2011 Race Reports & Results

Please find below a team based race report for each

of the races a team member has attended.

Individual quotes and information on current championship standings

will be added into the reports.

Please watch this page for constant updates as they arrive.

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Weston Beach Race 2011

Endaf Owen & Martin Benbow both headed to North Somerset to the annual one off Weston Beach Race.

Endaf's race was extended this year to an hour and a half which would be better for the Enduro Riders. Endaf was on his standard bike this year, keeping his race bike in perfect condition ready for next weekends final rounds of the Wyre Forest IOPD British Championship, where he is currently in 3rd place. Racing on his standard bike was a disadvantage against all the modified tuned bikes but Endaf still managed to finish 24th overall and 22nd in class beating last years finish by 6 places.

Martin was fast off the line hitting the first corner in 19th place. Martin continued to pick up places over the first few laps making his way up towards the top 10. Battling hard and catching Chris Cooper Martin stalled on a corner and the bike wouldn't start. Martin had to drag the bike off the track and get spectators to bump start him. Rejoining the track Martin continued to make up places but continued to loose time every time he made a pitstop or stalled the bike. Martin eventually finished 33 overall and 24th in class.

Congratuations to both riders on two good results even with some problems on the day !

Martin Weston 2011 Endaf Weston 2011

Great 8 Logo

Over the August bank Holiday weekend Endaf attended the running of the annual Great8 Endurance event. A team or ironman event held over an 8 mile track covering 8 hrs.

Youths race over the same track but over a 4hr event and Endaf competed with his friend and fellow 250 rider Kieron Clarke. This event is a national event with some of the country's best riders from both enduro and quadcross disciplines taking part. Endaf 14 and Kieron 12 were one of the youngest teams taking part with some riders racing in the event at 17.

Endaf competed in the 2010 event with rider Stevie Emberton finishing 12th. This gave Endaf a top 10 ranking for 2011 and started the race with the No6 plate.

Kieron started the race runnning to his bike in a LeMans style start. He had quoted before the race that he would take the first lap steady to study the track and finished the 1st lap in 10th place. As the first hour passed Kieron continued to push and made his way up to 4th and battling with 3rd. A small mistake dropped him to 6th at the end of the first session and with a smooth pitstop passed over to Endaf.

Endaf rode a steady 2nd hr without incident and handed back over to keiron in the same 6th place. Kieron took over for the 3rd hr in no mans land, safe in 6th but with no sight of the riders in front of him. It was a hard 3rd hr for Kieron trying to make up time with no sight of anyone to chase. He handed over to Endaf having made up time. During this last pitstop the riders in front all pitted at the same time just in front of Endaf so Endaf could see them exiting the pits as he was leaving. This gave him the incentive to push knowing they were just in front of him. Endaf came round having closed the gap then the next lap he was right behind 5th. Next lap and he had overtaken 5th and caught 4th. Next lap he had made another place and caught 3rd and the following lap another pass and the team were in a podium position. As parents our nerves were on edge. Endaf continued to pull away and was making time on 2nd. With an average 9min lap and nine mins left on the clock we all ran to the finish praying to see Endaf come round. Over the hill came 2nd place and 10 seconds behind Endaf, 2nd went through and the clock ticked down with the flag dropping right in front of Endaf. The boys had won 3rd place. This is an unbelievable result for these two young lads. Secretly I wished Endaf had made it through before the flag just to see if he could of caught 2nd but we are all so thrilled with the result.

Congratulations to Endaf and Keiron and a big thanks to Martin Linda and Sally-Ann for helping with the race.

Endaf & Kieron Great 8 2011

10-04-2011

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 3

Howey, Llandrindod Wells

Fantastic sunshine, shorts & flip flops and a few sore heads from the night before was the order of the day for round 3 of the UKGNCC Championship. 17 riders made up the line in the under 10 and 10+ youth race. The track was made up of a motocross practise track some woodland and farm fields. The race proved to be fast but with only 1 clear line on the motocross track and single file through the woodland making it increasingly difficult to make progress through the pack with many riders being held up behind slower back markers. IQ-racing's rider in this class George Betton is still getting used to his new bike and still finds it hard to start the bike on the kick start. This has led to a few slow starts recently and whilst George's talent is there for all to see with him making up ground during the races this one proved to be difficult with limited places to pass. George finished the race in 7th position and whilst he rode a great race we all know where he would have been with a good start.

