Wakely third despite gremlins

7:56am Tuesday 13th May 2008

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SIMON Wakely finished third in the second round of the Great British Cross-Country Championship at the English Welsh border near Monmouth.

Earlier wet weather had troubled the clubman and sportsman categories but by the time Dorchester rider Wakely was due to race the conditions were perfect.

The race though, started in disastrous fashion for Wakely as his fuel line split on the start line.

He then had to change the fuel tank while the race begun, however, thinking he was about to lose half a lap, Wakely's team-mate Gav Houson suffered worse luck as he fell on the second corner and broke his femur.

The race was stopped because the course was now blocked which gave Wakely enough time to fix his bike ready for the re-run.

The second start proved better for Wakely despite having to fight his way through the pack, but by the end of the first lap he was within touching distance of third place.

At the halfway point Wakely had moved into third after passing both Tom Sagar and Euan McConnel and seeing Greg Evans fall down the order due to a broken seat.

After refuelling, Wakely put a comfortable gap between himself and Sagar while pushing to catch Daryl Bolter in second.

But in the end the current European Enduro champion had to settle for third spot.

He said: "I'm really happy with the result as the nature of the course was so fast and I didn't get the best of starts. I was happy to get up on the podium for the first time in the premier cross-country series in the UK.

"I hope to carry on with the good results in this series as there are two rounds left and hopefully a good end of series position will come."

RESULT 1 David Knight - 9 laps 2 Daryl Bolter - 9 laps 3 Simon Wakely - 9 laps 4 Tom Sagar - 9 laps5 Euan McConnel - 9 laps