The Irish Enduro Championship visited Killavullen, a small village between Mallow and Fermoy in the Nagles Mountain range for the only 2 day race in the 2009 calendar.
On driving into the village crossing over the rather swollen Blackwater river, it was obvious this was going be declared a ‘wet race’ and a week of persistent rain had meant the organizers had to drain off some of the massive puddles that had made some of the course impassable.
The Experts set off at 11.01 on Saturday and were faced with 4 grueling laps with tight check times and the difficult nature of this venue was shown early on with a long rocky hill climb which was just after the Expert/Senior and Clubman/Sportsman split route.
However, this was not to be the most difficult section of the course, as later in the lap riders were greeted by a heavily rutted clay hill which punished them and got harder as the day went on.
Another Killavullen favourite, the aptly named ‘Tree huggers’ was included towards the end of the lap. This treacherous descent through the thick pine forest with it’s 2 or 3 drop offs always claims a few and at the end of such a difficult lap, this year was no exception.
Saturdays test was an extended version of last years and with it’s heavily tree rooted single-track start, wet and muddy middle and deep rutted ending it was a classic cross country test.
After a steady 1st test the leading experts went for it on the second lap putting in the fastest times of the day. Gordon Clarke then pushed hard to take the victory from Andrew Reeves by a decent margin.
In the Seniors John O’Neill had made the long trip down from the North worthwhile by beating Patrick Kinlan and Gordan Roberts.
David McNulty took the Clubman class honors and extended his championship lead (Seniors next year David?) Daniel Balmforth was a close 2nd and David Long 3rd.
Richard Lennard beat Brendan Guerin to the top of the pile in the Sportsman class.
So for some came the most hazardous part of the weekend, the Saturday Night! Rumor has it the local pub stayed open until just before signing on opened on Sunday, which would explain why Colly wasn’t there…
Sunday morning started looking overcast and with the new rear tyres from Saturday all but destroyed it was always going to be a tough day. As the first of the Experts made their way round the first lap it was obvious that poor visibility was going to play a major part in the days racing as the low cloud misted up goggles and the rain came in occasional bursts.
A shock first lap exit by Gordon Clarke with a snapped chain proved costly for him as Andrew Reeves battled round the course to take the win from Phil Caldwell in a race which resembled the Last Man Standing.
John O’Neill did the business again in the Seniors from Patrick Kinlan and Ger O’Grady, the latter having succumbed to a puncture on day 1 on his amazing hillclimbing 125!
David McNulty took sundays Clubman win again from Daniel Balmforth with Matt Burke jumping up to 3rd from a first day 6th place.
Mark Bannon won Sundays Sportsman class with very consistent test times that made up for him dropping a minute on the course. Alan Brennan and Ronnie Regan were 2nd and 3rd.
So it was hard, rocky and very,very wet. The local pub doubled it’s yearly takings and Enduro bike brake pad sales rocketed. Thanks to all at TORC.
Next round is the Kilworth Enduro on the 13th of September. See you there.