The 250cc class was next to go with Endaf making a great start off the line in 6th. Endaf has made great progress over the last few months and has become more aggressive with his overtaking. Not wanting to let the leaders get away he pushed past and made his way up to 4th behind friend Kieron Clarke. Kieron made a small mistake on lap 3 clipping a tree and Endaf moved up into 3rd. He held this place for most of the race until a back marker panicked on a hill climb causing Endaf to make a avoiding manouver. Endaf was lucky to avoid the collsion but it did drop him to 5th. He held this to the line, another great finish.

The adult class was next to go. Martin made his usual holeshot closely followed by Adam. Geraint was next to go in the experts and was towards the back of the pack as they disappeared into the woods. Tom was on a borrowed bike and after a good start he dropped back through the field finishing in 10th. Aled made a good start to this race and although he seriously struggled with arm pump to the point we thought his forearms would literally explode he continued to push a steady pace getting faster and faster the longer the race went on finally finishing in 6th. This leaves his sat very healthy in the clubman class. Martin's race was fast, Very Fast ! and he led from start to finish lapping everyone up to 2nd place with Clint Eagle in 2nd some four and a half minutes down.

Geraint was IQ-racings star of the show at this round. Starting in the expert class some 30 seconds after the pro's and with an average mid pack start in around 20th position by the end of the first lap he was up to 15th and up to 11th by the end of lap 2. With steady progress he pushed through the field and by lap 6 he was battling for 5th place in the race and 2nd in the class with local rider Gary Wright with Jamie Jones in the lead. Lap 16 saw Jamie Jones pull out with a mechanical issue leaving Gary and Geraint battling for the class lead. Geraint was still pushing Gary very hard and a lap later Gary pulled into the pits and collapsed exhausted and de-hydrated. "I just can't hold him off he said" Geraint went on to take 4th overall and won his class by over a lap.

All in all it was a good day for most of the IQ-racing team.

2nd & 3rd April 2011

Wyre Forest IOPD British Championship - Rnd's 3 & 4

Clifton on Teme

After the shock of the results from the opening weekend of the championship and our decision to now attend all of the British Championship we turned up at rnds 3&4 with unknown expectations. The track looked in superb condition. Endaf placed his bike on the wide outside of the front line which in hindsight turned out to be the wrong decision. When the flag dropped it left him pushed even further wide on the opening corner with half of the 2nd row coming up the inside of him. After the last race events at DQR Wigan when he burned out the clutch we were just hoping and praying for a finish result for this race. Endaf continued to battle hard and was making his way through the field into the top 5 in his class when disaster struck an hour into the race. Another burnt clutch! Dimoralised we decided to pack up at the race drive home to fetch his spare bike. Ben Morgan came to our rescue with the announcement he had a whole spare engine and that we would have the clutch out of that and that even better he would fit it for a beer! An hour later job done we sat down to a large curry and to finish the rest of the case of beer. We think the adjustment couldn't have been set right on the last clutch but thank god for Ben who literally saved our weekend racing. Sunday came and Endaf was quick to be one of the first bikes through scrutaneering and onto the line in a much better position than the sat. The Flag dropped with Mackie jnr with the holeshot Kieron Clarke in 2nd and Endaf in 3rd. Kieron managed to pass Mackie and pull away and it took another lap for both Andaf and Guy Keenan to pass Mackie. Endaf and Guy passed lap after lap after lap with both riders stuck together fighting for 2nd place. No matter what Guy tried he just couldn't pass Endaf. Both riders were pushing each other on at such a frantic rate that they both made up ground on the leader Kieron but just couldn't catch him. All 3 riders had great fun talking about the race and how close it had been.

27-03-11

Quad Events UK - Rnd 1

Haresfield

This was the first round of what is the new ACU British Championship and considering this is a new venture for a new club the track was described by many as the best enduro track ever set out. The start came and the flag dropped for the pro class with IQ-Racing's Dirtwarz rider Martin Benbow taking the holeshot. This New Honda of Martin's is a fantastic Bike for Martin and he hasn't failed a holeshot in approx a dozen races. Martin spent the first 5 laps battling for the lead with Stef Murphy and Chris Cooper when unusually mechanical issues caused him to pull out. Whilst racing the throttle had jammed wide open whilst trying to brake for a hairpin corner. Martin managed to grab and pull his kill switch in what must of been a seat of his pants moment. Whilst best efforts to find the problem were made in the pits the race was gone and a dnf was inevitable. The problem was sourced back in the workshop to a fragment of metal breaking off the air filter cage and passing through the carb.

