercise, a winding route, big sliding sections, a mix between skiing and riding. You always wonder what it will be like at the beginning of a Dakar, especially now that all the top riders are on 450cc bikes. Is this going to change much? Even if we tested our bikes, a Dakar will always be a Dakar. The race is on now and staying focused is of the essence."

Coma opens the track on first day outMarc Coma, the 2009 Dakar winner also said it was a good warming up stage. "Not an easy one though," he said. "It had a highly technical section and a faster section. What matters is reaching the end of the first stage without and difficulties." It was Coma's job as the number one bike out to open up the track for the other riders and this can give

those following a tactical advantage and tactics are an important element in this marathon event. Speaking from the bivouac, Marc Coma said his team was watching the weather closely because there was a possibility of rain on Monday for Stage Two. "That would make it more difficult," he said.

Pedrero delighted with his first day outJuan Pedrero, Marc's co-rider was especially delighted with his fourth place finish saying. "It was a great special stage for me…. I'm very happy with the bike. We had tested it but things are very different in race conditions." Juan said he was quite surprised with his time for Stage One. "I was really motivated at the start. The ground felt like Enduro racing and after a while I grew confident." He said the result was a great motivation.

New challenges in Stage TwoMonday and Stage Two brings new challenges to the four KTM factory riders who have another early start with Ruben Faria charged with opening the track. Stage Two takes them from Cordoba north to San Miguel de Tucuman over 440 km of road and a special of 300km. They will enter forested areas and encounter a track that organizers say will offer plenty of jumps.

Stage 1 Results1, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM2, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM at 00:00.293, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 00:01.154, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, 00:02:135, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal BMW, 00:02.186, Jonah Street, USA, Yamaha, 00:03.077, Francisco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 00:03.148, Jose Rodrigues, Brazil, BMW, 00:03.239, Jordi Viladoms, Spain, Yamaha, 00:04.1110, Frans Verhoeven, Netherlands, 00:04.23

Cyril Despres

“There was no special stage today, just 377 kilometres of liaison from Buenos Aires to Victoria. As always there were thousands and thousands of spectators to see us off – to say the Argentines like the Dakar would be something of an understatement- incredible!

Now we are at our first bivouac and time is pressing as tomorrow we have to get up at 3h30 to start the stage at 4h20! In total we have 566 km tomorrow, with 192 km of special, and after four days in the Argentinean capital I am more than ‘ready to race’.

A very happy New Year to you all.”

All the best Cyril

Stage 2

KTM's Cyril Despres wins Stage 2 of Dakar 2011; leads standingsCyril Despres, closely shadowed throughout the day by his eternal nemesis and fellow KTM factory rider Marc Coma, emerged the winner of Stage Two of the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally on Monday as riders took on the challenge from Cordoba to San Miguel as they head north through Argentina on this epic 16-day ride.

At the end of the day, which took the riders over 440 km of road and 300 km of special where they headed into the forest and were challenged with plenty of jumps, it was the French-born Despres who finished with a slim 1:49 margin over his Spanish rival. Despres, who finished second yesterday just behind his teammate Ruben Faria also learned on Tuesday that he had been awarded the stage victory after the Portuguese rider was given a one minute penalty for breaking the speed limit. Despres was therefore the one to open up the track and managed to stay in the lead for the entire stage. He now leads the overall standings with Coma just 2:35 behind in second place.

Despres, who is going for his fourth Dakar title maintained a slight edge over Coma throughout the day but the time difference is small and the rally long. While it is positive for KTM's two key riders to be in the lead, there is still much work to be done before anyone claims the prize back in Buenos Aires when the Dakar 2011 draws to a close on January 16. This is the third year the race has been held in South America and it takes riders through varied and challenging landscape and conditions both in Argentina and Chile.

Faria and Pedrero still up with the front runnersPortugal's Ruben Faria, fifth on Tuesday is now in third place overall, just over 6 minutes behind his two fellow KTM riders. The fourth KTM factory rider, Coma's teammate Juan Pedrero of Spain, was 14th nine minutes behind the leader in Stage Two and is lying eighth overall. All four are riding the new KTM 450 Rally bike, developed to conform to the regulations imposed on the professional riders by the rally organizers. 

300 km of slalom, Despres saysAfter completing the ride, Cyril Despres described Tuesday's special as a "300-km giant slalom with jumps". "It was full of bends and very slippery," he said, "It was a bit like skiing." Of the day's tactics, Cyril said: "I noticed at the refueling point that I'd taken almost a minute less than Coma. I was feeling good, so I decided to attack a bit in the second part, although I was careful to look after my tires because I nearly wore them through today. The most important thing is to find a good pace and have the right feeling. For the moment, the riding demands a lot of concentration". Both riders take care of tires on Stage TwoComa also said it had been a priority to take care of the tires on the stage. "It was a long stage, 300 km with lots of riding and virtually no navigation,"

he said. "I managed to get past Ruben Faria after losing a bit of time, so I tried to push on to make up but the main priority was to look after the tires. Towards the end I slowed down a little to take it easy until the finishing line". The comments from the two leaders, who between them have won the last five Dakar titles for KTM, also reflect the rivalry that exists between what are essentially the two great exponents of modern rally sports. New navigation challengesAs well as the regulation that restricts the top riders to the smaller and less powerful 450 ccm machines, this year there has also been a change in the regulations that will ensure absolute attention to navigation. This will come into play when the riders encounter more difficult terrain and especially the desert sands and dunes. In previous editions the rider's GPS system would indicate when they were within 3 km of a so-called "waypoint" and would even indicate the necessary direction with an arrow. Now that radius of recognition has been reduced to just 800 meters, leaving much more room for error if riders do not pay absolute attention to their road books. The change has underlined the importance of accurate navigation. After each stage the riders' GPS are checked by organizers to confirm that they have passed all the waypoints. There are heavy time penalties for those who miss a designated waypoint.Desert canyons and thick forest on the menu for Stage 3

The third stage of the rally takes riders from San Miguel to San Salvador de Jujuy over 231 km of road and a mammoth 521 km special where they encounter desert canyons and earth tracks before entering thick forest.

Stage 2 Results1, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM 03:19.112, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 1.493, David Casteu, France, Sherco at 3.464, Francisco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 4.065, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 5.4214, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, at 9.06 Overall Standings after Stage 21, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM 05:17.422, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 2.353, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 6.13 (Penalty 00:01.00)4, Francisco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, at 6.515, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal BMW, 9.288, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, at 10.50

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Stage 2 - 54th Overall – 2nd Marathon ClassSimon takes the first proper stage of 2011 easy as dust make the racing dangerous.Simon – “The first 100km were just super boring, very fast, big, wide fire roads with loads of dust. We started two at a time as well, so you were straight into someone’s dust and it was pretty dangerous going. After that we turned up into the mountains, it was exactly like the testing we did in Portugal and much more fun. The track was really enjoyable, sandy in the turn and rocky in the straights and much slower going, mostly second and third gear.

I took it pretty steady today, it was the sort of day that you could end your rally on before it’s started, like Cyril (Esquirol) did. It was so dusty and fast it would only take one rock or a missed note on the road book to wind up on a stretcher. I took it super easy and rode well within myself, it’s a 15 day race and losing 10 minutes today isn’t going to ruin my result.

Even though I took it slow, my result wasn’t too bad and there were a lot of people around me who were taking risks so I am pretty happy.We were  lucky today with the weather too, it’s was overcast and actually rained a little too. It kept the temperature relatively low which was nice!”

Coverage airs’ on Eurosport a 7:15pm and 10pm.

You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com.

Stage 3

Dakar Rally Stage 3: First stage win for KTM's Marc ComaMarc Coma on Tuesday picked up his first Stage victory for the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally in another exciting finish with fellow KTM factory rider Marc Coma who hangs onto the overall lead by a mere 14 seconds.

Ruben Faria of Portugal, Despres' co-rider, finished fifth after the marathon special of 521 tough kilometers but stays in third overall while Coma's teammate and Spanish countryman Juan Pedrero finished tenth and is also tenth in the overalls.

After settling in with two stages that were relatively trouble-free, riders on Tuesday tackled a massive 521 km of special and 231 of road riding that took them through desert canyons, up to an altitude of 3378 m before descending down into the forested areas in the most northern provinces of Argentina just below the border with Bolivia. This area is new territory for the Dakar regulars.

Coma, who celebrated his first Stage win for the 2011 edition after mastering the tricky navigation to perfection, described his ride as "a really authentic Dakar day". "I'm happy with where I am," the Spanish rider commented at the end of the day. "I took advantage of a little navigation mistake by Cyril Despres. Of course it's important to win a special, but my aim is to win the rally".

Despres, first out today after winning the first two stages, had mixed fortunes at the beginning of the special when he encountered a number of spectators crossing the piste, which was enough to momentarily disturb his concentration. Then after a small navigation error around the first waypoint, he settled down to do some serious damage control.  "Marc Coma caught up with me very quickly," he said. I was very careful during the first 10 km and then after 11 km I got it completely wrong. I didn't lose two hours, but several precious minutes. In the end, I limited the damage, because I finished 20 seconds behind Marc. He must have gained 2 minutes 20 seconds on me. It's not huge amount of time, but I would've liked to have kept it for myself". The 2011 Dakar is still wide open but the rivalry between the two KTM riders is already omnipresent and they are both fighting hard for every small advantage.

While Coma had moved into second as early as the second waypoint and took and retained the lead from the third, Despres fought his way back into contention with the same determination that is his hallmark racing style. By waypoint seven he was in sixth place. He then slipped into third at waypoint nine and crossed the line in second place just over two minutes behind Coma.

Ruben Faria, Cyril's teammate had another good day. He was in the top ten in the first half of the special then moved up the order to finish in fifth. Ruben hangs on to third place in the overalls and trails the leader by 9:38. Coma's teammate Juan Pedrero is 19:22 behind the leader in 10th overall, to solidify the KTM quartet's position among the top ranked competitors. With three of the thirteen stages and a day of very hard riding, the KTM factory riders are holding up well on the new KTM 450 Rally bike, especially developed to conform to the new regulations that limit the professionals to the smaller bike.

After leaving San Salvador de Jujuy tomorrow the riders must cross the Andes via the Paso de Jama at an oxygen robbing 4800 m altitude before plunging down to Calama in Chile and the notorious Atacama Desert, the world's driest region. It will be another relentless energy sapping day on the bikes with 554 km on the road and a 207 km

special. Having crossed the border from Argentina into Chile the route of the 33rd edition of the rally turns north and riders will head for the northern most tip of Chile, right on the border with Peru.

Stage 3 Results1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 4:18.552, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM at 2:213, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal BMW, at 3:364, Olivier Pain, France, Yamaha, at 4:345, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 5.4610, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, at 10:53 Overall Standings after Stage 21, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM 09:38:582, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 0:143, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 9:38 (Penalty 00:01.00)4, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal BMW at 10:435, Jose Rodrigues, Brazil, BMW at 16:0710, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, at 19:22

Cyril DespresAfter two first, relatively straightforward stages, the Dakar got into its stride today with more technical terrain. Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) paid the price of opening the piste to finish in second place 2’21 behind Marc Coma, with Goncalves third at 3’36. Overall Cyril maintains his lead by just 14 seconds ahead of Coma with Ruben Faria (Red Bull KTM) third at 9’38.

“Not a great day. There were a lot of people at the start of the special and so I took care and as a consequence struggled to find my rhythm. I went better as the stage continued, but I can’t say I am really satisfied with how I rode. Still that’s the Dakar – you can’t be at 100% all the time. Tomorrow we go over Andes mountains into Chile and it is always a magic moment. The scenery will be stunning – like you are on top of the world.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Stage 3 - 70th Stage – 60th OverallAnother dusty stage, high temperatures and extra humidity make for a surprisingly hard day. Simon – “I really enjoyed today even though my result wasn’t the best. I ran out of gas as well because the fuel wasn’t was filtering into the main tank from the auxiliary tanks. I almost missed my liaison stage time too as I spent an hour stopping to try and figure the issues out. It only cost me five minutes on the special so it’s not too much of an issue and I think I have fixed the problem now.

I had my first tumble of the race today too, which probably cost more time than the fuel issue. Just after the refuel there was a basic 90-degree corner and I washed the front end out. It was a shame because I had clear track in front but ended up in the dust of a quad and a few bikes while I was rolling around which wasn’t so pleasant.

The Iritrack/GPS stopped working today so I had no trip meter or GPS. It wasn’t much of an issue because it was all track so waypoints weren’t difficult, and my Trailtech Stryker computer turned out to be fantastic. The trip on it was very good got me through the stage.

It was quite fast again today and really fun. The going was super twisty, had some really enjoyable enduro riding and a number of water crossings. It was pretty slippery from the rain though but very good fun. It is one of the things that is much nicer about Dakar in South America, the riding is actually fun.

It was still the type of stage where there was not a lot of time to be lost but you could have a big crash and make rally ending mistakes. I am just trying to ride sensibly, always riding so I can read every note on the road book. There was a caution marked on the road book today that had four guys crashed at it, people are riding balls out, not navigating and making mistakes. It slows you down but I think it the long run it does pay off.

The stage was surprisingly long and tiring today. I was out of the special by 12pm but we still had over 300km of road-work and it is really hot at the moment. It’s going to be more and more of a problem as we go north too. I have to keep coming into the shade to work on my bike it’s so bloody hot!

I am looking forward to Stage 3, it looks like it’s going to be a bit more difficult, some more difficult navigation and a bit more off piste riding, more my sort of thing!”

Stage 4

Second Stage win for Marc Coma as two-way KTM battle ensuesMarc Coma of Spain took line honors in Stage Four of the Dakar Rally on Thursday to even up the reckoning with arch rival and fellow KTM factory rider, French-born Cyril Despres. Coma also takes control of the overall standings by a mere two seconds in what is shaping up to be a battle royal between the two giants of the sport.

Marc Coma of Spain took line honors in Stage Four of the Dakar Rally on Thursday to

even up the reckoning with arch rival and fellow KTM factory rider, French-born Cyril Despres. Coma also takes control of the overall standings by a mere two seconds in what is shaping up to be a battle royal between the two giants of the sport.

Important day, Coma saysComa said it had been "a very important day" for him, even if a relatively short special. "It was difficult to open the way. I'm happy and I felt great. I hope it stays like that right until the end. The general standings don't matter for the moment. The most important thing will be the last day. It's essential to have a good pace and avoid making mistakes. Now we'll have to deal with two very difficult stages".

Coma finished 16 seconds in front in Stage 4Coma registered the best provisional time of the day by just 16 seconds over Despres, who had stuck closely to his rival throughout the day's special. Despres was never more than 32 seconds behind and constantly shaved a second here and there as the day progressed as the stage took the riders from San Salvador de Jujuy in Argentina over the Andes and down into Calama on the Chilean side of the border. Riders absolved 554 km on the road and a special of 207 km and were rewarded at the end of the day with their first look at the famed Atacama Desert, the driest region on the planet.

Tough competition between KTM's two leading ridersThe rivalry between the two KTM factory riders is legendary and this Dakar is no exception. Despres won the first two stages and Coma the second two but in reality there is nothing between them as they tackle the tricky desert dunes of Chile. The KTM riders were closely shadowed on Wednesday by Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez who would have wanted to enter his home country in the lead, had riding at the top of the field not been so fierce.  He was two minutes behind but now has a deficit of more than 20 minutes in the general standings as the two leaders begin to put serious distance between themselves and the rest of the field. If either wins the event this year it will be the 10th victory for KTM, the Austrian sports motorcycle brand. Despres already owns three Dakar trophies; Coma has two to his credit and neither will concede an inch until after they get back to Buenos Aires on January 16.

Different mind set, Despres says"For this type of terrain that's so different you need to change the way your brain's wired. There's no more hard ground, just desert, off-track riding and surfaces that break up. It was a good start to the desert stages. Today, Marc Coma rode a great stage. It's a superb battle with Marc. Today again we opened up a little more of a gap on the others. This evening, I'm in second, 2 seconds behind. For a number 2, that's a neat trick, isn't it?"

Mixed fortunes for co-ridersIt was a mixed day for the co-riders of the two leaders. Juan Pedrero of Spain, Coma's partner in the 33rd edition had his best stage so far to finish sixth, just over seven minutes behind the leaders and now moves up to sixth in the overalls. Ruben Faria, Cyril's co-rider was not so lucky and experienced difficulties between waypoint two and four and dropped from third to 26th at the end of the day, Ruben crossed the line in 22nd place and dropped down the order in the generals to seventh place. The two KTM teams can be satisfied that all of their four factory riders are in the top seven after getting into the tougher stages, while Coma and Despres are now pulling ahead of the rest of the field.

Dakar goes to ChileToday was the day that the Dakar "caravan" crossed the Andes at an altitude of 4800 m via the Paso de Jama pass so competitors had to content with the thin air as well as tough riding conditions, even if the special was only half the distance of yesterday's Stage Three.  Organizers had made provision for possible negative affects of the altitude on the competitors and some 30 vehicles were positioned along the course to assist anyone with altitude-related difficulties. Stage Four was also the first stage where bikes, cars and trucks in the rally all followed the same route.

