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The fourth round of the 2005 Suzuki Central Enduro Series was run by the Martinborough club on Sunday June 12th. This event has been memorable in the past for (occassionally) co-inciding with unfortunately wet weather. This year Wayne made the course a little shorter (at 108 km) and tried to avoid the areas that might become impassable with too much water.
He also made sure that all but the last short section was timed very loosely so riders had plenty of time to complete the event.
As per usual it rained for the week before the event, as well as on and off during the day. However, out of a field of 66, and despite some of the track being a bit greasy, there were very few DNF's. All of the planned river crossings stayed in and, vindicating the work Wayne and crew put in this year, most riders had a ball.
In the Expert class Heath Howlett (Yam WRF450) just pipped Rob Howe (KTM 450) by 2 seconds, with Karl Power (Hon CR250) just slipping in front of Steven Bird (Yam WRF250) for third.
Mark Amey (Hon CRF250) easily cleaned up the Intermediate class, beating Nick Longstaff (Yam YZF250) by 78 seconds, with Jason Bennett (Hon CRF250) a further 7 seconds back in third.
This was a really good event with Martinborough MCC putting on a keg to wash down the now obligitory venison steaks. And, as usual, almost everyone stayed to quench their thirst and then for the prize giving.
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Overall this is shaping up to being one of the most closely contested series for a few years. Remember that the final result is best 5 of 6 rounds and that there are still two rounds to go.
In Exp Enduro 1, Steven Bird, with three wins, seems to have half a hand on the trophy, but still needs to finish reasonably well in the last two events to enduse that Mark Fleming (Hon CRF250) doesn't pip him at the post.
Karl Power leads the Exp Enduro 2 class and, on current form, should pretty much wrap up this class at the next round. However, Rob Howe, Richard Kinvig (Suz RM250), Glen Manning (KTM 450), & Heath Howlett are still in contention for the class win.
Int Enduro 1 is pretty much a two horse race, with Mark Amey just holding off Nick Longstaff at this stage.
And, in Int Enduro 2, despite Troy Hughes (Yam YZF450) leading the class on points, Simon Bickell (RM 250) probably holds the upper hand, with two firsts and a third placing.
The Novice/Youth class has a similar situation, with Dave Chandler currently leading but Hamish Thomas looking stronger after dropping a round. In other words, very much a battle to the wire.
It is only the Int Veteran 40+ class that seems to be pretty much sewn up, with Chris Howard (KTM 525) well clear of second placed Alan Raynor (KTM 300).
