McLaughlin On The Podium at Inaugural 'Elite Sprint Enduro'  (Mar 22, 2010)

Electraction TMUK rider Philip McLaughlin claimed the last step of the podium at the inaugural 'Elite Sprint Enduro' this weekend which took place at the Cwymthig Hill venue in Rhayader, Wales.

This new type of event saw a field of riders competing against each other by recording times from 10 separate laps and combining them to give a total event time, the lowest accumulated time wins.
This may sound relatively simple but with a lap of some 4 miles which contained huge elevation changes, wet grass, big off camber turns, slippery rocky climbs and also the motocross circuit with its incredible uphill and downhill jumps, sweeping banked turns and tabletops, combined with the ever worsening ground conditions, due to the persistent light rain, it was difficult for riders to be consistent to any degree of accuracy.

This new 'Sprint' was a refreshing twist on the usual Enduro style time-card or Hare and Hound events we have become accustomed to and was incredibly 'spectator friendly', having most of the circuit in view and with action nearly all day even the constant rain could not dampen people's enthusiasm, in fact it only added to the spectacle as the riders made more and more errors on the increasingly challenging course .

Philip saw this event as an incredible opportunity to 'get some laps in' in preparation for the next round of the WEC in a couple of weeks time and opted to use the E2 Class 4 stroke machine, the machine that he rides in both the British Enduro Championship and the Junior Class in the World Enduro Championship.

Starting the day rather conservatively, not being overly familiar with the circuit unlike many of his competitors, Philip had to recover from a couple off minor slip offs in the early laps but soon began to increase the pace and by the interval, after the back to back laps numbered five and six, was trading 'seconds' with fellow competitor Lee Edmondson between fourth and third place.
Feeling positive Philip pushed on in the afternoons final four laps and as the rained continued to worsen track conditions Philip, no stranger to tough events, came into his own and began to increase the distance away from fourth place rider Edmondson. Pulling clear from fourth Philip slowly made ingress into the leading two but time and conditions were against him, as the tenth and final lap was completed and the times calculated Philip was credited with well earned third position and the final step of the podium.

Philip said after the event:..."I am happy with the result, I enjoyed this event, the bike was good even in the really wet and slippery conditions this afternoon, it was good practice for me".

Fellow Electraction TM UK rider Jamie Paget, who was also entered into this event on his TM 300en, was sadly unable to compete after a training accident on Saturday left the young Cornishman requiring Hospitalisation, Luckily the horrendous looking accident left Jamie with only a concussion, some bumps and bruises and a bike in need of some plastics!, however Jamie still managed to attend the event on Sunday to cheer on his team-mate.

With thanks to our sponsors: Electraction, Gannomat UK, Moonraker Masonry, Hawker, Kleenrite and Hydramaster.
With product support from: Fox Europe, Elf, Metzeler, Renthal, Pro-Clean, Regina, Carbon Lorraine and Fusion MX.

Photograph courtesy of: www.enduronews.co.uk

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