High altitude crossingHaving safely managed the stage, the altitude, the crossover into Chilean territory, the teams now have to muster their physical and mental strength to apply themselves to attacking the soft and shifting sands of the Chilean desert, the mighty Atacama. Riders still have two very testing days on the bikes before the one and only rest day on Saturday in this marathon event. Stage Five, another very challenging ride allows them a mere 36 km on the road and 423 grueling kilometers of mixed terrain, including rocky track and dunes. The stage finishes at Iquique on the Pacific coast when they make a heart-stopping descent at an average gradient of 32%. On Friday they continue north through the sand and dunes to a point near the border with Peru, which is also new territory for the rally this year.

Stage 4 Results1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 2:04:002, Cyril Despres, Andorra, at 00:163, Francisco Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, at 2:054, Olivier Pain, France, Yamaha, at 6:205, Helder Rodriguez, Portugal, Yamaha, at 6:556. Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 7:1522. Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM at 17:43

General Standings after Stage 41, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 11:43:122, Cyril Despres, Andorra, at 00:023, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, at 20:124. Paolo Goncalves, Portugal, BMW, 25:405, Helder Rodriguez, Portugal, Yamaha, at 26:026. Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 26:237, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM at 27:07

Crossing over from Argentina to Chile, today’s stage went to Marc Coma just 16 seconds ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with Chaleco Lopez in third place (at 2’05). Overall Coma takes the lead just 2 seconds ahead of Cyril with Goncalves taking Ruben Faria’s third place after the Portuguese rider lost time searching for a waypoint. Ruben finally finished in 22nd place and is now down in 7th place overall (at 27’07).

Cyril Despres“The Dakar is always pushing your limits. Today we got up very early, rode 550 kilometres across the Andes, the first part in the rain, and reached an altitude of 4800 metres. Then the scenery changed completely for a 200 kilometre special in the desert. A perfect example of the fantastic variety South America has to offer the sport of rally-raid.Over the special the pace was very fast and a lot of fun to ride. With the open terrain and the dust I could see Marc (Coma) up ahead and we raced each other at a distance to finish with a time difference of just 16 seconds! This evening looking at the results I was amused to see I am in second place on bike number 2, two seconds behind the leader. That is a lot of ‘twos’ for 1 day!”

Stage 5

Coma retains overall lead after Despres incurs 10-minute penalty.KTM factory riders Marc Coma and Cyril Despres continue to lead the overall standings in the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally after an eventful day for both riders in Stage Five that saw them up with the front runners, if not in the two top positions.Coma however has a 10:14 advantage of his arch rival after Despres incurred a 10-minute penalty at the start of the day that took them down to the coast of the Pacific at the conclusion of the day's ride.

Confusion reigned when the starting time was moved forward by 15 minutes however the information was not passed on at the team briefing. Despres did make it to the start in time but in the ensuing confusion he missed one of three flags that riders were obliged to pass as they commenced the day's ride. Coma and Despres are still out in front in the overall standings and continue to be the rally's dominant riders.

Difficult and eventful day Despite their solid day's ride the first full day in the Atacama Coma said it had been a difficult and eventful day. He had one fall off the bike after which he had to make some repairs to the radiator. "I managed to repair it and carry on more or less as normal. After the refueling, I stopped for Olivier Pain who had just had a fall. He was unconscious, so I activated the alarm and stayed with him until my water carrier Joan Pedrero arrived. It was a genuine Dakar stage where all sorts of things happen," he said. Race officials took Coma's stop to help the injured Pain into consideration and after the results were announced he was re-classified third for the stage, 1:40 behind the day's winner and therefore 12" in front of Despres. They later announced that Pain had a broken wrist and is out of the rally for this edition.

Despite problems great day of rally raid Despres saysDespres was understandably disappointed at his penalty but dismissed it as a legitimate part of competing in rally raid. "I was told at half past four in the morning that I'd been given a penalty. I just forgot my thermal gloves, so I went back to get them and I didn't see that there were signposts I had to follow at the exit. Unfortunately for me, that's the race rules, but I've already forgotten about it after what I experienced today," he said. Cyril was clearly elated after what he described as "425 km of navigation and pleasure". "This is why I race rally raids," he said. "We had to go looking for GPS coordinates that were genuinely like needles in haystacks. Forgetting about the time or penalties, the most important thing for me is to feel good and enjoy myself."

Riders tackled 423 km that offered a rocky start and several off-track sections that required astute navigation in the salt flats before descending into the dunes of the Atacama. The day concluded with a heart stopping steep descent down to Iquique on the Pacific coast.

More challenges in Stage Six  Stage Six takes competitors from Iquique to Arica, the most northern point in this year's edition right on the border of Chile and Peru. The liaison is 265 km on the road then another 456 km of special with plenty of dunes and the first encounter with the dreaded fesh-fesh (known in Chile as "Guadal") the talc-like soft sand that can be so tricky. Saturday, the following day is the one rest day in this marathon competition that sweeps through Argentina and Chile and takes riders over more than 9000 km of remarkable, varied and always challenging South American landscape.

Stage 5 Results1, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal, BMW, 5:12:232, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, at 2:183, Frans Verhoefen, Belgium, BMW, 2:194, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 3:58 (Coma re-classified third after officials evaluated the time he spent assisting the injured Olivier Pain)5, Cyril Despres, Andorra, 4:407. Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM 12:059. Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 17:0110, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM, 17:36

General Standings after Stage 51, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 16:59:332, Cyril Despres, Andorra, at 10:143, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, at 21:424, Paolo Goncalves, Portugal, BMW, 25:405, Helder Rodriguez, Portugal, Yamaha, at 32:056, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM at 35:147, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 40:01

Cyril DespresVictory on the special went to Paulo Gonçalves ahed of local hero ‘Chaleco’ Lopez at 2’18, with Verhoeven third (at 2’19). Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) finished fifth at 4’10 with Ruben Faria 7th at 12’05. Following a 10 minute penalty, given last night for incorrectly exiting the bivouac time control yesterday morning, Cyril is now 10’14 behind Coma overall, with Lopez third at 18’32. Ruben Faria is 6th at 35’14.

“I think that was probably the best desert navigation stage I have done ever - just incredible – especially the last 90 kilometres . We were in the dunes, and trying to find an 800 metre waypoint in there was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You follow the notes from valley to valley and you think you will never find it and when you do there is this sense of satisfaction… I came across the finish line with Chaleco (Lopez) and we were both laughing like kids reliving our experiences. Today went a long way to making up for yesterday’s time penalty – it helps me remember why I love this sport so much.”

Stage 6

Ruben Faria takes Stage Six of Daker; Coma remains overall leaderKTM factory rider Ruben Faria of Portugal and co-rider to Cyril Despres took line honors on Friday in Stage Six of the 33rd edition of the fames Dakar Rally after what the KTM riders agreed was a very tough day in the coastal desert of Northern Chile. Cyril Despres was third and Marc Coma finished fourth and still retains the overall lead from Despres by 8:48.

Tomorrow, Saturday is the rest day, which riders will spend at Arica on the Chilean/Peruvian border.     Tough day's rideFaria said it was a very tough stage that was long and bumpy. "I started at my own pace, so until the refueling stop I probably lost some time. After that I accelerated and I overtook Despres, Coma, Rodrigues and Chaleco (Lopez) 200 km from the finish. As Cyril's water carrier, I always ride sensibly, but there are times when I can take advantage of the situation. I started seventh this morning and that helped me. I think Cyril will be happy for me". It was in fact the second time Faria has taken line honors in this edition. He was first over the line in Stage One but then had to concede the stage to Despres after being handed down a minute's penalty by organizers. It was Ruben's fourth Dakar stage victory. he also took a stage in 2006, 2007 and 2010. 

Sand, salt flats and fesh-feshDespres also said the day had been a difficult one as riders traveled from Iquique to Arica through Chile's coastal desert strip that looks like a moonscape. They started the day with a 50 km ride though the sand before moving onto off-track sections in salt flats before finishing in the dreaded ‘fesh-fesh', the fine, talc-like sand that is feared by all riders. He finished the stage in third place just 3:54 behind Faria and is now in second place overall trailing Coma by 8:48 as the rally pauses tomorrow for the one rest day.

Coma also concedes a hard day at the officeComa came home in fourth place and like his team members also talked about a tough day in the saddle: "It was a very hard stage, at the start with the dunes, then with all the navigation, because it was very technical until around the 200 km point. It was a very restrictive stage and was hard to open the way. It was like I was stood still and was still in the same place since there was so much ‘fesh-fesh'. It was a really hard stage".

Despite the tough conditions, it was a good overall result for the KTM factory riders. Also in the top ten finishers were KTM riders Stefan Svitko of Slovakia in fifth place and Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway in ninth. Ullevalseter is, like the official KTM factory riders, on the smaller 450 machine to conform to the new rally regulations. He finished second last year behind Cyril Despres. Marc Coma's co-rider Juan Pedrero of Spain finished in 15th place and is ninth overall

in the standings at the half way mark. Peruvian fans are also expected to welcome the riders at Arica, which is very close to the borders of the two countries. It is the first time that the rally has entered into the northern reaches of both Chile and Argentina.The rally resumes on Sunday after a welcome respite for riders and their support teams traveling with them and there is more of the same waiting for the riders and Stage 7 from Arica to Antofagasta will be another very hard day. The stage offers a 208 km liaison and a mammoth 631 km in two stages of special down to the shores of the Pacific. They can look forward to 40 km of endurance style riding and plenty of dunes that is going to test both their skill as riders and their physical and mental fitness.

Stage Six Results1, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, 5:35:272, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, at 00:503, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM, at 3:544, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 5:205. Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM, at 8:079, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 13:2515, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 27:32 Standings after Stage Six1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 22:40:202, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM, at 8:483, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 22:124, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, at 27:355, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM at 29:549, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 01:02:2310, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 01:09:2011, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 01:27.05

Victory on the last stage before the rest day went to the Portuguese rider Ruben Faria ahead of compatriot Helder Rodrigues (at 0’50) and Red Bull KTM team mate Cyril Despres (at 3’45). Overall Cyril pulls back on leader Marc Coma and this evening is 8’48 behind the Spaniard, with the Chilean Chaleco Lopez third (at 22’12), Rodrigues fourth (at 27’35) and Ruben moving up one place to fifth (at 29’54)

Cyril Despres“I felt good on the bike this morning and quickly caught up with Marc around the 45 kilometre mark. He wasn’t attacking very hard and I was getting ready to overtake him when Chaleco (Lopez) arrived and got between us. That made overtaking a whole lot more difficult and I ended up getting stuck in their dust until the Erg at kilometre 240. It was a big climb up to the top and all three of us got stuck, but I got out first and made it round to the way point. From there I opened the piste almost to the end when I was joined by Rodrigues. Now we are in the rest day bivouac and will have tomorrow off before attacking the second week of racing taking us back to Buenos Aires.”

Coma and Despres lead at the half way mark The Dakar 2011, the 33rd edition of the world's most famous rally paused on the border of Chile and Peru on Saturday for the one rest day in this more than 9000 km ride through Argentina and Chile. At the half way mark at Arica, the two dominant riders are still the KTM factory duo Marc Coma of Spain and French-born Cyril Despres.

So far the two rivals who are considered to be the best contemporary exponents of rally sport, have taken two stage victories each and are eight minutes apart in the overall standings with Coma having the edge. With the field starting to spread out, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez is in third place some 22 minutes back from Coma. While this may be a comfortable margin, it is a well documented fact that in the Dakar anything can happen and usually does. The two KTM front runners must now focus on the fact that there are still three stages in the dreaded Atacama Desert on the coastal plain of Chile and this is home territory for the wily Lopez. The bottom line is that no-one can rest easily and the rally is still wide open. It is a long way back to the finish at Buenos Aires on January 16th.

 Solid performance from all four KTM factory ridersComa and Despres, and their two "water carriers", Juan Pedrero of Spain and Ruben Faria of Portugal have all been performing well so far on the brand new KTM 450 Rally bike, developed to conform to the regulation introduced in mid 2009 that limits professional class riders to bikes not exceeding 450 ccm. At the half way mark Faria is fifth overall and Pedrero is ninth overall. Ruben has twice crossed the line in first place only to have his line honors canceled out after organizers handed him time penalties. Ultimate test for the new KTM 450 Rally bikeThe new bike, developed with valuable input from the two top KTM riders Despres and Coma, was first ridden competitively in the Morocco Rally in late October, an event that was won by Despres. But while there has been a massive amount of testing time invested in the new bike, this is its first Dakar, a rally that is like no other. If either Coma or Despres succeed in taking the title, it will be the 10th in succession for the Austrian manufacturer. Despres has won three times and Coma twice so there is a huge sense of rivalry between them, which adds another layer of

excitement on the result. In addition, both have felt the pain of being close to victory only to see it slip from their grasp in the closing stages. The Dakar, as they both know for experience, is never over until it is over.  KTM privateers leaving their mark on the top 20Apart from the four KTM factory riders, the numerous privateers that favor the Austria brand have also stamped their impression on the first half of the rally. Stefan Svitko of Slovakia is currently tenth and riding in his first Dakar. Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway, who took second place last year is feeling increasingly at home on the smaller KTM 450 Rally bike and is now overall eleventh. Brazilian KTM rider Jean De Azevedo is thirteenth, Dutch pair Henk Knuiman and Teus Visser are fifteenth and sixteenth and Poland's duo Jacek Czachor and Marek Dabrowski are seventeenth and eighteenth. KTM is proud to have 63 riders onboard their bikes for the Dakar 2011 and the company is present with full service facilities, including the provision of comprehensive customer package service for privateers that can include hire bikes and full service and spare parts. Plenty of tough riding left When riders get back in the saddle at first light on Sunday they face their longest stage in this year's edition. Stage 7 from Arica to Antofagasta takes them on a liaison of 208 km of road before they plunge back into the desert for two special stages that total 631 grueling kilometers. Organizers have promised that there will be about 40 km of Endurance style riding and dunes that will test both the skill and fitness of the riders. Stage 8 is hardly less strenuous with another daunting 508 km special in the Atacama, considered the driest place on the planet. Stage 9 stays in the Atacama for another energy robbing ride before riders turn back across the Andes on the following day and into Argentina for the ride home to the capital. But even after they escape from the tricky sands of the Atacama, there will still be plenty of action for the remainder of the rally. Organizers have promised that the stages in the second half will be even more difficult than the first as they aim to increase the excitement and ensure a dramatic final ride back to Buenos Aires. KTM wishes all Dakar riders an exciting, competitive, fair and injury free ride as they embark of the second half of the Dakar 2011.

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Stage 6 - Stage – 67th -Overall – 79th Simon pulled strong towards the end of the stage to rescue a result from another problem. Right from the word go Simon’s day put him behind the eight ball. After struggling over the last couple of days with a fuel flow issue that has resulted in Simon temporarily running out of fuel he eventually managed to fix the problem. “I spent a good few hours last night trying to come up with a solution. It’s a strange problem because it’s the same Safari tank setup we used on my old Dakar bike and they are fantastic. When I rocked up at the fuel station, one of my little fixes gave out and chucked fuel all over the floor. It took me a while to fix and I missed my start time by 25 minutes.” This meant all the hard work overtaking slower riders on the stage before was completely undone and Simon started the day almost dead last. The going was made even more difficult by over 100km of fesh fesh sand that makes overtaking hard and dangerous. “I hate fesh fesh. It’s the worst riding we have to do on Dakar. It’s not difficult, it’s just horrible. You can’t see anything, the dust hangs in the air like talcum powder and it stupidly dangerous. It’s like riding baked hard ruts in two-foot high grass. People were having huge crashes left, right and centre. Casteu and I ended up riding together for a short while and he went on a different line to me through one bit, I slowed down just a little and he had a massive tank slapper right next to me.”  Things started to improve as the stage wore on and Si kept working his way up the leader board. In the last 100 km and finally into free air he managed to make almost 20 places. “The last 100 km were good. I really made some time and will start tomorrows stage a little bit higher again. It’s nice to be in early today with no problems, I can finally sleep tonight too! I hope tomorrows stage is more fun than today’s, It’s the first stage I haven’t enjoyed so far this year. The final dune made up for all that, it’s insane! It’s 2.5km to the bottom, I clocked 130km/h down there and if we allowed to go again you’d do it wide open, it was awesome!”  “I am really looking forward to the challenge tomorrow is going to bring. Stages that are shorter on Dakar are generally really difficult. The special is about 400km tomorrow but they have given us almost 36 hours allowance to do it. I think it’s going to be surprisingly hard and could be the end for a lot of people”

Stage Seven is from Iquiqe to Arica. The stage is expected to be difficult with competitors allocated until 6pm on the rest day to finish. 256km Liaison – 456km Special. 

You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com 

Stage 7Despres & Coma 2nd and 3rd in Stage 7; Coma & Despres 1-2 overall

KTM factory riders continued to deliver strong results in the seventh stage of the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally as riders resumed the competition after the one rest day on Saturday. While victory in the stage in the Chilean desert went to home-grown rider Chaleco Lopez, KTM's Cyril Despres and Marc Coma were close behind in second and third.

