Braybrook 2nd at THE TOUGH ONE !
By TMX Archives on 23rd Jan 07
Wayne Braybrook (Team GAS GAS UK) has just finished 2nd at "The Tough One" behind World Enduro Champion David Knight!
Only these two riders made 14 laps with Fast Eddy finishing 3rd on 13 laps.
As the whole World knows DK is the best in the World at this kind of event and i personally think that Wayne Braybrook is the unofficial second best Extreme Enduro Rider in the World right now because he has yet again proved that he can push Knighter.
In the previous two years of The Tough One David has had a handicap before the start of The Tough One. The first year he started by having to fit his wheels and boots etc before he chased down the rest of the field and last year he had to run up one of the quarry hills before he started his race. This year Knighter would not accept a handicap and started with everyone else! Although he is 'the best' in these Extreme races he also knows that Wayne Braybrook can challenge him. Wayne has finished 2nd to David for the past two years at the 'Hells Gate' event in Italy and more recently finished 2nd at the 'Last Man Standing' event in Texas.
With the 'Le Mans' style start, a 300 metre run to the bikes saw Wayne lead the event around the first lap with Knighter in hot pursuit. At the 'roof of all evil' and both riders taking different lines Knighter grabbed the lead, then circulated around the first 2/3 laps virtually together. Both Knigher and Wayne had an awesome set of lights supplied by Trail Tech which is a 'must have' for these events and on the second lap Wayne lost one of his smaller lights that he has for 'dusk' conditions in a mad scramble through a tougher section of the course, either by pushing and shoving or an 'over zealous' spectator which possibly unsettled him slightly with Wayne shouting to his Team that his light had gone. However we knew that his main 8" light was ok because he had not yet pulled off the lense guard that is designed to protect the glass so we were not unduly worried. Both riders charged through the rest of the field and David started to edge the gap between himself and Wayne and eventually won by 8 minutes at the flag. However only David and Wayne made 14 laps...
I have to thank our Mechanic 'Factory Kev' for preparing an awesome EC300 for this event and Roy Kerr from TrailTech for providing the lights etc.
Waynes bike is basically a standard EC300 with slightly firmer suspension and other personal settings.
Congrats also to (KB Racing supported) Paul Bolton who finished 6th and Rowland Morris (WOR GG) who finished 9th both aboard GG EC300s
For those of you that went to the race will agree that it was an awesome experience to watch these riders and congratulations go to Steve Ireland and the WOR Team for achieving what is now THE major Enduro event of the year in the UK and i hope that Steve can find the 'Title Sponsor' that it deserves. The cost and logistical nightmare of running this event is immense and i know that it needs and deserves some major financial support for it to continue. Without this support i think you 'may' have seen the last Tough One...
For full results and more reports checkout www.enduronews.com and www.worevents.com
Next Event---- Extreme Race, 'Hells Gate' in Italy ! Checkout www.hellsgate.it