Rounds three and four of the British Enduro Sprint Championship headed to Bere Regis to the Rogers Hill Raceway last weekend and Gas Gas UK Enduro Team rider Ashley Wood was out to take the Under 23 ES2 title. With the opening round of the UEM Enduro Championship held in France only a week away Ashley used the sprint as a last practice and to tweak any final settings to his machine. Arriving Friday afternoon it soon became obvious how dry and dusty the motocross section of the lap was and with no rain in sight Saturday’s racing proved to be much closer than expected. Enjoying the demanding conditions and the extreme sections of the course Ashley recorded a string of quick laps early on in the day setting a fast pace for the rest of the field to follow. After over an hour and forty minutes racing Ashley finished the first day in second position thirty seconds behind Midwest Husaberg’s Ollie Moyce and a clear minute in front of KTM mounted Joe Jones. An overnight scattering of rain helped subdue the dust for the start of round 4 and once again Ashley kept at the sharp end of the pack edging ahead of Ollie during the first lap. A small mistake on lap two gave Ollie the lead and Ashley spent the rest of the day playing catch up and battling with eventual ES3 class winner Daniel McCanney. After eight gruelling laps Ashley had put his Gas Gas CC250 machine on the second step of the podium for the second day and was happy with his performance.
Ashley Wood: “I really enjoyed the whole weekend, the track was really interesting to ride and I felt strong throughout both days. The competition in the E2 class was really tight and I was fighting with Ollie both days which was great. It was good to be able to push hard through the fast motocross bits and then the slower more technical extreme parts, especially when I have the first round of the European Championship next weekend; this is exactly what I needed. Daniel and Ollie were fast all weekend so I’m pleased to be within a few seconds of them over a lap. All in all I’ve had a great weekend and the Sprint format is working really well for me.”
Results Under 23 ES2 class: Round 3: 1: Ollie Moyce (Husaberg); 2: Ashley Wood (Gas Gas); 3: Joe Jones (KTM); 4: Mark Roberts (KTM) 5: Frazer Norrie (KTM)
Round 4: 1: Ollie Moyce (Husaberg); 2: Ashley Wood (Gas Gas); 3: Joe Jones (KTM); 4: Frazer Norrie (KTM); 5: Richard John Tucker (KTM)