French-born Despres also clawed back a little over a minute from overall leader and arch rival Coma who continues to lead the overall standings by a margin of 7:24. The competition is shaping up to be a great battle between the two KTM factory riders who are aiming to give the Austrian brand its 10th consecutive title. Other serious podium contenders as the riders settle into the second half of the rally are Lopez and Helder Rodrigues of Portugal while the two co-riders for the KTM teams, Ruben Faria (Portugal) and Juan Pedrero of Spain are fifth and seventh overall. Despres was elated at the end of the day saying that the rest day had been "good for man and machine". "Today was one of the best days of motocross-type racing of my entire life. Not only was it a beautiful stage, it was also a fantastic one to ride - a really great day, even in terms of results." Dealing with the dustComa also commented that the day had been another technical one in the sands of the Atacama, which he described as "nice but demanding". "I suffered in the first part, because I was behind Ruben Faria and I was getting a lot of his dust; it was hard to pass. But in the last part, the sand dunes, I could ride at my own pace," he said. Coma, who has won this great event twice, is riding his ninth Dakar and he says the rally has been the focus of his life for the past seven years. "My life revolves around it - around getting ready and working hard day after day to keep myself competitive and in a position to fight for the win. I'm proud to be part of the Dakar family," he told reporters.

Positive first half, Despres saysOn the eve of Stage 7 three times Dakar winner Cyril Despres said the first half of the rally had been very positive. "The pace has been fast right from the beginning and we have had some great specials. I am also satisfied with how I have been riding. I haven't had any big crashes, I'm not caring any injuries, my navigation has been precise and my

speed good. The team is also functioning very well and Ruben (Faria) has been doing a great job supporting me on the piste." Strong KTM riders give six in top ten on SundayThe day's ride was also characterized by increasingly good performances by two other KTM riders, Stefan Svitko of Slovakia, riding his first Dakar, who was sixth in the stage and is eighth overall and veteran Pal Anders Ullevalseter who continues to improve day by day. He was seventh across the line on Sunday and is 10th overall. The efforts of the four factory riders and Svitko and Ullevalseter gave KTM six riders in the top 10. Sunday a shortened stageOrganizers perhaps took pity on the riders and on Sunday what was intended to be the longest stage in the rally was shortened to a 273 km special stage. This year's Dakar is shaping up to be a very close race with mere minutes separating the riders. This makes the second half of the rally all the more nail-biting and even though the two KTM front runners are now well placed, many things can happen between the desert sands and riding into Buenos Aires in triumph on January 16th. The winner will need perfect physical fitness and mental concentration and reliability of machine over what is undoubtedly the ultimate test of rider and bike. More sand on MondayStage eight on Monday sees the riders stay in the desert as they travel from Antofagasta - Copiapo - on 268 km of road and a 508 timed special. The tricky navigation continues and they have a long sandy section at the end of the day. Still in the field for the second half of the rally are 125 bikes remaining from the original start list of 186. Stage Seven Results1, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 3:29.452, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM, at 2:213, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 3:454, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, at 9:145, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, 10:446, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM, at 11:197, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 14:0310, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 18:05 Standings after Stage Six1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 26:13:502, Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM, at 7:243, Francisco (Chaleco) Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 18:274, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, at 33:045, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM at 40:537, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 01:16:338, Stefan Svitko, Slovakia, KTM at 01:16:5410, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 01:37:23

Cyril Despres “Another special that was great fun to ride. I caught Helder at about kilometre 90 and got stuck in his dust until we got to the erg at kilometre 148. Then, after the refuelling CP, we took a different route to the quads and cars and went through a series of valleys on little goat tracks. There were some really steep climbs and descents – it was like the Ezberg Rodeo in places - and I couldn’t help wondering how Cali (Christian Califano) was going to manage. All in all a superb day’s riding and the result wasn’t too bad either.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Day 7 - Stage 6 Stage – 47th Overall – 71s Simon scores his best result of the Rally so far on a dangerous and difficult stage. Stage seven was expected to be a difficult stage, with the organisers giving competitors until 6pm the following day to complete the stage. The riding turned out to be just as difficult with 30 competitors either out of the race or still in the stage this morning. Simon – “Today’s stage was hard, a proper rally stage. It’s the first stage this year where I have been physically destroyed at the end of the day. The riding was super physical, really jarring terrain that vibrated you in half. The rocks were so bad it vibrated the bolts holding the navigation gear till they snapped and those bolts aren’t a weak point. That was a simple zip tie fix and didn’t cost me any time today.” 

The navigation of the stage and the new rules* shone through properly for the first time as well, with many riders missing or losing lots of time trying to locate waypoints. “Experience helped me hugely today. Right from waypoint two people were going the wrong way. There we a bunch of tracks leaving it but they weren’t from the rally. They went in completely the wrong direction, fortunately that gave me a chance at clean air and I ended up riding the whole day alone. I saw a lot of people just riding off in strange directions and tracks that were definitely not right.” The physicality and technicality meant a number of riders had big crashes and are out of the rally. “With the riding be so hard and physical today it was easy to make mistakes. I had a little tumble but nothing too serious but it was a day to break yourself on. Today was by far the slowest I have ridden on this year’s race, without a doubt. The more tired I got the slower I got too, so it does surprise me I did alright.” Simon has moved up to third in the Marathon class now and is just 20 minutes behind the class leader. “I feel really good at the moment, the bike is strong, we have fixed the small issues with fuel and everything looks great. Today is the rest day so I am going to completely go over the bike and make sure it is ok. The engine has impressed me with how it’s holding up, I have been quiet gentle but oil is coming out clean at the end of each day. The broken sub-frame looks like it was just a weak one and this one is much better. The old one had done a lot of testing miles as well. I have done a lot of contemplation about whether to stay in Marathon or change my engine and drop to Malles Moto but after talking to everyone here I have decided to stay with my current engine. It is working so well, there is not a single rattle from it and by changing it there is always the chance the new one might have an issue or something might not be put back together correctly.” With today being the rest day no racing is done. The next stage is tomorrow from Antofogasto to Arica along the Chilean coast to the Peruvian border. *For 2011 the rules on Navigation and finding waypoints changed. In the past the GPS Came to life to show you the direction of a way point when you came within 3km of it. Now the GPS only works within 800m of a Waypoint.You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com

Stage 9

No more cat and mouse, Despres says after Stage Nine of the Dakar

When the Dakar riders attacked their last full day in the Atacama Desert on Tuesday, organizers had promised that the 235 km timed loop course from Copiapo to Copiapo was likely to trick even the best. At the end of an obviously frustrating day of navigation, KTM factory rider Cyril Despres, seventh in the stage remarked that he was "fed up with the cat and mouse game".

Despres at seventh, his arch rival Marc Coma, leader in the standings in ninth place, their co-riders Ruben Faria and Juan Pedrero back at 26 and 12: so what happened to the KTM riders who have so far dominated the rally?

Confusion at the startThe top 10 all started together today with the remaining field going off in rows of 20 behind them. After that there was a navigation error and general confusion, according to Despres. "We didn't stay grouped for a long time after the start because at the 17 km point Helder Rodrigues took a wrong direction and we all followed him. So, we turned round and ran straight into the second wave of starters. We were all riding in each other's dust. It was a bit of a strange stage really."

Coma and Despres still lead standingsThis incident shook up the standing order on the day but didn't affect the two leaders' position at the front of the standings with the exception that Despres was able to trim the time deficit between him and Coma in the lead by a minute, and between these rivals, that is already something worth noting. At the conclusion of nine of the 13 stages of this more than 9000 km race, Coma leads Despres by 8:14 minutes. Bearing in mind that in the early stages Despres incurred a 10 minute penalty for failing to pass a flag at an early morning start, it is easy to see that when it comes to speed, skills and tactics, there is nothing separating the two.

Difficult day, coma saysComa agreed that it had turned out to be a difficult day. He said fog and the group start had both made navigation difficult. "The first group got lost," he said. "We turned right, when we shouldn't have. When we got back on track the second wave caught up with us. It was a bit of a mess. After that, a group of around twenty quick riders formed and we managed to ride the rest of the stage normally. But in the end, it was a difficult day."

KTM rival Rodrigues drifts back in the overall standingsHelder Rodrigues, the stage winner at Arica on the northern border of Chile, extracted himself from the navigation difficulties and at one point looked like he was going to

steal the stage but then he ran out of fuel at the 225 km mark. This was when American Jonah Street, the eventual stage winner, seized the advantage and was eventually able to convert it into the Stage victory ahead of Belgium's Frans Verhoeven and David Casteu of France, who took the minor places.

Excitement mounting as riders turn towards ArgentinaRodrigues now finds himself still at fourth in the standings but separated from Coma by more than an hour, while the two KTM riders' closest rival remains the wily Chilean, Chaleco Lopez, who after tomorrow loses his home advantage as riders head back over the Andes and into Argentina. All indications are that the 33rd edition of the Dakar will now be a battle of attrition between Coma and Despres right to the finish line in Buenos Aires. Despres is going for his fourth title; Coma his third; KTM its tenth, so excitement is building in the KTM camp and among its supporters.

Tomorrow riders have another long day on the bikes as Stage 10 takes them from Copiapo to Chilecito - 686 km of road and a short special of just 176 km as they cross back across the Andes and into the hot white dunes of Fiambala.

Stage Nine Results1, Jonah Street, USA, Yamaha, 03:06.562, Frans Verhoeven, Belgium, BMW, at 3:383, David Casteu, France, Sherco, 3:404, Guell Farres, Spain, Aprilia, 4:305, Jordi Viladoms, Spain, Yamaha, 5:467. Cyril Despres, Andorra, KTM, 6:038, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM 6:599, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 7:0812, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM 8:5126, Ruben Faria, Portugal, 18:29

Standings after Stage Nine1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM2, Cyril Despres Andorra, KTM, at 8:143, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia, 23:334, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:01.515, Rubin Faria, Portugal, KTM 1:21:206, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 2:02:177, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM 2:04:44

Cyril DespresThis morning’s mass start produced an atypical stage result, with the win going to the American Street 3’38 ahead of Verhoeven with Casteu third at 3’40. Starting in the first wave of ten, Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) finished 7th (at 6’03) with Marc Coma 9th (at 7’08). Overall Cyril reduces Coma’s lead to 8’14 with Lopez third at 23’33. Despite finishing in 26th place Cyril’s team mate Ruben Faria maintains his 5th place overall.

“Last night with the team we examined a few different strategies for today’s mass start, but as is often the case, I had to come up with a couple more as the stage progressed. The first forced revision came early on in the special when my kilometre counter stopped functioning. Helder (Rodrigues) was leading and so I had little choice but to follow him. The other 8 riders in our wave did the same and by the time we realised we were on the wrong track and had doubled back the second wave of 20 riders had gone by and there was dust and bikes in all directions. After that I didn’t have many solutions until just 20 kilometres from the end when I made a break and managed to take just over 1 minute from Marc. Although I might have preferred a different outcome, the final result went in the right direction and there is another interesting special in Fiambala in Argentina tomorrow that holds promise.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Day 10 - Stage 9 Stage – 103rdDisaster strikes for Simon and staying in the race becomes the main priority.In a dramatic and disastrous turn of events Simon’s race almost ended as the engine on his G450X gave out in-dramatic fashion. Somehow he managed to get hold of his spare engine, then changed it for the old one mid stage. It cost almost 6 hours in race time but Simon managed to finish the day and stay on course for his 6th Dakar finish.Yesterday’s stage started out well again with Simon in and around the 50th place mark again but he never arrived at CP5.

Simon wasn’t able to comment as he still had a lot of work to do on bike after arriving at the bivouac some 8 hours behind the stage winner.

Todays stage see’s competitors crossing back over the border into Argentina on a gruelling 700km Liaison before an extra 180km special stage.

You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com

Stage 10

Coma snaps another Dakar stage victory; increases overall lead after Stage 10

KTM factory rider Marc Coma of Spain emerged as the winner of the Dakar's Stage 10 on Wednesday after negotiating 176 km of timed special in the white dunes around Fiambala back in Argentina. The day took riders back over the Andes ahead of the final three stages. KTM's Cyril Despres was second in the stage but now trails his Spanish rival by just over 18 minutes.

The stage, which included a big 862 km ride on the road before riders had to tackle another tricky loop course, much of it sand that has earned respect from riders in earlier Dakars in this part of the world. While Coma is out in front after a day that could be decisive in this year's rally, it was also a positive day for KTM riders in general. Despres teammate Ruben Faria was third at the finish, followed by KTM privateer Milan Stanovnik of Slovenia to give KTM the top four finishers while KTM rider Henk Knuiman of the Netherlands was sixth and Coma's water carrier, Juan Pedrero of Spain finished eighth giving the Austrian brand six of the top eight finishers. The overall standings are also looking positive for KTM with again six from the top eight riding KTM machines.

Eventful day for DespresIt was certainly an eventful day for title holder Despres, who already has three Dakar trophies to his credit. Coma and Despres have been too close for comfort on either side so far so Despres made a flying start to try to put some distance between himself and his Spanish rival but while opening the track he made a navigational mistake approaching the dunes. "I made a first big mistake after 120 km while I was riding well," he said "I read 17 instead of 117 on the navigation and I ended up in the rocks with Verhoeven. We already lost lots of time there, but then in the last few kilometers I made another mistake, turned round and fell into a mud hole. It was impossible to get back out." Cyril said it took him 10 minutes to extract himself from the mud hole and this was reflected in the final result. "I thought I was going to lose even more time. It's a bad day, but that's rally raids for you, some days are good, some are bad". Locked in battleComa and Despres have been locked in battle throughout the rally and neither of these two winners will concede any time to the other until they are both across the line in Buenos Aires on Sunday but today did give Coma a bigger edge than he has had so far in this, the 33rd edition. Despres must now be on the defensive in the remaining three stages to try to claw back time and reduce the time deficit. Still more challenges to comeOrganizers have promised a fabulous series of canyons at the foothills of the Andes for Stage 11 tomorrow as the riders have another very long 722 km special after 164 km of liaison. But neither of the two KTM rivals will be out to look at the scenery as they fight tooth and nail for victory on the stretch between Chilecito and San Juan. The field in the motorcycle category has now trimmed from 186 starters to 103 for Stage 10 and the gap between the two elite KTM riders and the rest of the field continues to increase. This is the first Dakar for the newly released KTM 450 Dakar Rally bike, which was especially developed with input from Despres and Coma after the Dakar organizers changed the regulations in the middle of 2009 to specify that professional riders must compete on a bike of only 450 ccm. The unexpected introduction of the new regulation came after rider contracts were settled and bikes constructed for the 2010 edition and last year Coma and Despres had to

compete with power restrictors fitted to the larger KTM 690 Rally bike. Despres still won the rally and gave KTM its ninth title. Coma and Despres have between them taken all five past rallies and are looking increasingly likely to be up with the leaders when the race concludes on Sunday.      Stage 10 Results1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 3:06:352, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 9:563, Ruben Faria, (left) Portugal, KTM, at 13:224, Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM at 21:265, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 21:436, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands KTM at 22:118, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 24:40 Standings after Stage 101, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, 38:39:312, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 18:103, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 45:164, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:24:375, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 1:34:426, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 2:29:247, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 2:36:398, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands KTM at 4:00:20

Cyril DespresThe 10th leg of the Dakar 2011 went to Marc Coma 9’56 ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with Cyril’s team mate Ruben Faria third (at 13’22). Overall Coma increases his lead to 18’10 with Lopez third at 45’16.

“Not one of my better days. I started off well and then I made a navigation error that turned into a nightmare. I got into a riverbed, got stuck in mud, went down a 3 metres high step and couldn’t turn back. It could have been a lot worse. In the end I managed to fight my way through the undergrowth to come out at the right place and ‘only’ lose 10 minutes – I could have easily lost an hour. Now this evening I am just over 18 minutes behind Marc. Obviously it isn’t ideal, but I have been a lot more behind than that and still won the rally. With three stages left to Buenos Aires it isn’t over yet.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Day 11 - Stage 10 Stage – 87th Overall – 71stSimon takes it easy to preserve his new engine on another challenging and long stage.Stage 10 was another tiring, long Dakar stage that saw riders re-crossing the Andes in freezing temperatures as the race heads back to Buenos Aires. Over 500km of road-work was done before the special stage started, at temperatures of 3 degrees C, before dropping down into the desert to over 40 degrees C.

Heat was a major problem for competitors and their machines alike with lots of people worried about overheating issues and many having engine trouble. With this the last of the sand days, where the engine is under a lot of stress Simon’s ethos was just to nurse it through.

“There is no need for me to push this now. I blew my engine the day before, it’s very hot today, a few cars and bikes are out as a result and I just need to finish. The sand is very soft, and it puts a lot of strain on these little 450’s. My BMW has been great and gone lot further than most, it did incredibly to survive as long as it did. Most riders are on their third engines and they aren’t pushing any more or less than me.”

While the first half of the stage was quite straight forward, the navigation in the last 50 km caught many competitors out with some of the rally’s finest losing large chunks of time.

“The navigation in the last 15km’s was really difficult, when I got there 75 other bikes had been through so it was hard to see which way to go. I definitely got a bit lost and it took a fair while to find the right route. The sand was so soft too, with all the bikes that had been through today it was hard. I am glad I made it to then end, we only have three days left now.”

Today’s stage is another gruelling effort of over 780km. Now the racing is back in Argentina the going is much stonier and faster.

You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com

Stage 11

"Never say die" Despres claws back two minutes on Coma in Stage 11 of the Dakar

Three times Dakar winner Cyril Despres went all out on Thursday to claw back a couple of vital minutes on overall leader and fellow KTM factory rider Marc Coma to take his third stage victory in this, the 33rd edition of the world's most famous rally.

In terms of his career, the stage victory is the 26th in Cyril Despres' remarkable career of racing the Dakar.

