Six Hour Enduro Supercup
Supercup 6 hour enduro race report
Author - Andrew Smith SC Race officer
Venue - Ainsdale on sea
Date - August 13th 2005
Wind - Average 17mph
Weather - Variable.
On leaving the house 8.0 am on the Saturday morning it was really looking like the curse of Ainsdale had yet again come to pass on yet another Supercup - the forecast was for persistent rain all morning not clearing until late afternoon and that forecast looked pretty accurate as I turned on the wipers and headlights and backed out of the drive.
80 miles of driving through drizzle mixed with heavy showers saw me arrive at Ainsdale beach and rather than a midsummer's day it was so dark it looked like winter had arrived early and the rain weighed heavy in the air, too heavy to stay in the clouds that's for sure and down it came.
Gray held council in the tent with registrations and such and I stuffed my face with a sausage sarnie in the Hoyland cafe down a few teas and watched the buggies outside get slowly washed into the sand by the rain.
As 10.00am came and went the prospect of actually holding a race let alone a 6 - hour enduro looked pretty bleak the rain kept coming varying in its density from light drizzle to full on - still there was a job to be done and me and Gray went out for a beach inspection - it gets better, not only is it raining the beach looks like a rubbish barge had been scuttled and the contents washed up on the beach and to cap it all the wind was blowing off shore whilst the rain was moving onshore.
At about 11.00am Mark Hoyland and me went and set the course - with 6 hours and a beach loaded with rubbish the course was no-brainer point to point as high on the beach as we could manage to ensure the longest running time if and when the rain let up - the wind at this time had done a bit of an about turn and started to blow straight down the beach - could it be worse - this would mean tacking a gibing across the mounds of rubbish.
Then the rain still came - and then it stopped and then some blue sky arrived, I estimated we had at least a couple of hours window where we could race so decreed it was on - 12.30 pilots meeting called - the rabble was assembled the course explained the start flags etc. not really required as this was Le Mans type start and 30 minutes given to get acts together and assemble.
The buggies are assembled on the start line the pilots are ready in the pits kites at the ready and at 1.15pm the air horn sounds, the flag is dropped and we are off.
Who would have put money on the weather turning out to be so good to us changing into glorious sunshine - the wind changing direction gradually as the sea consumed the available beach from a cross shore to an on shore. It was all too perfect. This could not be Ainsdale surely - to cap it all the last bank was not breached at high tide and the sea came and went with the race continuing to rack up laps - the concern about the scoring program crashing at 100 laps, yes 100 laps, was found to be a false alarm, and still the sun shone the wind blew the teams cheered there team mates on and even with just a simple reaching blast as a course after the sea had reclaimed the early banks and water splash the pilots were too focused and determined to find it boring such was the concentration required - the racing was very close and competitive as races within the race developed - kit and skills were tested to braking point time and time again as the hours ticked by - even though on the point of exhaustion pilots would not give up and had to be forcibly waved off the course so that the next pilot could take over and do battle.
157 laps of a 1 mile course in 6 hours was the winning teams tally with a fastest lap of 1 minute 56 - During the race period 12 teams racked up over 100 laps each - over a 1000 miles of racing. Incidents a few - breakages one or two, sacrifices for the benefit of the team, you bet, but just because some members of a team did less laps than others the support and the encouragement to the pilots racking up the laps was just as important if not more so than doing those few laps themselves.
Just after 7.15pm with the tide receding and the sun hanging low in the sky the race was over the beach iron flat by the mile upon mile of wheel scuffing close quarter racing by young guns and old hands alike. Was it worth the wait worth the drive worth the trouble and the cost of admission? Ok, I got in for free but if half way through If I would have been asked for another tenner to keep watching I would have paid up in an instant.
Thanks to the Ainsdale club for the access, the weather gods for cutting us some slack, the scorers for staying focused and near sober on the job and above all the competitors for sticking it out and putting on a great display of skill and determination.
Race officers man of the match - Phil Hoyland, skill way beyond his years, gave go quarter was superbly calm with wheels coming undone and in the inevitable tangles with less skilled pilots.
Battle of the bands - won by the Dan Brazier against the - Youthful yokels. You guys put on a great show.
Wooden spoon - John 'fingers' Lewis and the local team.
10.0 10.0 10.0 for artistic interpretation goes to Mr Hopewell for his impromptu trapeze act and his demonstration of his buggies straight-line stability without pilot on board.
The future for racing looks really promising with such a dedicated group of racers that turned up for the 6-hour you are a credit to the sport - you keep doing what you do and we will keep on doing what we do.
Andy Smith
SC Race official
Andy Smith
K765 / K7 / SCO 20
XXRacer
Supercup Race Official
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