PANDEMIC ADVENTURE RALLY 3 HIGHLIGHTS

by | May 26, 2021 | Adventure Rally, CHALLENGES, Latest News, News and Events, UK Rally

Pandemic adventure rally round 3

May 23rd, 2021

 

 
  • Conditions – Clear morning, wet afternoon
  • Adv Rally Class – 9 riders
  • Adv Rally X Class – 10 riders

REPORT

Another great turnout with many of the riders again making a full weekend of it by training on Saturday and riding the event on Sunday.  We can proudly say that they all did tremendously well, again in slippery Salisbury conditions.  This was the third weekend in a row we’ve run the event and it’s been an absolute pleasure to kick off the season with an event that allowed both newcomers to have a go in a more serious event, and offered experienced riders a proper challenge.
The sunshine on Saturday dried the course up somewhat, and for the first half of the day riders experienced some great conditions.  Heavy showers greeted us in the afternoon, contributing the challenge of the event, testing the endurance of the riders and inspiring a few to reconsider their choice of tyres…
Some unforseen military activity on the plain meant that stage 6 could not be ridden in completion, so the points on previous rounds have been adjusted accordingly.

The updated league table can be found here.

ADVENTURE RALLY CLASS

As mentioned earlier we were proud as punch to see riders who had trained the previous day doing so well in the event.

We also welcomed some enduro riders who wanted to try out something new, who appeared to thouroughly enjoy the ride, many getting wildly lost but having a lot of fun doing so!

Riders from this round placed in the top 4 positions in the overall league table, with Neil Stockton achieving a near perfect score of 2 points!  

The eastern part of the course seemed to suffer the most from the rain, and after a solid morning of physical riding, tackling the slippery trails on less than optimum rubber caused a couple of riders to call it a day – grateful for what they’d achieved and enthused to purchase some more suitable tyres for next time!

ADVENTURE RALLY EXTREME CLASS

A great result from Stuart Gummer who took the lead for the day on his KTM500 EXC and scored a commendable 85 points.  

Respect to Jon Bentman who tackled the extreme class on a 1290 Adventure, there were some tough sections to navigate on the bigger bikes and this is where physical fitness, rider confidence and mental strength really come into play.

George Henderson returned to ride the extreme route for a second time, unfortunately a puncture after stage 7 disrupted his mission to improve on his previous score, and his journey to the finish line was in the recovery truck instead of on his 890.  Hopefully we can provide him with a 3rd chance if we manage to secure some more dates for this event in the near future!

It’s been great and quite insightful to see so many entering the extreme class and taking on the challenge.  Not only were the CAP only sections of roadbook tough, but after being forced into using the CAP bearing to navigate, many commented that they began referring to it more often throughout the day, as confirmation they were headed in the right direction, rather than relying solely on tulips.

So after 3 consecutive weekends running the Pandemic Adventure Rally Challenge, we are now taking a short break to recoup, reflect, repair, de-mud and focus our attention forward to what’s ahead.  If the firing schedule at Salisbury Plain permits, we will look at trying to run another two rounds of the Challenge in June.

We know it’s been a steep learning curve for many of those who attended, and a welcome challenge for those who’ve been deprived of the chance to rally abroad.  We do our best to cater for all of our members, and hope this event has satisfied the majority.

A huge thankyou and a huge congratulations to all riders.

See you at the next one!