While Coma still has a comfortable 15:59 on Despres as the riders go into the final two stages, the Frenchman is wily and experienced enough to know that the race is not over until they cross the line in Buenos Aires. With everything still to play for he continues to attack just as vigorously as Coma defends. Today, as in most other stages the two KTM riders shadowed each other throughout two very long specials, neither conceding time or meters to each other.

Fat lady has not yet sung, Despres says"If you want to win you have to really try and that is what I am doing," Despres said at the end of Stage 11. "I'm doing everything I can, everything I know. It has to be said it was a superb special. Even if the time wasn't great, it was a pleasure to ride. In 2007 I won two days before the finish, and if I don't have a hope, it's impossible to ride at speeds like that. I'm still hoping and carrying on attacking. With Marc, we both ride KTM bikes and that's an advantage. We're quite close, but for the moment, the fat lady hasn't sung yet. There are still two days left". Into the penultimate stage tomorrowAs the 9500 km marathon rally that sweeps through Argentina and Chile enters its penultimate stage tomorrow - and with just 96 starters left of the original 186 riders - the 2011 edition is shaping up to be a battle of the KTM titans. Their nearest rival is Chaleco Lopez of Chile who has now slipped back to 49 minutes 24 behind Coma. Their efforts underline how close these two riders are in tactics, skill and courage and their performance is particularly rewarding as they have launched the new KTM 450 Rally bike with tremendous flair.  The Austrian brand developed the bike after Dakar organizers introduced a rule in mid 2009 that blocked the professional level riders from competing on bike bigger than 450 ccm. It was a surprise move that had all the characteristics of trying to block the continued

success and domination of the Austrian brand. Should either Coma or Despres be first across the line in Buenos Aires, it will be KTM's 10th successive title, six of which w ould have been delivered by these two exceptional riders. Thursday's top results and indeed the overall standings are now also heavily populated with KTM riders.

A controlled race from the Spaniard ComaFor his part, Marc Coma stayed cool and concentrated on riding a controlled race and sticking close on the wheel of his rival to ensure that Despres did not break away and steal more time from his advantage. If he triumphs in this year's rally he and Despres will each have three Dakar titles to their credit.

Long two part specialThe 11th special on Thursday, a long rider of 622 km, of which 160 was neutralized, continued to test the riders' technical skills by offering a variety of terrain. Despres went all out to regain time lost after several days where his path seemed to be strewn with misfortune. While he and Coma were battling it out in the early stages, at one stage it looked like "Chaleco" Lopez may take the stage. The Chilean had the best time at the neutralized zone but then made a navigation error in the second half of the special that allowed the two KTM riders to regain control and battle it out for the stage honors. The penultimate stage from San Juan to Cordoba is a 123 km link and 555 km special that kicks off with a challenging 100 km of sand track.

Stage 11 Results1, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, 4:33:13 (third stage victory in Dakar 2011)2, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM, at 2:113, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 6:194, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 7:445, Alain Duclos, France, Aprilia, 10:038, Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 15:369, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 15:4211, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 17:1512, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, 23:1913, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands KTM at 25:4514, Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM at 30:0916, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM 35:33 Standings after Stage 111, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM2, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 15:593, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 49:244, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:35:105, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 2:42:556, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 2:57:957, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 3:49:4610, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands KTM at 4:23:5612, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 5:19.0613, Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM at 5:37:58

Cyril DespresVictory on the today’s stage to San Juan went to Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) 2’11 ahead of Marc Coma with Chaleco Lopez third at 6’19. Overall Cyril pulls back to 15’59 behind Coma with Lopez now 49’24 down. Following a missed waypoint on yesterday’s stage, Cyril’s team mate Ruben Faria was given a 2 hour penalty and is this evening down in 8th place overall.

“We left the bivouac this morning at 05.30 and I arrived in San Juan this evening at 15.30 with only a couple of short breaks to refuel – a long day on the bike – especially given that even now it is 40 degrees in the shade. Despite the difficult conditions I attacked really hard all day over what was a really beautiful stage. In the first special I came up behind Marc 3 or 4 times but couldn’t pass in the dust. But on the second special I managed to get by and pull back a little time overall. Tomorrow we have another long 678 kilometre stage and hopefully another chance to change the overall rankings.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Day 12 - Stage 11 Stage – 85th Overall – 72ndSimon struggles through a long and rocky stage as he draws closer to the finish.The last four days for Simon have been anything but simple. After re-breaking his sub-frame the rigours and dangers of Dakar began to bite and remind the world why this is the world’s most difficult race. A spectacularly blown up engine and then a crash that should have been rally ending have put Simon on the back foot.

“Damn I am beat up today. The stage was so bloody rough. Two days ago my engine let go properly. There’s no half jobs in this. The conrod snapped in half and came out through the cases. It was kinda obvious it was broken. So I phoned BMW Assistance and they helicoptered it to me. Great service!

I managed to liase to get hold of my engine from my assistance and was able to change it in the desert.When I got in that night though the whole thing was a bit of a mess. The swingarm bearing collapsed when I was doing the change and the engine mount bolt was bent like a snake from the conrod’s exit force.

I had to replace all of that and I wasn’t done until midnight. The next day was the Andes day and damn it’s hard riding at 4500 metres on four hours sleep. After the liaison we had the infamous Fiambala stage. The sand was so soft and my result was blown after that, it became just about finishing. I was riding super gentle to just to make sure then engine didn’t overheat in the sand.

There was a mess up by the organisers that day as well. The Andes road was mostly dirt and they started the cars too close which meant they came past us at 140kmh and we had to sit in their dust for most of it meaning a bunch of us missed our start time. They then made us start after all the cars and trucks going into that stage. During my ‘taking it easy’ I had one of the biggest crashes of my career. It was unbelievable, I wasn’t pushing at all, but it was a really fast section, easily fourth gear. I don’t really know what happened, I just had a huge high side. From my point of exit I went at least thirty metres. How I didn’t break something is a miracle. I couldn’t move for half an hour, I just lay on the ground. I was so beat up, I’ve got bruises everywhere. It was massive for me, I could barely move. Eventually I got some Nurofen in me and sat down. I really wasn’t sure, I was really close to pulling my balise. I have never been beat up like this with out breaking something. The spectators were awesome. They kept feeding me water and kinda nursed me. The bike was truly mashed as well, a couple of guys picked it up and moved it for me.

Some how luck finds it ways of levelling out though. A couple of km’s down the track there was a tight corner and I just didn’t have the strength to hold the bike at all. It hit the deck, but as I stepped off I noticed I was covered in oil. When I crashed originally the oil line to the cooler had come undone. I was so beat up I couldn’t pick my own bike up. There some spectators there and the helped me fix the line and pick my bike up. Another km down the road there was a large group of spectators, so I stopped to ask them for oil. I didn’t have a clue how much it had lost, it’s hard to tell with that sort of thing. The spectators showed me to a nearby town where I bought some oil. The last 40km I rode in first gear, I could barely move, let alone ride properly. I was an absolute wreck.

I finally got to the liaison, but by then it had turned dark and I had smashed my lights up in the crash. It took me ages to fix and so I didn’t get in till midnight last night. I went to see the medics to patch me up a bit, and still had loads to do on my bike. It was about 2am when I got to bed and we started at 5am this morning.

I had to start at the back again as well. It was such a hard stage, I was hurting so bad and it was 600km of rocks and fesh fesh. The scenery was amazing but I hate fesh fesh. It’s so taxing to ride and I genuinely didn’t think I was going to be able to do it. I was wailing like a little baby every time I hit a bump. Because I was riding so slow and started at the back meant the first car came past after 60km. It’s been frustrating not being able to ride how I can. I can’t even pull the clutch in. Today has destroyed me and the bike is such a mess now, I was just limping along. I have one more real stage and then it’s just simple tracks in. I just need to limp through; it’s been some of my hardest Dakar days ever.”

Stage 12

Marc Coma takes Dakar Stage 12 by just 37 seconds from Cyril DespresFriday's Dakar Stage 12, won by KTM factory rider Marc Coma will go down in the record books as one of the stages of the 2011 edition of the Rally most hotly contested.At the end of a very long day on the bike, the Spanish rider prevailed over his nemesis, French-born Cyril Despres by just 37 seconds. It was the Spanish rider's fifth stage victory in the 33rd edition of the rally and his 16th career Dakar stage win.

KTM's 10th Dakar title now within graspIf Coma takes the coveted trophy in Buenos Aires on Saturday he will have his third Dakar title and level the score with 2010 winner Despres. The victory will also give KTM their tenth victory, thus recording a major milestone for the

Austrian brand. The race, covering 9,500 km however is not over until Saturday and there is still one stage to go. The task will be difficult for Despres but anyone with any Dakar experience knows anything can happen between the end of the penultimate stage and the finish line.

Coma always in shooting distanceDespres, who won his third stage yesterday and so he had the job of opening the road. He fought tooth and nail to try to get the edge on Coma, but the Spaniard kept a cool head and stayed within striking distance the entire day. Despres even managed at one point to stretch the lead over Coma to 2 minutes 30 seconds at around the half way mark. But in the end it was Coma's day and could well now be his rally.

Clean ride by ComaThere were no mishaps for the Spaniard today who rode cleanly and efficiently. He was careful to avoid any navigational errors and waited till the end of the stage before he made his attack on Despres. While the two have fought a battle of attrition throughout the rally, they are now head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Third is currently Chaleco Lopez of Chile, just short of an hour behind Coma with the next rider, Portugal's Helder Rodrigues at 1 hour 42 minutes.

Despres philosophical after failing to break away from ComaDespres was philosophical at the then of the 555km ride saying he had to go on the attack. "At least it's good to not have any regrets. I gave it everything I had and it was a long day. It must have rained a lot last night because the tracks were churned up with lots of mud. It was hellish. My chances are looking slimmer though. After a day like that with 555 km to cover and opportunities to open up gaps, we more or less cancelled each other out. Mind you, it's not the end of the world, you know, you have to keep things in perspective".

The two KTM factory riders have been each other's biggest rivals for the past six years and each are known for their courage, skill and determination. Both have also tasted the disappointment of losing out

in the final stages.

Ruben Faria and Juan Pedrero, the two water carriers for Despres and Coma respectively, finished Stage 12 in seventh and eighth positions. Pedrero is now fifth overall and Faria is eighth. Tomorrow for the final stage from Cordoba to Buenos Aires riders have to tackle a 645 km link and a relatively short 181 km special, which finishes at the Baradero racing track in the Argentinean capital.Stage 12 Results1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM 6:42:422, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 00:373, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 7:214, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 10:035, Quinn Alexis Cody USA, Honda, 15:456, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 16:578, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 23:199, Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 26:0411, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, 33:36Standings after Stage 121, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM2, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 16:363, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia at 59:274, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:42:315, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 3:06:006, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM, 3:31:217, Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 3:50:358, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 4:06:43

Cyril DespresThe penultimate stage of the Dakar 2011 went to Marc Coma just 37 seconds ahead of Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) with Helder Rodrigues third at 7’21. Overall Coma maintains his lead and is 16’35 in front of Cyril with Chaleco Lopez in third (at 59’27).

“Once again I attacked hard, opening from start to finish, in the hope of provoking some change in the rankings. But despite my best efforts, over 555 kilometres and almost seven hours of racing, nothing budged. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy myself. Although it didn’t actually rain on the special you could see that it had rained a lot over the previous days and the first sixty kilometres or so were on wet sand - it was liking racing Le Touquet. After that we got into the truck ruts with some enormous puddles which made life interesting! Now we have just one day’s racing but I’ll keep trying until the last kilometre.”

Simon Pavey – Dakar ’11 Day 13 - Stage 12 Stage – 66th Overall – 68thSimon scores a decent result on the penultimate stage despite being battered and bruised.Despite still feeling the effects of his crash two days ago Simon struggled through another long and arduous stage to claim a good result. The severely sprained wrist and various other bruises that mean he can’t pull the clutch in, didn’t stop him as he pushed through deep sand woops and mud to finish the final difficult stage of the rally.

“Today was another really hard day for me. The constant lack of sleep over the last four days and the after effects of my crash are really starting show. I was hurting so bad today, I can’t believe I didn’t come last. I was riding ridiculously slowly, I can’t pull the clutch in at all and the riding today was technical as hell. The first 30km were deep sand woops, like a beach race, and riding in that without any strength or clutch control was so tiring.

For the first time on the whole race I was glad to see some fast tracks. I could ride without having to think. The majority of the day was muddy ruts though, it was like being back home in the UK. The mud was so slippery on the desert tires, it was damn sketchy. I am just glad I made it through alive today, I am looking forward to the end now.”The final stage is still not short, with over 800km into Buenos Aires. Only 181km of the day is timed, and the going consists of farms tracks as they head closer to the capital.You can keep track of all Simon progress on www.simonpavey.com

Stage 13 KTM celebrates fantastic tenth consecutive Dakar victory!KTM on Saturday wrote another chapter in its history when the sports motorcycle market leaders celebrated taking its tenth consecutive Dakar Rally title. The race was won in heroic style by Marc Coma closely followed by Cyril Despres, who between them have taken the past six Dakar titles for the Austrian brand. The victory also heralded an aggressive new era for

KTM in rally sport, according to company CEO Stefan Pierer.The victory was also celebrated by the presence of Hubert Trunkenpolz, Head of Sales and Marketing for KTM who traveled from Sao Paolo Brazil, where the company has just opened its latest international subsidiary, to be in Buenos Aires to greet the two KTM riders. The 2011 Dakar, over 9500 grueling kilometers, was thrilling from the first to the final stage as the two KTM heroes battled it out for the top podium place. Coma and Despres have dominated rally sport in recent years and there has rarely been two riders who share such passion and skill when competing in the

world's toughest rally. The company's success was further underlined by excellent performances by many other KTM riders who successfully competed in the 33rd edition of the Dakar Rally.

Following the tenth consecutive win for KTM, CEO Stefan Pierer announced that the company now intends to use the Dakar Rally as its major marketing platform as it enters a new and aggressive era of involvement in rally sport, including the development of the KTM 450 Rally bike in a production model.

Stefan Pierer: "I am confident that this new bike is going to add yet another layer of prestige to our brand, following the unprecedented success we have enjoyed recently with other models like the 350 SX-F and the 350 EXC. As well as developing the best rally bike on the market, we plan to introduce new and interesting packages for both rally teams and individual rally enthusiasts."

Mr. Pierer confirmed that KTM plans an aggressive involvement in rally sport both with the company's factory teams and with other riders and teams who are committed to the Austrian brand. "We want to see teams and riders from as many countries as possible competing on our bikes," he said. "Every KTM rider is a KTM ambassador - whether our own factory team, riders of other teams on KTMs and all the committed privateers who choose our machines!"

Heinz Kinigadner, KTM Sports Consultant, double 250 cc Motocross World Champion and former Dakar racer said the company can be very satisfied with the outstanding results achieved at the Dakar 2011.

Heinz Kinigadner: "We are justifiably proud of our two KTM factory riders and we are especially pleased with what they achieved on the newly launched KTM 450 Rally Replica. This bike was developed to provide an answer to the surprise rule change announced in mid 2009 that restricts professional Dakar riders to bikes not exceeding 450 ccm. We rose to the challenge and today it is clear that we have achieved our goal. The results speak for themselves."The new KTM 450 Rally production model is

expected to retail for around € 25,000 (net), a very competitive price for a superior quality racing bike that is capable of winning the Dakar. 

KTM's Marc Coma wins 2011 Dakar Rally; 10 consecutive titles for KTMKTM factory rider Marc Coma rode into Buenos Aires in triumph on Saturday as the 2011 winner of the mighty Dakar Rally, the toughest of its kind in modern motorsports. It was the Spanish rider's third Dakar title and the tenth consecutive prize for KTM and a triumphant debut for the newly developed KTM 450 Rally bike ridden by all four of KTM's factory riders.

Fellow KTM factory rider Cyril Despres, the title holder going into the Dakar, fought the good fight right up until the finish, was second overall. He trailed Coma by just over 15 minutes after 9600 km of competitive riding over the most challenging terrain possible. Considering that Despres incurred a 10-minute penalty in the early part of the race, he and Coma rode on equal terms throughout the 13 stages and frequently finished only minutes apart. Indeed in the penultimate stage there was only 37 second separating the two riders at the end of the day. Between them Coma and Despres took victory in eight of the 13 stages - Coma won five stages and Despres won three.Worthy winnerComa was a worthy overall winner of the 33rd edition of the race that took competitors in a huge sweep through

Argentina, across the Andes at 4500 m altitude into northern Chile and up to the border with Peru, over a number of stages in the notoriously dry Atacama Desert, back across the Andes and through Argentina to the finish in the

capital. It was his job on Saturday to open the road on what was a comparatively short stage and all he had to do was to keep Despres under control till they got to Buenos Aires. Coma first took control of the overall standings after Stage 4 and remained in front for the remainder of the rally. He conceded 1'30 to Despres in the final stage but the title was well and truly wrapped up.

Marc Coma: "Many sacrifices to get to here""Staying focused was essential so I did focus on my riding. It was the only way to win. What was really tough was that I could not let my guard down, not even for a second. When a tough stsge was ending, the

next one was even tougher. We all know that a Dakar is a difficult race but this year it was particularly difficult. This victory is the reward of all the hard work, the reward of many years and a lot of tensions over the last few days. It is the bonus you get for steering right and for so many sacrifices over the years." 