19-03-2011

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 2

Abram Moto Parc Wigan

What started as a dry weekend turned very quickly into a wet one ! The youth race started and it became very clear very quick that is was going to be a battle of the bogs. New IQ-Racing rider George Betton with his new graphics on his bike started from the back and hit a tree on the first lap, from then on he seemed to revel in the conditions and fought his way through the field to a third place finish. The 250cc race started with IQ-racing rider Endaf Owen getting 4th choice on the grid due to his high finish at rnd 1. The flag dropped and Endaf had a great start. Lap one ended up with Endaf in 7th place in what was a 30 strong class. He battled hard with some of the more experienced riders and made his way through to 4th place. Holding this spot and catching 3rd disaster struck on the last lap with half a lap to the finish with a burnt clutch. A quick fix found him a gear and he limped to the line finishing in 11th. Not the result deserved but a result none the less considering the conditions with many suffering dnf's.

The adult race started and finished with mixed results. The race was down to a battle with the conditions. Both Tom and Geraint suffered Mechanical gremlins and finished early with dnf's, Aled rode a steady race nursing a bike problem but finished with a very respectable 6th place. Adam rode a steady race from start to finish riding with the usual consistancy and finished 4th in the pro class. Martin Benbow led the race but couldn't shake Clint Eagle from his tale. Lap after lap passed with one following the other until Martin had to make his scheduled pit stop. Clint passed and pulled a minute lead. Without having to pit, Clint held the minute lead with Martin unable to make up any ground. On the last lap Clint had a technical problem and lady luck swung iq-racing's way giving Martin the lead and the win.

12th & 13th March 2011

Wyre Forest IOPD British Championship - Rnd's 1 & 2

Lea Nr Malmesbury Wiltshire

As I had a weekend of work we decided to take Endaf to the British Championship to give him some more experience against older more experienced riders. We have already commited to the DQR Championship and told Endaf to treat this weekend as some practise. The organisers at the event decided to split the youth 250 race. They had such a good turnout with 35 in the class that they decided to run 2 British Championship classes. Expert & Clubmen. The Sat race got underway with Endaf getting off towards the back of the field. The track was long with part motocross sections fields and woodland and Endaf made steady progress throughout the race and finally finished 9th overall. Endaf complained after the race that he didn't fell the throttle was right. I went to it and it was solid and so stiff to push. Water must of got into the throttle cable when jet washed between races. Thankfully I had a spare with us and Mike Burke gave me a hand to change it. This made the world of difference. Sunday came and Endaf got away with a much better start. As the race progressed Endaf was getting faster and faster and was obviously enjoying the day. Panic set in for a few minutes when frantic arm waving from parents down the field alerted me to Endaf buried deep into a 4ft wide hedge over a ditch. Somehow he got the corner all wrong but by the time I had raced the length of the field to get to him some parents had pulled him out and off he shot. By the end of the race he had caught up to Kyle Hawkes in 5th. I ran up to the finish to find him in front of Kyle. I shouted to him to push as it would be the last lap. Stupidly I should of looked at the stop watch and slowed him down as just as they passed through the flag, it dropped behind them for the end of the race. Had I slowed him down he would have kept the 5th place overall finish were now he had 1 lap left to defend it. Unfortunately it had been a fast and ferocious race and Endaf just couldn't hold Kyle off and followed him over the line for 6th. Both Boys were shattered shook each others hand and complimented each other on how hard they had to work.

The surprise for us with this race came a few days after the event itself when the results were published online as it showed Endaf in the Clubman class with a 4th place finish for the Sat race and a 1st place finish for the Sunday. This is Endaf's first 1st place and a result we never expected. The downside to this for us, though not for Endaf is that these results show him leading the championship after the opening rounds with us having to commit to this championship as well as DQR.

27-02-2011

DQR UKGNCC Rnd 1

Sweet Lamb Rally Stages

The day started off cold, Very Cold, Some of the juniors in the 100cc auto class packed up after the sighting lap. We had all weather conditions on the day from driving rain through sleet, & hail stones to glorious sunshine.

The 250cc class was our first race with team member Endaf Owen competing. The track was fast & slick and it was a great turnout with many of the fastest riders from other clubs and British Championships turning up for the race. Our hope for the day was a top 10 position especially considering the caliber of the entry. The flag dropped with Endaf off the line in around 10th place, round the first hairpin and Endaf picked up a couple of places on the first hill and finished the first lap in 7th. Endaf continued to push hard picking up a few places getting faster and faster as the race went on with his fastest lap being his last lap. He finished the race in 4th position a Fantstic result and the first trophy of the season.

