Race report: 2018 Tough One lives up to its name

By Team TMX on 31st Jan 18

Hard Enduro The Tough One

The Michelin Tough One Extreme Enduro, the UKs original and biggest event of its kind, certainly lived up to its name last weekend as the WOR Events team created an epic battle around Nantmawr Quarry in Shropshire.

There was a 2,000 prize waiting for the winner of the UKs No.1 extreme event and The Worlds number one extreme Eenduro rider, Graham Jarvis took his fifth Tough One title.

Jarvis was simply unstoppable putting on a masterclass of how to ride slippery, gnarly, strength zapping terrain and obstacles with what looked like an effortless display of speed and smooth navigation.

Graham Jarvis took his 5th Tough One win

Graham, in a 11-man strong Pro class, simply pushed through to the lead by lap two after having to push through the Experts group that had started first of the line. From there on Grimbo carved his way through the bodies and challenges eventually finishing the event with a near 8-minute advantage over runner-up, Travis Teasdale.

Beta Factory Rider Teasdale from South Africa made the trip well worth while with a stunning ride to wow the crowds with some very fast and impressive riding. Enduro legend and Tough One dominator, David Knight MBE put on a great show for his adoring fans as he battled hard to keep on the front foot with the top two and make sure he was on that famous podium once again.

Even getting a whack off a fellow Pro rider didnt stop him pushing on with his usually aggressive and progressive attack on this unforgiving quarry. All 3 Pro riders being the only ones to complete 11 laps of the course in the time allowed.

A special mention must go to Paul Bolton who was storming in second place for 50 minutes until he was forced to pull out with simply not feeling well. Jonathan Richards on the Factory Beta was fourth with James Dent top Sherco man in fifth.

Sam Ludgate is in top form at the moment and he was brilliant in the Expert class to win over his buddy, Ben Willberley. In the end it was just 1 minute that separated them after 2.5hrs of battling.

Third place on the podium went to the hard charging Charlie Frost.

South African Travis Teasdale

Juan Knight (JS Gas Gas) is one cool cucumber and his effortless style pulls him result after result and once again he dominated the Expert Vets by a clear lap and a half and also finished a fantastic fifth overall in the standings.

Massive congratulations to Runner-up Grant Churchward battling to eight laps. Harold Crawford was top 3 with a superb ride and a well-deserved final podium place.

The Morning race was no lesser a spectacle, in fact maybe more so. Starting at 9.30am for two-hours top man was Scottish trials rider Stuart Mack who lead from start to finish over runner-up, Tom Knight. Third Clubman was Luke Thomas.

David Knight

Clubman Vets top dog was Alex Owen, showing a clean pair of heels to the rest of the field and pushing Mark Copeland and Pete Bailey into second and third spot respectively.

Mark Houson on his KTM was in great form to top the Over 50 class as the only rider to complete 6 laps. Runner-up, Gary McCoy though deserves a huge mention as he was in recovery from a recent broken ankle but battled on to take a podium place. Third place went to Allan Price took.

Sportsman Honours went to Chris Brown with Ian Dennison and Ricky Tropman in the silver and Bronze podium spots. Finally, Jason Clarke pulled out all the stops to do four laps and win the Sportsman Vets from Andrew Mills and Peter Whiteside on 3 laps each.

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