It was a victorious weekend for Irish riders at rounds three and four of the Husqvarna ACU British Sprint Enduro Championship in Llangrove, Monmouth on March 10/11, with JAR Honda’s Richard Topping winning the Clubman class.
In Elite, Electraction TM’s Gordon Clarke was a man on a mission. Struggling with crashes during the opening round of the season, Clarke knuckled down in Llangrove and rode to a solid 11th place at round three before breaking into the top ten at round four. Had it not been for a derailed chain late on during round three, Clarke would have easily recorded two top ten finishes.
Norman Watt Motorcycle’s Jordan Scott (KTM) continues to impress in his debut season riding the fiercely contested Under 23 class. Claiming a second place in the SE2 class at round three, Scott went one better as he secured his first victory of the season by winning SE2 at round four. Continuing to improve, Jordan also bettered his opening round score of fifth overall in Under 23 by finishing fourth while scoring a top ten finish in the overall classification.
JAR Honda’s Richard Topping once again proved to be a fast learner in his first season of sprint enduro. Finishing third overall at the opening round of the season, Topping arrived in Llangrove eager to improve. Pushing hard to recover from an early morning mistake at round three, Topping narrowly missed out on the Clubman victory by a mere 12 seconds. At round four he back that result up once more to claim the overall Clubman victory in Llangrove.
Gordon Clarke, TM (11-10): “This was a super weekend and I think I’ve been able to step my riding up another notch. I clicked quite with the track and was running inside the top ten until I clipped a rock on the chain and knocked it off. I pushed hard to come back from that but made a few more mistakes and ended 11th. Round four went a lot better and I was able to push really hard throughout the entire day. I am delighted to finish 10th. Overall it’s been a good result for me here.”
Jordan Scott, KTM (4-4): “I’m delighted to come away with a win this weekend. Unfortunately I made life a bit hard for myself early on Saturday with some costly mistakes. I recovered well from them but I pushed too hard on the final test trying to finish in third and paid the price for it. Round four was a dream result for me. I felt good all day and was able to race a mistake free day, which helped me to get the Under 23 SE2 win. It’s really tough this year as the front guys in my class are pretty much full time riders and I’m effectively a privateer, but hopefully I can keep these results going at the next rounds.”
Richard Topping, Honda (2-2): “I chuffed to get an overall win with two second place results as it also puts me into the championship lead as well. I think the track was awesome and once it cut in there were a lot of lines to use in the corners. This is only my first season riding the BSEC but I’ve loved every minute of it so far. I can’t wait to come back to the next round and hopefully I can get another podium.”
The Husqvarna ACU British Sprint Enduro Championship continues with rounds five and six on April 7/8.