Despres, a fight to the endAt the end of Stage 13 Cyril Despres, the consummate perfectionist said he was sad he had not done better. "I made some mistakes, they were two small mistakes but they held some heavy consequences," he said. "This special is different if you are in first place as it was the case last year... then you want the race to be shorter. When you are second, you would want the race to be longer. But anyway, the feeling of finishing a Dakar is always nice especially here with all the people welcoming you. I am sad I could not do better. I have raced 11 Dakar, won three and been on the podium eight times. One more would have been great. But I just could not make any better."

Good finish for KTM's two factory co-ridersAnother great result also came from the two co-riders to the leading KTM factory riders. Juan Pedrero of Spain, the water carrier for Coma, finished overall fifth and Ruben Faria who served the same function for Despres was seventh overall. The domination of the brand is further underlined by the fact that nine of the top 11 riders were on the Austrian-made bikes.    With today's victory, Coma draws equal with fellow KTM factory rider Cyril Despres as they now have three titles each and have together dominated rally sport in recent years.   KTM congratulates all KTM riders who were courageous enough to tackle the Dakar, the rally that is at the very heart of this great sport.   

Stage 13 Results1, Frans Verhoeven, Belgium, BMW2, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha at 00:053, Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 26:04 at 00:054, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 00:445, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM at 2:166, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM, 2:477, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 3:058, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM 3:519, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM, 4:3810, Miran Stanovnik, Slovenia, KTM, 5:16

Final Overall Results1, Marc Coma, Spain, KTM2, Cyril Despres, France, KTM, at 15:043, Helder Rodrigues, Portugal, Yamaha, 1:40:204, Chaleco Lopez, Chile, Aprilia,5, Juan Pedrero, Spain, KTM at 3:07:036, Pal Anders Ullevalseter, Norway, KTM at 3:32:567, Jean De Azevedo, Brazil, KTM, 3:59:388, Ruben Faria, Portugal, KTM, at 4:13:019, Jacek Czachor, Poland, KTM at 9:38:4110, Henk Knuiman, Netherlands, KTM 6:14:46

Great Dakar for KTM, Marc Coma, Cyril Despres and the KTM 450 Rally bike

The Dakar 2011, which finished last weekend in Buenos Aires, will be remembered at KTM as one of the company's greatest triumphs in rally sport. Not only the tenth consecutive win for the Austrian sports motorcycle specialists but also a sensational ride by the company's two leading factory riders who finished 1-2 in a two-way battle that kept the fans on their toes throughout the entire rally.

The victory for Spaniard Marc Coma of the MRW KTM team was his third career Dakar title. It was a measured, well-earned ride but by Marc's own admission was tough all the way because he and fellow KTM factory rider Cyril Despres (Red Bull KTM) never gave each other any ground until they got to the finish.

KTM riders matched in skill and determinationThere has rarely been a rally so competitively fought and one where the two KTM riders, competing on the newly developed KTM Rally bike were so equal in skill, tactics and

determination. Despres and Coma were also head and shoulders above the competition and long before the end of the journey it was clear that this was to be a two-man race between equally skilled riders, who now each have three of the coveted Dakar trophies. When the unfortunate 10 minute penalty incurred by Cyril in the early stages of the rally is taken into consideration then both he and Marc were so closely matched throughout the rally that they frequently came in minutes, sometimes even seconds apart. The 33rd edition of this great event was also a fitting tribute to the Austrian brand because seven of the top 10 riders were on KTMs.

A triumph for KTMThe 2011 Dakar was nothing short of a triumph for KTM and a very strong response to the surprise rule change introduced without warning by the Dakar organizers in the middle of 2009, which restricted professional riders from competing on bikes exceeding 450 ccm. This was widely seen as an attempt to break the KTM stranglehold on the title and as a result, Despres and Coma competed in the 2010 on the KTM 690 rally bike fitted with restrictors to reduce the performance down to the equivalent of a 450 ccm machine. It didn't make any difference to the outcome and Cyril Despres took his third title. KTM's response to the rule change was to have their R&D department go into top gear to design a Dakar competitive 450 ccm rally bike. The new KTM 450 Rally Replica was therefore the result of intense work by the KTM R&D department, with valuable input by both Coma and Despres, including hundreds of hours of testing. The bike made its first appearance in the autumn of 2010 where Des pres rode it to victory in the desert sands of the Rally of Morocco.

New era in rally sport for KTMThe overwhelming success of the two KTM riders and the 450 Rally bike also heralds a new era for KTM in rally sport. As soon as the final result was announced, there was a strong message from the company headquarters in Mattighofen, Austria that the production model of the new bike would begin immediately and that KTM would use the Dakar Rally as its major marketing platform as it launches into a much more aggressive era in the sport. KTM CEO Stefan Pierer said the company had not only developed the best rally bike on the market but also planned to introduce new and interesting packages for both rally teams and individual rally enthusiasts. He added that KTM wanted to see riders from as many countries as possible on the new KTM Rally Replica.

Best bike; best ridersThe 2011 edition was a concrete example of how competitive the bike could be in the hands of the two best

exponents of rally sport so it is worthwhile reflecting on the highlights of what turned out to be 14 days of thrilling competition that ended as a triumph for the Austrian brand.

How the Dakar 2011 unfoldedThe first competitive stage from Victoria started with 566 km on the road and a relative short special of 192 km. At the end of the day it was Despres co-rider Ruben Faria who was fastest across the line but Despres was retroactively awarded the stage win after Faria was handed a one minute time penalty. Despres and Coma therefore finished 1-2 and they were just 1 minute apart. The third rider was Coma's co-rider Juan Pedrero of Spain.

Despres opened the road for Stage Two as riders headed from Cordoba to San Miguel and although closely shadowed by Coma, succeeded in taking his second stage win. After 440km on the road and a 300 km special where they headed into the forest, Cyril was just 1:49 faster than Marc and only 2 minutes 35 separated the two. The next day it was Coma who took the stage coming in 2:21 ahead of Despres who stayed in front of the standings by only 14 seconds after a mammoth 521 km special through desert canyons and into the forest.

Coma won Stage Four when riders crossed the Andes into Chile, again by the smallest margin. He was 16 seconds faster than Despres and two seconds ahead in the overalls. It was clear by now that this was going to be a dramatic rally, especially after Despres received a retrospective 10 minute penalty for failing to pass a marker flag in the haze of the early morning start. Neither rider was to know that this point what this would mean for the final results.

Coma and Despres continued to shadow each other during the tough rides in the Atacama Desert and at the rest day after Stage Six Despres had reduced the 10-minute penalty to 8:48, which after Stage Seven, he had carved down to 7:24 after they had finished just over a minute apart. Deep in the sands of Chile's coastal desert, Coma took Stage Eight with Despres less than two minutes behind. The Spaniard also won Stage 10 and had extended his overall lead to just over 18 minutes. Despres responded the only way he knows. He won Stage 11 by 2:11 from Coma and cut the deficit to 16 minutes. His best chance to close the gap was in the penultimate Stage 12 but this time Coma won by just 37 seconds to hold onto the overall. He then closed off his third Dakar victory on arrival back in Buenos Aires.

Among the leaders at the end of the rally were Coma's water carrier Pedrero in sixth place and Faria, Cyril's co-rider in eighth overall to round off a sensational ride for the MRW KTM factory team of Coma and Pedrero and the Red Bull KTM team of Despres and Faria. The 2011 Dakar will go down in the record books as one of the closest and hardest fought from the first to the last stage.

The 2011 Dakar in numbers10th consecutive title for KTMBest bike in the Dakar 2011: the KTM 450 Rally Replica3rd Dakar title for Marc Coma to equal the three titles of Cyril Despres5 stage wins to Marc Coma3 stage wins to Cyril Despres9,500 km through Argentina and Chile4837 m the highest point of altitude crossing the AndesMore than 250 km driven over an altitude of 4000 mHottest temperature: 42°C in the shade in the Chilecito regionColdest temperature 2°C in the Calama region15,000 kg of spare parts transported by the three KTM trucks11,700 liters of fuel used by the three service trucks and three support cars3,800 liters of fuel for the KTM bikes300 liters of oil in totalTotal amount of kilometers in KTM vehicles (bikes, trucks and cars) - 80,000 km in 14 days60 rear wheels and 60 front wheels for the KTM bikesDuring the 14 days (336 hours) of the rally no member of the KTM teams or support staff had more than 60 hours sleepNumber of liters of drinking water consumed by the team and support staff: 1400 liters

Dress To Impress With 2011 Yamaha MX Gear

Standing out in the crowd is a tough thing to do these days, but the new line-up of 2011 motocross riding gear from Yamaha does just that. With the bold, eye catching colours and graphics, as well as advanced design and construction features, the new Yamaha MX Pro-Limited Edition and MX Start riding gear delivers the latest specifications for the demands of amateur riders and professionalracers alike.

MX Pro–Limited EditionThe new 2011 MX Pro–Limited Edition riding gear is designed with the pro rider in mind, the rider that will stop at nothing to achieve the goal of winning and never settles for second best.

With stunning sublimation print graphics, the MX Pro jersey is constructed from a lightweight breathable material with mesh inserts for comfort and airflow, keeping you cool when you’re under pressure.

Meanwhile, the MX Pro pants give you peace of mind being constructed from Armortex®, a Nylon and Kevlar fibre mix, offering exceptional durability and leaving you safe in the knowledge that you can take your racing to the limit.

MX StartAre you new to off-road? Well the Yamaha MX Start riding gear is what you’ve been looking for. As well as showing your allegiance to the Yamaha brand with its bold print design, the MX Start riding gear provides you with fantastic spec, combined with exceptional value for money. The lightweight breathable jersey features raglan cut sleeves and a V-neck collar for comfort, whilst the Armortex® pants give you levels of protection that you’d expect to find on more expensive kit.

For full details on the new 2011 MX Pro–Limited Edition and MX Start riding gear, check out the Yamaha website at www.yamaha-motor.co.uk/accessories. Alternatively, get down to your nearest Authorised Yamaha dealer for more information.

Jon rings the Chicken's neckClearwell16th January

The West Glos & Forest of Dean MCC team had a tough Saturday setting up their annual Chicken Run near Clearwell as rain blew in

from the west on gale force winds. For the riders the weather was better on Sunday morning but it was not to last.

The race started at 11.00am. The riders were filtered by the first of the copses of trees that were linked by fast open going around the edges of the fields. The organisers were concerned that the rooty climbs would prove challenging for the riders in the wet conditions and they had laid on contingencies but the ground dried quickly. Jon Hinam took an early lead making the most of his last ride on a KTM before taking delivery of his new Husaberg. The field was stretched by the second corpse that was a rollercoaster of bombholes and hops over fallen tree trunks. Half way around the 4 mile laps the riders slid into a berm that led to a cambered climb. With wheels clogged by heavy downhill braking the camber was long on climb and short on grip. By the time the leaders returned on the second lap it was cluttered with backmarkers. The lapscoring was by transponder. The magic sponge would have had it's work cut out.

There was a wide range of going from a drop into and out of a rocky section in the woods that would be familiar to riders of the club's classic Wyegate Trial to some big jumps in the fields on the far side of the course. The climb to the finish was a little tester. Chris Pratt ran out of steam when his Husaberg 450 ran out of coolant. Jonathan Griffiths was hoping to run in his KTM 250 after an engine rebuild but he ended up walking her in after 2 laps with no engine. By refuelling at the halfway mark Jon Hinam had established a 6 minute lead. The course was drying out and the lines were developing well until - with 2 hours on the clock - the forecast rain arrived. The last hour was a time for heroes but a good course kept most of the riders going for the finish.

Jon Hinam was the overall winner with 14 laps Derek Bawn and Neil Thomas were the runners up with 13 laps. Adrian Evans won the Vets and Terry Beecham was the runner up. Phil Gardner was 3rd and Paul Armstrong was 4th. They all clocked up 10 laps. Dean Reed was the best of the Clubman 2T from Greg Hodge and Roger Holland. Daniel Nelmes won the Clubman 4T from Mark Binding and Tom Kayes. Sportsman Chris Morris rode out of his class with 9 laps.

Results Photos Video

Trew MelvilleMaster ClassLochhouses saw another brilliant day of sunshine and close racing on a day when entries were down a little on last year. I am sure many riders who stayed at home will regret their decision when they hear the conditions were almost perfect for nearly 110 riders who made the trip to East Lothian. There were a couple of damp patches around the circuit as it has been covered in

snow for nearly a month and it rained all week leading up to the race. The sandy conditions stood up well with the wind drying it out as the day progressed and there was a shortened circuit for the 65's and a separate track for the autos.

Craig Trew ran a master class, winning every race; Craig was using this event as practise for the Le Touquet Beach race in two weeks time. The Melville Motor Club would like to wish him luck although the Melville Vice Chairman, Campbell Chatham, stated that if he continues to win all the races at Lochhouses he will insist he rides with Supermoto tyres in the last round. Sean MacDonald finished runner up having challenged pretty hard in the early races although he was starting to be caught in the later races by third place finisher Mark Perfect.

Ian Wilson had a double celebration in the B's as his son also won the Big Wheel 85 class, this is the first time this has happened so they were both delighted. Paul Chiappa also had a great day finishing second on his trusty twin shock Maico 490, not bad at all, considering he has a five at the start of his age! Bob Jack finished in third place although it could have been so different. Bob challenged hard in the first race and he won the second, almost pulling off the overall, a big crash at the start of the third race saw him sit out the first lap. Bob was lucky to be able to continue to the finish of the race and pick up a well deserved third place overall, it will not be long until he gets to the top of the podium.

The C class saw some crazy antics, a proportion of them were carried out by the overall winner Sandy Pate who had 'new bike fever'. Sandy had run-in his new 450 Yamaha the day before, up and down a field and came out with all guns blazing, despite a couple of falls, he managed to charge back to take the chequered flag in each race. Liston Bell improved all day and was just piped to the post in the last race finishing runner up. Alex Haddow led a couple of times but as the races progressed he was waning allowing Sandy through for the win finishing third overall.Kane Young won the Youth MX2 Class after taking the win in the first two races with second place Greg Queen winning the final race. Andrew McNicoll finished third following some close racing with Sean Williamson who finished fourth overall.

Reece Wilson was able to celebrate his win with his dad who also won the adult B class. Reece did not have it all his own way as John Adamson chased him hard all day including the race two win. It was all down to the last race and they put on the best show of the day. John led for a while but it was Reece's day after taking the win in the final race with Fraser Pohlen finishing third. Bradley Mann won the small wheel 85 Class with Lee Perfect second and Brett Bailie third.

The 65's were on a shortened track within the adult course and they seemed to enjoy the experience. Scott Russell took the overall win with Kristopher Crowhurst second and Andrew Pohlen third. The Auto's raced on a separate track with Lewis McLeary taking the win with Adam Scott second and James Haddow third.

The Melville Club was lucky with the weather once again and that makes it so much easier on the organisers. There were some new faces helping and the Melville club would like to thank them as it would not be possible without all the volunteers. Results

http://www.a-tecracing.com/%00%E5%A1%B9%EF%92%81%E1%B4%BB%E4%A1%BF%E2%B2%AF%E5%B6%82%E8%97%84%E6%8C%A7%00%00%EA%AE%A5

NANTMAWR IS A TOUGH ONE!WOR EVENTS January 2hr ScrambleNantmawr Quarry. 16/1/11Report by Keith Williams (WOREM)Pics By Kev In Focus

Being the old home of the iconic TOUGH ONE extreme enduro it came as no surprise to the WOR Events team and all the riders, that with the constant barrage of rain that the venue took from Thursday till Sunday, the 2hr Scramble race was going to be very tough indeed.

No other venue on the map could handle the wet stuff like this old quarry, Parking not a problem and the course offering some hard standing bits and also a very slippery and wet mountain top section, all in all keeping the hardy competitors on their toes.

From the off Young KTM 150 mounted Gethin Humphries was flying. The young Welshman getting faster and smoother with every ride, and really looking like he has gelled with his small bore 2t machine.

With over a 1 minute gap on the chasing pack within the first lap, Gethin looked like he was going to walk away with it.

However in that chasing pack is another young and super fit rider called Ben Wootton, Battling a big MX Honda 450 around the technical and demanding track, The unassuming Wootton was plugging away and reeling in Humphries.A little mess up by Humphries near the lap control area saw the teenager take an unplanned dip in the small pond by scoring, As the spectators helped Humphries out from the drink, the stealth

Wootton nipped through and took a lead that he never lost, even loosing his back brake an hour in, Wootton managed to keep consistent and fast and earned another win with his new lucky number 7!

Young Gethin did start putting in some very quick lap times towards the end after his dad had goaded him from the sidelines. Infact the lap times were un matched by any one in the event and the young Welshman stepped up the pace as he tried to catch Wootton, all the time through the race Gethin thought he was in the lead and had did not know Wootton had snuck through.!!

Lee Taylor was hard charging all day and took a very well earned 3rd spot on the Expert podium ahead of an under Parr Rowland Morris in 4th.

Paul Engelen is a stalwart of WOR races and his form in the clubman class is great to see. A very steady and polished rider, Engelen does not make many mistakes and is always calm and cool , stormed to the class victory with a 1 minute plus advantage over Alec Everitt. Both these riders where on 10 laps with 3rd place Clubman, Jim Buchcanan rounding out the trophy places with 9 laps.

