The Clonaslee Enduro is a round of the Southern centre and the TORC Club championships and it took place on the 26th of September in the Slieve Bloom mountains in County Laois.
This year Clonaslee was one of those ‘wet an dry’ enduros, wet under foot but a dry day and the riders were greeted by a crisp, sunny morning as they set off into the hills for a days sport.
The lap was divided into 2 checks and featured the fast gravel trails and tight single track ditches that over the years have dug out to form a zig zag type maze through the newly planted forest. These prove tricky enough as in some places the riders handlebars are level with the banking and with branches and grass growing over the sides, seeing were the front wheel even is is the difficult bit.
Another tricky part of the check came in the form of a long section over felled forest, where the branches left over formed a moving carpet of slippery sticks that would easily catch a front wheel and send you off line.
The Experts opened the course as ever and it would all be decided on the special test, which was the same as last year and consisted of a grassy up hill track followed by a gravel blast, then a twisty downhill track with random tree roots, a harmless looking puddle – which turned out to be bottomless and nearly needed a lifeguard on duty! – and finally a downhill ditch that was straight but scary at speed!
Paul McLaughlin mastered the conditions and took the overall win from Andrew Reeves by a good 25 seconds over the 3 tests having delivered very consistent and very fast times. Mick O’Leary claimed 3rd place a minute and a half behind the front pair for a KTM 1-2-3.
The Seniors was won by Stewy Dicker who has made good progress in the Seniors this year and looks set to be moved up to Experts. Gary Johnson made the trip down from the North to claim 2nd spot and part time Enduro rider Dano Curren managed to stay awake all day long enough to get third after a hectic Saturday night… Commiseration’s must go to Paul McCarthy for his last lap nightmare while he was on course for a top 3 finish, first the front brake hose snapped, then the clutch went and then the chain snapped and with no spares in the magic purse it was a DNF for the Cork man.
In the Clubman class Chad Hamilton wasted no time running in the new barrel and piston on the TM and shot round the 2 tests with very consistent times to take the win. Jason Jackson was 2nd and is still looking for his first class win. Robert Regan took 3rd position 12 seconds behind. More commiseration’s this time for usual Clubman class front runner Mark Bannon, who’s race ended as the rear tyre popped off the rim after he set a super fast 1st test time.
The Sportsman class was well subscribed as ever and top of the pile was Richard Murphy, who flew threw his 2 tests quickly in order not to get run over by the Experts! Second spot was Gary Yeates and Joe Rice was in 3rd place.
A new addition to this Enduro was a non competitive Trail bike class for riders that just want to ride round without any test times, this proved popular and will probably be incorporated into future events as a stepping stone into Enduro competition.
Thanks to all at the TORC club and don’t forget the next and final round of the year is at Tinahealy on the 24th of October.