SIMON Wakely triumphed at the latest Southern Counties Enduro Club showdown.

The Dorchester man claimed first place in the Championship class ahead of MPS Husqvarna team-mate Daryl Bolter.

Wakely, reigning European champion, said: "The race started well for me with a third place around the first corner and then pushing my way into the lead past Daryl and Mark Cornick, but a small crash put me back down into third before passing Mark for second.

"At the end of the first lap Daryl made a small mistake giving me the lead until the second lap when it was my turn to make a mistake. We continued to swap positions for the first half of the two-hour race until we both stopped for fuel.

"After this, Daryl held roughly a 40-second lead, so I pushed as hard as I could, trying not to make any more time-consuming mistakes.

"I was told by my head mechanic, my dad, that I was catching Daryl so I got my head down and eventually caught him up.

"He then crashed with just two and a half laps left, leaving me with a small lead. Dust was becoming an issue, so I knew that a couple of smooth, fast laps would make a return pass difficult for Daryl and I eventually finished with just a seven-second lead over him."

The Expert class was one of all-change throughout the race. Neil Hawker, Nick Abbott and Tommy Layzell constantly swapped places until Hawker made a break in the closing stages. Abbot pushed hard in an attempt to catch Hawker but had to settle for second place and an increased lead over third placed Layzell.

As with so many other events, the Over- 40's class proved that youth is no substitute for experience.

Michael Brooks took the eventual class win, which also placed him 29th overall out of more than 150 riders. Second place went to Ben Saville with Dave Coles finishing off the top three.

Tyson Mayton-Jones claimed the E2 Clubman section while the E1 Clubman went to Richard Walters.

Joe Dyke stormed away from his nearest rivals to land victory in the Sportsman class.

For further details and full results of this race visit www.enduro.org.uk

RESULTS:

Championship: 1 Simon Wakely, 2 Daryl Bolter, 3 Mark Cornick.

Expert: 1 Neil Hawker, 2 Nick Abbott, 3 Tommy Layzell.

Over-40 Expert: 1 Michael Brooks, 2 Ben Saville, 3 Dave Coles.

E1 Clubman: 1 Richard Walters, 2 Brendan Reese, 3 Neil Franks.

E2 Clubman: 1 Tyson Mayton-Jones, 2 Daniel Hartley, 3 Barry Mitchell.

Sportsman: 1 Joe Dyke, 2 Karl Phillips, 3 Oliver Davis.