In the Veterans Allan Price led for a fair while before Oaklands team rider Craig Parkes burst through and took a commanding lead and won the class. Price rode on to take the runner up position with the always smiling and ever green Mick Hammond in 3rd place. Parkes and Price both did very well to finish on 11 laps each, placing them in the top 6 overall.

In the sportsman Nathan Rogers was dominant with a ride and result that will put him in Sportsman A without a doubt.Runner up was Ryan Ireland, Another young man that can move the bike in the right manner took the runner up place albeit a lap down on Rogers.

Rob White made a very welcome appearance on the trophy wall in 3rd place with a very determined and hardy ride.Top Novice was Green Grocer Wayne Siddall From Llangollen, picking up his award, he said "at last!" with a bug grin to accompany it.

Newcomer to XC Scrambles is youngster Nick Bennet, whom had had a baptism of fire at his first event earlier in the year, rode really well and took a well deserved runners up award.

Emily Davey Battled an alien bike around the tough conditions and finished as top lady of the day.In the youth class Charlie Nichols was flying on his new Yamaha 125 taking the win from local youth rider Ryan Phillips and his younger brother "Dangerous Harry" Nichols in 3rd place.All in all the event ran without a hitch in these very adverse conditions and once again the professional WOR team had delivered a quality, safe and professional race.

The club would like to thank the landowners and all the people who help make these events happen.

Results

Here's to a fun and exciting 2011 at WOR EVENTS 

  Young Guns Triumph at Butts Quarry  - Results 

Well, after what seems like an age of no races due to the snow and freezing conditions, it was good to finally get out and get things back on track with the Dirtbike-Traxs rescheduled Christmas Cracker event at Butts Quarry in Derbyshire.

It was quite obvious that the riders who regularly turn out at

the Dirtbike-Traxs event, were also itching to get back out on their bikes, with a full entry list, which included an all star Expert line up of some of the top riders in the North. This really had all the ingredients for a cracker of an event, one that the riders and spectators would all enjoy.

The weather had been relatively kind prior to the event, but the track was still very sticky and muddy in most places, but with the forecast of slight rain coming in for the adult race, this was going to be one hard slog.

The Youth and Ladies race got the weekend proceedings underway and the young stars of the future were keen to get going in what was for most, their first race of 2011.

In the Senior B class the Dirtbike-Traxs regulars of Doltan Shannon, Ben Turner, Jamie Dilworth and Ross Johns were in the thick of things battling for the top spot, along with a couple of new faces Shaun

Lightbody, Ronnie hill and Connor Meakin. Ben Turner, stepping up to the Senior B class after his 2010 championship win, lead for a good portion of the race, but it was Doltan who came strong in the closing third of the race to claim the first place trophy with an impressive 9 laps. Ben had to settle for second place also with 9 laps and Jamie came in third with 8 laps.

If there was an award for determination and perseverance it would go to all 4 Junior riders who did extremely well to stick out and all finish the 90 minute race. Charlie Athersmith (right)was the eventual winner with a staggering 7 laps under his belt, followed by Lee Western on 6 laps and Dawson Marriott with 5 laps.

In the Ladies class Anita Gordon (left) was in a tough battle with Tara Johnson for the top spot. Anita clinched it with just over a minute lead, both managed to notch up 8 laps. Third place went to Katie Smith who did very well to finish the race in what was her third ever race.

After a short break to alter the track for the adult race, which included a tyre and log section, the much anticipated main race was ready to get underway.

On the front row was the Expert line up, which was headed up by Ride Off Road's Wayne Braybrook on his first competitive ride for a few months, keen to get some bike time before tackling next week's extreme event, he also brought along Scott Austin. Mick Seward had a full MPS Racing Husqvarna team of Jack Rowland, Joe Deakin, Rob Johnson and Jason Davis, still suffering from jetlag after his recent arrival from New Zealand. Eurotek KTM rider Tom Healey and Gav Houson from Craigs motorcycles along with Lee Sampson on his Gas Gas, all looking to get in on the action.

As the starter's horn blew at dead on 12 noon, Tom Healey was first off the line and into the first corner. As the Expert pack battled round the first lap it was Tom who appeared first out of the woods section and into lap scoring very closely followed by Wayne. Wayne was a pleasure to watch as he appeared to effortlessly glide of the tyres and logs and picked his way smoothly through the slower riders. Jason Davis quickly settled in to a rhythm, after riding in temperatures of 30 degrees only a few days earlier, he was doing well and pushing the front two hard. Tiredness started to get the better of him and after a few offs and some very near misses, Jason decided to call it a day.

After a couple of laps in, Wayne's experience showed as he managed to pass young Tom and create an impressive lead. Unfortunately disaster struck on the 8th lap seeing Wayne (right) out of the race when he got cross rutted, momentarily lost control and hit a tree hard with his shoulder. This let the door open for Tom to take the lead, which he held for the remainder of the race. It was not going to be an easy win for him though as Gav Houson got the bit between his teeth and revelled in the sloppy, greasy conditions. Another pair that were going well in the hard going was Scott Austin and Lee Sampson, with the MPS Racing Duo, Jack Rowland and Joe Deakin not far behind.

Gav eventually finished n second place a mere 2 minutes behind Tom who had an exceptional race to hold on to his lead, both accumulated 19 laps in the 2 ½ hours. Third place went to Ride Off Road's Scott Austin with 18 laps. It was a great spectacle to watch and a fantastic experience for the other riders, to be able to follow these top riders around, even if it was only for a second or two. We wish Wayne a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the bike soon.

In the Over 40s class it was another Houson taking his share of the glory, Gav's father Mark, who lead from the off and totally dominated the race, finishing with 16 laps, 3 laps ahead of his nearest rivals, Dirtbike-Traxs regulars Chris Cooper in second and Howard Blundell in third.The Clubman class saw Wayne Braybrook's new rider Rob Dawson, come back on his new Gas Gas and clinch the win. Rob put in a good solid ride on his new machine and did well to hold off the challenges of Anthony Cooper in second and Lee Stansfield in third.

There was a new kid on the block in the Sportsman E1 class, Lee Sealey, at the age of 14 is going to be one to watch in the future. The conditions suited Lee down to the ground as he quickly settled into his rythmn and proved unstoppable, finishing 8 minutes ahead of his

nearest rival Matt North and a lap up on third placed Justin Sizer.Finally in the Sportsman Open class the honours went to Andy Johnson who finished a lap up on second placed, Dirtbike-Traxs regular, Dan Hunter, who is one of the favourites in this year's championship.

Thanks to everyone who helped out this weekend and made it a fantastic days racing, your efforts are very much appreciated, the events would not be what they are without your involvement.

Report by Pete Botchett Photos by Chris Hudson and Roger Prestcote.

HUSABERG TO SUPPORT WAYNE BRAYBROOK

Husaberg UK is pleased to announce it has agreed to support Wayne Braybrook for this years Tough One Extreme Enduro competition in March 2011. Wayne will be riding Husaberg’s latest 2 stroke model the TE300 at this years Tough One, which is also the opening round of the World Extreme Enduro Championship.

Braybrook is no stranger to extreme competition, from his successful trials background he made the move to Enduro competition in 1999, finishing 2nd to David Knight at Last Man Standing in 2006, winning Hells Gate in 2007 and consistently delivered podium finishes at the Tough One between ’07 and ’09. He has chosen the TE300 as the ideal machine to tackle the Back Cowm Quarry, Rochdale for this years event. With its powerhouse 300cc 2-stroke motor it’s the ideal combination of lightweight manoeuvrability and phenomenal torque.

Wayne commented “Throughout my enduro career I have ridden many different machines of various capacities. A short test on the 2011 Husaberg gave me a taster of why these machines are so popular within the enduro ranks. Although my first competitive ride on the TE300 was short lived due to a minor injury, my thoughts were confirmed when the race began. I have to say the whole package of the 2-stroke Husaberg is simply awesome, from the power delivery, to chassis and suspension, it is a joy to ride. The engine delivers so much useable power, even in difficult conditions it makes riding easy. Whatever you ask this bike to do, it copes with without compromise.”

Action photography courtesy of CH Images.

Jamie Paget & Ollie Moyce

All systems go for the Race FX Kawasaki Enduro Team

The Race FX Kawasaki Enduro Team of Ollie Moyce and Jamie Paget is set to hit the enduro paddock by storm at the opening rounds of the British Enduro Sprint Championship during the 12th and 13th of February. Despite the harsh winter weather and extreme conditions over the past few months both riders have trained extensively on board their new green machines and feel they are in a great position for the start of the season. After some final suspension modifications earlier in the week Ollie has his Kawasaki KX250F set up exactly how he wants it and has already broken his best ever lap time at his local enduro loop. Jamie is riding the larger capacity KX450F model and after remapping the motor to a softer, more enduro friendly setting is raring to go.

Ollie Moyce "I can't remember the last time I was this excited about the start of a season. I have 100% confidence in the Kawasaki and it does everything I ask it to which has made training over the winter really enjoyable. The fact that both Jamie and I have made so few modifications to the machine just goes to show how good they are straight from the crate."

Jamie Paget "When I first rode the KX450F I was amazed at how much power it produced but I was worried about controlling it all - since Kawasaki changed the mapping for me it's pretty much the perfect tool for the job. I've always preferred bigger capacity bikes and the 450 is absolutely stunning in all conditions. I can't wait for the first major event of 2011 - I think there will be some surprised faces!"

Both riders would like to thank Kawasaki UK, Race FX, Talon, K4 Offroad, Watling Tyres, Acerbis, Akrapovic, Pro printing Graphics, MSM Insurance and Body Clinic for all their help.

CTR EVENTSWinter Series Championship Final Results Photos

CTR EVENTS Winter Series Championshipcome to a cool close at the Fabulous Tyr ShonShenkyn on Sunday with a with a impressive track laid out with all the track tape up and banners and flags lining the start/finish area. All the riders/racers were all lined up on the start line as CTR gave a short riders breife the stage was allset and with the championship still up for grabs CTRdropped the welsh flag to set away the expert and Vetsclass's it was the Port Talbot massive of Greg Hurley/Jason Hurley & Jamie Jenkins closely chased by Adrain Evans and Darren Williams to the 1st and 2nd corner with Charlie Evans the last expert away Just as Charlie approached the 2nd corner CTR flagged the very competitive Clubman class away closely followed by the Novice Class witch included Jack Powell on his KTM 125 Jack has been great in the championship and already won the class.

As the riders come back into sight it was Greg Hurley/Freddie Broadway and Charlie Evans leading the pack with Darren Williams Closely chased by Steve Biddle/Rob Craig/Mick Rees Jason Hurley and Adrian Evans, Greg Hurley Forgot that CTR told them how slippery it was and dumped his KTM and 6 riders passed him. The Vet class was taking shape with it looking like it was going to be between Evans and Williams and Rhys Jones.

The Clubman class racers was swapping places between Danny Morris/ Richard Perkins/ Andrew Keyte/Dai Jones and Gethin Francombe they were all really

having a go, A couple of personal competitions was going on between the Brothers Francombe and Mark Binding and Luke Palmer with Tommy taking

it from Gethin and Binding doing Palmer good to see some banter..!!!.

The Novice class battle was between Jack Powell/ Harry Phillips/ RogerHolland/ Richard Holland and Iain Randall, With Powell taking the win and

1 lap up over Roger Holland who was 2 laps up on Richard Holland.

With all the riders pleased to see CTR get the chequered flag ready it wasDropped at the 2 and half hour the Expert class was 1st Charlie Evans 2nd

Freddie Broadway 3rd Steve Biddle, The Veteran class win went toAdrian Evans 2nd Darren Williams 3rd Rhys Jones, The Clubman 1st

Richard Perkins 2nd Dai Jones 3rd Andrew Kytes, The Novice win was takenbuy Jack Powell 2nd Roger Holland 3rd Richard Holland.

Photos Roadrunner

“Between a rock & a hard place…”

David Knight winsX-treme Tong Leeds 23rd JanuaryDraft report by Bob Mullins

Results Race 1 Race 2 Overall  Youth Race Laptimes Practice

Fortune favours the brave and Paul Edmondson's bold decision to run an extreme enduro in Yorkshire in

January has proved to be a fortunate one for everyone concerned. Tong was a superb venue for the inaugural Eddy X-treme ACU Championship. A Victorian mansion set on a hill with a splendid view of the West Yorkshire landscape was the backdrop. Below the house the land sloped away to a lake and a wood. After several days of bright clear skies with cold nights the weather clouded over and the temperature had begun to rise. From first light the vast spectator parking area began to fill.

The big teams were in place on Saturday and there was plenty to see in the pits. The MPS Racing truck bristled with new Husqvarnas and a lot of new riders. Steve Plain was preparing the GasGas' for Dougie Lampkin and Danny McCanney next to Neil Crayston in the D3 pits working on Ollie Hart's

KTM. Julian Steven had 2 KORR Racing bikes to fettle for Greg Evans and Jonny Walker while Giz Edmunds applied the final coat of polish to David Knight's immaculate KTM300XC. 

Practice and qualifying for the adults began at 9.30am.From the start the riders weaved their way through the woods along an easy going track that stretched them out before they descended into a valley with a treacherous stream bed. There was a series of drops over water falls that had plenty of water and lots of falls. The climb out of the stream soon became several climbs. The trick was to find a good one . The problem was there weren't any.

A forestry track looped around the wood to take the spectators from the start right into the heart of the action. Every hundred yards there was a misty cloud of steam and exhaust smoke combined with the distinctive sound of depreciating second hand values. There were 5 or 6 extreme sections dotted around the course and each had their own chicken run. The most imposing challenge came at the end of the lap where the riders were confronted by an 80 foot rock wall that dammed the lake. An overflow pipe kept a steady stream of water running over it's multi-faceted surfaces. David Knight was the first to arrive and the Manxman subdued the giant in heroic fashion. The next couple of dozen riders launch their attacks with progressively less style and success despite the best advice of the section marshal Derrick Edmondson. The fastest line was on the

right to the midway stage then diagonally across to the left but it wasn't easy. The left hand climb was easier but at the

halfway stage the riders had cross the face and turn their bikes for the diagonal which wasted time. For the majority the easy route around the chicken run was the only route.

On his 3rd lap David rubbed a bit of salt into the wound by riding up and down the wall 3 times to find the quickest line. Jon Hill was unlucky to land awkwardly in qualifying and retire with a back injury. By the end of the practice session all but a dozen riders had abandoned the wall and no-one had cleaned it on every lap.

Videos Tom Sagar & Ben Burrell Paul Bolton & Greg Evans Gary Clarke

At 10.30am the youth class was unleashed on a shorten course for their qualifying/practice laps. Luke Flack set the fastest time ahead of Michael Gilby, Harrison Bell, Lee Sealey, Charlie Nichols, Jack Edmondson (right), Jack Ditchfield, Jack Staines, Daniel Boam, Oliver Benton, Jack Fewings, Ben Thomson, Charlie Evans, Emily Davey and Brad freeman. Brad may have had a problem or he was saving his energy for the main race.

The first Adult race began at 11.40am. David Knight took the lead ahead of Tom Sagar and Dougie Lampkin on his new Gas Gas. Jonny Walker was 4th and Greg Evans was 5th. Julian Stevens had had the foresight to fit the KORR KTMs with Kriega straps. Paul Bolton rewarded his supporters with a text book climb of the wall on a KTM that barely rose above tick over. Gary Daniels studied Paul's lesson and matched him. Jason Davies on an MPS Husqvarna went straight for the long route. It was a wise move for the faster riders. Graham Jarvis was struggling and he returned to the pit to find his plug was coated with enough coke to fire up a mini barbeque. Lee Smith on Eurotek KTM 300 had planned to shadow David Knight until the last lap before cruising past him but the plan was under revision in the woods. Gary Jenkins would have preferred a trials rear tyre but he did his best to knock off his knobbles.

On the 2nd lap David Knight extended his lead. Tom Sagar was 2nd but he had a heavy fall on the wall. David Wilson was another rider who had cause to thanks Santa his body armour. Dougie Lampkin pitted to adjust his clutch assembly and Jonny Walker moved into 3rd. Paul Bolton was 5th & Gary Daniels was 6th. Australian Ben Burrell was 7th. Oliver put the "e" into Hart when carried his D3 KTM up the wall after 3 falls on his 2nd lap. Tom Sagar had a bad last lap and Dougie Lampkin moved up into 2nd. The new rad covers on Danny McCanney's GasGas took a pasting when he had a big off in the trees and he had to pit. He also had to remove some of the local scenery from his forearm.

At the end of the first heat David Knight led from Dougie Lampkin, Tom Sagar, Paul Bolton, Greg Evens, Jonny Walker, Gary Daniels. Ben Burrel, Gavin Houson and Danny McCanneyl. Lee Sampson took a big hit on his shoulder and retired, Jason Davies showed his potential with a fast opening lap but he was aggravating a foot injury he picked up at Butts the previous weekend and it proved too much. Joe Deakin won the Experts from Tom Healey and Jack Lee. Gary Jenkins minus those pesky knobbles was 4th ahead of Michael Briggs and Scott Austin. GBXC expert Champion Rhys Davies was 7th. Mark Houson won the Vets from Paul Sagar and Craig Parkes. For these 3 riders the die had been cast for the day. Jane Daniels proved that a good lady is hard to beat by winning the Clubman class ahead of Nathan Bolton and MPS Racing's Robert Johnson. Alex Hall proved that you don't need the latest kit by finishing 5th on a 10 year old GasGas. Lee Green from Stourbridge was supported by his grandparents and he must have made them proud with a 7th in his first extreme event. Luke Hill lost his back brake. He found it again and got it working for the 2nd heat. Gavin Barnett from Kidderminster was riding a Ex-Greg Evans 280. Graham Howes has his hands full on a Manchester Extreme YZ 125. One unnamed rider encapsulated his impression of the hard going in the unique phrase "I have got a cauliflower arse".

