I LUPI DI IRLANDA

Electraction TM UK riders Jake Stapleton and Euan McConnell started their ’06 British Enduro Championship campaigns in fine style placing in second and third positions respectively in the competitive Enduro 2 class at the Diss MCC Ltd organised Brandon Park Enduro. Finishing just 16 seconds apart at the end of the challenging one-day event the pair placed in third and fourth places in the overall Championship class results beaten only by reigning Enduro 3 world champion David Knight and former world champion Paul Edmondson.

After competing in the event for the first time in ’05 Australian Stapleton showed that he will certainly be a force to be reckoned with in this season’s BEC series and placed as runner-up to eventual event winner David Knight on the opening timed special test. Determined to top the E2 class Jake’s hopes of victory took a turn for the worse on the second special test when he broke his left foot peg after hitting it on a tree stump. Despite the obvious handicap of having to finish the test with just one foot peg Jake still managed to post the fifth fastest time before recording the second quickest time on the third timed test. With just a handful of seconds separating him from four-time world champion Paul Edmondson the fourth and final run through the rough and technical special test proved to be a frustrating one for the Aussie rider. Failing to beat Edmondson Jake dropped to the runner-up spot in the E2 class and into third in the overall Championship class results. Despite his obvious disappointment Jake showed that he has the speed to challenge for the E2 BEC title in ’06.

For Euan McConnell the event also proved to be a good one. Competing on a mid-sized four-stroke in BEC competition for the first time in many years, the Scott wanted to simply finish without mistakes. Despite his reserved approach to the race Euan showed that he had clearly gelled with the 450cc machine in the few short weeks he had been riding it. Fourth quickest on the opening and second timed special test, McConnell placed as the fifth quickest rider on the third timed test before again recording the fourth quickest time on the fourth and final timed test. Reaching the end of the event’s tight check without penalty on both the fourth and fifth laps of the race McConnell, like Stapleton, proved to be very much on the pace and finished with a solid result.

10. Tim Forman 250 Kawasaki 1575.23