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Exercise HARD RIDE 2014 British Army motorcycling championships

The first recorded Army Motorcycle Championship took place in 1938 in Rushmore Arena in Aldershot. Since that time the Championship has been run on an annual basis (with the exception of the war years) and despite the regular changes and challenges that we face today, it still has a strong and dedicated following. In 2010 Army motorcycling ceased to be a training activity and moved to become recognised sport status, although this was a major challenge, the sport has come through it with a revised competition format.

The annual Anglo/Swedish competition was first held in 1954; this year we commemorate its 60th year. The competition format was identical to the main Championships and there was a separate presentation during the main prize giving. The Enduro Secretary for Army MCA, SSgt Marc Jenkins selected a team of 4 riders to represent the British Army in this event.

Saturday started with the British Army team along with their Swedish counterparts, embarking on three laps of ten trial sections followed by the remainder of the entrants. Sgt Hicks, RLC was selected to represent the British Army Team and was first away having won the Army title in 2013, he had a fantastic day one finishing joint first. SSgt Jenkins, the RLC team manager and Army manager finished inside the top ten, while in the Novice class, SSgt Mortimer RLC cleaned all of the sections and was lying in third overall.

Sunday was the day of reckoning with 5 laps for the Experts and 4 for the novice class.  The 26 mile lap had completion times that would get tighter as the day went on with the experts having only 38 mins on the last lap.

The course with some fantastic new open going incorporated into the route, 2 special tests on lap 1 and 2. The going had no bogs or stoppers and on lap one, Sgt Hicks set a time of 1:06, SSgt Jenkins with a 1:08 with the fastest time being 1:00.  It was all still to fight for on lap 2, Sgt Hicks had a 1:04 and SSgt Jenkins 1:07, however, the fastest test time being 1:00 again Sgt Hicks saw his Army champion title slip. However he did finish in third, SSgt Jenkins didn’t fair to well on lap four with a big trip over the bars costing him time to fix a damaged bike, having to dig in, he pushed on to the finish, finishing in 16th place. SSgt Mortimer had a less fortunate time on his last lap having terminal engine failure.

The British Army team that was selected, won the annual Anglo/Swedish competition; there were some exceptional performances from the team members to ensure the win.

The RLC Enduro Team looks forward to the next events which are as follows:

26th October 2014 – CTR Winter Series Championship WSC 2014 RD2

16th November 2014 – GH M/cs Muntjac – Final Round of 2014 Edmondson Racing ACU BEC Championship

The RLC Enduro team would like to thank all our sponsors and affiliations for their continued support for the 2014 season.

Pictured SSgt Jenkins

SSgt Jenkins

The Royal Logistic Corps

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