MIJ Taff Buggy Series 2013 Round 1

The weekend of 9th & 10th March saw the first round of the 2013 MIJ Taff Buggy race series. Back in the day, racing in March seemed to be a safe bet with regards the weather. These days however, racing outside the months of April to September can be a risky business- I’m sure I wasn’t the only one with one eye on the weather during the week leading up to this event. Right up until just a day before the race at Taff the forecast was rain, all day, for both days. The weatherman changed his mind on the Friday though, and decided that the weekend was going to be mainly just cloudy.

There were quite a few changes to the track we all know and love. The drop off the wall at the top was altered so it dropped into a right hand berm, which immediately turned into step up onto an off-camber bank. This was catching many riders out as the bowl was rather gloopy during the practice day on Saturday and practice on Sunday morning due to the rain during the week. After jumping onto the off camber bank, the track then featured a drop off the bank and into another right-hander as it joined the well-established track. The next change came just before the steep shoot, with the track going to the left just after the access track crossing, rather than to the right as it usually does. This made the section quite tricky, with riders having to pick their way through various roots, rocks, ruts and different line choices up and over the raise. The final change came just after the jump in the open field, with the track peeling off to the right immediately after the left handed berm and straight down to the rock garden. The track was then largely unchanged for the final section, with the 4X-esque finish.

For the practice day on Saturday, the track was very greasy in the morning with spikes or cut-down spikes being the more popular tyres of choice. Come the afternoon though, the track was much tackier, with as many riders running dry or intermediate tyres as those running spikes. The rain stayed away almost all day, but gave in about half an hour before the end of practice. 

Race day however, was a whole different affair. The temperature dropped overnight and the wind picked up CONSIDERABLY, making the top of the hill F-F-F-Freeezing cold! The track was running very well, but because the race arena is at the top of the track, the only way to keep warm was to just keep riding as much as you could. If you weren’t riding to keep warm, you were hiding in your race wagon. But, because you could see the start queue from the car park, it meant there was virtually no waiting for your race run, a really great feature for these Taff Buggy races.

So then, to the racing. The fastest time of the day was had by local lad Joel Moore, who finished just eight tenths of a second ahead of Ride.io rider Will Soffe. Also riding for Ride.io, Guy Gibbs completed the Elite podium by coming in third. Duncan Porter stormed to the win in the Expert category, with Sam Shucksmith and James Anderson finishing Second and Third respectively.

Well worthy of a mention are young rippers Joe Parfit who won the Juvenile category by a huge 12 seconds, and Laurie Greenland who won the Youth category by an equally impressive 10.3 seconds. These guys will be coming to a world cup circuit near you before you know it- it’s great to see this kind of talent at such a young age.

Other winners include Leigh Johnson in the Junior category; Jake Ward in Seniors; Ricky Dorrington in Masters; Jason Carpenter in Vets; Aaron Charlton in the Hardtail category; and Hazel Wakefield in the Women’s category.

This was another great race put on by the MIJ boys. I really do enjoy these events, such a great friendly atmosphere for a race- put on by three guys who just want to see people enjoying racing their bikes. It looks like their legendary luck with the weather finally caught up with them on this occasion though- here’s hoping for a rather warmer round two!

Words – Chris Astle
Images – Padikeo (Roots & Rain)

MIJ racing couldn’t happen without the help of Don Skene Cycles. Check out their website www.teamskene.com

To enter other MIj events, visit www.mijdownhillevents.co.uk

To chat directly to the organizers about the series visit the MIJ FORUM here on Ride.io