The Youth race began at 12.45pm. Fired by youthful enthusiasm the racing was close. Brad Freeman was the winner with 9 laps from Michael Gilby, Luke Flack, Lee Sealey, Harrison Bell, Jack Ditchfield, Charlie Nichols and Jack Edmondson. The 2nd Adult heat started at i.45pm. Knight took the lead ahead of a fully clutched Graham Jarvis. Lampkin was 3rd ahead of Johnny Walker and Greg Evans in 5th. Only 8 seconds divided Jonny and Greg. Danny McCanney was 7th. Tom Sagar crashed out on lap 4 but he was OK. Paul Bolton caught his foot and then lost 2 places on the last lap when his moose broke loose. He finished 8th. In the Experts it was another win for MPS Racing's Joe Deakin from GasGas supported Jack Lee. Gary Jenkins was 3rd ahead of Scott Austin, Michael Briggs, Rhys Davies, Simon Comer, Tom Healey, Oliver Hart and Stan Watt. The Vets result was a repeat of the first heat with Mark Houson winning from Paul Sagar and Craig Parkes. Robert Johnson won the Clubman class from Jane Daniels, James Reeve, Nathan Bolton, Alex Hall, Lee Green, Daz Cowen, James Dent, Ian Mc Mahon & Michael Kay.

The ACU was represented by the newly elected Chairman Brian Higgins and T&E chairman John Collins. The organisers had built a podium out of 3 boulders which reflected the rugged nature of extreme enduro. The transponder iming was by Mid Wales Dirt Tracks and Brian Higgins presented the trophies.

David Knight was the winner and the first ACU Extreme Enduro Champion. Dougie Lampkin was the runner up and Greg Evans was 3rd. In the father's race, Mark Houson was the best of the Vets ahead of Paul Sagar and Craig Parkes,  Joe Deakin won the Experts from Jack Lee and Gary Jenkins, Jane Daniels was the best Clubperson from Robert Johnson and Nathan Bolton.

Photos

Videos Darren Ridley Leighton Parker 

KTM PRKnight start '11 in winning styleEnduro 3 World Champion dominates first running of Eddy's Extreme Enduro.

Making his first competitive outing of 2011 David Knight made sure of a successful start to the new season by claiming the overall victory at the inaugural running of ‘Eddy's Extreme Race' - a new extreme enduro organised by former World Enduro Champion Paul Edmondson and staged near Leeds, Great Britain. Finishing ahead of Dougie Lampkin and Greg Evans come the end of the event Knight lead each of the two one-hour races from start to finish and placed comfortably ahead in both outings.

The fastest rider during the morning qualifying session Knight needed no time at all to open up a healthy lead at the front of the Pro class in race one. Despite losing some time on the second lap when he gat caught up on a large tree root he extended his lead lap on lap and come the end of the race placed ahead of Dougie Lampkin, Tom Sagar, Paul Bolton and Greg Evans.

Race two again saw Knight rocket into an immediate lead. With the track rougher and notably tougher than in the opening hour-long race David made sure he didn't make any mistakes during the opening laps, fending off his closest challenger Graham Jarvis. Remaining out front Knight claimed the chequered flag three minutes clear of Jarvis with Lampkin third to claim a deserved overall win.

David Knight: ‘It was a really good day for me - great training and an enjoyable way to start the year off. I knew that it was going to be pretty hard work, but apart from a few falls everything went well for me. The first race went really well. I lead from the start and could see that I was opening up a lead so I just tried to make no mistakes. On lap two I got stuck on a tree root and must have lost about 30 seconds. I pushed hard after that and everything went well. I felt good and really enjoyed it. The second race was much tougher. The holes between the rocks were deeper and the rocks themselves were much more slippery. Whenever I started to really push I started going backwards. I found a good pace and settle down once I knew I was a few minutes ahead. The track wasn't too hard, but there wasn't really anywhere you could take a break. The format of two one-hour races was good because it wasn't all down to just one result - you needed to do well on both occasions, which some riders weren't able to do. It's been a good start to the year and a really good event.'

Dougie Lampkin - Gas GasDougie made the short trip across the hills from his Yorkshire home to the wooded venue just outside Bradford to take part in his first enduro event since joining the Gas Gas factory team at the turn of the year. Up against friend and multi enduro World champion David Knight and a quality field of regular enduro riders, Lampkin always knew that the chances of a debut win were remote. However this did not deter the thirty-four year old Yorkshireman putting in two sterling performances to claim second overall behind the dominant Knight after a pair of tough hour long races.

In the lead up to the event, Lampkin had spent the week in Spain testing with the Gas Gas factory team as Dougie readies himself for the second round of the FIM Indoor Enduro Championship in Barcelona early next month. Whilst the ex multi FIM World Trial World champion used essentially a stock EC300E for today's extreme event, Dougie will have his full factory specification enduro machine available for his next outing in two weeks time. However Lampkin was quick to point out during his post race interview, that in no way had his performance today been limited by the standard bike.

Lampkin signalled his intent to feature amongst the front runners come the end of the day, as he placed third during the morning qualifying session to take his spot on the front row of the start for the two main races. With the riders grouped in lines of four, race one promptly got underway at 11.30hrs, as the eager pack made the short

dash from the open paddock area before swinging sharp left into the trees. Dougie did not make the best of starts in the muddy conditions and dropped outside the top five momentarily as he was forced in to the pits at the end of lap one to attend to a problem with his clutch lever assembly.

Typically Lampkin fought back brilliantly to move into second place with just a few laps remaining and was one of just a select few riders who attempted the extreme rock section towards the end of the course each time around. The alternative to attacking this short and steep rock slab infested climb was to follow a longer, but less severe route that potentially would take thirty seconds extra per lap and that carrried far less risk for both rider and bike. Although unable to challenge Knight's supremacy on the sticky going, Dougie was pleased with his first race recovery after his initial problems.

Although Dougie had no mechanical problems in race two, it was a similar tale for the veteran campaigner as he worked his way up the order following a slow start to the second of the hour long encounters. With Knight long gone, Lampkin focussed on holding his top three placing and remained in contention should second placed Graham Jarvis make any kind of costly mistake. Dougie's 2-3 showing on the day was sufficient to earn him the runners' up spot overall behind Knight, and to give him a near perfect debut on board the production Gas Gas enduro machine.Speaking after the event Lampkin stated. "It's been a very productiive and positive week overall. The work we have done in Spain this week has been good, and I am looking forward to riding the new bike in Barcelona soon. We have done a lot of work both on the suspension and with the engine to give me a set up that I am more used to. That said the standard bike I have ridden today has been fantastic considering it is pretty much what anyone can go and buy from a dealer tomorrow morning."

"Having never raced a two stroke enduro bike before I was not quite sure what to expect today, as testing and training is one thing, but riding an actual event is another thing entirely." Dougie continued. "Apart from the clutch lever coming loose in the first race, the bike has run spot on all day. I simply had no answer to David in either race, so I just tried to stick to my own pace and to get two solid results, which worked out well for me in the end."Lampkin concluded by saying. "It has been a good event and a good shakedown ahead of Barcelona, as second place overall is the best result I could have realistically hoped for."

Good result for KORR - KTM Off Road RacingFor the first time an ACU British Championship Extreme Enduro event was organised in the UK, this weekend at Tong Hall near Leeds.

Tong proved to be a perfect natural venue for extreme enduro, mostly steep woodland with many streams and gulleys, a favourite place of 4 x 4 enthusiasts who love to winch them themselves through all the obstacles, no such luxury for the off-road bikers though, if you make a mistake its simply get off and push and even the best where doing that at times on Sunday.

With several days of rain and frost prior to the event and mild weather finally arriving for the race day the ground was extremely slippy itself and once all that wet mud was dragged onto the rock sections they became almost impossible for all but the elite. A cleverly designed course had several “Chicken runs” next to the difficult sections to allow riders the option of a slower but easier passage or risk the hazard for possibly a quick direct route.

About 100 riders entered the race and the day kicked off at 9.30am with an hour of free practice , also in this session each rider had to put in a quick lap to organise the starting order, there was no surprise that Factory KTM rider David Knight set the standard time, KORR rider Jonny Walker on his KTM 300 qualified in 4th amongst a group with far more experience, this was Jonny's first extreme enduro and first time either KORR rider had been to this venue!!!, Greg also mixed it with the Trials and Extreme specialists and qualified with a very creditable 6th on his 250 EXC. The first 1 hour race started at 11.30am and riders departed in rows of 5 in 5 second intervals, Knighter took the hole-shot and simply left the field behind with young Jonny trying to follow in 2nd, but a few mistakes on the first lap dropped him down to 4th, he jumped out of a river and did not see a low branch which took his helmet peak straight off and damaged his goggles making things even tougher for him. However he started to find his rhythm and settled down into a good pace and held 3rd for much of the race, being easily the quickest of the rookie extreme riders. Greg however was further down the pack but slowly through consistent riding picked off riders to move up the order and eventually passed Jonny in the final laps. 

After the first race there was only 1 hour work time to prepare for the final session with the time spent mostly repairing damage, the course had been tough on our bikes and many plastic parts had been broken, Jonny modified his seat with rope to get better grip, although it was suggested we tie him to the bike !!. The final race would once again see Knighter up front with Husabergs Graham Jarvis in close company, both Jonny and Greg came around in 4th and 5th respectively and held these

positions to the end without much drama until the very end when Greg again closed in on Jonny and almost passed him on the final hill. At the end it was a tie break between Greg and Jonny for 3rd overall and the final result was calculated on aggregate race times, Greg had beaten Jonny by just 5 seconds over the 2 hours of racing !!

Results 1. David Knight KTM 250 2. Dougie Lampkin Gas Gas 300 3. Greg Evans Azego KORR KTM UK 250 EXC 4. Jonny Walker Azego KORR KTM UK 300 EXC

Team Manager Julian Stevens; “ It has been a very good team result for us, the event has attracted an excellent quality line up that any extreme race in the world would be proud of, with the exception of Taddy Blazusiak the Worlds best extreme riders where there, so for us to get two top 5 positions is very positive, all the team worked very hard to help so thanks to them and a big well done to Greg and Jonny”.

Greg Evans 3rd overall; “Well i'm quite surprised with my result, I do not come from a trials background so this type of race is quite difficult for me, I have had more than my fair share of crashes today !!! and sorry to Smooth for wrecking his brand new 250 EXC , i've really enjoyed today and it has been a good test to prove my fitness and set me up for the season, can't wait for the BEC now”.

Jonny Walker 4th overall; “This was my first extreme Enduro and qualifying on the front row with the likes of Knighter and Lampkin was awesome, I had a great time, it was much slippier than I expected and like Greg I made many mistakes, but I learn't a lot from this race, now I know what I must do to improve and really look forward to my next extreme which will be Hells Gate in a few weeks” Next Event: Barcelona Indoor World Cup, February 6 th

GGUK

It was the first outing for all the major Teams including our GGUK Team managed by Steve Plain. Steve had his two main riders competing which neither are extreme specialists but they both had promising results. We also had GG Factory rider Dougie Lampkin compete for the first time on GG so it was an important event for all concerned.

DOUGIE LAMPKIN qualified an easy 3rd behind Knigher and Grimbo. A small clutch issue was sorted with an oil change to the new Putoline ‘Nano Trans GP’ gearbox oil. Doug rode a ‘box standard’ CC300 with only his factory Ohlins shock changed in the morning. Slightly lowered gearing and a set of Renthals was all Doug required.Race1 went well apart from the clutch lever needing tightening after the first lap (sorry pal). Nevertheless Doug cruised to an easy runner-up place helped by the DNF of Jarvis.

Race2 went well again and he settled for 3rd after Jarvis had a flyer of a start. With only a 1 hour race distance Doug used his head and kept his 3rd place easy to finish 2nd overall for the day and the best possible debut for LAMPKIN on GG! I must say Knigher was untouchable on Sunday...very impressive.

DANNY McCANNEY was 7th overall finishing 10th in Race1 after a few crashes and a much improved 6th in race 2. Danny had quite a big crash in Race1 which he had to pit for and straighten the gasser out. He also had to remove some ‘woodwork’ from his forearm which was quite nasty but being a manx lad this was swiftly removed by the hardman. He continued and was 10th at the flag.A much improved 6th in Race2 was encouraging.

MATT MOFFAT has never ridden this type of event and was ‘in at the deep end’ with only MX experience to his name. Matt enjoyed the challenge and finished 13th at the finish. He retired in race2 after a crash which resulted in losing the small ‘pin’ in the clutch master cylinder / lever.

LEE SAMPSON had a worrying shoulder dislocation in Race1 which ended his day….more on this after he visits his Doctor..

JACK LEE had a fantastic day finishing 2nd overall in the Expert Class. Jack used his Trials experience and rode two smooth races. He kept out of trouble and it paid off.Thanks to Kev and Luke for prepping Dougs bike and to Steve Plain.

Mixed results for MPS Racing Team

The MPS Racing team headed to Tong in Leeds last weekend for the first ACU extreme enduro championship held by Paul 'Fast Eddy' Edmondson. Arctic conditions over the past few weeks followed by a sudden down pour ensured the extreme venue was just that and offered the riders a multitude of different challenges. Despite the majority of the field on two-strokes, Jason Davis chose to ride the Husqvarna TE 449 in the event and proved how well the machine fares in tough conditions by placing second fastest four-stroke in the qualifying session. Unfortunately an ankle injury picked up prior to the event was aggravated during the first race and he was forced to retire having only completed a few laps. Team mate Joe Deakin dominated the highly competitive Expert class from start to finish onboard his TE 250. Winning both races Joe showed just how manageable the light weight 250 four-stroke Husqvarna is compared against a class filled with two-stroke machines.

Also in the Expert class was MPS rider Jack Rowland but unlike his team mate Jack's race was more mixed. Finishing ninth in the first race he was keen to improve on his result in the second battle but water in the electrics caused him to retire early. In the Clubman class Robert Johnson was separating the men from the boys; finishing third in the first race and first in the second race Robert gained confidence as the event went on and tackled the unfamiliar extreme sections with skill. If there was an award handed out for guts and determination it would have gone to Katy Bullock. Although Katy has only ridden in a handful of hare and hound events she navigated the extreme course onboard her WR 125 with confidence and called upon her trials background to show several of the more regular riders how it's done!

Joe Deakin "It's been a while since I've ridden in an extreme event and wasn't too sure what to expect but the track layout and format was fantastic. Without the choice of a 'chicken run' at the more technical sections it would have been mayhem but the whole event flowed really well and I'm chuffed with my result. My bike never missed a beat all day and found grip where other rider were really struggling."

Katy Bullock "That by far the most difficult and exhausting event I've ever done. I wasn't sure what to expect and it was harder than I could have imagined but I'm please to have finished the first race. My little WR125 was perfect for the job with its light weight and torquey engine. To be honest I don't think I could have done it on anything else!"

Riders come together to Celebrate at the ACU awards

Saturday 29th January saw the ACU hold the annual Awards Presentation at the Park Inn Hotel in Northampton. The whole day was well attended with around 500 people in attendance during the course of the day. With the Youth awards taking place at lunchtime, as the stars of the future, from Motocross, Quad Racing, Grass Track and Trials all celebrating their season’s achievements. Within the Youth Motocross awards it was Connor Walkley that collected the most awards for the season, collecting the BYMX Open, Maxxis MXY2 titles as well as the Dunlop award for the Most Promising Motocross Rider within the ACU Academy. In the Youth Grass Track the main award winner was young Edmund Best who has continued on from his impressive season in the Cadet class in 2009.

The evening Awards Dinner focused on another superb season for all riders within the ACU in their chosen discipline. The most prestigious award of the Evening went to Jack Challoner, who won the Pinhard Trophy which is presented to by the Sunbeam MCC for the best Under-21 year old sporting motorcyclist that is

competing under the ACU. Jack Challoner beat off strong competition from fellow Trials rider Jack Sheppard. During the 2010 season Jack captured the FIM Junior Trial World Cup Championship and also finished 3rd in the UEM Trial Championship.

Other stand out awards during the course of the evening went to British Sidecar Championship Stuart Brown and Luke Peters who in 2010 claimed yet another title. In Quad racing it was Paul Winrow who collected his eleventh straight British Quad Championship. Female Trials stars Becky Cook and Joanne Coles celebrating finishing second and third in the Women’s Trials World Championship.

Greg Evans (above) took the time out of his busy training regime to collect his awards for winner the UEM Enduro Senior E2 Championship and also for finishing 2nd in the European Enduro Championship. Amongst the other stars of the Enduro world to be honoured were BEC E1 4t champion Daryl Bolter, BEC E1 2T champion Edward Jones, BEC Best Junior Ashley Wood, BEC E2 Expert Gavin Houson and Best Clubman Steve Holcombe  Daryl Bolter also picked up the XC Championship trophy and Ady Smith was the best Over 40.