The adult race got underway in slightly better conditions with IQ-Racing's Dirstwarz Rider Martin Benbow with the holeshot. He managed to swop places with Ed Davies during the first few laps until a broken chain on the motocross track found him back to the pits for a repair. Thankfully the Dirtwarz Pit crew worked their usual miracles and got Martin Back in the race. There were one or two other issues during the race and with too much time to make up on the leader Martin finished the Day in 3rd.

Expert rider Geraint Jones had a good day too. Geraint was a novice rider last year and this year has decided to bypass the clubman class and enter the expert class. Considering the challenge of this higher level and a race that wasn't without its own issues Geraint managed to finish in 4th place.

Clubman rider Aled Jones deserves the rider of the day medal. Aled has recently bought a new bike and as yet hasn't managed much practise time on it and has also suffered a serious dose of the flu during the two weeks leading up to the race. Even so he went out for a ride as much for the practise bike time as anything. Aled pitted for his fuel stop and decided to take his time warming his hands to regain the feeling in his fingers, he also had to jump off his bike and help team member and pro rider Martin Benbow back onto his bike after he somehow managed to flip it into a boggy pond, giivng himself a soaking. Aled all in all probably wasted 12 - 15 mins between his lengthy pit stop and his good deed and yet still finished the race in 8th place. The pair managed a laugh about the incident even though Martin was soaked to the skin.

Tom Jones was the most unfortunate IQ-Racing team member of the day as he had to pit from 3rd place in his class with a broken end on his clutch cable. It was just one of those unforseen brakedowns you just couldn't ever forsee or prepare for. Without a spare clutch cable it was an unfortunate DNF on the day from what was a promising position in the race.

Team Mates Adam Shanahan and Steve Williams were without bikes for this event for various reasons. Hopefully they will be back for the next round.

12-02-2011

Wyre Forest Youth Winter Series Round 4

Ribbesford Farm Stourport

Endaf was the only IQ-racing member to attend this weekend with most of the other riders still preparing bikes for the new season.

We arrived late and unfortunately the front row of the start line was already full and Endaf had to start a 2nd row.

With 11 times champion Paul Winrow in attendance watching Endaf and a few other riders that he had recently given some training the race got underway. Endaf was next but last into the first corner due to his position on the line but quickly started to make a move. He is starting to enjoy the new race bike and is becoming more confident on it, which was apparent as he got faster and faster. After an hour and ten he had moved up to fifth making up over 2mins to catch up to his friend in 4th place Kieron Clarke. The last 20 mins saw a great battle between these two with Kieron finishing in 4th and Endaf 5th, a great result for 2 lads new to this class.

Paul Winrow was very happy with the way in which Endaf rode especially with the time he made up and the passes he had to make to move up from the back of the field. We are all now looking forward to Endaf's luck changing and a good start off the line.

30-01-2011

DQR UKGNCC Winter Dust Off

Bwlch Y Sarnau

Although the number of IQ-Racing team members were short at this event due to winter preperation those who did ride had a good day.

Endaf represented the team in the morning 250cc race coming from a horrendous start leaving him 3mins behind the leaders on the opening lap, to move through the field to 3rd. A small mistake cost him a place with a 4th place finish and a trophy. This is hopefully the first of many to come in the next few years.

New team member Geraint Jones was another to suffer a poor start leaving him almost last on track, but a hard push at the start saw him move through the field to run the majority of the race leading the clubman class and 3rd in the race. Only a small mechanical niggle in the last 15mins saw him drop out of the running. His potential was there for everyone to see as he made his way through novice and clubman riders passing all but 1 of the expert riders.

New team mate Tom Jones was another to fall foul on the day but only by an unfortunate scoring error. Tom lead the novice class for the whole of the race with a faultless ride. Unfortunately was given second in class to another novice rider with a mix up in the lap scoring results. In fairness to the other rider though given first he was first to admit the error saying it was incorrect knowing that he in fact been lapped by Tom. The results were checked and corrected and Tom was given the win ! Tom was quoted as saying " I am so pleased, after a season last year plagued with minor mechanical problems, I am thrilled to finish a race let alone getting my first win, I'm over the moon. Hopefully this is the first of many for me and IQ-Racing"