Corinium 09 Report
Words and Photos By Bretton King
Aaahhh... the great outdoors in Gloucestershire's picturesque Cotwolds... where better for a pleasant day out in warm Spring sunshine? Clearly, 154 willing souls were equally adamant that Cirencester Park was the place to be last Sunday, as they were all champing-at-the-bit to blast off out of the Polo Grounds and circumnavigate the fantastic 22 mile track laid out by Swindon DMCC. And blast they did!!
2008 winner Tim Hunt was in the first quartet to leave parc ferme,
alongside another former winner in the shape of Glen Foxwell. This pair
were in very good company as BEC runner Matt Ridgeway was also in that
little group and he was on a mission from the off, tearing up the
woodland track at real pace. In fact, Ridgeway was virtually untouchable
all day, setting fastest time in both special tests. A very welcome
newcomer was Abingdon's Darren Wheeler - he's no stranger to this sort
of event but bizarrely had never competed here before, although this
didn't seem to hamper him too much as he came in just over five seconds
down on Ridgeway after a stall cost him time. Barely a second behind him
came Freddie Broadway and he looked super-smooth over the closing stages
of test one, flowing through the twisting turns very cleanly and with
style. The second test was where Ridgeway really sealed the win,
finishing 19 seconds ahead of Broadway, and after another stall cost
Wheeler precious seconds. Alistair Bramwell was next in line but the
contest was over as a fight unless Ridgeway had a howler on the final
laps, and in reality this never happened. The
In the Clubman class, an almighty battle raged all day, where ultimately only four seconds separated the top quartet of riders. Martin Cheeseman was top dog on his Gasser in test one and looked on for the overall win, but he only just led... the gap being only a slender one and a half seconds over Kevin Barnes going into the second test, with the Gary Wilkins and the RAF's Nick Bartle another second behind him, so there really was everything to play for. This was Cheeseman's debut here and perhaps this unfamiliarity with the Park cost him the win, as he drifted wide on a turn and very nearly threw the whole plot into the trees. Miraculously, he stayed onboard, but the damage was done and eight fastest on the test dropped him to fourth overall. Meanwhile, Barnes and Bartle slugged it out blow for blow and they were only separated by four hundredths of a second at the close of test two, and this meant Barnes had sneaked the win. Paul Woolf was fastest on this test and happily for him, his late charge lifted him onto the final step of the podium.
The Sportsmen had slightly more space between the top three but the fight was still on for the overall. Looking favourite from the start, Darren Vincent had his KTM buzzing and his first test victory margin of nearly 8 seconds left the rest of the field with a lot to do. Enduro-newcomer Scott Thompson was on the pace but admitted that he could have been cleaner on some of the turns and felt he lost a little time as a consequence. Nonetheless, his pace was good and he set second and third fastest in the tests, which was enough to give the BVM storeman second place from Vincent, who was quickest again.
Overall the day was extremely enjoyable for all, with only a handful of retirements and the Club wishes to thank Lord Bathurst for his continued support of one of the West's best enduros.
Provisional Results:
| Overall | ||
| Winner | Matt Ridgeway | 489.55 |
| Runner Up | Darren Wheeler | 515.35 |
| Third | Freddie Broadway | 516.18 |
| Clubman | ||
| First | Kevin Barnes | 559.25 |
| Second | Nick Bartle | 561.23 |
| Third | Paul Woolf | 561.53 |
| Sportsman | ||
| First | Darren Vincent | 586.91 |
| Second | Scott Thompson | 605.31 |
| Third | Vic Martin | 608.66 |
