British Enduro Series Round #1 – Race Report
Oli Carter headed to round 1 of the British Enduro Series at AE Forest. Scotland in March! Guaranteed to make things interesting. Check out his race report
Riding in the Mud and Rain is part of what makes us UK riders a hardy bunch, but even the bravest were nearly beaten this weekend at the first ever British Enduro Series.
Holding a race in Scotland in March is always a risk… The previous weekend Ae forest hosted an SDA race and was welcomed with sunshine and dare i say it…. Dust….. We were not so lucky and i think its fair to say these were the hardest conditions i have ever had the pleasure of racing in!
Si Paton and his team did well to work with mother nature and put on a race in the war like conditions…
With a new format, new team and a bit of pressure to deliver a premier series that the UK needs, the stAge was set for the first race of the year.
The new format was a welcome change and made for a much fairer playing field. With 3 different stages raced and practiced on each day it meant everyone was in the same boat… No sneaky Friday practice allowed!
Day 1 saw 3 stages that did raise some eyebrows due to the basic trail center nature of stages 1 and 2. Saying that, when you were up to race pace and pedaling everywhere they flowed and times were tight at the top. Stage 3 really picked the race up again, being the polar opposite to the previous stages. One super slick deep rut pointing straight down the hill, no pedaling required! This stage was made even harder by the weather, a clean run would be rewarded with a good time.
Unfortunately stage 1 times had to be dropped due to a technical fault… I’m not surprised with the amount of electrics in the finish area (bog).
My new Banshee Rune test bike thrived in these wild conditions, to see what setup I used click here.
Day 2 saw another 3 stages that were deffnatly preferred to day one, unfortunately i only got to ride stage 6 as I rolled my ankle during practice and couldn’t complete the race in the afternoon. Not the start to the season i was hoping for!
The rain held off for most of the day but the damage had all ready been done on the ground with stages 4 and 6 being crazy slick, fast and knarly… Stage 6 was basically your typical Ae forest DH track and Mr Gas to flat himself schooled everyone and took the stage win by a couple of seconds.
At the end of the day it was Welsh young gun Leigh Johnson who took the elite men’s win and the retired Tracy Mosely the elite women’s, obviously retirement hasn’t slowed her down one bit.
Hats off to the BES crew, especially the marshals for sticking it out through the horrendous weather for the weekend. Many race organisers would have pulled the plug but not Paton and team, I think that shows the commitment and drive they have to make this series the best in the uk.
The show must go on, and we will see what it has in store for us at round 2 Dyfi forest next month.
I would like to say thanks to Ride.io, Ison distribution, Nuttrixxion energy and USE/Exposure lights for getting me up and running with all the best kit I need for this season, let’s get racing!!