Within Grass track the main awards went to Ritchie Moore and Ric McAuley for 3rd place in the FIM Track Racing 1000cc Sidecar World Championship and Andrew Appleton on winning the UEM Solo Grass Track Championship.

Team REME KTM held the first round of the 2011 Winter Series at the Bagshot training area between Brachnell and Camberley on Sunday 30th January. The weather was perfect with a warm sun soon burning of the light morning cloud. The start area was ideal with a vast open area - beneath power lines - yards from the main road.

The flagged dropped on the 4 hour race at 10.00am. REME Craftsman Gareth Davies took the holeshot in his first ride for the REME KTM team. A couple of hundred yards from the line the course divided into two giving the riders the option of a man made extreme section or a chicken run. On the first lap the field was directed around the outside to avoid bunching. Gareth Davies had some bad luck when his chain jumped off the sprocket and he lost the lead. 

After 20 minutes Dan Beaven - on a new KTM 250XC - was the first rider to complete a lap with a minute lead over second placed rider Richard Ely on a Husaberg 390 and Aaron Simth was 3rd on his Husaberg TE250. Desert Rose Patsy Quick hit the tyres on the extreme test and then the ground in quick succession injuring her shoulder. Gareth Jenkins lost the tip of his thumb on the first lap but he had it sewn back on again so thumbs up to Gareth. Kristian Pickworth was riding well and he clocked up 8 laps before a recurrent problem with his hand put him out. Dan dropped some tine when he snapped his throttle cable but he held on to the lead and crossed the finishing  line 3 seconds ahead of Richard Ely. Julian Harvey was 3rd on a new KTM SX. They clocked up 12 laps and covered over 70 miles. Simon Beken (10th) was the best of the Vets ahead of Richard Shaw (14th) and Tom Moore (15th). Phil Maltby won the Clubman class and clublady Clare was the runner up. John Bishop was 3rd.

The organisers went for a rideable course with 50% new ground and a lot less of the boggy going than they have had in the past. There were some tricky climbs but everyone managed to climb them. Clubman Rob Mussell muscled his way around 8 laps and finished with big grin on his face despite a cut lip. The happy combination of a good course and the fine weather meant that everyone went home with a smile on their faces at the end of the day.

Results - Photos - More  - Top comedian Ross Noble also competed at Bagshot - Details

Simon Wakely wins at Hethfeltonon a Husaberg

Simon Wakely won the 1st round of the Southern Centre Championship organised by Dorset Police at Hethfelton ahead of Bradley King.

Rich Troth of Teamsnapper writes " I was lucky enough to have done 1 lap of the course which was just 7 miles long and it was in superb condition and very different from the last visit here, it was so well thought out but designed for enjoyment so hats off to the Dorset MCC for creating such a great course, it had many narrow bits that always led to wider areas for passing and the fast bits were fast and the sandy bits were powder sand which made it tough and tricky and even the very experienced Danny Hall had a few wobbles in it.

The scrutineering/signing was very military style with no hold ups, good refreshment wagon so it was all looking good and nearly forgot.....very cold but sunshine for the whole day.

Championship class was won from start to finish by a very rejuvenated Si Wakely who was making his comeback ride and to me looks a different rider on the 2T Midwest Husaberg and he was really enjoying himself out there, welcome back Si, ironically 2nd place went to Si Wakely’s very good friend Bradley King on board the Gas Gas both Bradley and Si were the only riders to complete 13 laps, as a spectator i thought that both Si and Bradley

could have upped the ante if needed, in a fine 3rd place was the very likeable Phil Studley whose riding style is always hardcore and never fails to entertain and a joy to watch and in 4th was the ever young Jack Twentyman were was at 100% every time i saw him and he looked very happy and comfortable in the forest conditions.

The expert class was won by Richard Milton on the Gas Gas with runner up spot going to Dave Coles on his KTM whom both achieved 12 laps but did not have it all their way but were by far the most consistent in the class and very much deserved the first two podium places, a fine 3rd by Chris Honeywill KTM who did well to hold of the chasing pack led by Matt Pemble and Ashley Scott.

Clubman A class was very tight for the top honours between the very likeable Ben Shuttleworth and local Bournemouth rider Joe Dyke with Ben taking the top spot and i personally find Ben’s riding errr..... entertaining... very on the edge and always gives 100% so well done Ben but Joe on his Yamaha pushed Ben so very hard, third went to Ian Hughes who was Mr Consistent lap after lap .

Clubman B was won by Wimborne’s Chris Marsh who again rode very consistently throughout the day and was one of the fastest through the long forest fire roads, the real battle in this class was between 2nd and 3rd which changed many times through the day but Rob Nash coming out the eventual winner with Colin Wilkins 3rd,would also like to mention what a great ride in 4th place by the very friendly Keith Workman.

Over 40’s was a 4 horse race with anyone of the 4 capable of the win and it really came down to who wanted it most and that was the very consistent Steven Bird KTM followed by Michael Brooks and Shaun Bunney Taking 3rd, 4th was Chris Stanger from Horsham riding Husky 250.

Sportsman class was the biggest class of the day with the top 2 really outshining the rest of the group and would be more suited in the clubman classes with 10 laps each but the race between them was great and the lead changed very regularly and both riders were trying very hard but the victory went to Ian Randall and runner up ex Motocross wizard Leigh Adlem , 3rd place could have been anyone of 6 riders it was that competitive but the final podium went to David Sawtell KTM.

Bradley writes "The Dorset Police crew always put on a great annual event and this year was no exception with a 15minute lap through the forestry. Dry weather meant near perfect conditions but overnight frost caused a very slippery track especially on the fire roads.

I got a top 5 start and quickly moved into the lead within a few hundred metres. Si Wakely was soon in 2nd and we had a big gap on the rest of the Championship riders by the end of lap1. I didn't know how hard to push with the ice and trials tyre and Si sneaked past at the end of lap 2. We then had a good battle in and out of the lapped riders until a small mistake whilst passing a backmarker led to me clipping a tree and going down. I lost sight of Si then and struggled to know how hard to push to regain the time. At the half way point I entered the pits just as Si was leaving so knew I wasn't to far back. I kept the gap within a couple of minutes and after an extra pit stop on the last lap finished in a comfortable 2nd, still feeling fresh and happy with my riding.Thanks to everyone who organised the event, all my helpers and all my sponsors.

 Results - Photos 

Ben Shuttleworths won his class on his first outing in 2011 on the Rieju MRT450 - Details

Tim Foreman takes Baden Hall victory….Report by: WOREM

It is always a good turn out and event at WOR’s very popular Midlands’s venue, Baden Hall. Situated near to Stone in Staffs the venue is an old military bomb testing site and is unique in it’s make up. With over 8 separate woodlands linked together by banks and bomb holes, the course crosses and uses a maze of concrete roads and single trails and also has plenty of fast MX type going in the mix. The quality of this course was evident last Sunday as all the riders that crossed the finish line past race director Steve Ireland’s Chequered flag, had a smile or a handshake for the effort put in by the WOR team in running such a well planned event and weekends’ activities.

The racing started at a bang on 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon, the race had a 2hr and 2and a half hour race combined into one. Although cold the sun was out and the sky blue not bad for a high risk event in January.

As the Experts blasted off the line it was Old stalwart Lincoln Brewster, back from a 3 month lay off that led the way and headed the riders back past lap control at the end of lap one. Brewster had q good lead and looked certain to take a win

with the pace he was running at, However 12 weeks missing from action and the lack of a drinks pack saw the 39 year old start to tire at the hour mark and the chasing pack of fit young riders bore him down.

Young Ashley Fox on his CF Kawasaki 450 was holding onto Lincoln for the best part of 40 minutes until the vastly experienced and very smooth and tidy Tim Foreman came past him and then hauled in Brewster on his Steve Plain Gas GAS. Foreman never looked back then and took a very well deserved victory in his first WOR Event for a while. Tim will be contesting the entire WOR series this year and will certainly be one of the men to beat come the season close. Tim was not quite aware of the battle going on behind him as the Hard Charging and on form Ben Wotton was blasting his Honda 450 into second place with a scrap of huge proportions going on with Ash Fox. These two were going bar to bar and right up until the last lap it was an unfortunate over the bars crash for Fox that ended his chance of taking the runner up spot. Fox and Wootton (below) set the fastest laps of the day on their last two laps, awesome stuff. The top riders all completed 15 laps.

In the Expert B class, newly promoted Thomas Bell was the victor. This young rider is simply climbing through the WOR ranks on a weekly basis and is just getting better and better; a strong physical chap with seemingly no fear in the tight stuff also marks him out as one to watch in from now and into this new race year at WOR. Dave Carthy took a well deserved runner up Expert B on his little 125 KTM although a lap down on Bell. Rounding out the Exp B podium was Luke Williams, Luke had some clutch problems but still took home some silverware which he was delighted with and did not expect.

The Clubman front runners in the “A” class had Dan Critchlow lead for an hour before Neil Roberts got through and took the class win leaving Critchlow in second place and the big man Lee Green in a well deserved podium position. Roberts completed 14 laps with Critchlow and Green on 13 a piece.

Thomas Bell’s little brother, Young Harrison, is also another young rider that is flying at the moment. Harrison was riding for the first time in the clubman class since moving up from youth, He took a very fine class win with 13 laps and a 3 minute advantage over runner up, Luke Thomas. Thomas is another just moved up from Sportsman and proving his worth in the better classes.

Sam Alderman, always there or there abouts rounded out the trophy positions with another consistent ride.

Ian Barnett returned after a long WOR lay off and went straight back to the top of the Vets A class with his customary aggressive, meaningful and attacking style. Barnett loves the gloop and in some of the wetter sections of the course he was simply flying.

Come the end after passing top 2010 WOR Veteran, Chris Wagstaffe, Barnett just managed by 40 seconds to squeeze another lap on Waggy. The bronze award in the Vets A class went to Paul Carr, another rider who can not ride for a while and then put in a great performance.

Rounding out the 2.5hr riders classes is the Sportsman A group. These were headed on 11laps by Shane Marriott although some bad look for Runner up Dan Robson saw him just give the lead away on the last lap. The final podium position went to Pete Thacker with a solid display of riding.

The Vets B riders do 2hrs and not the full race, still in these conditions that only started getting tacky and better at the 1 and a half hour mark, they all rode superb with some great racing at the front of the pack. Andy Myers had third place, Rhodri Jones made the trip from North Wales well worth while with trophy (at last!) in the runners up spot but the spoils went to David Williams who took a lap victory on 10 laps to top the class.

Also doing 2 hrs was the Sportsman B class, Alex Green took a brilliant win and shows determination pays off as he held off challenges from silver places Mike Bartholomew and bronze finisher Stephen Brookes ended the day with a limp and a huge grin.

The top Novice riders were Shaun Spencer, Nick Bennett and Ben Redfearn in that order respectively. Bennet taking his second podium finish in arrow as he makes the transition from MX to the WOR way of racing.

Top Youth Rider was the ever improving 14 year old Lee Sealey who is really making a name for himself at the moment with strong rides everywhere. He took a convincing win from runner up Charlie Nichols on his new Yam 125 who in turn took a 4 minute cushion from the always smiling Matt Boam in third place.

Last but certainly not least is the growing ladies class, The Spoils went to Rhian George, a tough cookie by any one’s standards and a rider that loves to mix it up with the male riders out there, even in pain from a crash, she stayed strong to the end to take the class win with a near lap cushion from the super determined Emily Davey who finished second by only 3 seconds from third placed Helen Speirs. That is close racing girls!

The whole WOR weekend went brilliant and the racing on Sunday was well received by all, with the best organisation in the game the WOR team did well to produce another cracking event off the production line and look forward to running there next event in2 weeks time in the Midlands at yet another New Venue.

A big thank you to all helpers, media guys, land owner and of course the hundreds of riders that supported the event.

Results Images.. Kev in focus & Linden Adams Photography.

The 2011 Putoline XC ChampionshipRound 1 at Bicton

Lewis Belfield wins Putoline XC opener

Just a week after the hugely successful Eddy's Extreme Enduro Paul Edmondson was back to business as usual as the opening round of the 2011 Putoline XC Championship began at Bicton Farm near Shrewsbury last Sunday.

It was heartening to see a full paddock, full Adult race and a very well supported Youth race, hopefully this is indicative of the season to come for all XC organisers, as riders and spectators turned out to witness some superb racing around the extended Bicton course.

With a lap time of around nine minutes the course was much bigger than usual with the addition of an extra field section and another small woodland section, which combined with a snaking woodland section near the start line to make a fast and open course with a few technical bits thrown in for good measure.

Events at Bicton usually attract more than a few MX boys and this event was no different. What was different was that many of the MXers have made the move to XC racing permanent. The

chance of more time on a bike and better value for money is too good to pass up.

Ex-AMCA Championship rider Craig Chamberlain christened his new job with Yamaha by entering the Expert class on a Yamaha 250 2T but has stated his intention to ride every GBXC event this year although he will be on a 450 for that series.

A light overnight frost left the ground hard initially but by the time racing began the surface started to improve although remained slippery for most of the Youth race. The woodland sections were fine, except for the off-cambers and tree roots which caught out many riders at the start of the race.

KTM mounted Jack Edmondson roared into the lead in the Youth race and never looked back. He was closely followed by Oli Benton for fourteen laps but Jacko held his 30-second lead to take the win as Benton took second and Alex Walton third overall.

Edmondson and Benton were joined at the head of the BW85-150 class by Jack Staines as in the 65cc class Ben Clark had the ride of his lfe, leading all the way home a lap clear of Ryan Rowlands and Harry Edmondson.

Alex Walton also had a good outing, winning the SW85's by a lap over Brad Sullivan and Ben Coleman. Hannah Murray started the season in style with a win in the Girls class followed by Silje Otte and Molly Law.

The start line was packed for the two and a half hour adult race. One hundred and forty riders all raring to get the first race of the season underway.

The Pro/Expert front line saw Lewis Belfield, two times winner at Bicton, sat next to Aussie Ben Burrell. This was Burrell's first UK XC race and following a good ride at Eddy's Extreme he was keen to show what he could do on the flat and fast stuff.

As the start flag dropped Burrell took the hole-shot just a couple of feet ahead of Belfield and the pair were stuck together as the pack disappeared out across the first open field. Belfield nearly lost it on a big sweeping left-hander but recovered well and the two charged on in a race of their own.

Burrell made all of the running initially and the gap between the two fluctuated from 10 to 20 seconds. The lead changed hands when riders started to pit for fuel but in the closing laps it was still neck and neck and as the finish flag came out Belfield made it three wins out of three at Bicton with Burrell just inches behind.

Derek Bawn had a great race and maintained third position throughout, with James Jackman in a disappointing fourth place and Rhys Davies in fifth. Sean O'Neill sat fuming in the pits after just four laps as his Yamaha had given up the ghost. He was less than pleased.

Jeremy Callow was flying in the Clubman class and took an easy class win a lap clear of Andrew Marsh with Joe Chambers in third place. Callow actually finished fifth overall, which is a good indicator for his intentions this season.

Last year's Novice Champion Gav Tatchell was sidelined with a broken thumb and watched the action instead of riding in the Sportsman class for the first time. Jason Hicken put the hammer down and nailed the opening round Sportsman win a lap ahead of Garin Rosser and Rob White.

Gareth Marsh took the honours in the Novice class by a significant margin of two laps over second placed James Wren who was a lap up on Shane Tasker in third spot. Stu Mowbray landed the Vets class win with 19 laps to his credit, one up on David Sokes with Jason Kendrick-Jones, who made one of his rare outings, third.

The Youth class witnessed a real battle but it was for third spot as Brad Freeman took control right from the start and won with a lap to spare. Andrew Bull's return to good form, following a wrist injury last season, continued as he took second place behind Freeman but just 30 seconds separated the next three riders, all fighting for third place. Jack Ditchfield grabbed the final podium spot ahead of Harland White and Katie Walker.

The track improved throughout the day and although a few sticky bits remained in places the going was good and the racing was top-notch.

A great start to the season for Fast Eddy and the Putoline XC Championship, which maintained and improved on it's popularity amongst many riders who also compete in the fast approaching GBXC Championship, set to start in March.

Results

Pro Expert 1 Lewis Belfield 2 Ben Burrell 3 Derek Bawn 4 James Jackman 5 Rhys DaviesClubman 1 Jeremy Callow 2 Andrew Marsh 3 Joe Chambers 4 David Jones 5 Ryan FaulksVets 1 Stu Mowbray 2 David Stokes 3 Jason Kendrick-Jones 4 Darren Pegg 5 Adrian GriffithsSportsman 1 Jason Hicken 2 Garin Rosser 3 Rob White 4 Jamie Callow 5 Callum MorewoodNovice 1 Gareth Marsh 2 James Wren 3 Shane Tasker 4 Tommy Hodgkinson 5 Steve TotneyYouth 1 Brad Freeman 2 Andrew Bull 3 Jack Ditchfield 4 Harland White 5 Katie Walker

Youth Results

65cc 1 Ben Clark 2 Ryan Rowlands 3 Harry EdmondsonSW85 1 Alex Walton 2 Brad Sullivan 3 Ben ColemanBW85-150 1 Jack Edmondson 2 Oli Benton 3 Jack StainesGirls 1 Hannah Murray 2 Silje Otte 3 Molly Law

Results