Report: ACU British Enduro Championship
By TMX Archives on 10th Aug 16
Daniel McCanney scored a double victory on home soil in rounds three and four of the ACU British Enduro Championship in the Isle of Man over the weekend.
Making his first appearance of the series, the Rockstar Energy factory Husqvarna rider came from behind on day one to beat Beta's E3 world championship leader, Steve Holcombe, in the Southern MCC organised event.
First man through the opening special test on Saturday at Earystane, the Devon ace grabbed an big early advantage of 21 seconds on a difficult plantation route that rapidly deteriorated.
David Knight was a further 2.9-secs down in third on the 450 Honda Racing UK, with newly crowned 125cc World Youth Cup Champion, Jack Edmondson, a close fourth on the KTM.
The going was tough and scenic, including the notorious Dalby Slabs on the south-west coastline, last used for a major enduro back in 1975 for the ISDT.
The cross-country test at the host club's extensive Carnagrie ground provided some extremely fast riding, tempered by a couple of craggy rock climbs otherwise used as trials sections.
Holcombe eked out another two seconds here to take a comfortable lead into the second 25-mile lap, where an extremely tight 20-minute check was only narrowly cleaned by a number of the championship regulars. The tide began to turn in McCanney's favour and he pulled back 15-seconds on the second lap, the majority of which came on the fast open fields and moorland stretches of Carnagrie.
Heading into the final lap, McCanney was only eight seconds down on the Englishman, but he slashed five more seconds off that advantage on the last run through the increasingly difficult Earystane, where Holcombe had gained the early advantage.
With the home support behind him, McCanney again pushed hard on the final three-mile test round Carnagrie to win that test by 4.7 seconds and snatch the overall win by 1.49-seconds. Jack Edmondson rode well on the 125 KTM to take second in E1 behind McCanney and third overall, 1-min 23 down on E3 winner Holcombe and a narrow six tenths of a second ahead of multiple British champion, David Knight, on the E2 class winning CR450F.
Cornwall's Josh Gotts rode his 250 TM to fifth overall and second E2, with Jamie Lewis (E2), Daryl Bolter (E1), Tom Sagar (E2), James Dent (E2) and Owain Humphreys (E2) rounding out the top ten in the championship class.
Round four on Sunday followed a similar route in the reverse direction with a few minor deviations.
The alternative timed test was in Archallagan Plantation, somewhat longer than Saturday's, but the overall mileage was lower as each class rode one lap less.
An overnight bout of sickness took its toll on E3 world championship leader, Holcombe, and he was down on a buoyed-up McCanney from the word go.
After three tests the Manxman had built up an advantage of 16.6-secs.
Another 3.5-secs was eked out on the long Carnagrie test, but it was between the trees that McCanney was at his best and he sealed the victory with another good time on the cut-up run through Archallagan to enjoy a 38-secs lead going into the final test.
He didn't back off and the fastest time of the day round Carnagrie confirmed a 44.7-secs margin of victory.
"It's probably the best British championship event I've ridden,” said the 24-year-old, who admitted the home advantage and knowledge gave him an extra boost. Off-colour Holcombe was reasonably satisfied with two second places, extending his lead in the championship as McCanney had not contested the opening two rounds back in March.
Jack Edmondson had another storming ride to finish on the same minute as Holcombe, while Tom Sagar rode well on the Sherco to win E2 after Knight retired at the end of the first lap with a painful hip injury.
Jamie Lewis followed his fellow Welshman home in fifth overall and second E2, with Gotts again going well on the TM in sixth.
Thomas Ellwood of Hampshire scored a double win in the Expert class on his 300 MRS Sherco 4T, finishing 26.6-secs ahead of the E1 KTM of Dan Mundell on day one and a slightly extended 32.4-secs on Sunday.
Lancastrian Lewis Belfield was the leading E3 rider on Saturday and local rider Olly Megson the best on Sunday after suffering a two-minute penalty on day one for clocking into a check early.
The Clubman class was closely contested with Ted Bailey of Staffordshire taking the overall on day one by three seconds on his 125 from Jack Ditchfield and the E2-winning 200 KTM.
Ben Coleman topped Sunday on his 125 KTM from Duncan Norrie, with Danny Culkin edging E3 from local man Ryan Neild who took the class honours on day one. Best of the E2's was Ditchfield, with Bailey a DNF.
James Langdon-Banks topped the Sportsman class on both days over a shorter two-lap course, despite dropping ten seconds on road penalties on the tighter checks on Saturday.
Jon Malone of South Yorkshire was runner-up on day one, and Adam Jordan of Wiltshire on day two.
The Over-40 class went to Lancastrian Andrew Reeves on a Sandiford Beta from Manxman Russell Millward (WR250) on both days, with Philip George of Carms and Paul Armstrong of Wiltshire sharing the spoils in the Veteran-50 class.
Best in the Ladies class on both days was Glesni Jones of Trawsfynydd, although Jane Daniels was top-ten in Experts E1 on each occasion.
