After a lot of debating and decision making Leo decided to compete the European Enduro Championships in the veterans class.  A change of machinery was on the cards, with support from Motosupplies Husqvarna http://www.motosupplies.com/ in the offing, it was decided to change from the Honda CR250 to a Husqvarna TE450. With the Husky came the offer of travel help from Mick Seward of MPS racing fame http://www.mpsracing-enduro.co.uk/ , an offer that was to good to pass up as driving the van 2000 miles to Sicily and back was looking a bit grim!

UEM Round 1 Sicily

What can I say about this event, Leo and Gav Houson were riding out of the Silver Bullet MPS Husqvarna truck, The tests were on the beach, Bars lined the beach and the location was like out of a dream. I was surprised there was not 20 Honda 90's and big coats at the bars. They would have not been out of place.

Unfortunately for the organizers it was full moon and most of the beach test got washed away with a high tide!  The enduro test was very rocky in a dried up river bed as DJ found out early on as he fell off and hurt a couple of ribs on the first lap! All the British riders did well and especially Ollie Moyce who managed to finish 3rd in the highly competitive E1 junior class. Ash went the wrong way! (div) and lost a bit of time which ruined his result. Special was flying as usual but 1 bad test dropped him down the results a bit. The race went well for Leo until the second lap when he was noise tested and given a minute penalty. This caused him to drop a place from 6th to 7th in the veteran class. The other British rider in the Vets, Julian Crimp suffered a broken chain in the very rocky terrain.

In the UEM the Vets ride the same times as the young lads who normally ride Championship schedule so it is quite a challenge for the older riders! That said it is reasonable easy for the top lads and is mainly about the test times. Leo stayed on time easily and usually had 3 or 4 minutes to spare on the tightest checks. The 450 Husky performed well both days but on the first test on Sunday Leo crashed and hurt his knee!,the whole reason he stopped riding 8 years ago, The knee did not seem so bad until the end of the first lap when he got off the bike and he could hardly walk! He managed to finish and pick up a place on Sunday to finish 6th in class. Gav Star rode well both days but again mishaps on the test meant his result was not what he is capable of.

 

Husky after 2 days in Sicily.

Rocky special test!

UEM Round 2 Portugal

Well, the day before we set to Portugal disaster struck and Gav fell off at GBXC, Leo, still limping from Italy,  was left all alone in the big MPS truck. Mick was a true gent and stood by his promise to help Leo even tho the whole reason he was going, Gav, could not ride due to being hospitalized. The ferries were booked and no refunds were available so Mick and Leo set off the Portugal. We were joined in Portugal by young Husky TE250 rider Tom Braddock only 17 and riding for the first time outside the UK.

The event was awesome, one of the best Enduros Leo said he had ever ridden in.  The tests were walked and the extreme test was whilst 100% natural was very extreme, Happily for Leo the veterans were directed on a different route halfway round, unfortunately when we all returned to walk it a second time Leo found this was a mistake and it was only Women and national riders who were to go the easy route! Some of the drop offs were like riding down the front of a Transit van! The worst bit of the weekend was to come now when Special Greg Evans decided to go have another look at the extreme test when we all went for food and some local crashed into him in the car and he broke his leg! He was sent to Coimbra Hospital where quite a few British boys have spent a bit of time before during the 6 days! Even the helmets very own Wig spent a few nights there after a bit of a crash! 

Day 1 started poorly for Leo as his clutch was slipping and he lost a minute on the second check. He fixed his clutch problem prior to the extreme test and from there on in the Husky performed flawlessly. The extreme test proved to be easier to ride than look at! That said there were countless bikes stuck every lap and people even stopped to re fit front brake and clucth levers half way round! Leo managed to finsih 5th on class. Tom was flying and stayed clean on time and 15th in class. Again Ollie Moyce was leading UK rider in 4th in E1 Junior,  Ash had a crap deal again when he was noise tested and docked 60 points. Lee was razzing it as usual as was Ed Jones. Crimp Star was Crimp Star.

Day 2 dawned and better for the Vets it was only 3 laps today. Leo caught a fellow vet on the extreme test and was looking for a good time but nightmare struck when the Husky stalled on one of the drop offs and Leo had to roll off the next one which led to a big endo right at the end of the test but all the spectators seemed to like it! Leo cleaned the times easily and was dissapointed not to finish higher than 5th in class. TM rider Jamie Paget said there were so many people cheering when he crashed on the extreme test he could not tell if his bike was running or not! It all went pear shaped for Ollie who snapped a lever on the extreme test and it was not the place you wanted to ride with no front brake, He dropped a few places, and he split his toe nail according to Stan. Tom rode well 16th in class today and learnt so much in 2 days, Riders who he previously only read about in the Championship class results he had raced against and he said thanks to Mick for the Husky support and tyre changing lessons and all the riders who he walked the tests with and who he learnt so much from, Jamie Greg Lee Ash Ed Ollie and even Leo! 

 

Extreme test,  Up on the left - Down on the right.

The next round is in Latvia in August so we have a bit of break now.

 

Thanks all the people who have helped at the 2 rounds so far. Without the support none of this would be capable.

Photos D Moyce. thank you.