British Enduro Championship 2010: Round 5, Dyfi Enduro 14-15/08/2010 

The fifth round of the Metzeler ACU British Enduro Championship organised by the MWTRA would be one to remember with Matt Ridgway making his return to national competition after a serious crash earlier in the year. With a target to finish each day as I came Matt was under no illusion that he still has a long way until his is 100% bike fit. Starting the first day in good sprints he rode the demanding course with caution and made good progress on the slippery parts of the going, letting his WR125 do all the work. Heavy rain prior to the event made the special test rough and particularly technical in places but Ridgway kept a clear head and rode his own race to finish the day with a smile on his face. The second day was going well until Matt took a tumble which aggravated old injuries and team manager Mick Steward took the difficult decision to end his day prematurely.

Manxman Alex Rockwell had a mixed weekend with a disappointing first day due to unforeseen technical problems causing him to retire mid day. Using the second day as an opportunity to develop the Husqvarna further and with the problems from the previous day resolved Rocky set a series of fast test times and finished in fifth place. Sixteen year old Robert Johnson started the first day with a good pace and was lying fourth in class when he crashed heavily in the woodland section of the test and injured his shoulder. Following medical advice he retired from the first day’s competition and decided not to ride the second day before getting the all clear from hospital.

Alex Rockwell “This has been a mixed weekend for me really; I knew when we started that I wasn’t in line for a title so we wanted to use the opportunity to develop the bike. By the end of the second day I’d found a good set up which should really help when it comes to EWC.”

Matt Ridgway “Obviously I was hoping to finish both days and was disappointed when Mick wouldn’t let me continue but I understand why. I can’t explain how much I enjoyed being back on a bike and the WR125 was awesome, it found grip where other bikes just spun up! I know I need to improve my bike fitness and the best way to do that is in competition; I’ll get as much train done as possible over the winter and should be back 100% for the new season.”

Robert Johnson “I’m a bit gutted to have crashed out on the first day to be honest, it’s just one of those things but I didn’t want to ride again until I’ve got my back and neck checked out at hospital. I just came out of the corner and a tree root flicked me straight into a tree which pushed my shoulder right back. On a positive note my bike was running perfectly and I was setting a good pace.”

Results: Championship Class Day 1: 1: David Knight (KTM); 2: Tom Sagar (Suzuki); 3: Paul Edmondson (Suzuki); 4: Daryl Bolter (KTM); 5: Euan McConnell (KTM); 16: Matt Ridgway (Husqvarna)

Day 2: 1: David Knight (KTM); 2: Tom Sagar (Suzuki); 3: Daryl Bolter (KTM); 4: Paul Edmondson (Suzuki); 5; Alex Rockwell (Husqvarna)